Healthcare IT Miscellaneous

Word of the day: cyberchondriacs

From the BBC:

“…researchers found Web searches for common symptoms such as headache and chest pain were just as likely or more likely to lead people to pages describing serious conditions as benign ones, even though the serious illnesses are much more rare.

Searching for ‘chest pain’ or ‘muscle twitches’ returned terrifying results with the same frequency as less serious ailments, even though the chances of having a heart attack or a fatal neurodegenerative condition is far lower than having simple indigestion or muscle strain, for example.

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