Doctors could use Google to diagnose disease

Doctors could use Google to diagnose disease

www.chinaview.cn 2006-11-10 19:10:56

BEIJING, Nov. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Doctors could turn to Internet search engines such as Google to help them find the correct diagnosis in 58 percent of difficult cases, Australian researchers said on Friday.     Dr. Hangwi Tang and Dr. Jennifer Ng of the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane have reported their findings online in the British Medical Journal.     They say that the study was driven by personal curiosity after noticing how patients and doctors alike were using Google to diagnose difficult cases.    Tang and Ng selected 26 difficult cases presented in the New England Journal of Medicine, including Cushing's syndrome, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, encephalitis and cirrhosis.     They then plugged the symptoms of each case into Google to come up with a diagnosis. When these diagnoses were compared with the correct published diagnoses, the researchers found that Google got it right 58 percent of the time.     They say an online search is likely to be more effective at helping to diagnose conditions with unique symptoms that can be used as search terms.     The idea has met with opposition from patient groups who questioned the credibility of many health sites.     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."     (Agencies)

Editor: Yan Liang