Consultation with Dr. med. Google

My mother kept the thick book, which was forbidden for us children, in her wardrobe. She probably thought that her closet was not interesting for a seven-year-old boy, but far from it. Having found hidden Christmas and birthday presents on previous discoveries in this closet, the wooden monster had become one of my coveted hotspots in the home. On one of these expeditions, which of course were only possible when my parents were away, I discovered the book I mentioned earlier. ? Pschyrembel? Clinical Dictionary? stood on the gray cover. Unsuspecting, I opened it and then stared with morbid fascination on the crisp black and white photo of an amputated smoker's leg. I flipped on and came across other scary photos: Necrotic tumors in the oral cavity, purulent eczema of the skin, bloody surgical scars, and malformed embryos floating in glass containers filled with fluid.

The power of imagination

For the next few nights, I did not sleep well, but did not talk to anyone about my discovery. I often lay awake in my bed imagining my family and myself being carried away by the ills posed in Pschyrembel. But these gruesome fantasies did not stop me from leafing through the Pschyrembel at the next available opportunity and disgusting me. The more pictures I saw, the more suspiciously I began to search my young body for telltale traces of life-threatening illnesses. In retrospect, I think that laid the foundation for my latent dormant hypochondria during this time. The whole thing flew up the next time I actually got a bad cold and wanted to tell my mother, who was a nurse at the time, that I had lung cancer. At least. Maybe also typhus or typhus fever. Then, with feverish tears, I confessed my secret excursions to the world of misery and disease. And now, please, a thick, damp sponge over the rest of this inglorious story.

From Pschyrembel to Google

Anyone who suffers from the symptoms of an unknown disease today will seldom resort to the Pjyrembel to get to the bottom of it. What are the good 2,000 pages of the 267th edition against the almighty internet god Google with its tens of millions of entries to diseases? Just looking for the keyword? Headache? Promotes 9,160,000 results on Google. There is your own Zipperlein guaranteed to be there, right? But exactly in this oversupply is also the real problem of the disease research on the Internet: If you click as a layman the links to an x-any disease, one ends up at some point inevitably in the description of some horrible, but guaranteed deadly disease. Note: Not every hangover headache can be traced back to a brain tumor.


The dilemma of the doctors

Most doctors appreciate well-informed patients. You are better prepared and can follow the doctor's instructions more easily. It becomes difficult only if the patient already bangs the doctor completely the complete diagnosis together with possible treatment measures before the head has even asked a question. It behaves like this: The Internet is a public medium in which everyone (and that really means EVERYONE) can add their mustard. It is obvious that a lot of half-knowledge (at best), even total nonsense (in the worst case) is disseminated. I've already seen doctors twisting their eyes at the mention of my own internet research. According to a Bertelsmann survey, about 40 percent of Germans try to self-diagnose via the Internet before they actually visit a doctor because of their complaints. A visit to the incarnate doctor can replace your own internet research in any case.

Particularly at risk: hypochondriac

Usually, a hypochondriac does not conceive its symptoms, but tends to misinterpret them to be better in? Fit picture of the disease. Dr. Google provides inglorious assistance in feeding the patient with far too much irrelevant or even misleading information. Health experts are already talking in this context of a new phenomenon, the so-called cyberchondria.

Use reliable sources

Anyone who, despite the uncertainty factors mentioned above, visits the office hours of Dr. Ing. Google goes be careful to use reputable sources. Here are in particular the websites of state institutions or health insurance to name, for example, the website "Patient information? the German Medical Association and the Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung. Anyone who is unsure whether a website is actually serious or only pursues the purpose of sensitive data, or to tap your money, can be based on the following checklist.

Checklist for websites

Of course, this checklist makes no claim to completeness, nor is it a 100% guarantee of the integrity of a website. However, if one or more of these three points reach the page you visit, increased alertness is required.

  • Missing or incomplete imprint ? According to § 5 of the Telemedia Act (TMG) or § 55 of the Rundfunkstaatsvertrag (RStV), the operator of a website is required to provide an imprint. This imprint obligation applies to all websites that are not purely private. In the imprint must name and address of the site operator ?? easily recognizable, directly accessible and constantly available? be seen.
  • Lack of contact ? The specification of a contact option is similar to the specification of an imprint.
  • Reckless design and / or confusing layout ? Here you have to rely a bit on your own experience and gut instinct. If a website reminds too much of a promotional brochure from the discounter, caution is required. Reputable sites usually value a clear layout, clear structures and a logical menu layout.

In this sense: Stay healthy and do not believe everything on the internet.

What Lab Tests Do I Need - The Functional Medicine Approach! | March 2024