Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I’ve found that I easily find better, faster, and more accurate information just googling my issues than seeing a doctor. Basically every sickness or illness known to man is searchable on the internet. Not only that, but there are forums where people who have had similar issues who can share their advice. The only time I do see a doctor is when I need medication, and then I go in already knowing what is wrong with me and basically telling him what I need. A few times I even had to correct a doctor about an ADD medication because it wasn’t a medication primarily used. But he still should have known.
Nope. Wrong
Not surprisingly every study that has ever looked at this question has shown doctors to be significantly more accurate than Dr Google.......and it really isn’t even close
the cluster headaches went away before i saw the doctor, but i learned what to avoid to keep them from coming back and treatment options. I was able to make changes before seeing the doctor. As far as stomach ulcers, you can treat with over the counter medications, so i avoided the doctor with that also and successfully treated myself.
Not surprisingly every study that has ever looked at this question has shown doctors to be significantly more accurate than Dr Google.......and it really isn’t even close
Reuters explains that the doctors “also got it right more often for the more serious conditions and the more uncommon diagnoses, while computer algorithms were better at spotting less serious conditions and more common diagnoses.”
Well first off, it wasn’t a google search, it was a webMD search. Second, doctors were only better at more serious conditions, while less serious computers were better.
I look at multiple sites and don’t see how they could be incorrect and have never seen them be incorrect. What is your reference for them being notoriously incorrect? Google delivers pages in the results based on which sites are best. I then look at 5-10 different sites, and most match up.
Completely agree. I actually think doctors should be using it.
The only thing is that sometimes you can get bad information via vague symptoms or stupid people who leave comments. What would work better is that doctors probably know the "ah ha" symptoms that distinguish one thing from the other. Each write up should say "if you don't have this" you probably don't have what you are researching.
At one time I was scared I had inflammatory breast cancer because I had a rash. But then someone sent me a photo of the "orange peel" look to IBC and it made me so much more relaxed.
Did I get it checked out? Yes, but I was quite 99% sure it wasn't anything.
I think people who diagnose themselves and never see a doctor are foolish. But there is no doubt google has been a god send. You need only look at "mystery diagnosis" on Discovery Health to see that most of the time the patient gets hip to the answer via the net.
That’s because you aren’t being specific on enough symptoms. If you go to the doctor you aren’t going to just tell him you have an upset stomach. You will go into greater detail. Same thing with google. I was diagnosed with an ulcer without any tests.
The cool thing abut doctors is that they know what questions to ask to get to the correct diagnosis. Most of us can't do that.
Google was of no help at all when I had several nosebleeds in a week, and I'm probably in the top 5% of Google skills. My primary care physician sent me to an ENT who said it looked like I had a nasal polyp, but it was only after the biopsy that the correct diagnosis of a malignant tumor was determined. Even then, Google didn't have much information, because I had a rare tumor, and there's very little research online.
You said popularity is THE WAY they rank pages. You were wrong. Quality is the largest factor they use. You did not say that.
You are ignorant of how google works. There aren’t “sites you use”. The site could be different every time based on the condition and results and quality of other sites increasing or decreasing. Most sources are from doctors or medical journals.
I rarely gets tests from a doctor unless the problem isn’t improving from what they thought it was.
Ah....so how is "quality" judged - THAT'S what I want to know - do YOU know?
And there must be some sites that you use commonly - some that you (Google?!) have deemed "quality" over time. Seriously, if for every medical condition you are using a website specific to that condition you're gonna run into some weird shte. When you say doctors - what kind of doctors are online - Dr. Weil or Dr. Alternative?
Wrong. I’ve correctly diagnosed myself multiple times about conditions I knew nothing about. And of course you can find out if a benign condition could be part of a more serious condition. Why couldn’t you?
I didn't say you HAVE misdiagnosed yourself, just that relying on Google over an actual licensed medical professional increases the chances that you COULD misdiagnose yourself.
But hey, do what you want, Darwin in action if you're wrong, right?
The cluster headaches went away before I saw the doctor, but I learned what to avoid to keep them from coming back and treatment options. I was able to make changes before seeing the doctor. As far as stomach ulcers, you can treat with over the counter medications, so I avoided the doctor with that also and successfully treated myself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by old fed
lol
+2
Cluster headaches don't happen just once....or even a single cluster. Didn't you know the typical frequency? And if you had THAT kind of pain you'd be running for the doctor to get relief...so I don't think you really had /have cluster headaches but keep tellin' yourself that.
Are you in high school, by any chance...on summer break?
If you diagnose yourself with google, and whatever remedies you try don't work, then the natural next step is to see a doctor. If whatever you have is obviously an emergency, then you skip google and go straight to the hospital.
If you have any common sense at all, google is not going to kill you.
Reuters explains that the doctors “also got it right more often for the more serious conditions and the more uncommon diagnoses, while computer algorithms were better at spotting less serious conditions and more common diagnoses.”
Well first off, it wasn’t a google search, it was a webMD search. Second, doctors were only better at more serious conditions, while less serious computers were better.
What's your Reuters citation?
And you do know that whatever algorithm referred to in the article isn't singular and isn't the same as Google's...har de har har. But keep saying "algorithm" if it makes you feel smarter.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
