The Folly of Self Diagnosis

It used to be said that the doctor who treats himself has

a fool for a patient. The internet has caused an explosion

of self diagnosis and treatment often in the name of

 taking charge of ones health. Well, the truth is that the ability to treat can never be any better than the ability to make an accurate diagnosis. Misdiagnosis is the bane of modern medicine whether it is the institutionalized kind or the self inflicted kind. The results are the same. 

Dr Google: 25 per cent of Women Misdiagnose Themselves Online

Posted by: Zen Haven

When you’re faced with an unexplained medical problem, it can seem easier and quicker to go online for answers rather than wait for a doctor’s appointment.

But researchers have found that one in four British women has misdiagnosed themselves on the internet – then bought the wrong product to try to cure their illness.

‘Dr Google’ is now the first port of call for women with health concerns, but it rarely provides an accurate diagnosis, the experts say.

In fact, searching for symptoms online and self-medicating has led one in ten women to endure unpleasant side effects as a result of their misdiagnosis.

And almost half of women have diagnosed themselves online, then bought a treatment on the high street without checking with pharmacists if it is the correct product.

The trend for trusting the internet over medical professionals or friends and family was highlighted in a survey of 1,000 women. A fifth had at some time wrongly suspected they had a serious disease.

The most common false alarm came over breast cancer, while many women had wrongly diagnosed themselves as having thrush, high blood pressure or asthma.

The symptoms most likely to prompt women to consult Dr Google were sleep problems, headaches, depression and anxiety.

Three quarters of those polled said there were some health issues that they weren’t comfortable talking to friends and family about.

Half of women always tried to deal with embarrassing medical problems themselves before seeking help from others.

More than a quarter said they dreaded talking to doctors about such problems.

Because of waiting times, almost a third visited the doctor only as a last resort. Many women said they spent ‘days’ worrying about symptoms before speaking to anyone, while a third had spent at least two weeks sweating over an ailment.

Remarkably, one in 20 women said they had spent several years worrying whether a symptom was something serious before eventually getting it checked out.

The research was commissioned by feminine health brand Balance Activ to mark National BV Day, which aims to raise awareness of Bacterial Vaginosis – a condition that is almost twice as prevalent as thrush that 2 out of 3 women are misdiagnosing.

If left untreated BV has been linked to some serious health implications including an increased risk in contracting STIs, infertility and miscarriage if present during pregnancy.