Lewis (2006, 526) discusses the increasing worldwide use of the Internet to find medical information, considering whether it is a healthy lifestyle choice or a case of ‘cyberchondria’. The website RealAge.com in particular is discussed for it’s ability to calculate your ‘real age’ (Lewis, 2006, 521).
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I went onto the RealAge.com website and took the RealAge test, admittedly I expected to be ‘older’ but the result I got was slightly surprising. RealAge.com also offers to provide you with health tips to bring down your body age, all of which seem to be straightforward and easy tips to achieve.
This website, for the most part, consists of tips to stay or get healthy, while other websites seem to be giving away medical advice, which they expect their audience to follow.
I will admit I have looked up my own symptoms online many times. Sometimes I hadn’t understood or remembered what the doctor had said. Sometimes a friend or family member had suggested a condition to fit my symptoms and I looked it up out of curiosity.
Though many people use the Internet for these reasons, others truly believe they can diagnose their own condition through Internet advice. Ultimately, you have to realise not all the information you are being given is true and you don’t necessarily have the condition that fits your symptoms.
References
Lewis, T. 2006. “Seeking Health Information on the Internet: lifestyle choice or bad attack of cyberchondria?” Media, Culture & Society 28: 521 – 539 Accessed April 9, 2011. doi: 10.1177/0163443706065027
RealAge, Inc. 2011. “Health Tips – Health Assessment and Tips to Live a Longer Life” Accessed April 10, 2011. http://www.realage.com/
This is so true Elisha. I sometimes use the internet in conjunction with a doctor's visit if I can't remember what a doctor has said or if I want to find out a little more information from other professionals or other people's experiences. But as you said you definitely have to be careful about what you're reading.
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