Response to Artifact 8

I was surprised to find out just how vast the landscape of  health online has become. An astounding eighty percent of all web users, gather information online to self diagnosis possible medical issues that they face. I don't have a problem with people wanting to acquire facts about potentially life threatening illnesses (diabetes, aids, cancer etc..) that they may face but  serious problems can arise if a person  misinterprets or receives the wrong information from one of the nearly 6,000 sites dedicated to health online.  Even more alarming, online health sites have become more interactive and are largely composed of patient stories, patient symptoms, and patient suggestions. Not every human is the same. Some have allergens, some don't. Our bodies vary and respond differently to the volume of medicine we are prescribed.  For example, what may take 1500 mg of ibuprofen to relieve the inflammation in my joints may only take someone else 200 mg to relieve the same symptoms. If we both go online and make posts about what cured our pains , which dose of pills should someone with similar discomfort take? This scenario is just one of many that could arise when people go online and self diagnose themselves without input from a qualified medical professional. I'm not advocating that doctors are 100 percent correct in their assessments, I'm just suggesting that there is a higher probability that  a doctor could find the cause of a patient's ailments sooner than that patient could find it themselves with information from an online health site. With  advances in  technologies such as  MRI, cat scans, and short turnarounds on blood-work doctors can find those little things that can be the difference between life and death. In the past few years I have heard of people  going online after a bad fall when they hit there heads and self diagnosing themselves with a  mild concussion. In actuality these people experienced serious brain trauma which went untreated by doctors and the injured person subsequently died. The most famous case happened a couple of years ago when Liam Nesson wife died after a fall, initially she thought  she was OK and refused medical attention, unfortunately her injuries were more severe than she thought and she passed away a few days later. In my opinion these online health sites can be helpful but expert advice should always be sought after and a second medical opinion is always a plus.

The one aspect about online health websites that I find rather refreshing is the encouragement that people find through websites similar to Patientslikeme.com. With  so many social network sites filled with f lamming and outright attempts at character assassination/defamation, its good news to hear that there are still online communities were its  members sole intent is to uplift the spirits of those in the group.  Facing a chronic illness can be a daunting task; filled with bouts of anxiety, depression, or feelings of loneliness. All these feeling can be overcome when chronically ill people have someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on. When a person knows thy're are not alone in their battle aginst a chronic illness and even more importantly when they can read about those who have come out on the other side ( victorious) it can really boost their morale.