Cyberchondria is a growing concern among many healthcare practitioners as patients can now research any and all symptoms of a rare disease, illness or condition, and manifest a state of medical anxiety.
[9] The BMJ review also cites the 1997 book from Elaine Showalter, who writes the internet is a new way to spread "pathogenic ideas" like Gulf War syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis.
The survey noted that a significant portion of subjects considered the ranking of a list of results on a medical query as linked to the likelihood of relevant disorders.
A study by researchers from Imperial College London published in September 2018 concluded that the condition is leading to a health anxiety epidemic in the UK.
[16] A paper from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland suggested that doctors annotate diagnoses posted online with complementary information, including statistics elaborating on incidence and prevalence.
[17] In 2002 the Sydney Morning Herald wrote "a visit to an Internet clinic will probably diagnose drowsiness as chronic fatigue, anal itch as bowel cancer and a headache as a tumour.
"[18] Many reputable medical organizations maintain websites that may include brief overviews of various conditions for individuals with a general curiosity, or more detailed information to aid the understanding of people who have been properly diagnosed.
[7] Often listing diagnoses without regard to incidence, prevalence, or relevant risk factors, websites may lead users to suspect rather rare and unlikely diseases as the source of their complaints.