RE: Patients heal themselves online

["John Cox" <John.E.Cox@btinternet.com>]

The Washington Times reports something that has been going on for a few
years.  And the medical profession is divided on the benefits to patients
and on their own workload.  So some words of caution that simply
demonstrate that such issues are exceedingly complex:

1. There are many rogue web sites that purport to be objective but are in
fact propaganda sites pushing a particular point of view (e.g.
anti-vaccination) or selling a particular product (e.g.
alternative/complementary medicine, pharmaceutical products).  There is
often no way of knowing what is objective, based on published research and
about products that have actually been approved by the authorities (FDA,
Medicines Committee etc.) for use.

2. Many conditions present similar symptoms.  Without proper medical
training and certification, a little - misleading - information can cause
unnecessary distress.  After all, a doctor's seven year training must give
him or her some expertise that one cannot possibly gain from a web site.

3. There is anecdotal evidence that patients armed with printouts from the
Web and convinced of a particular condition are enormous time-wasters that
make doctors' work very difficult and impact adversely on the treatment of
other patients waiting to be seen.

4. Rather than search for the latest peer-reviewed research, for which
most of us have no training to evaluate in relation to whatever we are
suffering, there are some excellent healthcare web sites that collate the
latest research and practice and present it in an authoritative, readable
form.  Notable are the NIH (http://health.nih.gov) and the UK's NHS
(http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk) in doing this. Such sites are much more
rewarding than random searches on the Web.

John Cox
Managing Director
John Cox Associates Ltd
Rookwood, Bradden
TOWCESTER, Northants NN12 8ED
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1327 860949
Fax: +44 (0) 1327 861184
E-mail: John.E.Cox@btinternet.com
Web: www.johncoxassociates.com 

-----Original Message-----
[mailto:owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Hamaker, Chuck
Sent: 07 August 2004 03:49
To: liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
Subject: Patients heal themselves online

subject: Patients heal themselves online

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040803-070331-9673r.htm=20

The Web: Patients heal themselves online
By Gene Koprowski
United Press International

... From Annapolis to Anaheim, more patients are taking control of their
healthcare situations via the Internet. They are searching out information
on cancer, heart disease, and other afflictions, and many times, when
motivated by their own illness, are finding cutting-edge medical research
online their personal physician has not yet received.

"That's a good thing," Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of the hematology and
oncology department at Ochsner Clinic Foundation in Baton Rouge, La., told
UPI. "I encourage patients to do that. In fact, I give a list of 25
helpful medical Web sites that we also recommend that every new patient
looks at."

Research by the Boston Consulting Group shows patients who use the
Internet frequently are up to three times more likely to take an action
that affects their diagnosis -- and treatment.

The primary problem for patients, however, is that finding good, solid
medical and health information is sometimes tricky online. "There's a lot
of misinformation out there," Dr. Jack Cassell, an urologist, who
practices in Mount Dora, Fla., near Orlando, told UPI.

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