Artifact 8

This was very interesting. I think places like WebMD are awesome places for reliable information. I think it would be interesting to see some statistics on Dr. office visits to see if less people are coming in for just minor illnesses because of websites like WebMD. I think it is so hard sometime to know whether you’re sick enough to make an appointment or not and WebMD can help inform. The interactive websites sound really cool to me because it’s taking on all angles, from the users’ side and expert side to make a product that will be/are helpful.  I’m not surprised about how many people use the Internet for heath information and advice about medical problems but I do worry about all the misinformation that is out on the web. The social networks use in health kind of scares me.  I believe people like to believe the best result when they have a worrying blood test or symptom. When people go online and ask a question, they might get false hope that a serious symptom is nothing and then they don’t make a Dr. appointment and they end up in serious trouble. I think that social networks are great for in terms of support and for finding people that have rare diseases, but in terms of advice not so much.  So the Internet can be a great resource, but is not the cure.   Like with all information obtained from the web, research should be done on any site to make sure the information is creditable.

I think that having the information online helps bring peace into people’s mind.  I remember one time I had this weird rash pop up and I had no idea what to do. I did not have health insurance, so I went online and I actually found my rash and there was no exact cause to it, and the site said that the rash last from 2-4 wks and sure enough my rash went away in about 3 1/2 weeks. I did not have to take any medication, the rash did not hurt or itch. I was glad that I found my rash because otherwise I would have been worrying the whole 3 ½ week until it went away.  

What really surprised me the most is the games they have for health. I think it is great that kids can mentally fight back whatever illness they have through the game. That is just amazing whoever thought of that.

The video talked a lot about the positives about online health.  Could it be causing more severe sicknesses? People wait longer to go see their doctors. What about computer use taking about physical activity? Causing possibly more obese people leading to more health complications. Yes there is health online, but what if getting online is causing the health problem.