I am sure that many times, after receiving the result of clinical analyzes, one goes to search on the internet what it means if a value is higher than normal. More simply, if you wake up one morning with a pain localized in one part of the body, you are looking for information on what it may be, what causes it and whether it is a symptom of some real pathology or not. Whether it's out of curiosity or a real concern, unfortunately, by looking on Google in Italian, it only ends up on medical forums where you can read any testimonials from those who have suffered the same pain or the same symptoms. In English, on the other hand, there are some really well made interactive websites that are worth visiting, perhaps with the help of a translator, to find out medical information on the internet and have an online checkup on your health .
The following websites are medical search engines that should use expert doctors and doctors, cannot replace a doctor's opinion and can be an additional resource to get preliminary information, before the real medical examination and to have an idea on the possible pathology you are suffering from.
1) Symptom Checker is an easy-to-use, interactive online tool where you select symptoms from the body map and get possible causes as results.
Without having to make any registration on the site and completely anonymously, you select the gender and age, before clicking the Submit button. On the left the human body appears from which it is possible to choose, with the mouse, the area of the body to be investigated.
With the "back View" button the body is turned to locate a non-frontal area of the body while with "Skin" the program is told that the problem concerns the skin. Once the macro area has been chosen, for example, the abdomen, we continue to dig towards the cause of the clinical problem, specifying the area in greater detail. In the end you get a list of symptoms, selecting one is asked where and how this symptom is detected and, in the end, you get the list of possible diseases that cause that pain or physical problem . For example, you can find the causes for cough, headache, fever for colds, to discover a pregnancy, to understand if you have the flu and much more. It is also possible to choose several symptoms together so as to specify more complex pathologies. The problem is that it is all in English, therefore consultation of this medical vocabulary may be difficult, however (I will be happy to be proved wrong) a site in Italian does not exist.
2) Isabel is a very easy to use and certified interactive tool, where you just need to indicate the symptoms to immediately receive a more or less accurate diagnosis. The site, unfortunately, is in English so you need to have a translator both to write the symptoms and to read the diagnosis.
3) PubMed is another site to search online for the causes of symptoms and to find out why a part of the body, muscle, internal, aesthetic, is bad. This site would have been a masterpiece if it had also been in Italian, however, in this case, we can use Google Translate very effectively because the medical terms are translated well and the page remains navigable and usable. Once you have chosen the symptom, you are led to answer some medical questions that any doctor would ask, to make a more precise clinical analysis. In the end, the causes and possible pathologies or diseases whose effects are the chosen symptoms are obtained. The symptoms listed are 28 for adults and 17 for children.
4) OpenMd is a free medical search engine that is perfect for finding health information. Although in English, it can be used as if it were Google.
5) MedHelp is the world's leading medical website that allows you to inquire about any disease or pathology. Among the tools there is the search for symptoms with indication of all possible causes, explained in detail. On this site, Google Translate works decently so it can also be used in Italian.
6) The only site in Italian that I found beautiful is equivalent.it which shows on a page pathologies and infections and, for each of them, indicates in words the symptoms, the diagnosis, the cure, the drug and how to prevent .
7) In Italian there is also Sanihelp.it which requires to insert up to 5 symptoms among those suggested (while writing) and results in possible diseases.
8) A great site, but suitable only if you can write in English is Symcat.com where you just need to describe in words how it feels or the problem you have suffered to automatically get a diagnosis.
9) Trip Database is a clinical search engine in English, one of the most used in the USA.
10) Finally, GrepMed is a search engine for symptoms and medical analysis made of images, therefore perfect even for those who do not know English. The main purpose of this tool is to help doctors conduct clinical research using photos.
Other Italian sites are useful instead to search for medicines and drugs in online pharmacies
If you know websites similar to these, in Italian, let them know why I think they are really useful resources, which can never replace their doctor but useful to find out immediately if there is a possibility of really feeling bad or if there is no cause for concern.
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