"Should patients look up Google to understand their health issues?"
Kannada English Bilingual Toastmasters club conducted a Panel discussion with 3 doctors (including me) who are all Toastmasters. The session was called Nimma Arogya | Ask the Doctors.
This seemingly innocuous question was asked by a Toastmaster, and led to a clear difference of opinion. One view was that patients get anxious or confused reading things on Google, and they end up either harming themselves, or troubling the doctor with silly questions. The other view (mine) was that patients need to educate themselves esp in the current day. There are good resources available on the internet (nowadays loosely called Google!! Just like photocopy == xerox. Henceforth, when I say Google, I mean a web search).
Doctors may forget to explain some things, since so much has to be done in a short time - history taking, examination, looking at past reports and medications, deciding on the appropriate investigations/ labs, prescribing... while comforting or addressing patients' concerns - as also relatives.
In this article, I would like to inform people on how to use the internet to educate themselves on Health - if they would like to do so.
Let me begin with a simple question - should you do online transactions? Buy on amazon? Pay using gpay/paytm? Pay your bills online? Yes/ No?
The first idea is to learn how to use any resource properly. Learn how to use Google for medical queries properly - I give some ideas here. What you do with that information makes all the difference. If it is a simple suggestion such as "wash your hands", you don't need to go and consult a doctor. Indeed, it is one of the most useful ideas you can get in terms of getting fewer infections! Doctors may simply not tell you this, assuming it is so commonplace, "common-sensical" that it doesn't need reiteration - unless there is a pandemic killing thousands of people. However, if it is something that you are not 100% sure is simple and safe or just a basic measure, then definitely ask your doctor.
Know yourself - if you are the anxious type who cannot read anything without worrying you have that complaint, don't keep reading up on your complaint. Simply ask your doctor. He or she will also reassure you. If you have been diagnosed with a serious disease, first come to terms with it - let doctors guide you. Don't immediately start reading up. Once you have calmed down and are ready to deal with it, you may wish to learn more ways of helping yourself.
The following are some good websites for health information:
Here are some things one must know regarding medication and health.
1. All medicines have to be taken at specific times - it makes a big difference whether taken on empty stomach, or with food and drink.
For example, thyroid hormone replacement should be taken on an empty stomach. Many painkillers should only be taken after food, not on empty stomach. Milk and dairy products interfere with some antibiotics like Ciprofloxacin/ Norflox etc. Even iron etc is not absorbed well if you take it with milk or calcium....or with antacids. It is impossible for doctors to know (and tell you) about all the interactions - with lemon juice, with coconut water, with milk, with tea etc. When you start some new medicines, you can easily read up precautions etc.
2. Even vitamins and minerals can be harmful if you don't take them in the correct dosage and for the correct time period. Look up "hypervitaminosis" - yes, google it.
3. Drugs can interact with each other. You can simply type your prescribed medications and see the interactions. It is just a one time look up, and if you have a question, you can ask the doctor.
interactions. The following is from the website drugs.com
4. Even ordinarily used substances can have an effect on your body if you have some health conditions. Your doctor may tell you, but along with all the information given at one time, you may understand the significance of what he or she tells you. Reading up about your condition and some precautions can be very useful, esp if it is a rare disease which even doctors don't routinely see. You may have condition like G6PD deficiency - without feeling any problems or symptoms. Then you apply henna.
4. Some drugs have no side effects initially, but after some months start having side effects. Eg., Some BP medicines can cause cough after weeks or months of use - when the drug is stopped, the cough also goes away. You may be taking cough syrups or other meds to treat the cough, but it is actually because of the BP tablet you have been taking since some time without problems. Parkinson's disease medication can also cause side-effects after many years. Know what medicines you are taking and their possible long-term effects.
5. You can get pain relief through a balm rather than a tablet - you may find alternative suggestions or even alternative medicine like homoeopathy, acupuncture etc suggested by other patients on discussion sites - and must ask your doctor. Someone with with chronic pain on daily pain medication might want to look at other options, esp since these medicines are known to be nephrotoxic (cause kidney damage)
6. Even medicines/ ointments applied on the skin are absorbed into the system. Esp true for steroids.
7. For several conditions, physiotherapy and exercise are vital. In addition to consulting a physiotherapist, you can also look at excellent videos to do simple movements or breathing exercises, learn to use a spirometer properly etc. Learn to read the certifications of the instructor etc.
8. Many of the websites mentioned above offer simple preventive measures to maintain health, and offer tips on a healthy lifestyle and diet. Prevention is better than cure.
This is just a quick overview. One could write a much longer article on hypertension or hypothyroidism or PCOS alone. However, this is just to get you thinking, and to get you started.
You get better at online transactions (eg using stronger passwords and changing them, knowing the difference between http/ https etc) over time with experience. So also in researching health conditions, you get better with experience. You will know what is perfectly sensible and safe advice (apply sunscreen lotion 30 mins before you step out into the sunlight; rinse your mouth after using an inhaler) and when to consult your doctor (is intermittent fasting good for me?).
Your health is your responsibility.
Very useful article for all 👏