Social Media and Medicine

July 23, 2010— -- When Carlos Sanchez's doctor told him that he needed a new kidney, Sanchez went online.

"I said the only way I can talk to my, all my friends, is through Facebook," he said.

In August 2009, Sanchez was on dialysis and desperately needed a kidney. The East Haven, Conn., man updated his status on Facebook, asking his friends if they might be potential donors.

Minutes later, he got a response from a Facebook friend he barely knew, the mayor of the town where he lives.

Sanchez was so shocked, at first he didn't respond to Mayor April Capone Almon.

"I was like: the mayor of East Haven offering me a kidney?" Sanchez said.

Almon felt compelled to help Sanchez.

"I knew him well enough to know he was a nice person and a good person," Almon said. "I just felt like he needed and I could help him."

People like Sanchez, who are suffering from diseases, can use social media to connect and share information and support.

A glimpse at the Facebook page for those suffering from ALS, commonly called Lou Gehrig's Disease, shows more than 9,000 people from the ALS community supporting the page. One man posted a bike ride that he's organizing.

Another Facebooker used the page to grieve.

"Just lost a good friend on Saturday to this horrible disease," he posted.

Social networking sites like Facebook allow those fighting diseases and their supporters to organize fundraising drives for research and treatment.

Dan Darcy raised more than $180,000 for blood cancers in just 10 weeks on Facebook.