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Man given genetically modified pig heart dies

bbc.com

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Re: Man given genetically modified pig heart dies

#71

Post by WheatM »

robbiep wrote: post #31
tommoor wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To everyone that reads this: If you've not had a checkup in the last year go and get one! It'll be included on your health insurance and the blood draw will include things like if you have high cholesterol.

There is no real medical need for an ‘annual physical’ it is a creation of the American medical-industrial complex and creates more problems than it solves. Having said that seeing a doctor occasionally for blood pressure etc is useful, but the interval for someone young and otherwise not experiencing any symptoms doesn’t need to be annually

No post body was provided.

Re: Man given genetically modified pig heart dies

#72

Post by shadowgovt »

> Exactly what has happened since and the precise cause of Mr Bennett's death is not clear.

Which is the most useful information (next to the actual end of a human life here).

Did he die because the heart was ultimately rejected, or did he die from underlying complications that had made him ineligible for a human heart transplant in the first place?

If the latter, I'd still call this whole story a significant success and a possible step on the road to providing more transplants for people worldwide who won't survive without a new heart.

Re: Man given genetically modified pig heart dies

#74

Post by Footkerchief »

retrac wrote: post #51
pkaye wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no real medical need for an ‘annual physical’ it is a creation of the American medical-industrial complex and creates more problems than it solves. What problems does it create? Isn't preventive care a good thing? Also Japan does annual physicals much more rigorous that in the US. I wish what is done in the US was more rigorous because it would have caught the autoimmune disease that caused my kidney failu…

Medicine can hurt as well as heal. A concrete example. Many doctors will advise you not to get a full body MRI scan. You can pretty easily buy such a service, and hire some radiologists to pour over every cubic millimetre of your body. But it's a really bad idea. Because they will almost certainly find something ambiguous or troubling. And they're gonna biopsy. And then, well, maybe that's ambiguous. Another biopsy.…

The correct takeaway is to use information responsibly, not to deny yourself information.

Re: Man given genetically modified pig heart dies

#75

Post by robbiep »

pkaye wrote: post #45
robbiep wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no real medical need for an ‘annual physical’ it is a creation of the American medical-industrial complex and creates more problems than it solves. Having said that seeing a doctor occasionally for blood pressure etc is useful, but the interval for someone young and otherwise not experiencing any symptoms doesn’t need to be annually

> There is no real medical need for an ‘annual physical’ it is a creation of the American medical-industrial complex and creates more problems than it solves. What problems does it create? Isn't preventive care a good thing? Also Japan does annual physicals much more rigorous that in the US. I wish what is done in the US was more rigorous because it would have caught the autoimmune disease that caused my kidney failu…

Preventative care is different from the concept of all round comprehensive annual physical as it has been propagated through the culture from the American experience (I practice in Australia, so am talking from what I see from time working there, and the trickle through effect culturally of Australians thinking this is something they ‘have’ to have).

Preventative care consists of positive health messages (smoking cessation, moderate alcohol consumption, healthy diet, exercise), early identification of at risk individuals through family history, obesity, and then population wide cancer screening. Preventative care does not mean take a dozen tubes of blood and a pot of urine on every person every year.

I’m really sorry to hear about your kidney failure

Re: Man given genetically modified pig heart dies

#77

Post by robbiep »

Footkerchief wrote: post #74
retrac wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Medicine can hurt as well as heal. A concrete example. Many doctors will advise you not to get a full body MRI scan. You can pretty easily buy such a service, and hire some radiologists to pour over every cubic millimetre of your body. But it's a really bad idea. Because they will almost certainly find something ambiguous or troubling. And they're gonna biopsy. And then, well, maybe that's ambiguous. Another biopsy.…

The correct takeaway is to use information responsibly, not to deny yourself information.

I agree in principle, but health literacy is so appallingly low - globally - that more often than not people are not equipped to deal with this information. As I said in an earlier post on this thread, look at the askdocs subreddit. 90% of the posts there are worried well asking for clarification of some unnecessary test they went and specifically asked a doctor for, the result of which they don’t understand and which is causing a cascade of health anxiety.

If every person understood enough to realise how many ‘abnormalities’ enough investigations would show up, and how in 99% of people they mean absolutely nothing, then it would be fine. But that’s not our current situation. And if you’re one of those people who are capable of parsing the dense health literature and understanding the implications (or not) of ‘normal abnormal’ findings, then go for it. But for the population as a whole? It’s not viable or helpful

Re: Man given genetically modified pig heart dies

#78

Post by Karawebnetwork »

testesttest wrote: post #39
rmellow wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US I presume? Canadians have a harder time... In Canada/Ontario, you have to convince your doctor to give you a cholesterol test, e.g. family history. It won't be done preventively [1]. Even if you manage to get tested, if you're under 40 the doctor won't care and there will be no followup. [1] https://exechealth.ca/ontario-drops-annual-physicals/

A test in the US < $50 and is easy to schedule without having a doctor involved at LabCore or similar. Is that an option in CA?

In Quebec at least, a doctor's prescription is required for all blood tests even at private labs.

Re: Man given genetically modified pig heart dies

#80

Post by colinmhayes »

Footkerchief wrote: post #74
retrac wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Medicine can hurt as well as heal. A concrete example. Many doctors will advise you not to get a full body MRI scan. You can pretty easily buy such a service, and hire some radiologists to pour over every cubic millimetre of your body. But it's a really bad idea. Because they will almost certainly find something ambiguous or troubling. And they're gonna biopsy. And then, well, maybe that's ambiguous. Another biopsy.…

The correct takeaway is to use information responsibly, not to deny yourself information.

People are too dumb to do that, even if they're actively trying to.
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