A recent poll showed that over 88% of adults turn to the internet to find health information. This number is huge and it keeps rising. Just a few years ago there were less than 60 million adults that searched the internet looking for information about their symptoms, that number has now risen to over 180 million.

While it is important to be informed about what is going on, it is also important to make sure you are getting the right information. We all know that the web is full of information from people who do not necessarily know what they are talking about. There are many user contributed websites out there they you could use as a starting point, but never rely on them for the correct information.

Reading to much information on the internet can also send people into an unnecessary panic about their symptoms. You may think you have a disease just because you have symptoms that are similar to what you are reading about. It may also may lead you to believe you don’t have a disease when you actually do since symptoms can be different for different people.

There is good information available from respected medical facilities such as New York University and The Mayo Clinic. You can also use the website for the CDC as a reference, but never substitute your online research for an actual doctors visit. Even if you think you have diagnosed what you may have, you should always follow your own research with an old fashioned trip to your doctor.