'Never take medical advice from the internet'

shampoosuicide

Nonsense, really, this attitude, isn't it? We may as well discount all historical facts we read on the internet, and ignore all video footage on youtube.

of course we should take stuff we read with a massive, massive pinch of salt - that's obvious, but i'd say the same thing about a lot of doctors/GPs who are painfully, and often dangerously, fallible. first-hand accounts, recounted experiences with medication, etc - these are perfectly valid things to take into account.

glad we all agree.

Sky King

I don't google symptoms because I usually end up under the impression that I have something horrible like cancer or AIDS or AIDS-Cancer or the galloping galloping consumption or some such.

So like a proper man, I just ignore it until it goes away.

Jesus Shaves

My knob smells of cheese, what should i do?

mackg

Jesus Shaves wrote: »

My knob smells of cheese, what should i do?

Eat it.

Chuck Stone

I snapped my Achilles tendon, went to A&E and was assured it was a torn muscle.

Youtube saved me from having a permanent limp.

Knowledge is power and people who make good livings out of knowledge asymmetry don't like having their prestige, power and income threatened - that's why I love the internet.

Take the red pill.

J K

The internet took my appendix out.

Tombo2001

I would say take medical information from a reliable source on the internet; for random obscure medical condition, i'm fairly confident i can learn more from google than i can from my gp. I've also noticed for sports injuries that the internet is more useful than physios. In particular, my feeling is i could go to five different physios with a particular ailment and get five different answers, so why would the internet be any worse.

where i would have a big big big issue is seeking medical advice on the internet......on a forum like boards, asking for medical advice is just asking for trouble as the people who answer are mostly saying the first thing that comes into their heads.

woodoo

Google is a curse for hypochondriacs. It nearly always leads you to believe you are terminally ill.

Jesus Shaves

mackg wrote: »

Eat it.

I started to take your advice and went to took my first bite when i suddenly felt this sharp excruciating pain.
My back is killing me, what should i do?

Sky King

Eat it.

Pimple on your face? That's definitely AIDS.

Where To

shampoosuicide wrote: »

Nonsense, really, this attitude, isn't it? We may as well discount all historical facts we read on the internet, and ignore all video footage on youtube.

of course we should take stuff we read with a massive, massive pinch of salt - that's obvious, but i'd say the same thing about a lot of doctors/GPs who are painfully, and often dangerously, fallible. first-hand accounts, recounted experiences with medication, etc - these are perfectly valid things to take into account.

glad we all agree.

Yeah like I'm going to take the advice of someone named 'shampoosuicide'.

Bipolar Joe

Not knowing the beginning and end dates of the Korean war won't result in a potentially major medical emergency, so you're argument is stupid. If you think something is wrong, don't dump a bunch of symptoms into Google, because believe it or not, a stuffy nose, fever and fatigue aren't synonymous with just one thing. You're well within your rights to get multiple opinions from as many Doctors are you like (Or can afford ).

shampoosuicide

Bipolar Joe wrote: »

Not knowing the beginning and end dates of the Korean war won't result in a potentially major medical emergency, so you're argument is stupid. If you think something is wrong, don't dump a bunch of symptoms into Google, because believe it or not, a stuffy nose, fever and fatigue aren't synonymous with just one thing. You're well within your rights to get multiple opinions from as many Doctors are you like (Or can afford ).

that's where the pinch of salt comes in, my friend.

mackg

Jesus Shaves wrote: »

I started to take your advice and went to took my first bite when i suddenly felt this sharp excruciating pain.
My back is killing me, what should i do?

Find someone capable of lifting you easily and get them to perform this procedure.

You need to apply pressure until you feel the same amount of pain as when you initially hurt yourself, thus balance is restored.

When it's fixed and you return to eating your cheesy knob it may be necessary to remove your bottom ribs first, this can be done using almost anything you can find in your shed.

Best of luck now I'm out of office for the next 2 weeks.

starviewadams

Then don't charge me €50 to see a fúcking doctor then!

antodeco

Jesus Shaves wrote: »

My knob smells of cheese, what should i do?

Place it on a cracker.

RUCKING FETARD

I trust symcat to tell me if I'm gonna die.

Cookie_Monster

shampoosuicide wrote: »

We may as well discount all historical facts we read on the internet, and ignore all video footage on youtube.

"The problem with quotes from the internet is you can never be sure they're entirely true"
Abraham Lincoln

Jesus Shaves

Jesus Shaves wrote: »

My knob smells of cheese, what should i do?

Google "penis cheese" and hit google images......
Good enuff for ya.......:rolleyes:

Jesus Shaves

RVP 11 wrote: »

Google "penis cheese" and hit google images......
Good enuff for ya.......:rolleyes:

Ah thanks a million, that cured it

seamus

Simple way to diagnose via the internet:

- Make a list of the things that could possibly cause your pain.

- Starting with the least severe/least worrying, treat that and see if it improves.

- If it doesn't, move onto the next thing on the list

- If you get to something on your list which has a possible outcome of death, go see the doctor

Logic being that if something is really severe, then you can't really make it any worse by treating for something minor. So emphysema isn't going to suddenly become more fatal if you treat it as a chest infection and just take cough syrup and stay in bed for two days.

Of course, all this requires some ability to troubleshoot which in my experience is something that a lot of people lack. Obvious things, like if wikipedia says that a complaint is characterised by some minor discomfort, but you're screaming in agony and coughing up blood, you can be fairly sure not to include that complaint on your list.

Tonto86

Last time I went to a doctor in Ireland she googled the symptoms infront of me and then read the wiki page out loud.... I was dumbfounded

Capt'n Midnight

shampoosuicide wrote: »

of course we should take stuff we read with a massive, massive pinch of salt .

http://www.fsai.ie/science_and_health/salt_and_health/the_science_of_salt_and_health.html

a substantial body of evidence has emerged from observational and experimental research to suggest that high dietary salt intake is an important causal factor in the rise in blood pressure with age and in the development of essential hypertension in industrialised countries such as Ireland.

3rdDegree

My doctor tells me to keep Googling. He says it's great for business!

opinion guy

Sky King wrote: »

I don't google symptoms because I usually end up under the impression that I have something horrible like cancer or AIDS or AIDS-Cancer or the galloping galloping consumption or some such.

So like a proper man, I just ignore it until it goes away.

Exactly.
And if it doesn't go away - then you have super-AIDS

hatrickpatrick

The internet diagnosed my malfunctioning hydrocephalus shunt at least 2 years before real life doctors finally admitted there was something wrong with it. Two years of excruciating headaches, endless MRI and CT scans, seizures, sleep paralysis, vision problems, and being told I was either "bad posture", "not getting enough exercise", "poor diet" and "watching too much TV" before they realize my brain was being crushed by fluid and finally operated to replace the shunt.
Every hydrocephalus related website on the internet was screaming "Your shunt is blocked or infected, you need to get it replaced ASAP" while every doctor was saying "There's nothing wrong with it, I'm not sure what's causing your headaches but it's not your shunt, that's for sure."

So no, I absolutely and utterly disagree with the thread title. I have lost all faith in the medical profession after that incident and now rely on anecdotal evidence for pretty much everything, and it's never failed me so far.

foxinsox

Sky King wrote: »

I don't google symptoms because I usually end up under the impression that I have something horrible like cancer or AIDS or AIDS-Cancer or the galloping galloping consumption or some such.

So like a proper man, I just ignore it until it goes away.

It could be galloping knob rot!

mathepac

Never take internet advice from a medic.

El_Dangeroso

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

http://www.fsai.ie/science_and_health/salt_and_health/the_science_of_salt_and_health.html

So far off topic that I'm almost in New Zealand but there's pretty much zero causal evidence that salt causes high blood pressure. As in most large scale intensive interventions to reduce salt intake have not resulted in a clinically significant drop in blood pressure.

Sorry but it bugs me when stupidly interpreted epidemiology is taken as fact.

ejmaztec

I always use old wives, they know their stuff and would sh1t all over Google.

Scruffles

the internet is a good place for people who have been diagnosed with conditions and want to further their edumacation and awareness on their condition-assuming they are using reliable information,however its potentialy a bad place,indeed a very deep dark and nasty place for people who have not been diagnosed with anything and they are using the net to diagnose themselves.

have seen people diagnose themselves with various lifelong developmental delaying conditions such as autistic disorders,they go on to speak for the entire autistic community as if they are autistic and act like we all think the same,they come on to say they finaly did get seen by a pysch and they were diagnosed with social anxiety,and were never seen again.
one lady was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder if remember correctly.
she had a succesful family and a job,a masters degree,only started having any level of issues at late teenage years.
she self diagnosed herself with aspergers,she jacked in her job saying she coudnt cope 'because of her ASD' and she began to develop a lot of autistic traits she never had.
she said she had been wrongly diagnosed as borderline instead of aspergers,though borderline in many ways is a total opposite to autistic disorders so no pysch coud confuse them, plus personality disorders have a late onset [late teenage] they do not have the developmental delays and triad of impairment that all ASDs have.
she speaks for the entire autistic community and uses her self diagnosed condition to promote victim mentality and enable her low self confidence,the poor woman is delusional.

have seen on disability forums before,people even diagnose themselves with diseases like MS and EDS,they tend to take on the identity of people who have them.

ejmaztec

ejmaztec wrote: »

I always use old wives, they know their stuff and would sh1t all over Google.

Whatever you're into I suppose.

Aidric

I'm reminded of that great quote from Mark Twain:

Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint

Chuck Stone

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

The internet diagnosed my malfunctioning hydrocephalus shunt at least 2 years before real life doctors finally admitted there was something wrong with it.

That's scary. Glad you're okay.

seamus

seamus wrote: »

Simple way to diagnose via the internet:

- Make a list of the things that could possibly cause your pain.

- Starting with the least severe/least worrying, treat that and see if it improves.

- If it doesn't, move onto the next thing on the list

- If you get to something on your list which has a possible outcome of death, go see the doctor

Logic being that if something is really severe, then you can't really make it any worse by treating for something minor. So emphysema isn't going to suddenly become more fatal if you treat it as a chest infection and just take cough syrup and stay in bed for two days.

Of course, all this requires some ability to troubleshoot which in my experience is something that a lot of people lack. Obvious things, like if wikipedia says that a complaint is characterised by some minor discomfort, but you're screaming in agony and coughing up blood, you can be fairly sure not to include that complaint on your list.

You don't suddenly develop emphysema though, it's intertwined in COPD.. It's usually caused by the evil tabac. If people wanted proper guidelines for dealing with any serious health issue. I would recommend looking up the SIGN and NICE guidelines

El_Dangeroso

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

So far off topic that I'm almost in New Zealand but there's pretty much zero causal evidence that salt causes high blood pressure. As in most large scale intensive interventions to reduce salt intake have not resulted in a clinically significant drop in blood pressure.

Sorry but it bugs me when stupidly interpreted epidemiology is taken as fact.

Salt increases blood volume therefore more liquid in the circulatory system, therefore increased blood pressure.

JustAThought

Salt increases blood volume therefore more liquid in the circulatory system, therefore increased blood pressure.[/Quote]

O that's interesting! But is it true !!???
Maybe can't be cos I read it from the Internet !!!

JustAThought

JustAThought wrote: »

Salt increases blood volume therefore more liquid in the circulatory system, therefore increased blood pressure.

O that's interesting! But is it true !!???
Maybe can't be cos I read it from the Internet !!![/QUOTE]

I read it in Rang and Dale. Maybe everything should be referenced on boards.

El_Dangeroso

Deleted User wrote: »

Salt increases blood volume therefore more liquid in the circulatory system, therefore increased blood pressure.

Temporarily, not chronically. Exercise first thing in the morning will cause temporarily peripheral insulin resistance, does that mean it will cause diabetes? No, because there is a difference between a pathological and physiological response.

In fact, the latest papers in JAMA show that reducing salt intake to AHA recommended levels increased the risk of heart disease and stroke.

So you can die by following mainstream advice too!:D

Capt'n Midnight

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

So far off topic that I'm almost in New Zealand but there's pretty much zero causal evidence that salt causes high blood pressure. As in most large scale intensive interventions to reduce salt intake have not resulted in a clinically significant drop in blood pressure.

Sorry but it bugs me when stupidly interpreted epidemiology is taken as fact.

But it's cheaper to repeat a mantra than screen a population to find those who do need to modify their diet.

same for cholesterol


Nothing like a bit of FUD to keep the population worrying about real issues things

Amalgam

RVP 11 wrote: »

Google "penis cheese" and hit google images......
Good enuff for ya.......:rolleyes:

I'm not into dairy products much, I prefer a 'Blue Waffle' now and then..

pragmatic1

In the middle of having a brain haemorrhage I looked up the symptoms on the internet. That convinced me to go to the doctor. Normally I'd have been embarrassed going to the doctor with something like a headache. So big ups to the internet.

El_Dangeroso

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

But it's cheaper to repeat a mantra than screen a population to find those who do need to modify their diet.

same for cholesterol


Nothing like a bit of FUD to keep the population worrying about real issues things

Oh sorry, if you want to point me to some large scale RCTs showing that reducing salt ameliorates primary hypertension by more than 7 mm/Hg then I'd simply love to see it! If not then I don't know how you can say salt is a causal factor of proper hypertension with a straight face.

I actually spoke to the guy who published one of the papers in JAMA, he said he couldn't believe the backlash when someone questioned one of the sacred tenets of dietary advice.

By all means tell people to lose weight, exercise, don't eat fast food (which salt is only probably a marker for anyway), y'know things that actually have evidence for their efficacy.

How can you spread FUD about something that never had sufficient evidence to begin with?

opinion guy

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Oh sorry, if you want to point me to some large scale RCTs showing that reducing salt ameliorates primary hypertension by more than 7 mm/Hg then I'd simply love to see it! If not then I don't know how you can say salt is a causal factor of proper hypertension with a straight face.

I actually spoke to the guy who published one of the papers in JAMA, he said he couldn't believe the backlash when someone questioned one of the sacred tenets of dietary advice.

By all means tell people to lose weight, exercise, don't eat fast food (which salt is only probably a marker for anyway), y'know things that actually have evidence for their efficacy.

How can you spread FUD about something that never had sufficient evidence to begin with?

I thought the thinking on this was that salt was important only in certain subgroups but not in the general population ?

Dymo

Jesus Shaves wrote: »

My knob smells of cheese, what should i do?

Here ya go!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060829190020AAC3t2U

El_Dangeroso

opinion guy wrote: »

I thought the thinking on this was that salt was important only in certain subgroups but not in the general population ?

I've not read any papers in that area, nor do I think they have discovered any salt-sensitivity genes or anything like that.(open to correction on this)

But in any case the recommendation for the entire population to stay under 0.6g of sodium a day is at best unjustified or at worst, dangerous.

BlueSmoker

I use the Internet quite regular occasions to get medical advice, both for myself and my mother. Nine times out of Ten though it is to back up and understand an already diagnosed medical condition, which helps us to properly manage that condition.

Once or twice I've checked out treatments for like a broken toe, a stiff shoulder, to day in fact I checked out treatments for a stomach bug. Obviously if the symptoms continue, unchanged I'm straight down to the GP. But at least we have tried the first stage of treatments (which he would have suggested anyway) and we can move directly on to the next level of treatments.

--Kaiser--

Someone clever once said 'a little knowledge is a dangerous thing'.

Someone who who does not have a critical mind to sift through all the nonsense on the internet can come away with some wacky ideas

Capt'n Midnight

opinion guy wrote: »

I thought the thinking on this was that salt was important only in certain subgroups but not in the general population ?

just like cholesterol

Capt'n Midnight

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

How can you spread FUD about something that never had sufficient evidence to begin with?

Fear Uncertainty Doubt

ie. making the whole population fearful of salt and cholesterol

and sugar rotting your teeth - when in reality a quick rinse would remove that hazard and when it's starchy foods clinging to your teeth that are a much bigger problem