EVERY hypochondriac with web access has done it: tried to diagnose their symptoms using Google. In the hands of amateurs, this may do more harm than good, but could the search engine be a useful tool for the professionals?
Yes, say two doctors who have put Google鈥檚 medical prowess to the test by typing in key symptoms of difficult-to-diagnose cases from The New England Journal of Medicine. Though Google pointed to the correct diagnosis in only 15 out of 26 cases, Hangwi Tang and Jennifer Hwee Kwoon Ng of the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, Australia, say it would be useful to a professional (BMJ, DOI: 10.1136/bmj.39003.640567.AE).
鈥淚t鈥檚 a fascinating pilot study,鈥� says Peter Yellowlees, a specialist in medical informatics at the University of California, Davis.
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