Unsurprising, really.

'Diarrhoea' and 'anxiety' are among the top health related searches made online in Ireland during the Covid-19 pandemic. As the world dealt with the spread of the virus and normal life was all but entirely halted, thousands of people took to Google to find out more about their symptoms. Research compiled by Lenstore shows that issues also worrying people in Ireland since the beginning of the pandemic include 'insomnia,' 'sore throat,' and 'migraine.' The country's top searched health related symptoms during the pandemic are as follows:

1. Diarrhoea
2. Anxiety
3. Insomnia
4. Vertigo
5. Sore Throat
6. Constipation
7. Migraine
8. Chills
9. Weight Loss
10. Eye Twitch

The findings among all EU countries and the United States weren't all that different, with 'diarrhoea' still being the top searched symptom with over one million searches. 'Anxiety' came second with almost 900,000, and 'vertigo' was third with over 730,000. But despite the rising numbers of people searching for information about their symptoms online, the sheer amount of websites offering information may not be beneficial for our health at all. According to Dr Chun Tang from Pall Mall Medical, misinformation - and simply too much information - can be detrimental to finding out what's really going on. "Unreliable websites, giving incomplete information, poor algorithms and thus wrong conclusions and wrong directions," he says. "The websites used must be evidenced-based and good quality. Websites need to have information cross-referenced, evidence-based and peer-reviewed information. It can be difficult for the general public to understand which websites are of good quality." Similarly, websites that have been created specifically for doctors are too often used by the general public. "Websites written for doctors and medical personnel have the basic assumption of training and experience and are only useful for the trained," he says. "Otherwise may cause more confusion and fear in the non-medically trained." If you are concerned about your health, you should always contact a professional.