Frequently Asked Questions
What is Diagnotep?How do I use Diagnotep?
How do I add search terms?
How do I change the search depth?
Where do the Diagnotep symptoms come from?
What should Diagnotep be used for?
Statuette of Imhotep
Answers
What is Diagnotep?Diagnotep is an affliction search engine to help diagnose medical problems. The word Diagnotep is a fusion of the word Diagnosis and the name Imhotep, the first physician known by name in written history.
How do I use Diagnotep?
Please add search terms to the text box and click on the Diagnose button. The top right menus have the medical terms used in the symptom descriptions and you should use them to ensure the same spelling is used as in the searched documents and to see related words, which would improve the search.
For example, say a patient complains of pain, the patient can't move a limb properly and the limb seems a bit out-of-place, from the menus pick the following:
pain, move, limb, out-of-place
To get to the word "pain" from the top right menus, choose "p" from the alphabet menu, which will change the word menu to words stating with p. Then scroll down the word menu to pain. Around pain you will see the related words "pain-free, painful, painfulness, painless, pains". Of those words, "painful, painfulness and pains" have similar meaning to pain, so add them to the search. For "limb", choose "l" from the alphabet menu, then around limb in the word menu, you'll see "limbs", which has a similar meaning to limb so add it to the search. With "move", you'll see "movement", which has a similar meaning to move so add it to the search. Around "out-of-place" there are no related words and so nothing to add. After adding the similar words, the textbox will contain the following:
pain, painful, painfulness, pains, move, movement, limb, limbs, out-of-place
Then click the diagnose button. Once the symptoms are listed, it is recommended you look over several of the symptoms which seem to describe the problem, not just the first one or the one which looks best. This is because diagnosis can be difficult and the "obvious" cause could be wrong and also so you can get more familiar with the terms related to this problem, which could help you choose other appropriate search terms.
This script works in the mozilla browser, it might not work properly in other browsers. If you want a faster search or if the script is not working properly online on Internet Explorer, run the entire engine on your machine by unzipping the health archive into a folder and then open the file "health_diagnotep.html" with a browser.
How do I add search terms?
The top right menus have the medical terms used in the symptom descriptions and you should use them to ensure the same spelling is used as in the searched documents and to see related words, which would improve the search.
For example, say a patient complains of pain, the patient can't move a limb properly and the limb seems a bit out-of-place, from the menus pick the following:
pain, move, limb, out-of-place
To get to the word "pain" from the top right menus, choose "p" from the alphabet menu, which will change the word menu to words stating with p. Then scroll down the word menu to pain. Around pain you will see the related words "pain-free, painful, painfulness, painless, pains". Of those words, "painful, painfulness and pains" have similar meaning to pain, so add them to the search. For "limb", choose "l" from the alphabet menu, then around limb in the word menu, you'll see "limbs", which has a similar meaning to limb so add it to the search. With "move", you'll see "movement", which has a similar meaning to move so add it to the search. Around "out-of-place" there are no related words and so nothing to add. After adding the similar words, the textbox will contain the following:
pain, painful, painfulness, pains, move, movement, limb, limbs, out-of-place
Then click the diagnose button.
The search engine only recognizes search terms from the symptom descriptions. The search engine ignores capitalization and word order. It does not recognize boolean operators like "and, or, not, +, -". It does not recognize quotes.
How do I change the search depth?
The default search depth for the diagnotep affliction search engine is the top ten. This can be changed to anywhere between the top one affliction and all afflictions which have at least one search term in them. When diagnosing a problem, starting with the top ten is suggested. After seeing the top ten results, if you have time or if you are not completely satisfied with the found afflictions, try the top thirty or even the top hundred by changing the search depth input field with the menu to the right of the field or by typing in the desired search depth.
The searched database has about 1,800 listed afflictions, so no matter how deep the search depth and how many symptoms are entered, there will be at most about 1,800 results. Choosing "all" from the search depth menu or entering a number greater than about 1,800 in the search depth field will list all afflictions which have even one search term in their symptom sections and the search engine will take a long time to generate the numerous results.
Where do the Diagnotep symptoms come from?
The Diagnotep symptoms come from the Medline Plus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine. The site is an excellent source of medical information which brings together authoritative information from U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government agencies and health-related organizations.
In addition to the ailment descriptions which Diagnotep uses, MedlinePlus also has extensive information about drugs, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, interactive patient tutorials, and latest health news. Information produced by the U.S. Government is in the public domain.
What should Diagnotep be used for?
Diagnotep should be used as an additional technique to diagnose an ailment.
Diagnotep should be thought of as a convenient, easy to use index of a medical encyclopedia. It is not an expert diagnosis system. It is not a replacement for a diagnosis by a physician. It is not something you should rely on.
Enrique Perez and associates disclaim all liability for any loss, damage, injury or expense however caused, arising from the use of or reliance upon, in any manner, the information provided through Diagnotep and does not warrant the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information provided.