Artifact 8

I was always aware of websites online that are beneficial to your health. Sites like WebMD have a feature where you type in your symptoms and then the "online doctor" gives you a couple of different options on what your symptoms could be. I personally am not a user of these types of websites, but it seems to me like it could be fairly accurate if you list all of your symptoms. The only problem is that the site is not an actual doctor, so it can not prescribe you with any medication.

The amount of people that actually check these kind of websites surprised me a lot. I did not think that many people would really take the time to type all of their medical problems out knowing that they will not be able to receive any medicine plus the website may not even be right in what it says is wrong with you. There have also been a lot of applications that you can download on your smart-phones that help with medical issues. There are some that are like WebMD, and others that have specific information about types of medicines. I think having apps like this is a very good thing considering the cost of a doctors visit.

If these websites really do help people then I believe we will see more and more people not going to see a doctor about any medical problems. Obviously this could pose a problem if the person needs some sort of medical assistance. People have to realize that going to the doctor is still going to be a lot more beneficial to a person than simply letting the Internet diagnose us with something that we may not even have. I also think if enough people get diagnosed with things that they do not have, we could see these sites die out, but I could also see the opposite side, being the websites work so well that the companies start charging a fee to receive answers about their medical problems. If it costs money to use the sites I think we will see a decline in the usage of them.

I'm not saying I do not agree with these sites, because I do see a lot of positives in them. I do, however, think if you have some sort of illness that it would be the best if you went to see an actual doctor, instead of relying on something that may not be as accurate. It is really your own opinion as to if you need to see a doctor or not, and I can understand that some people do not have the money to pay for a doctor visit and the medicine that could come with it. If they can figure out what their symptoms are, it could be a lot cheaper for people to use these websites.