Internet-aided self-diagnoses can lead to bigger health trouble

Heartburn, check. Dizziness, check. Leg pain, check.

Anyone can plug these pains into an online symptom checker for a clear diagnosis, right?

Wrong.

WebMD provides more than 50 possibilities for these symptoms, from fibromyalgia and carbon monoxide poisoning to heart attack, anemia and small intestine cancer. Despite the ambiguous results, plenty of people are turning to Dr. Google before they turn to their primary care physician.

“It’s definitely something people are doing more and more,” said Dignity Health pediatrician Emily Peterson. “A majority of people are getting online and looking up symptoms and self-diagnosing.”

With e-health monitoring devices that can be worn to track heart rate, sleep patterns, physical activity and more, blood pressure self-exams in every grocery and drug store and online symptom checkers, it’s easy to think it doesn’t take an expert to crack the code to illness detection.

Valley Health System emergency medicine physician Darrin Houston said that even as a health professional, he needs more than a list of symptoms to work with.

“It takes more than looking at someone. You need diagnostic studies,” he said. “You can’t just plug things into a computer and find out what you have. It’s not that simple.”

Without lab tests, a physical exam and diagnostic imaging analyzed by an expert, it’s easy to misdiagnose.

One danger of self-diagnosis is overreaction, Peterson said.

“There’s a lot of information out there; it’s easy to come up with the wrong self-diagnosis,” she said. “That winds up resulting in people thinking they have the worst-case scenario, and they wind up in the office stressed.”

But the opposite is possible, too.

“Worse is when they falsely think nothing is wrong,” she said, “and there’s a delay, and that can be pretty dangerous.”

Houston agreed.

“Most people wait too much in the beginning,” he said. “They wait two or three days when they should come in when pain was going on the first day.”

He added that regular checkups, before any aches and pains are apparent, are the best way to go.

“Just because you feel well doesn’t mean there’s nothing going on,” he said. “Many people wait too long — months, years — until conditions are incurable or chronic.”

Houston said if you can catch the high blood pressure or the tumor early, it may be easily treatable, but by the time people finally come in, it’s often too late.

Peterson said she sees parents who go to Google, WebMD or crowdsource among their Facebook friends because they’re worried they will be seen as overreacting if they bring kids in for what could be nothing.

“I would much rather they bring a kid in and have it be wrong than not and have it be serious,” she said. “Don’t trust the Internet over your doctor. We’re happy to help. That’s our job, and don’t be afraid to ask us any questions you have. We just want to make sure you’re getting the right diagnosis and getting accurate information and getting taken care of the right away.”

Some take self-diagnosis a step further and delve into self-treatment, which can have deadly consequences.

Peterson said people might read about over-the-counter therapies that could be bad or could have an interaction with something they’re already on. Or worse, they could use old, expired antibiotics or medications prescribed for someone else. A parent might hear a bad cough, assume it’s asthma and give an older child’s asthma medication to a younger child who may have had only a cold.

Homespun Pinterest remedies can be dangerous, too.

“A baby can have a seizure if given water. It dilutes their electrolytes,” Peterson said. “I’ve seen where people were told to give water or tea for colic, which can be dangerous or fatal.”

Houston and Peterson said many turn to the Internet to avoid the cost of a doctor’s visit. While nothing replaces an annual exam, there are other options. Houston said many health maintenance organizations and doctor’s practices provide patients with free access to medical advice phone lines. Another option is to access free diagnostic testing at health fairs.

Tapping Internet medical resources isn’t all bad. Houston said the Internet can be a great place for people to research conditions after they have been professionally diagnosed.

Peterson said it’s also a great place to find people with similar conditions to compare notes.

“It’s good that we’re able to have so much information easily available, but I think it has to be used the right way,” Peterson said. “Be careful about the resources you’re using. There’s a lot of wrong information out there. Anyone can put up anything on the Internet, so be careful where you get it from and how you’re using the information.”

To reach View contributing reporter Ginger Meurer, email gmeurer@viewnews.com. Find her on Twitter: @gingermmm.