If You Feel OK, Maybe You Are

Early diagnosing has become a fundamental aspect of modern medicine. Early screening can tell if patients have any medical problems, such as cancer or heart disease. And when something is in fact found, it’s better to catch and deal with problems then not knowing at all, right? 

From The Opinion Pages off of The New York Times website, “is looking hard for things to be wrong a good way to promote health? The truth is, the fastest way to get heart disease, autism, glaucoma, diabetes, vascular problems, osteoporosis or cancer ... is to be screened for it. In other words, the problem is overdiagnosis and overtreatment.”  

Although early screening can save lives, it also drags many people into the system for no good reason. People are expected to go through needless tests, appointments, and operations.  

According to the article, “This process doesn’t promote health; it promotes disease. People suffer from more anxiety about their health, from drug side effects, from complications of surgery. A few die. And remember: these people felt fine when they entered the health care system.” 

Before early screening was encouraged, people used to visit the doctor to see what was wrong with them if they were experiencing medical problems. Today, people go to the doctor to stay healthy and then learn that they have an issue.  

By turning people into patients, as stated in the article, a lot of money can be made for the pharmaceutical companies, doctors, and hospitals just by performing preventive screenings.  

To read the entire article, click here. 

Snyder and Wenner, P.C.

602-224-0005