RESEARCH - Google could help doctors diagnose illness

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The Daily Mail

November 10, 2006

Google could 'help doctors diagnose illness'

Doctors could turn to Google to help them diagnose illnesses, experts said

today. The internet search engine found the correct diagnosis in 58 per cent

of difficult cases, they said.

But the idea has met with opposition from patient groups who questioned the

credibility of many health sites. And the Royal College of General

Practitioners said the internet was " in no way a replacement for doctors " .

For the study, researchers at the Princess andra Hospital in Brisbane,

Australia, identified 26 difficult cases from the New England Journal of

Medicine.

They included Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Cushing's syndrome (a

hormonal disorder), acute chest syndrome and Churg-Strauss syndrome (an

autoimmune disease).

The researchers selected three to five search terms from each case and did a

Google search on each, while " blind " to the correct diagnoses.

They then selected and recorded the three diagnoses that were ranked most

prominently and which seemed to fit the symptoms and signs. Those results

were compared with the correct diagnoses as listed in the journal.

The study found that Google found the correct diagnosis in 15 of the 26

cases. The experts said doctors would get a better result than patients, who

may find the search less efficient and be less likely to reach the correct

diagnosis. They also suggested that medical students would find the tool

useful.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), concluded:

" Doctors and patients are increasingly proficient with the internet and

frequently use Google to search for medical information.

" Twenty five million people in the United Kingdom were estimated to have web

access in 2001, and searching for health information was one of the most

common uses of the web.

" Our study suggests that in difficult diagnostic cases, it is often useful

to 'Google for a diagnosis'.

" Web-based search engines such as Google are becoming the latest tools in

clinical medicine, and doctors in training need to become proficient in

their use. "

But a spokeswoman for the Patients Association said doctors already had a

wide knowledge when it came to diagnosing conditions. She added: " We would

be concerned if they were using websites to diagnose people, what would

happen if they gave the patient the wrong information?

" Also, a lot of sites are not credible. There are lots of good sites out

there, but we also know that there are many that are not credible. "

Professor Mayur Lakhani, chairman of the Royal College of General

Practitioners, said: " The internet is in no way a replacement for doctors -

their clinical judgment and expertise will always be necessary to make sense

of the information.

" Rather, it should be seen as a way of supporting doctors and their

patients. "

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Not an MD

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org