Cyberchondriac

Posted by Teeth Maestro

August 9, 2005

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Teeth Maestro’s Buzzword for this week is Cyberchondriac noun; A person who searches for health information online.

There are about 6 million more cyberchondriacs in the United States than the previous year reaching a massive total of 117 million according to Harris Interactive. What remains to be seen how soon will the change come to Pakistan. The literate section of our society is slowly learning the value of health information on the internet, but it still has a long way to go. Do you do an online research before visiting you doctor?

Tags: America, Teeth Maestro, USA
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5 Responses to “Cyberchondriac”

1

abbas halai says:

August 9, 2005 at 5:58 am

don’t you feel, being a professional in the industry yourself, that patients getting help online from spam/unofficial sources of information are at more of a risk than visiting doctors for advice?

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2

shirazi says:

August 9, 2005 at 8:40 am

Not only that, I have created some alerts on smoking — my disease.

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3

Teeth Maestro says:

August 9, 2005 at 4:20 pm

Abbas

A major problem in Pakistan is basically doctors have overinflated egos and also dont take the time to explain the problem properly to their pt.- there are quite a few doctors who feel threatened if challenged or questioned by the patient, in case he enquires more about the disease or problem it then becomes in a way humiliating for the doctor to explain – the attitude is usually “Shut up and listen” hence many people remain confused. I dont mean to imply that the doctor is wrong and also not advise pt to treat themselves on the internet. But would advise everyone to research their disease throughly online.

Being a third world nation I feel prevention is better then cure and espcially in dental diseases a knowledgable patient who knows how to manage his problem is easier then the pan-chewing idiot.

Cyberchondriacs -> I would recommend WebMD.com for all your health information needs

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4

Mars says:

August 11, 2005 at 2:07 pm

I most definately do check online…to be on the safe side.

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5

Kamran says:

August 14, 2005 at 4:46 am

abbas halai: if the users choose to visit trusted sites like webMD as mentioned by Teeth, they’ll never fall in trouble…

besides that, I do check online bofore consulting my doctor.. :)

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