It's like an episode of mystery diagnosis. Thirteen-year-old Danielle Fisher got sick last fall and got progressively worse until she was unable to even get out of bed without suffering from vertigo and shortness of breath. Doctors weren't any help, offering up guesses ranging from Epstein-Bar virus to a tumor; one even suggested that all she needed was a psychiatrist. So Danielle's mom decided to do some research of her own.

She searched the internet for Danielle's symptoms and came up with a surprising answer: Lyme disease, caught from a tick bite. After checking with an expert, she is now on a proper course of treatment but if the disease had been left untreated, Danielle could have faced nerve damage, paralysis, and blindness. As for her mom, she says that "this disease is a lot more common than people think and I just want to make people aware of it."

While the internet is by no means a perfect source of information -- there is plenty of misinformation out there -- it is useful for research which can then be provided to a doctor. I know that if my kids get sick or start acting odd, I start checking the internet for information. I think you do, however, have to take anything you find with a grain of salt.