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Google's new symptom search will likely tell you it's not Lupus

Picture the following scene: you wake up disoriented, head is throbbing, you’ve broken out in a cold sweat and you can’t even form a coherent sentence as you stumble your way across the apartment. Is it the worst hangover you’ve ever had or is it, just like the gypsy woman had said, that brain cancer that will finally end it all?

Until now, you would’ve needed to scour the internet and WebMD to find the unavoidably depressing cause of all your symptoms. But now, Google is speeding up the process by offering symptom search straight on the search engine’s homepage.

Going forward, when you search for symptoms or disease, Google will pull up a card showing what might be causing your distress, potential other symptoms and signs that you should see your doctor. The company announced that it was adding this functionality because millions of users search for health-related info every day. And just like with other content, Google wanted to have an easy way to quickly display results – and keep users on its own page.

Of course, the company is quick to point out that its information is gathered from public sources like Wikipedia and the like and should not be construed as medical advice. Instead, Google notes, this is only for informational purposes only and you’re always better off consulting a real doctor.

The update is rolling out as we speak, though you’ll only encounter it when searching in English in the US for now, with a possible expansion in the future.

Source: Google | Logo image via Fox

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