Artifact #8 Response

      There are more than six thousand apps available that deal with health and medicine and a large amount of people are going online to find health information and deal with medical problems. Eighty percent of internet users go online to find health information and fifty seven percent of internet users go online to learn ways to deal with a medical issue. There are many sites that give expert knowledge on various medical conditions and allow people to post their own experiences with certain medical issues. This allows you to find information on certain medical issues and to find out how other people are dealing with them and what they're experiences have been like. Experts also use this feedback to learn how to better treat patients and learn how various people react to different treatments. Most of the apps deal with exercise, fitness, and diet, but there are a few very popular apps that help people deal with psychological problems including stress and anxiety. There are many social networking sites that allow people going through similar health issues to talk to each other and offer support. Many of these sites are for major chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and asthma. These sites allow people to become part of a small, tight-knit community with people that are going through the same things as them. There are also games about serious medical issues. One study found that kids who played a particular game that involved shooting cancer cells with chemotherapy had better compliance with antibiotics and better outcomes.
      I think the use of technology to spread and inform people of medical knowledge is a great idea. Often people will feel a pain and try to bear through it and just hope that it will go away. It can be a nuisance to make a trip up to the doctor's office and have him/her try to find out whats wrong with you. Also, many people don't want to have to pay the doctor fees, especially if they find out that nothing was wrong. I think the social networking sites are a terrific way for people to have some sort of outlet when dealing with a chronic illness. It gives these patients a sense of belonging and they can find support from people who are going through the same struggles. It would be a real confidence boost to hear of people that have dealt with the same problems and overcame them. When it comes to major health issues, I think it is important for people to consult a professional. You can never be sure of what you may be dealing with from reading about other people's experiences on the internet. Everyone is different and reacts to things in various ways. A doctor's findings after running tests would be much more accurate than an idea you found on the internet. You can never be too safe. If a doctor found something wrong with you it could be a sign of something much more substantial and the doctor could begin treatment on you early. If you try to deal with an illness from what you read on the internet, it is very possible to allow an illness to progress and get worse, making it much more difficult to treat and giving yourself a worse chance of overcoming the problem.