Health Diagnosis and Patient Characteristics
The health diagnosis under focus is multiple myeloma, which is a rare cancer of plasma cells. A typical patient suspected of having this disease shows is an elderly person complaining of constant fatigue, low back pain, nausea, thirst, and poor appetite. Meanwhile, the patient’s skin is notably paler and is accompanied by bone pain and possible fracture. The disease is more likely to emerge in people who are exposed to radiation and African American population as well. In order to properly comprehend the nature of this disease, patients need to understand the structure of blood and the importance of plasma cells. Otherwise, exposure to health information in the Internet may overwhelm patients with complex terms. Understanding what data typical patients find on the Internet is essential in ascertaining proper search strategies.
Search Strategies
The internet search strategy revolved around the use of search engine tools allowing to limit the information results. The first approach was to type the diagnosis using keywords in quotation marks – they would yield search results that would have the most relevant information. For instance, instead of writing the search query in a question format, the exact title of the diagnosis would be used. The second approach was to limit search results to a particular website by using a colon before typing a full URL. For instance, instead of writing the name of the trusted organization, the following format would be used “site:example.com”.
The choice of this strategy was determined by the necessity to ensure the relevancy of information and the quality of the sources. The fastest way to find the needed information is to use quotation marks, thus eliminating search results that would not have the needed keyword. Meanwhile, limiting search results to a particular website would ensure that no other sources would appear in the search output. The most important step is to ascertain a website that can be trusted. When patients do not have sufficient knowledge to distinguish qualitative information form unfounded claims, they revert to sources they habitually use, such as healthline.com or Wikipedia.
Summary of Information Collected
The common sources of information showcase multiple myeloma as a type of blood cancer. The harm is caused by the production of abnormal proteins instead of antibodies (Multiple myeloma, 2022b). Even though no symptoms are evident in the early stages, bone pain, kidney dysfunction, and infections can signify the progression of the disease (Multiple myeloma, 2022a). Common risk factors include being an African American man, age over fifty, obesity, and work in the petroleum industry (What is multiple myeloma, 2022). Multiple myeloma does not have a cure, although chemotherapy, stem cell transplants, and corticosteroids can slow down the progression of the disease.
Review of Information Retrieval
Overall, the information was accurate, but it did miss some important nuances. For instances, it is true that multiple myeloma is a cancer, but the exact nature of this disease “is associated with the clonal proliferation of plasma cells” (Costachescu & Ionita, 2022, p. 1). The accuracy of symptoms as well their lack in the initial stages is confirmed by Al‐Kuraishy et al. (2022). The most recurring patient characteristics are also established correctly, as Tao et al. (2022) note that “age, gender, family history, radiation exposure, racial, and biomarkers have an important impact on patients with multiple myeloma” (p. 1). However, the common claim the myeloma is an incurable diseases is not correct. Medina et al. (2022) write that “new treatment approaches have increased the number of patients achieving complete response, progressively improving progression-free and overall survival rates in the last 10 years” (p. 862). Finally, the described treatment is accurate, although the variety of implemented interventions is greater than what is generally listed (Amundarain et al., 2022, p. 2). Subsequently, 75% was accurate, while the remaining 25%, including the idea of disease being incurable, was unfounded.
Internet Search Recommendations
The most important lesson is that all definitive statements have to be verified. As technology progresses, new medical interventions make curable conditions, which were previously assumed to have no cure. However, the information on the Internet does not update as quickly, and the overall perception remains despite the existence of evidence proving the opposite. Subsequently, verifying such statements may be essential in maintaining patient’s motivation and hope for recovery.
The first strategy would be to adjust the search results using search engine tools described above – quotation marks and a colon before a URL. The second strategy would be to limit sources to federal and educational categories. Websites that have.gov in their address belonh to the US Government, whereas,.edu signifies an educational institution. The information available the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website is preferable to other sources because it is directly operated by the US Department of Health & Human Services. The final strategy is to look for consistency across both federal and educational resources – when both provide similar information, it is more likely to be accurate and reliable.
References
Al‐Kuraishy, H. M., Al‐Gareeb, A. I., Mohammed, A. A., Alexiou, A., Papadakis, M., & Batiha, G. E. S. (2022). The potential link between Covid‐19 and multiple myeloma: A new saga. Immunity, Inflammation and Disease, 10(12), 1-14. Web.
Amundarain, A., Pastor, F., Prósper, F., & Agirre, X. (2022). Aptamers, a new therapeutic opportunity for the treatment of multiple myeloma. Cancers, 14(21), 1-13. Web.
Costachescu, D., & Ionita, H. (2022). The importance of bone marrow infiltration patterns in multiple myeloma seen on magnetic resonance imaging—Case report and imaging perspective. Clinical Case Reports, 10(10), 1-5. Web.
Medina, A., Jiménez, C., Puig, N., Sarasquete, M. E., Flores-Montero, J., García-Álvarez, M., & García-Sanz, R. (2022). Interlaboratory analytical validation of a next-generation sequencing strategy for clonotypic assessment and minimal residual disease monitoring in multiple myeloma. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, 146(7), 862-871. Web.
Multiple myeloma. (2022a). Web.
Multiple myeloma. (2022b). Web.
Tao, J., Wang, L., Zhang, L., Gu, Z., & Zhou, X. (2022). Establishment and validation for predicting the death of multiple myeloma among Whites. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2022(3050199), 1-9. Web.
What is multiple myeloma. (2022). Web.