ONLINE MEDICINE MAY NOT ALWAYS BE THE BEST THING FOR YOU

An increasing number of people are today looking up to the Internet for many of their medical problems. The numerous online health sites are attracting many, especially the young and net-savvy to glean medical information about any disease under the sun. It only requires an address.

These online medical counsellors are a welcome alternative for people who cannot afford the hefty consultation charges, have no access to regular consultants, are hesitant to discuss about their malady with a real consultant, worry about a stigma or simply need a sympathetic hearing at an odd hour.

The procedure is also quite easy. You do not need to fix appointments, do not have to spend tense moments in the waiting room of your consultant before you are called in to his chambers. You need not worry about exceeding your time limit. The whole thing is quite you-friendly.

According to a report in the British consumer magazine Which?, searching for health information is one of the most popular uses for the Net. Users have plenty of online options; including sites that do not draw the line at offering reference information but which also sell virtual medical consultations and prescription drugs.

More than 58 percent of the health information users read online is related to family or personal ailments. But these conveniences could be dangerous too. However, the online consultation has its pitfalls too. The biggest handicap is that your online consultant is unable to read your body language or more of physical clues to correctly assess your problem. The symptoms may be misdiagnosed.

"We're not anti-web, but we think patients need some professional guidance to find their way through the maze of medical treatments," says Australian Medical Association (AMA). The Association says there are a lot of toxic and dangerous medicines that need to be carefully handled.

You cannot be sure of the authenticity of the information being dished out to you. The information at times may be very generic in nature and by the time you realise the seriousness of your affliction it may be too late.

Sometimes the information provided online might not be in context. It may be difficult to comprehend the medical jargon. Your online consultant may lull you into complacency and you may think you know what your problem is and how should it be treated.

Dr Rivett of AMA says there are websites that offer dangerous and misleading information. "There some shockers out there; (such as) one society that wants people to drill holes in their own skulls to feel better - we've actually had patients in Australia who have tried to drill holes in their own skull," he said.

Today the medical practitioners world over are encountering a new syndrome called "cyber-chondria". This involves patients armed with medical information gathered from the net and challenging the diagnoses of the real doctors. These patients proclaim to know what their problem is and how it needs to be treated.

This gives rise to another very serious problem. The physician has to first work to correct the patients' misconceptions and then get on with the job of treating the malady. This may waste a lot of precious and crucial time.

The online consultation cannot give the warmth and the personal touch to the doctor-patient relationship. This relationship is very crucial to the treatment of the patient. In fact, patients would be well advised to not to depend on the net information when serious health issues are involved.

Certainly, for many maladies the online heath and medical sites impress upon their surfers to get in touch with their personal physicians but more often than not this does not happen.

Some people who crosscheck on their physician's prescriptions with the online health sites often stop their prescribed medications midway. This makes the situation even more dangerous.

There are significant dangers related to doctors' writing prescriptions or ordering procedures without meeting their patients in person. Despite these concerns, one thing is certain: good health information is finally only a click away.