Dr. Google doesn’t always know what’s best - Daily Nation

When faced with an actual or potential diagnosis of cancer, most people are inclined to consult Dr. Google, often before they see a real live medical expert. Unfortunately, Dr. Google doesn’t always know what’s best.

A generation ago, patients were largely dependent upon the physicians they consulted as to how best to deal with a disease like cancer.

Nowadays there’s the internet, replete with a virtual tsunami of information offered by all kinds of sources, from experts equipped with evidence-based facts to people selling products or outright quackery.

The trick is to know how to tell the difference, especially since the disparate guidance provided can become a matter of life or death.

“It’s easy for people to land on a site filled with misinformation that leads them to make decisions that may not be in their best interests,” Dr. Lidia Schapira, medical oncologist at Stanford University Medical Center, told me. She is editor of the very reliable site, www.cancer.net, that provides clear, scientifically vetted information about cancer and its treatment for patients, their families and friends.