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The world has
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Precautions
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The net is expanding
every day. |
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The medical field has lay and professional websites and information available. Both may be highly unreliable, and caution is required in using the information. Medical websites may in addition be too complex, but once the public gets used to the Internet and understands it, then the process gets much easier. A number of good general search engines are available to search for information. These include, Excite, Yahoo, WebCrawler, Infoseek, but programs are available for download that will integrate all of these in one search function. My favourite is to download and install a program called copernic, located at www.copernic.com . Professional medical literature searching is now easy. In the past, what took a doctor weeks to research, is now available online in minutes. There are several search engines for medical articles. My favourite is healthgate. However the American national institute of health offers huge medical reference search engines. There is no harm in the general public researching their disease, although clearly this information, for the lay public, is likely to be difficult to understand. The truth is that using the huge amount of information becomes much easier the more you make use of it. Everyone finds great sites, and it is advisable that you add these to your “web-browser favourites” But what about meeting others online? There are many support groups out there who are forming “web communities”. Many are available on a free subscriber or registration basis, such as the Microsoft network, or on America on-line. But the most accessible support groups are on the Internet newsgroups. There are two main arthritis Internet newsgroups. These are misc.health.arthritis and alt.support.arthritis The newsgroups are accessible from your browser or email program and the requirements to access the newsgroups can be simply obtained from your Internet service provider who will guide you how to do this at no charge within minutes. The process is similar to how you set up your email addresses to access email. On the newsgroup, people place messages and these are readable by all, and answerable by all who visit that particular newsgroup. Hence any question will result in responses from many people who have had that experience and can give appropriate advice. However, again the responses are opinions and not necessarily fact, and therefore should be treated with caution, and discussed with your doctor. |
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In South
Africa, most doctors are now confronted by a host of Internet
documents. The practitioner should not see this as a threat, and
most do not. However, the public should appreciate that the doctor
has limited time, and cannot read everything. A short summary of the
questions you want to pose is appropriate rather than placing reams
and reams of notes on the desk. I personally encourage my patients
to read and research their problem. There is no harm in obtaining a
second opinion, and there is no such thing as a stupid question. As
practitioners, it is our obligation to answer the concerns of our
patients. The Internet represents an enormous opportunity for the
practitioner. It keeps the doctor up-to-date, as we now have to be
able to answer the latest information, so it is incumbent on the
doctor to be as interested as the patient in continuing medical
education. Patient empowerment must be encouraged, and the Internet
has revolutionized this. I strongly recommend people to research their own disease and to ask questions. What makes a site a good site?
A table of some
of my favourite arthritis links is included here. There is no such thing as a stupid question. |
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Dr David Gotlieb |
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Don’t believe everything you
read.