I find this sentiment almost offensive. Like it goes against everything I believe to say that less data is better. But the root of it is pretty clear "even basic blood tests can lead to unnecessary interventions or treatments". It's the belief that a test leads to interventions. But it doesn't have to of course. An intervention is a decision, and if an intervention is likely to be unnecessary, then they shouldn't intervene. "But the yadda-yadda-value is elevated", yeah well you said it yourself it's most likely nothing, so do nothing, just note it down for future reference.
Experts warn yearly checkups carry risks and do not reduce mortality
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Re: Experts warn yearly checkups carry risks and do not reduce mortality
#12That’s BS if I may. How would I know I have higher cholesterol if I didn’t do blood tests?
Interestingly, the scenario is somewhat discussed in the article: "...Rivero used as an example a request he receives frequently: to check the cholesterol of young people with no risk factors. “Checking a 32-year-old man with no history of sudden death or hypercholesterolemia in the family is pointless,” and can result in prescriptions for medication of questionable usefulness and that is not without risk in the even…
Cholesterol numbers are but guides/risk factors on your health risk. They do not necessarily mean that you will suffer from atherosclerosis the precursor to heart disease.
Re: Experts warn yearly checkups carry risks and do not reduce mortality
#13That’s BS if I may. How would I know I have higher cholesterol if I didn’t do blood tests?
Interestingly, the scenario is somewhat discussed in the article: "...Rivero used as an example a request he receives frequently: to check the cholesterol of young people with no risk factors. “Checking a 32-year-old man with no history of sudden death or hypercholesterolemia in the family is pointless,” and can result in prescriptions for medication of questionable usefulness and that is not without risk in the even…
I get the logic, but … isn’t this failure mode the fault of the doctor, for overreacting to a minor issue/non-issue, rather than the patient for getting yearly checkups?
Re: Experts warn yearly checkups carry risks and do not reduce mortality
#14I find this to be dubious and honestly a little insulting. Here in the UK there is a not insignificant number of people that die from cancers because their local health practice ignored or even refused to listen to a patient. The idea of a yearly checkup is totally foreign here unless you are going private.
There's no contradiction. Ignoring symptoms is foolish. Yearly checkups may do more harm than good. Both of these things can be true.
Re: Experts warn yearly checkups carry risks and do not reduce mortality
#15That’s BS if I may. How would I know I have higher cholesterol if I didn’t do blood tests?
Interestingly, the scenario is somewhat discussed in the article: "...Rivero used as an example a request he receives frequently: to check the cholesterol of young people with no risk factors. “Checking a 32-year-old man with no history of sudden death or hypercholesterolemia in the family is pointless,” and can result in prescriptions for medication of questionable usefulness and that is not without risk in the even…
I think that in that case, the issue is not that patient had checkup, but that standard reaction to high cholesterol is wrong. Having it checked up less often may help the patient, but real fix for healthcare system would be to not prescribe this medication in this situation.
Re: Experts warn yearly checkups carry risks and do not reduce mortality
#16The Study: "General health checks don’t work" - https://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3680
Re: Experts warn yearly checkups carry risks and do not reduce mortality
#17That’s BS if I may. How would I know I have higher cholesterol if I didn’t do blood tests?
That's the key: you don't need to know it.
Re: Experts warn yearly checkups carry risks and do not reduce mortality
#18I have a personal example of this. My father died largely because of his annual physical. He hated doctors, became nervous around them and thus expressed hypertension in-office. He did not have material hypertension but did defer to his physician. Over the long term, despite my best efforts, this killed him.
His blood pressure medication regime was poorly managed and severely impacted his quality of life. He eventually suffered a syncopal episode while climbing stairs and died.
Re: Experts warn yearly checkups carry risks and do not reduce mortality
#19I find this sentiment almost offensive. Like it goes against everything I believe to say that less data is better. But the root of it is pretty clear "even basic blood tests can lead to unnecessary interventions or treatments". It's the belief that a test leads to interventions. But it doesn't have to of course. An intervention is a decision, and if an intervention is likely to be unnecessary, then they shouldn't int…
Agreed 100%. It's absurd. The results get distilled as "more data leads to worse outcomes" and that's ridiculous -- it should be: "more data leads to bad decisions which lead to worse outcomes". We should ALWAYS strive to have more and better data. What needs to change is how we (and our doctors) respond to that data.
Re: Experts warn yearly checkups carry risks and do not reduce mortality
#20[flagged]
Brought to you by some doctors in Denmark, a country with socialized healthcare.
Can we cut the cynicism for one minute to at least check the source?