Doctors Use Facebook As A Diagnostic Tool

Facebook is being used increasingly in the medical field, and not only for patients seeking advice. A report from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota shows that one doctor used a patient's Facebook profile (with her consent) to pinpoint what caused a stroke by looking at recent photographs.

Facebook is being used increasingly in the medical field, and not only for patients seeking advice. A report from the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota shows that one doctor used a patient’s Facebook profile (with her consent) to pinpoint what caused a stroke by looking at recent photographs.

Doctors Manoj Mittal, Jeff Sloan, and Alejandro Rabinstein of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota wrote a case study showing how the social network could be an efficient tool for doctors. The study describes a healthy 56-year-old woman who didn’t smoke and had no major health problems, but had recently suffered a stroke.

Previously, a doctor would examine a patient’s driver’s license photo or other previous physical photographs to look for facial differences that may yield clues.

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