“Would you take health advice from a stranger on the street? If you wouldn’t, then don’t go to an online forum either,” says Anthony M. Cocco, a doctor at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne. And the lead author of a scientific study on the search habits of the general public with a superficial knowledge of medicine and sticking to information they heard or read on social media without scientific credibility, usually but not always sites on the first page of search results in search engines tend to be more credible.

Public health experts are concerned about possible negative outcomes from researching health issues online from Cyberchondria.

Cyberchondria, also known as Compuchondria, is a clinical phenomenon of people having unfounded fears about common clinical symptoms based on browsing medical websites and social media articles. Cyberchondria is a growing concern among clinicians as patients can now search for any disease and its symptoms, even if it is a rare condition, and display a state of medical concern. Cyberchondria is closely related to symptoms of health anxiety or an irrational fear of some delusional disease; Conversely, some people may leave a real illness untreated. Trust between doctors and patients may collapse.

A study of nearly 80 percent of patients who searched for information on the Internet before seeing a doctor found that their searches improved their medical awareness. They were better able to articulate their symptoms and understand what the doctors had told them.

If you are confident that you can tell the difference between high-quality and low-quality information, search the Internet. Otherwise, proceed with caution. Make sure the site is not trying to sell you a product of the treatment.

Know that some medical terms lead to more accurate results than others. In one study, researchers found that only one of the top 54 results for endometriosis led to a page containing what is considered accurate information about the condition – there were more than 4,500,000 searches per year.

If you are concerned about something you have seen online, tell your doctor. It is easier to reassure patients if he knows exactly what they are afraid of.

If you are in an emergency, just call an ambulance, and don’t waste time searching on Google even for a few minutes.