DON'T PLAY DOCTOR!
Long before the development of the internet, my mother used to claim she'd
earned an "honorary medical degree" just by living. Thus, she liberally
"diagnosed" the ailments of friends and family members based on her own
experiences.
Now that so many of us are online and able to access thousands - even
millions - of health websites with the click of a mouse, it can be easy
to fall into the trap of diagnosing our own symptoms.
But self-diagnosis is a trap - and it can be a dangerous one at that.
Checking your sympoms online may be okay when you have garden-variety sniffles.
But when you're really feeling ill, it's critically important that you seek
prompt, in-person medical advice from a qualified healthcare professional.
This is especially important if you have a chronic health condition such as
arthritis, cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. Many such conditions may
trigger secondary symptoms and cause complications you may not be familiar
with - anemia, fatigue, light-headedness, blindness, and the list goes on.
WHY YOU SHOULDN'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ ONLINE
Much content on health websites is inaccurate. Does the site note that a
medical doctor reviewed the material? When was it last updated?
Not all diseasea and disorders are going to be categorized on every website.
What if your sympoms don't match a condition that's not listed?
Many illnesses have similar symptoms, so the limited list you input on the
site could provide an erroneous diagnosis.
Medical information that comes from a blog or a patient-run website is
particularly iffy. Just because the writer's symptoms resulted in a
particular diagnosis doesn't mean that's what you have.
HOW SELF-DIAGNOSIS CAN GO WRONG
Self-diagnosis can....
Prevent your doctor from diagnosing and treating an actual, and
potentially serious, illness.
Tempt you to try inappropriate and possibly dangerous/deadly self-
treatment strategies.
Prompt you to take herbs or medications that could interact poorly
with other mediction you are taking.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
DOCTOR! DOCTOR! 
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