Misery loves company - and finds it, in support groups created on the Internet by fellow sufferers.
By Richard Saltus, Boston Globe People with medical problems often find that their greatest source of comfort, reassurance, and encouragement is not their doctor, but others who suffer from the same illness. Medical professionals are crucial, of course, but sometimes talking to someone with a similar affliction can pierce a patient's isolation and help calm anxieties. The explosion of support groups reflects the growing demand of consumers for more information about treatments and their potential side effects and for practical strategies for disease management. Now, the support- group concept has been powerfully transformed by the Internet. All it takes is a computer, a modem, and some know-how.