The Hindu Business Line : Cyberchondriacs

YOUR head aches, so you click on the Internet and before you know it, your search has taken you to sites which describe brain tumours and you are terrified and start wondering whether you are suffering from a simple headache or a terminal illness. Then there was this woman who had a tingling, numbness, fatigue and insomnia and did the searches on the Internet and fretted as she thought her symptoms seemed too indicate multiple sclerosis. This is a modern version of health anxiety, a fixation that affects reportedly an estimated 2-3 per cent of adults all over the developed world which often goes undiagnosed — though not undiscussed, at least on the Internet.

Doctors used to call it by a common name — hypochondria — a condition documented for almost 2000 years but little studied in modern times. A Roman physician described it in 130 AD. Later, in the 18th century, non-specific complaints were thought to centre around certain physical areas — particularly the upper abdomen in the cartilage beneath the breastbone, which is the basis for its name: Hypo for under and chondros for cartilage. Expectedly, the sheer volume of available material on the Internet is enough to make even the healthiest person reach for a thermometer. But for those who suffer from health anxiety the barrage can be overwhelming. Self-diagnosis via the Internet can be a real minefield. The information can cause confusion and unnecessary alarm.

More worryingly, unscrupulous sites exist to make money out of the gullible. According to a recent BBC report, these reputable sites have medical professors and hospital consultants as advisers and can act as an important aid to patient care. The Health on the Net Foundation, an NGO from Switzerland, has a code of conduct for approving sites, and they have a search tool to find sites which are safe to research.

Also, recent surveys suggest that doctors find the patients' research on the Internet is constructive in about 50 per cent of the cases even as some among the medical community find it irksome when the patients present a thick file of computer printouts. In the long run, inevitably, doctors will have to make adjustments to treat patients who are armed with a wealth of information before hand.

However, for cyberchondriacs a few well-meaning health anxiety support Web sites are there to reassure and suggest cognitive behavioural therapy which may provide relief.

R. Sundaram

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