The young woman sitting opposite Dr Andy Davies was convinced that she knew what was wrong with her – and she had the Google research to prove it. Showing the doctor her blue-tinged hands, she explained that she had looked up her symptoms and diagnosed herself with cyanosis, a potentially dangerous condition related to oxygen levels in the blood.
But Dr Davies had another theory. Having noted what she was wearing, he asked if her jeans were new and, taking a tissue, calmly wiped the denim dye off her hands. Dr Davies, whose practice is in Cheshire, says cyberchondria (as some GPs have dubbed it) can have its funny moments.
Doctors are reporting huge rises in the “worried well” – healthy patients who, fuelled by Google and Wikipedia searches, are diagnosing themselves with everything from food allergies to brain tumours.
Dr Laurence Buckman, a former chairman of the British Medical Association’s GPs committee who practices in London, says, “I don’t mind patients who do their own research and are trying to inform themselves, but it’s interesting that most people wouldn’t dream of going to their accountant or lawyer and telling them how to do their job, and yet they feel fine about doing it to their doctor.
“My heart does sink when someone comes in with a sheaf of papers with the Google logo at the top, absolutely convinced they know what is wrong with them before you’ve even discussed their symptoms. And often there is nothing wrong with them at all.”
And it seems that nowhere are the worried well more prevalent – and more confused – than when it comes to food.
The market for food products marketed as “free from” gluten, sugar, lactose and other ingredients has more than doubled in the last five years, according to research released recently. Much of this huge growth centres on gluten-free foods. Yet only 1 per cent of the population is believed to have coeliac disease, an autoimmune condition triggered by gluten that means sufferers must avoid the ingredient completely. And there is scant evidence that the disease is becoming more widespread.
So why do so many people think gluten is to be avoided at all costs? Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. Its elasticity is an essential component in bread, pasta and cakes. Gluten-free products have to use other ingredients, such as rice and tapioca flour to create the same effect, which means higher costs for manufacturers – which are inevitably passed on to consumers.
Tesco buyer Lauren Tredgett says demand is soaring because consumers are becoming “more aware of their intolerance to wheat and gluten intolerance”, but medical experts are more sceptical.
Doctors are concerned that unregulated and underqualified nutritionists are offering testing and diagnosis for food allergies and intolerances without any scientific basis. Australian research has found that most people who say they are avoiding wheat because of their “intolerance” to it are doing so on the basis of self-diagnosis.
And it’s not just gluten. Melanie Leech, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, has warned that some lobby groups are making extreme claims against certain ingredients, such as sugar, without the science to back them up and are confusing consumers in the process.
Margarine versus butter, the benefits of red wine, whether we should be eating meat – the advice seems to change on a daily basis. Last month Time magazine’s cover story was ‘The Truth About Fat’, which cited research showing that the removal of fats from our diet has led to a rise in carbohydrates, fuelling the increase in obesity.
“There are incredibly mixed messages around food and food promotion,” says Dr Sue Bailey, senior lecturer in human nutrition at London Metropolitan University. “People may think they are adopting a healthier diet by cutting out things like gluten, but that is not necessarily the case.” She points to research published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that found that some gluten-free products had more calories than traditional products, and that gluten-free diets can lead to fibre deficiency.
For some people, worrying about being well can actually lead to health problems. Health anxiety – the new term for hypochondria – is on the increase. The charity Anxiety UK estimates that a third of calls to its helpline are from people obsessed with their own health.
Ironically, research has suggested that people who complain about their health are more likely to die earlier – even when they are in the same medical condition as non-worriers.
Just another thing for the worried well to fret about.