Show HN: When WebMD failed me, I built LaDoctura.com
using a throwaway account for reasons that will become obviously shortly..
some time back i was diagnosed with a severe and incurable form of male infertility (i'm 35, recently married).
that shock and what followed thereafter made me realise just how difficult it is to get 'the full picture' when you're dealing with a rare and still not fully understood disease (in my case the doctors believe its a genetic issue, DNA deletions, but they can't prove it).
this made me realise there may actually be a huge unsolved problem right now, problem in that its virtually impossible to get rich, good quality medical info on diseases in one place on the web right now.. WebMD, as we all know, is horrible.
i built ladoctora.com to tackle this problem. right now it only has one patient guide for my condition on it, but i'm thinking if people like the format and think there's a need for it, i can start adding more and do this as a dedicated project..
Would love to get your feedback on the site and the overall concept.. thank you. The website address:
http://www.ladoctora.com
However, many patients have symptoms, or signs of disease, but have not had a "true" diagnosis made. The doc they saw may be uninformed, the necessary test may only be available at the Mayo Clinic, there may be confusion because of unusual symptoms that are possibly but not definitively associated with the correct diagnosis -- there are many reasons why an ill person may not know their "correct" diagnosis.
So another web site that catalogs information about "known" diagnoses may be helpful to some patients, it will not be a universal cure for lack of information, because a correct diagnosis is necessary before a patient can search for information about that diagnosis online! Also, there are hundreds (thousands) of medical textbooks that do what you are proposing to do, filled with incredibly useful information, that is all behind a paywall and not available to the casual searcher.
But more information is always better, so good luck with your endeavor!
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