Dear friends and amazing patients,

As we complete week 3 of home isolation, we may find that more and more healthcare concerns may be dominating one’s worries at home. Naturally, with shelter-in-place directives from our top officials, access to information is most practically reached via internet access. As you begin your online search to answer health-related questions, please be careful of incorrect and dubious information that is spreading through online search engines.

Here are TOP 3 things to KNOW to avoid health related #FAKENEWS online :

1.        Google is a good starting point to start when thinking about an online search for your symptoms, but often is not the final answer.

We should think of google as an online encyclopedia, except it has content that has not been proofread and fact-checked. An online search engine like google will collect all the information put out there on the internet, at the click of a button. It is an impressive feat, but one needs to keep things in context. Google does not know your past medical history, your gender, your family , and your increased likelihood to develop a certain disease based on your personal history. As physicians, we look at our patients in a personalized way before we come to a conclusion of what is the likely diagnosis for you, as a person with your particular personal, medical, and family history. Thus if there is discordance between what Google says you have and what your doctor thinks you should be treated for, there is a valid reason why.

2.        We are fighting an  infodemic .

In the background of COVID-19 and the coronavirus, a fast paced churning of information that changes by the hour can allow for anxiety to build up in anyone. During times like these, the fear of the unknown , when nobody’s an expert, everyone sounds like an expert. Always verify the source and author of a written medical piece of information. Great writing does not mean great medical authority. Look for credentials behind the author’s background information. For medical advice, make sure an author with a healthcare degree or board certified physician in their corresponding specialty is making the comment. Stay alert and always look for new information, but you also want your information to come from someone who has had the training to diagnose and advise on medical concerns.

3.        Media sometimes gets ahead of the evidence.

Traditional mass media always sells better with the more extreme or controversial photo, the more ridiculous headline, and the more it clashes with current reasoning and medical advice. Media is there to uncover lies and untruthfulness. However when used incorrectly, it can also build mistrust in the medical field, mistrust in the doctor-patient relationship. As physicians and healthcare providers we took an oath to “do no harm” and will not always agree with what is put forth on the internet when it is not backed by evidence-based medicine. The term evidence-based medicine means that clinicians use science, engineering, biostatistics and epidemiology, such as meta-analysis, decision analysis, risk-benefit analysis, and randomized controlled trials to create scientific evidence. The evidence is then translated into practice by selecting treatment options for specific cases based on the best research, patient preferences and individual patient characteristics ( Source: hopkinsmedicine.org) .

Don’t let the anxiety of the unknown scare you into believing the most extreme health news headline on the internet. Stay alert on your quest info, and a physician consult is only a click or a phone call away.

Let us know if we can help, and email us any future topics you’d like to hear more about !

Virtual visits are available by emailing  dsb.hamzavi@gmail.com  , or contact us at (810) 355 4300

Please stay home, stay healthy, and be safe!

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