Too much Information

Image Courtesy Akshay Hegde

I grew up in a family where opinions swiftly flew across the dinner table. Talk about health and everyone would quickly don the doctors hat. As kids we rarely got opportunities to visit doctors or therapists.We had constant remedy recommendations flowing in from our grandparents, aunts and even neighbors. Over the years, there were large additions to this elite club of know it alls.

With every passing year, we are witnessing an increase in the episodes of depression, infertility, heart diseases and diabetes. Cancer-The reigning emperor of maladies has got medical an talk about it incessantly .They say, the earlier you discover the anomalies, easier it is to get rid of this monster. Ever since I remember,I  have come across myriad articles that have described aspects like genetic predisposition, lifestyle problems and late diagnosis as leading causes of this dreaded misfortune.

I as a young woman, often wonder about how I should make sense of this information outburst. For instance,  Excessive media coverage, online portals and celebrity campaigns have implanted talking encyclopedias and pseudo doctors in almost every other house.This information outburst has left a very superficial impression on most women's understanding of the subject. Studies reveal that a large percentage of  women are unsure of what they should look for while doing a self examination for breast cancer. Diverse opinions surrounding the safety of mammograms have been baffling. Moreover, medical information talking about size and nature of lumps has only resulted in confusion and paranoia.Its strange that the residue of the breakthrough in information availability, has guided and often misguided people.

The ease of accessing information has created hurdles and challenges in finding relevant information. In this ever expanding database, one stands a good chance getting misinformed. Filtering relevant information is an obvious predicament in our time.