Diagnosing illness online can have adverse effects on your health

London: A new study has revealed that search engines provide irrelevant information that usually lead to incorrect self-diagnosis and treatment, and apparently people delay visiting doctor that worsens the condition.

The researchers found that each month half a billion of internet searches are for health-related information that makes ill internet users to put their health at risk, the Daily Express reported.

Dr Guido Zuccon, of the University of Queensland in Australia, said that people commonly turn to search engines to self-diagnose illnesses, but only three of the first 10 results are highly useful for self-diagnosis, and only half of the top 10 were somewhat relevant to the self-diagnosis of the medical condition.

Zuccon added that this way people either keep searching or get the wrong advice, which can be potentially harmful as search engines perform effectively only if the name of the illness is already known. (ANI)