Patients often try to understand things by relating their problem to someone they know. Thus if they have chest pain and a neighbour recently had a heart attack they will relate everything to what they know of the neighbour's history. Vested interests peddling their wares More insidious is the partial and thus misleading information, which is very common. Websites The vast range of information on the Web is both stimulating and daunting. Many websites, from reputable organisations and individuals, are well designed, with good quality information.
Many websites are from individuals with obsessions or misconceptions.
Some websites are a marketing ploy for a particular medical facility masquerading as impartial advice. The major problem for the ordinary patient is that the plethora of graphical extravaganzas makes it difficult to tell which category applies to which website. Once an idea has been sown it is difficult to remove it from a patient's mind. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to believe computers. As the software can make assumptions it may not be so obvious what information it is basing its assumptions on.