As the popularity of social networking websites continues to grow, more people are using the Internet to share information about their medical conditions, CNN Money reports.
Lynne Dunbrack, an analyst for market research firm IDC, said people older than age 50 represent the fastest growing demographic on social networking sites. She said many older consumers have chronic medical conditions and are turning to the Internet to access health information and connect with other patients.
Online Patient Communities
Some of the services that allow people to share health information include:
-
Basis, a startup firm developing a Bluetooth-equipped watch that will track and share biometric data;
-
Motherknows.com, a startup company developing an application that will enable parents to track their children's medical visits and immunization history; and
-
PatientsLikeMe, an online community of more than 80,000 members who can create profiles and share personal health information.
In addition, many people use websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to share health information.
Julie Wilner -- director of product at Basis and former program manager at Google Health -- said online sharing of health information likely will become more prevalent as electronic health records become more widely available.
Possible Benefits
According to CNN Money, sharing personal health information could be beneficial in certain ways. For example, social pressure has been shown to be an effective incentive for losing weight and can influence people to make healthier lifestyle choices.
In addition, patients with serious illnesses can learn from with other individuals with similar conditions by connecting through the Internet (Lev-Ram, CNN Money, 12/17).