Stop Googling your symptoms right now, health experts say

FILED - Looking up symptoms on the internet can make people who suffer from hypochondria feel even more anxious, studies have shown. Photo: Alex Maxim/All Canada Photos/dpa

Although more and more people are turning to the Internet for medical advice, “Dr Google” is no substitute for an actual visit to a doctor, health experts say.  

At a recent health summit in Hanover, Germany, Martina Wenker of the state medical association for Lower Saxony (AEKN) said: “The constant accessibility of medical information of varying degrees of accuracy on the Internet is very unsettling for many patients.”