Trust your doctor, not Wikipedia, say scientists

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Trust your doctor, not Wikipedia, say scientists

Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia, contains errors in nine out of 10 of its health entries, and should be treated with caution, a study has said.

Scientists in the US compared entries about conditions such as heart disease, lung cancer, depression and diabetes with peer-reviewed medical research.

They said most articles in Wikipedia contained "many errors".

Wikimedia UK, its British arm, said it was "crucial" that people with health concerns spoke to their GP first.

Source and more

In other news, the sky is blue. I can't believe they have to point this out. :rolleyes:

[LaP]

Dunno. I had to see 3 doctors for a problem i had in the past before they were able to find what was wrong. The first 2 doctors were completely in the left field.

[xrobwx71]

No ######. :)  Doctors are not infallible but they have had the intense training to come to a much closer diagnosis than Wikipedia. 

[spenser.d]

No ####. :)  Doctors are not infallible but they have had the intense training to come to a much closer diagnosis than Wikipedia. 

 

And they're also required to keep up to date in their field with continued education. Wikipedia is not :P

[neufuse Veteran]

I love when doctors though tell you that you are "imagining" symptoms because they don't know what is up... have had that happen before... had to go to three doctors before someone believed me and did the tests to prove it.....

[LaP]

I love when doctors though tell you that you are "imagining" symptoms because they don't know what is up

 

yep the 2nd doctor i saw for problem i wrote about earlier actually said that to me. I was speechless when he told me that. I had abdominal pain strong enough to almost knock me out. When i told that to the 3rd doctor i saw he literally called the other doctor an idiot in front of me.

[User6060]

not to knock all MD's but they generally don't do a full enough history and don't have a personal connection with their patients that allows them to open up and give more information when the right questions are asked and the patient is "primed or probed" - most patients forget all the details at the appointment even though they knew what was going on in the waiting room because of the authority dynamic

 

in my opinion their physical exam/palpation skills aren't the same other health professionals that use their hands to treat like physio/chiro/osteopath which makes them rely on Rx that mask pain and they use the natural history of the disease and wait it out hoping you don't come back before you're better on your own or it goes into remission 

 

go to your doctor for sure but you need to find competent ones that you can connect with and trust to do everything feasible for you. if your appointments last <10min and you waited over an hour this doc is not treating he is lining his wallet 

[Bamsebjørn]

I don't know, I just read on Wikipedia that I shouldn't always trust the doctor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Liston

 

Amputated the leg in under 2¹?₂ minutes (the patient died afterwards in the ward from hospital gangrene; they usually did in those pre-Listerian days). He amputated in addition the fingers of his young assistant (who died afterwards in the ward from hospital gangrene). He also slashed through the coat tails of a distinguished surgical spectator, who was so terrified that the knife had pierced his vitals he dropped dead from fright.

That was the only operation in history with a 300 percent mortality.

[+Thayios Subscriber²]

I love when doctors though tell you that you are "imagining" symptoms because they don't know what is up... have had that happen before... had to go to three doctors before someone believed me and did the tests to prove it.....

 

Had a similar issue with a doctor thinking it was in my head - eventually got diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis after my foot ballooned up from swelling up and every joint in my body hurting and not being able to walk. 

[123456789A]

I don't like using the Internet to research symptoms anyway because it's like you put in "soreness" plus "runny nose" and it tells you that you could have some terminal disease.

[xrobwx71]

Had a similar issue with a doctor thinking it was in my head - eventually got diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis after my foot ballooned up from swelling up and every joint in my body hurting and not being able to walk. 

A simple blood test RA Factor would have shown this. My last one was 8 my Dad's is 152. He has Rheumatoid Arthritis. I hope you get the treatment you need. My Dad's insurance was cancelled recently and he can't afford the $3000 a month infusions that  help him.

[neufuse Veteran]

Had a similar issue with a doctor thinking it was in my head - eventually got diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis after my foot ballooned up from swelling up and every joint in my body hurting and not being able to walk. 

I ###### one doctor off one time, I knew I had mono, all the symptoms were there, I was sick for 3 weeks and couldn't even swallow or breath it was so bad... so I went to the hospital, 3 different doctors kept telling me it was just a cold, I kept saying for three weeks? give me a blood test for mono, they all refused to... had to tell the last doctor do the darn test even if I have to pay for it out of pocket... he was a little ###### at that, they ran the blood test... a while later came back, doctor said "you have mono"... my response was no crap why didn't you want to listen to my symptoms?.... their response was "too many people fake it for the anti-biotics" umm THEN RUN A DARN TEST AND PROVE IT... ugh.. not that anti-biotics help much with mono but they do keep other problems from starting up...

[Hum]

Most doctors today are nothing but drug dispensers. :rolleyes:

[Raa]

But I might have brain cancer! :(

[Tha Bloo Monkee]

I could imagine it being frustrating for doctors when they get those think-they-know-it-all patients that come in with a list of possibilities because they did a bunch of "research" for their symptoms online before going in.  Like a simple headache turning into a brain tumour, for example.

 

As for the article, it's almost amusing that they had to state to not trust Wikipedia.

[Guest]

But wait! What do you do when a doctor tells you to consult Wikipedia? The world gets divided by 0?

[Ph1b3r0pt1c]

But I might have brain cancer! :(

That's how I found out I had it, sadly enough.

[notchinese]

While none of them all that serious, I have successfully internet diagnosed my previous 3-4 causes for a doctor's visit. The doctor visit was essentially confirmation + treatment.

[+Thayios Subscriber²]

A simple blood test RA Factor would have shown this. My last one was 8 my Dad's is 152. He has Rheumatoid Arthritis. I hope you get the treatment you need. My Dad's insurance was cancelled recently and he can't afford the $3000 a month infusions that  help him.

 

Unfortunately they tested my blood for everything else besides what they should have been testing for. I finally yelled at my doctor that I couldn't walk let alone run a business with the symptoms I was having and he referred me to a RA doctor as a last ditch effort whom ended up being spot on. I literally spent close to 2k in co-payments in four months!

 

I'm on Humara now every week which has made a 90% improvement. They offer a non-insurance discount (sometimes no payment at all) if your dad would be willing to try that - I know it's 2k per package without insurance normally and that only lasts two weeks for me.

[Phouchg]

Yep.

 

[singularity87]

The danger with online articles is that if you have a degree of scientific literacy then you can sort of follow some of what they're saying.

 

What you cannot do, without proper training, is interpret them and put them in context. Particularly when you're applying it to yourself or a loved one. Even doctors themselves have difficulties with self-diagnosis.

[jakem1]

It's obviously silly to be self diagnosing on the internet but some people have no choice.  In countries that charge for GP visits there will always be people who have to decide whether to go to the doctor or buy essentials such as food.

[madd-hatter]

Doctor's commonly disagree and more commonly want to sell you something. (Other than their expensive conversations.)

 

Trust your doctor, and no other sources, say doctors.

[xrobwx71]

Unfortunately they tested my blood for everything else besides what they should have been testing for. I finally yelled at my doctor that I couldn't walk let alone run a business with the symptoms I was having and he referred me to a RA doctor as a last ditch effort whom ended up being spot on. I literally spent close to 2k in co-payments in four months!

 

I'm on Humara now every week which has made a 90% improvement. They offer a non-insurance discount (sometimes no payment at all) if your dad would be willing to try that - I know it's 2k per package without insurance normally and that only lasts two weeks for me.

Thanks for the info Tech! Glad to hear of your improvement as well. I myself went to the doctor today as I have had several symptoms for about 6 months (I'm 42). He told me even though my test show a low score I could still have RA. It sometimes doesn't show up at first and then "it rears it's head" later on we just have to keep following the symptoms. I am well aware about the co-pays. I have been to the family doctor about 6x this year $10 co-pay. Been to a cancer doctor 3x $40 co-pay. Had an ultrasound on my abdomen $300 copay, 2 Cat scans $300 a pop. I just hope they can "fix" me or at least give me some definitive answers. 

[+Thayios Subscriber²]

Thanks for the info Tech! Glad to hear of your improvement as well. I myself went to the doctor today as I have had several symptoms for about 6 months (I'm 42). He told me even though my test show a low score I could still have RA. It sometimes doesn't show up at first and then "it rears it's head" later on we just have to keep following the symptoms. I am well aware about the co-pays. I have been to the family doctor about 6x this year $10 co-pay. Been to a cancer doctor 3x $40 co-pay. Had an ultrasound on my abdomen $300 copay, 2 Cat scans $300 a pop. I just hope they can "fix" me or at least give me some definitive answers. 

 

Keep at it as mine was low at first too! Pretty much my entire life I was basically called a hypochondriac because I told people I was in pain and they didn't believe me. It wasn't until my RA went full retard that they finally believed me, and now I get to stick my finger in their face and say I told you so. The only upside to this is I have an incredibly high pain tolerance now! I had $50 copay on specialty doctors unfortunately and only $20 on normal.