1 GOOGLE PUTS HEALTH IN OUR HANDS. GULP.
1998 IT’S HARD TO REMEMBER the days when we got our health information from the library, pamphlets in the doctor’s office, or—gasp!—the actual doctor. But before Google was launched 25 years ago, there was no such thing as Googling “How do I know I’m having a heart attack?” or “Ways to prevent a hangover” at 2:00 a.m.
Of course, when the Internet came on the scene in the early ’90s, there were other search engines for a hot minute, but Google, which handles 90 percent of all search queries worldwide, has endured and changed our health more radically than anything else in history. Three out of four people now turn to the web for health information, according to National Cancer Institute and Mayo Clinic research. But at what cost?
We have instant access to lifesaving facts, photos of rashes, alternative treatments, academic journals, databases of doctors who’ve faced disciplinary actions, and communities of our peers. We also have instant access to every crackpot theory imaginable. It’s made an indelible mark on us and our health.
IT RADICALLY CHANGED HOW WE TALK WITH OUR DOCS
“We’ve moved from a patriarchal medical system where people would see their doctor and report symptoms and be informed about treatments without much discussion,” says Christopher Kelly, M.D., a cardiologist in Raleigh. “This has led to shared decision-making and discussions of diagnoses.” And there’s some evidence that access to online health information helps reduce some of the health inequality experienced by marginalized groups.
IT MAKES US EXPERTS… SORT OF
We can learn more about a disease than overburdened doctors have time for and advocate for our health on an unprecedented level. On the flip side, we’ve taken this empowerment to the extreme by trying to bypass doctors completely. That can give us cyberchondria—who hasn’t thought they had a serious illness after Googling symptoms? Or searching might make you think your problem isn’t a problem at all and let you blow off symptoms. Knowledge is found that physicians consistently beat online symptom checkers in determining what was really wrong.
