b'Symptom ManaDementDDooccttoorrVViissiittvvssDDooccttoorrGGoooogglleeWho should you ask about new symptoms?Today, health information is at your nger- health matters? A review of the 100 mosttips. All it takes is a quick Internet search to frequentlysharedhealtharticlesof2018,get information on any condition. You can conducted by Health Feedback in collaborationeven type your symptoms into a symptom with the Credibility Coalition, found that slightlychecker and see possible diagnoses that match less than half of these articles were scienticallywhat you are experiencing. This practice has accurate and highly credible. Another 35become so commonplace that its now referred percent were found to be inaccurate andto as consulting Dr. Google. But how accurate potentially harmful, while the remainder wereare these tools? How reliable is the information consideredsomewhataccurateordidnotabout health on the Internet? How do you contain enough information to judge theirknow if you need to see your doctor? accuracy.Symptom Checkers However, the reviewers found that articlesA recent study compared the accuracy of fromestablishednewssources(televisiona doctors diagnosis to those of more than 20 networks, major newspapers, and magazines)online symptom checker tools. Doctors were tended to be accurate and reliable. Nationalprovided with les containing a list of symptoms nonprots, hospital networks, and governmentand a medical history, but no patient was health agencies are also known for reliablepresent to examine. Under these conditions, health information. doctors arrived at the correct diagnosis 74 When to Use Internet Healthpercent of the time. The same information Informationwas then entered into symptom checkers; While you may be seeking reassurance bythese only provided the right diagnosis 34 looking up your symptoms before your visit,percent of the time. When asked to provide that strategy can backre. A 2017 study foundthree possible diagnoses, doctors accuracy that two-thirds of people who did so were notincreased to 84 percent, but the correct reassured, and of those, one-third becamediagnosis was only in the symptom checkers actively worried after an Internet search.top three list 51 percent of the time. When you have a new symptom or a changeAs an informal experiment, MS Focus sta in existing symptoms, its best to discuss itentered common symptoms of MS into ten with your doctor or nurse rst. After you havepopular sites symptom checkers, in various discussed the health change with your medicalcombinations. These tools oered possible providers, then using reliable internet sourcesdiagnoses ranging from the common cold to to learn more about a symptom, treatment, orcancer, but rarely suggested MS as a possibility. condition can help you put it in perspective,Health News remember the advice and instructions youwere given, and effectively manage yourHow about online news articles that discuss health.51 msfocusmagazine.org'