Don’t Get Medical Advice from Facebook

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
A new study says that Facebook groups dedicated to specific diseases are probably not the best place to get medical advice or hand out your personal info. Raise your hand of you are dumb enough to look for medical advice on Facebook. :rolleyes:

Facebook provides a forum for reporting personal experiences, asking questions, and receiving direct feedback for people living with diabetes. However, promotional activity and personal data collection are also common, with no accountability or checks for authenticity.
Click to expand...
 
I'll raise my hand.

It is important to be able to get a second opinion even if you don't want a professional second opinion.

Facebook groups is a great way for people with a chronic condition to share with a community of people who have the same problems. I may ask how did you guys deal with this situation or that. When having problems I'll ask what other people did to remedy them including what did their doctor prescribe. When going on a new medicine I'll ask how other people are doing on it and what side effects have they had.

The thing I hope most people don't miss it the going back to your doctor part. I'll go to my doc with things I learned from a support group and ask him. He explains why he doesn't recommend this or that for me or gives me advice on how to do so.
 
ಠ_ಠ

WebMD was never a good place to get medical advice, how is Facebook any better?

What would you do if they stabbed me in the toe?! Rub some aloe vera on my neck?

I think feel an aneurysm coming on. Could you help me out with one of them therapeutic massages?
Click to expand...
 
I think it's a good idea to "Hear" people's opinion/medical advice but I'd never follow it without checking it with a real doctor first. I once met a guy who recommend drinking small amount of Hydrogen Peroxide to cure "everything". Needless to say I recommend him to seek mental health.
 
Reminds me of the time my co-worker advised i seek a homeopathic doctor for my grandmothers cancer. The internet is a bad place to seek medical advise.
 
a lot of people have problems for which there are no real effective medical solutions.
the internet can be a place where people discuss various approaches and their success/failures using them.
of course common sense applies. it should never be used as a substitute for seeing a doctor.
 
Just another example of the pure genius of people. ;)

Individually everyone is smart, but as a group (internet) everyone is just plain dumb.
 
MaddBomber83 said:
I'll raise my hand.

It is important to be able to get a second opinion even if you don't want a professional second opinion.
Click to expand...

No, it is not. Its actually a really bad idea to get a second opinion from amateurs. This should be painfully obvious.
 
LOL

i read the story and all I could think of is


Paging Dr. Gregory House!!!

you'd be a complete FOOL to trust anything on Facebook when it comes to your health. You CAN use online sources to get some info on your health that you're concerned about, but the best option is definitely to consult with a licensed doctor or other health professional.

I do know that there are sites like Web M.D. or other sites where you can pay to get a consult from a doctor. In fact, that was shown on an episode or 2 of House where the doctors who worked for House used House's name to set up an online clinic. Of course House found out, anyway, I digress.

Cliffs Notes: Medical advice + Facebook + staking your health on this = this will not end well.
 
Let's see... Don't get medical advice from strangers. Ok, why do we need someone to tell us this?:confused:
 
I watch reruns of Dr House for all my medical diagnoses. I figure that if he can't figure it out I am screwed.....
 
The last time I went in to see my doctor, he commented my voice seemed a bit rough. Like I'd been doing a bit too much screaming or some such. I just told him I'd been fiddling around with overclocking my larynx, see if I could get a bit more out of it, y'know?
 
So people basically disclose their medical history along with their real personal information publicly on the internet? There's no limit to the stupidity of FB users.
 
They probably got those diseases from their Facebook friends. Why not ask them what it is? :D
 
As motioned, take everything with a grain of salt. Using WebMD, Wikipedia, social networking, etc. for information works as long as its not your sole resource. Seek professional opinion, e.g. watch House.
 
I can just see it now, "Your claim for health insurance is DENIED as you did not seek proper medical treatment with the symptoms first occurred. Its been shown that before you vsiited your doctor, you consulted 25 seperate friends on your facebook group, "I think I may have cancer in my anus, how can I tell' and all 25 people turned out to be high schoolers in nowhere, colorado whom laughed repeatedly at you for having posted using your real name and even went so far as to in a /4 chan style submit your story to your local channel 4 news station...and it aired".
 
Facebook groups are a great place to find like-minded people willing to come to a consensus about life-altering questions, while ignoring all evidence contrary to their collective opinions.

Hey, there are only so many places anti-vaxers and parents of autistic children can go for really bad advice.
 
eh, and yet people come here for their hardware questions instead of going to geek squad....
 
srangara said:
Facebook groups are a great place to find like-minded people willing to come to a consensus about life-altering questions, while ignoring all evidence contrary to their collective opinions.
Click to expand...

Sorry, did a double take, are you talking about Apple fan boi groups?
 
jiminator said:
eh, and yet people come here for their hardware questions instead of going to geek squad....
Click to expand...

What are you inferring? :D

Real doctors know solely relying on Facebook medical groups would be a bad idea.

Real hardware enthusiasts know relying on Geek Squad is a bad idea. Best Buy will hire anyone with a mediocrity of computer know how, e.g. something akin to "hey I'm majoring in computer science!" or "I install video cards for my friends!" Geek Squad tailors to non-savvy computer folks, not hardcore builders.
 
Approximately 27% of posts featured some type of promotional activity, generally presented as testimonials advertising non-FDA approved, “natural” products
Not good. Anecdotes are not a good basis for very many things. And treatment for a chronic, reasonably severe condition is not one of those things.

ಠ_ಠ

WebMD was never a good place to get medical advice, how is Facebook any better?

What would you do if they stabbed me in the toe?! Rub some aloe vera on my neck?

I think feel an aneurysm coming on. Could you help me out with one of them therapeutic massages?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Woo! Red vs Blue FTW!

Real doctors have a degree. What does Geek squad have?

And besides. It's possible to learn about hardware and software at home. It's a common amateur activity. No amateur is allowed to prescribe, operate, or run an ED.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Article is inherently obsolete immediately on release; users seeking Facebook health advice already dead. Purpose defeated.
 
without the valuable medical advice from facebook i'd never have had the confidence to slice off my feet to solve my foot odour problem!
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Mr. Pedantic said:
Approximately 27% of posts featured some type of promotional activity, generally presented as testimonials advertising non-FDA approved, “natural” products
Not good. Anecdotes are not a good basis for very many things. And treatment for a chronic, reasonably severe condition is not one of those things.



Woo! Red vs Blue FTW!

Real doctors have a degree. What does Geek squad have?

And besides. It's possible to learn about hardware and software at home. It's a common amateur activity. No amateur is allowed to prescribe, operate, or run an ED.
Click to expand...

erectile dysfunction?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
I'd go to my dog for medical advice before I went to Facebook. Hell I would NEVER get an answer to anything from that worthless website.
 
Down with facebook :p

But anyone who relies soley on what a single licensed doctor says is also at risk.
 
heatlesssun said:
Let's see... Don't get medical advice from strangers. Ok, why do we need someone to tell us this?:confused:
Click to expand...

You should see GenMay. About everyday you have someone describing their conditions and asking what they should do about it.
 
Astronomica said:
Reminds me of the time my co-worker advised i seek a homeopathic doctor for my grandmothers cancer. The internet is a bad place to seek medical advise.
Click to expand...

No it isn't, if you know what to look and properly research it, and don't believe everything you read, that is todays problem, people click the first link and think everything written is true because so many people these days are just.... well.. stupid.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top