Google’s Knowledge Graph updated with medical facts

Google's Knowledge Graph updated with medical facts

As part of its goal to rule the world, Google has started serving relevant medical facts right up front from the Knowledge Graph. The search giant will now show typical symptoms and treatments, as well as details on how common the condition is — whether it’s critical, if it’s contagious, what ages it affects, and more. For some conditions, Google will also display high-quality illustrations from licensed medical illustrators, providing users with all the information they could need before visiting a doctor.

“Visiting a doctor” is a phrase worth remembering here, as you’ll still need a professional to get a “verified medical advice.” Google stresses that these search results are NOT intended as medical advice, as cases can vary in severity from person to person. What users get is intended for informational purposes, only.

To make for a more comprehensive answers, Google has worked with a team of medical doctors led by its own Dr. Kapil Parakh, M.D., MPH, Ph.D. to compile, curate, and review all the information. All of the gathered facts represent real-life clinical knowledge from these doctors and high-quality medical sources across the web, and the information has been checked by medical doctors at Google and the Mayo Clinic for accuracy.

Right now, one in 20 Google searches are for health-related information, so there’s obviously need for something like this. Medivizor is one of the companies competing in this space, providing users with serious or chronic medical conditions with “all the cutting edge information they need know.”