I know a lot of people who go to great lengths to avoid following their doctor’s advice. They will go online, instead, to find out all about the illness they presumably suffer from. Data will be collected and collated from multiple sources to be thrown at their general physician at the next visit.

Instead of heeding advice to exercise and eat healthy food, which is just common sense, they spend hours on research — time which could be more profitably spent on going for a walk or to the gym. But, turning to the internet to determine the cause of symptoms may not be good for your health in the long run. That is because it has been found that nine to ten entries on any subject in Wikipedia, for example, contain factual errors. Even more sinister perhaps, drug companies have also been accused of editing Wikipedia to remove references to harmful side effects.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, backs up surveys showing as many as a quarter of women have misdiagnosed themselves on Google.

Reading these findings makes me feel glad and relieved that I have never had to resort to this online medium. That’s because there are doctors in the family whom we trust with our health. The only problem is that we want constant consultations and immediate remedies. If we are told that there isn’t much wrong with us, we feel cheated and wonder if the close relationship is hindering our treatment. When our concerns are dismissed offhand, we may make snide remarks about seeing a ‘real’ doctor.

Then there are those who can think of no better way to spend a holiday than do the rounds of doctors. For them, research online is too impersonal. What they crave is human contact, someone to confirm their worst fears. Of course, if the doctor dismisses their complaints as no cause for concern, they move on to the next. At the end of the day, they are a tired but happy lot. They have a sheaf of prescriptions and recommendations for various tests to be done. Now they have something to look forward to — more visits to a clinic or hospital. This could take weeks, but they are not put off. Each time a doctor negates what another says, they chalk up a victory. That can only mean that they are suffering from an illness so rare that it hasn’t yet been researched enough. Maybe the condition doesn’t even have a name as yet, simply because it hasn’t been discovered. The possibilities are infinite and they positively drool in anticipation of the diagnosis.

These are the kind of people who are a doctor’s delight. They keep him in clover. It’s a mutual admiration society, with membership open to all.

On the other side of the coin, there are those who have a hospital phobia and prefer to play the stoic and suffer in silence. If there is something terribly wrong with them, they don’t want to know. You know the saying, ‘What you don’t know can’t hurt you’. Or so they would like to believe. They don’t like being asked about their health and are deft at changing the subject. If one is persistent, they will insist they are fine. If you are good at reading body language, you’ll stop there.

An interesting group comprises those who have been diagnosed with an illness and have to take medication. But they dictate their terms. If the doctor says this tablet has to be taken every six hours, they will give this instruction much thought. Will it interfere with their social life? They certainly don’t want to be seen in public popping pills. Sensing their discomfort, the medicine man quickly makes compromises. Timings are changed to suit their lifestyle and, voila, everyone is happy!