British doctors are warning of a new malaise spreading throughout the country.

The so-called 'telly belly' virus appears to be infectious and is clogging up GP surgeries up and down the land.

According to doctors, the condition occurs immediately after watching a health item on television news or a health storyline in a soap opera.

TV health scares clearly put added pressure on GPs

Tim Baker, Norwich Union Healthcare

'Telly belly' sufferers believe they have similar symptoms and turn up at their local GP surgery seeking medical assistance.

The spread of the virus is highlighted in a survey for Norwich Union Healthcare.

It found that nine out of 10 GPs believe media coverage affects patients.

'Telly belly'

Doctors said media stories and those featured on news programmes and soap operas had a significant effect on people's perception of their own well-being.

They believe the rise of 'telly belly' may be linked to the fact that more people are self-diagnosing than ever before.

Nine out of 10 GPs said patients are more likely to self-diagnose than 10 years ago.

However, not all are right. According to doctors, just one in four patients who self-diagnose are correct most of the time.

The survey suggested that women may be better at correctly identifying illnesses. Three out of four GPs said women were better informed about their health than men.

The survey of over 200 GPs was carried out by Taylor Nelson Sofres Omnimed to mark the launch of personalhealthmanager.co.uk - a new website from Norwich Union Healthcare.

Symptom sorter

The website aims to help patients improve their everyday health and their efforts to prevent illness.

It offers a symptom sorter guide, an encyclopaedia and access to a 24-hour helpline.

Tim Baker, commercial director of Norwich Union Healthcare, said GPs largely backed growing coverage of health issues in the media.

"TV health scares clearly put added pressure on GPs," he said.

"But overall I'm sure doctors welcome the population's growing interest in its own well-being.

"It's much better than having patients who wait to get ill and then expect the doctor to do everything for them."