Doctor Internet

Patients receive important medical information and moral support

Last year, Andy Beaver, a 42-year-old computer specialist, began to feel constant convulsions in his left hand. He turned to a neurologist. After the necessary examinations were carried out, the doctor invited the biver to himself and said that he had Charcot's disease, or ALS (side amyotrophic sclerosis), and he had to live from 3 to 5 years. In parting, the doctor advised me to put personal affairs in order. “Our conversation continued for no more than three minutes, recalls the beaver, - staggering, I went to the exit, holding a piece of paper in my hands, on which it was written:" Als, from 3 to 5 years. "

In the evening of the same day, the Beaver tried to find some information about his illness via the Internet. It turned out that there is a special e -mail section for patients with ALS information ballot and a line of direct negotiations, to which not only patients, but also doctors can be connected. They make up 15 percent of the total number of subscribers (1700) using this section of the network.

Email and negotiation lines turned the Internet into an invaluable source of medical information on a variety of diseases. Due to the ability to connect to the Internet communication channels, patients in the most remote corners of the country do not feel hopelessly abandoned.

More and more doctors and specialists of medical research centers become voluntary consultants and give advice to network subscribers. Negotiations of patients with each other are of great interest for doctors. Doctors receive information that they cannot find in medical journals and not hear from patients during receptions. Many doctors connect to the Internet to listen to what patients are talking about. They are trying to not express their attitude to the issues discussed. In some cases, such eavesdropping may provide invaluable assistance to patients. So, a neuropathologist Carvel Jeepson, who specializes in the treatment of migraines, found out that one of the patients was going to take a cure for one of the rare forms of this disease. The patient threatened the patient with paralysis. The message sent on time helped to avoid the tragedy.

Bob Thomas and his 12-year-old daughter, whose brain tumor, after his request, received tips from six specialists of different clinics on the same day. The speed of obtaining information is often decisive, especially when the patient must make an important decision. Monica Friedman, a 42-year-old translator, was diagnosed with breast cancer. The surgeon recommended immediate operation and intensive chemotherapy. She and her husband connected to the e -mail section dedicated to breast cancer, and sent a request. During the day, he was answered by an oncologist and a specialist in radioactive treatment. Regardless of each other, both advised to use less radical treatments. After that, the couple turned to a doctor who shared the opinions of doctors who consulted by e -mail.

The reliability of the medical information distributed in the Web is monitored by organizations that oversee these communication lines: universities, state agencies. Information accumulated in databases is always verified and deserves complete confidence. Nevertheless, doctors are in no hurry to widely promote medical consultations by e -mail and the Internet. “Many doctors are annoying that patients send them email messages,” says Tom Ferguson, senior researcher at Harvard Medical Computer Center. “They are not used to this form of communication with patients.” Doctors are afraid that negotiations on the Internet lines can give incorrect ideas about treatment and instill false hopes. Two years ago, several ALS patients in Boston began to be treated with neurants, a medicine used for epilepsy. All patients ALS received a message about this by e -mail. The latter began to demand this drug from their doctors. Now hundreds of ALS patients are taking neuralntin in the hope that their muscles are not atrophy, but its effectiveness is insignificant, the tests carried out are contradictory. According to experts, the reception of neurrantin does not harm, but they are frightened by speed, and dubious advice is spreading by a cattle through the Internet. Charlatans appear, supplying "miraculous elixirs", having complained about the misfortune and despair of sick people. Professionals are actively fighting these phenomena. “We answer all the proposals of miraculous funds:“ This is very interesting. Please show your license, ”says Lauren Bugl, a former professor of radiation oncology of the University of Pennsylvania, who created a communication line for oncological patients within the framework of the Internet.

The girl’s father, a patient of ALS, asks if his daughter should remove dental seals (1000 dollars each) - the email was transmitted that the mercury compounds that are part of the filling substance cause ALS. Experts politely convinced him that this was not so.

Doctors refrain to make diagnoses and prescribe medicines over the Internet, but many of them are attracted to the opportunity to answer patient questions and warn them from errors.

Printed with abbreviations