When Google first introduced its database of health condition, incorporated within the search engine earlier this year, it could only present general information regarding common diseases such as a cough, or a cold.
A new Google search feature is making it easier to find details on more than 900 different health conditions.
Google learned this lesson firsthand during last month’s outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in New York City, when searches for the infection spiked more than 1,000 percent.
Forum discussion at Google+. When you use type in your medical question into the Google app, the feature pulls up all relevant stats and information. At the time, it was showing these improved results for about 400 conditions, but starting today, it’s rolling out an update that will bring that number closer to 900, including a number of neglected tropical diseases.
You won’t be getting “might be cancer” for every symptom you input in the search box.
According to Google, 1 in 20 Google searches are for health-related information. Extensive research on the infamous issue has resulted in the fact that only around 50% of the symptom checkers online provide an accurate analysis. This includes diseases such as Dengue Fever, Chikungunya, and many more that you may have never heard of.
Of course, you shouldn’t forego the doctor altogether in favor of Google’s diagnoses, but this certainly provides users with important and timely information that may ultimately help in the healthcare process.
A total of over nine hundred new medical conditions, its cause, symptoms, treatments and cure will be added to the database to more accurately diagnose an illness. While the health information feature is still only available in English, the team behind it says they’re working on expanding it to other languages soon.