THE DANGER OF KNOWING TOO MUCH

"The Internet says." "I just Googled it." "Bing banged the data home." I know know that I am going to die with the disease that I have, or not!

We are all individuals and react chemically, physiologically and mentally to our bodies. We know when to go to the doctor, if we should go to the doctor and how long we can put off going to the doctor - after all the Internet says I have six months to live so I got time.The other web site says I have more than a year - well that was because I hadn't been in Tasmania in the past 12 months - does Tarzana count? Wait! I found a web site that says I will live forever. Forever, that is a long time, hmmm!

Here's the rub. We have a world of information at our fingertips and we read everything as if it was written just for us. Because it is in writing it is gospel. But self diagnosis is at best dangerous. We have a great deal of information without the data to back it up. So, we do go to the doctor. We are ready for the worst because the Internet says so.

Recently we had a family member who got sick with a viral infection. He spent seven days in the hospital, he had more images of his body taken than Lady Gaga at the MTV Awards.They suspected so many things and found - nothing. No, he had something, but the answer to what it might be was never found - nor will it ever be. The problem resolved it self in two weeks.Some anti-biotic and plenty of fluid. Get the fever down and some food, if he could. The Internet was sure he had Hepatitis A, maybe some other exotic infection, limes disease, mono - run down the list, take your pick, test for them all.. The Internet knows. It knows symptoms, treatments, medications, side effects, but the Internet does not know the patient.

The cadre of doctors preformed so many tests that they ran out of machines. Literally, there were no more machines to scan, poke, nudge and annoy the patient. A simple thermometer was the indicator of the progress of the patient. It appears that the severity of any illness is in direct proportion to the amount of information on the Internet and how many machines that the hospital has that they can bill for.

I can recall when I had a similar set of symptoms. I did not go out of my neighborhood without my mother's permission, so travel was limited to a few blocks. No exotic tick bites. When I walked in the house, I was light headed, dizzy, running a fever and threw up. My mother called the doctor. He said I had the Grip. Give him fluids, best rest and keep him cool for about two weeks. It worked. My mother paid the doctor about $5 for that regimen.

In spite of the tests and all the Internet data, this patient was monitored with a thermometer, kept cool, got plenty of fluids and lo and behold he is better in two weeks. Where is good old Doc Shapiro when you need him.(He'd be about 123, if he were still alive).

Is there a moral to this story? No. Just see the doctor and tell him how you feel and not what Internet says you should feel.