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October 12, 2008 10:40:27 AM CDT

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Maybe Your Ailments Are All in Your Web

Posted Aug 3, 07 7:50 AM CDT in US,  Science & Health,  Technology 

(Newser) – More and more people are turning to websites to complement doctor visits, Ars Technica reports. About three-quarters of adults seek out medical info online, a fraction that's held for nearly a decade even as the number of wired adults has soared. That translates to 160 million of what Harris Interactive calls "cyberchondriacs."

Of adults hitting the web for health answers, almost 90% tell the Harris Poll they've found what they were looking for and considered the information reliable. And the rise of better-informed patients may be changing the nature of their relationships with doctors—around half discuss information found online during visits, and half use the Web for follow-up research.

Source Ars Technica

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