Doctor warns over online advice
25th June 2010
"Net literate" parents must be aware about the dangers of taking online advice when their children are ill, a paediatrician has warned.
Consultant paediatric gastroenterologist Dr Nadeem Afzal said even though the trend for accessing health information on the internet should be "embraced", parents could create problems by self-diagnosing without seeking professional advice.
In recent years, more and more parents are taking their family's health into their own hands by seeking the extra protection afforded by insurance policies like critical illness cover, and combining it with self diagnosis via the web.
Dr Afzal, from Southampton General Hospital, spoke out as new research into parental knowledge of the auto-immune bowel disease coeliac was published.
Coeliac disease is caused by intolerance to the protein gluten and can damage the lining of the small intestine. However a strict gluten-free diet can keep symptoms and the disease fully controlled.
If left undiagnosed or untreated, coeliac can cause a range of long-term complications, primarily affecting children's growth and pubertal development.
Dr Afzal and his colleagues found that 80% of parents accessed the internet for information on coeliac disease and were aware of it, but less than half correctly identified all gluten-containing foods. They would therefore need help from doctors.
While 98% correctly identified that gluten was in wheat, nearly half of (45%) wrongly thought that maize contained gluten.
Overall, only 38% of parents correctly identified all gluten-containing foods.
Dr Afzal said: "Parents who start treating their child with a gluten-free diet independently make it much trickier for us. Coeliac can only be diagnosed when children are on a gluten-containing diet."
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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