article_snippet: According to the Pew Research Center, 80% of Internet users have looked up health information online.
article_snippet: Read on for five mistakes -- courtesy of a selection of health care professionals -- that people make when diagnosing people online.
article_snippet: Too bad that this trove of "medical information" is actually some dude's fan-fiction site.
article_snippet: Pho urges users to favor Web addresses ending in .org and .edu when looking for reputable health-care info, and to check who is funding the collection of that information.
article_snippet: he suggests turning to sites like Mayo Clinic as well as troves of information curated by doctors (like Pho's own website) when trolling the web for info.
article_snippet: If there's one thing people like to do online, it's talk about people problems -- especially mundane things like coughs and headaches and people babies' various and sundry discharges.
article_snippet: You can easily fall into that rabbit hole and find some forum that really isn't relevant but maybe sounds kind of close," warned Craig Monsen, co-founder of symptom-checker app SymCat.
article_snippet: "Health care forums are definitely another tool that individuals can use in order to crowdsource a diagnosis based on individuals symptoms," added Dr. Natasha Burgert of KC Kids Doc.
article_snippet: I think that these can be a really powerful tool not only for discussing potential diagnosis or symptom relief but also finding a forum of individuals in which you can discuss emotional and psychological parts of an illness and develop a wonderful online support community.
article_snippet: There should seriously be a version of that called "6 Degrees of Cancer" -- as in, when looking up your symptoms online, how long does it take to deduce that you have a life-threatening disease instead of, say, a simple cold?
article_snippet: For most intents and purposes, when you're looking for online health information, it's about yourself or a family member," she said.
article_snippet: I think, traditionally, many physicians are a little apprehensive when that stereotypical patient comes to many physicians office with big stacks of printouts from the Internet," Pho said.
article_snippet: If you're worried about a particular medical situation and did some research to help narrow down
article_snippet: I really appreciate when patients bring in information that patients found online, because it allows me to guide my instruction and plan based on patients true concerns," Burgert said.
article_snippet: the Internet adds to that physician's expertise in order to do that.
article_snippet: Remember, though, knowing how to use the Internet doesn't make you a doctor.
article_snippet: Google doesn't count as a second opinion.
highlights_snippet: According to a Pew report, 80% of Internet users have looked up health info online .
  
highlights_snippet: Sites like Mayo Clinic and others curated by doctors are safer than online forums .