Protect Yourself: Fight Mis-Diagnosis
In January’s edition of Gwangju News, we covered the phenomena of thyroid cancer over-diagnosis in Korea and promised to return to provide action items that will help you circumvent being misdiagnosed.
The population as a whole is healthier, but is increasingly being told it is sick. Over-diagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health argues that diagnoses today are made based on variations from a standard, despite symptoms of illness being non-existent and unlikely to occur, whereas in the past, diagnoses were based solely on the presence of symptoms. With diagnostic thresholds for many diseases having been lowered and the technological capability to screen and test patients for more conditions, people who would previously have been categorized as “normal” are now being told they are diseased.
Not only are patients inconvenienced by unnecessary emotional stress, they are also less likely to benefit from treatment and are put at serious danger by taking needless medication and treatment. When the Journal of the American Medical Association (Vol. 258. No. 3) reports you standing a 50 percent chance of being misdiagnosed, it may be comforting to know there are things you can do to mitigate the odds.
What can you do?
Stick with a doctor. These days individuals are less likely to have family doctors, but having a doctor as a single point of contact who knows your health history and health progression helps.
EHR. Keep an Electronic Health Record (EHR), which enable individuals to control the totality of knowledge that can provided by healthcare providers. The information is on hand and available at the touch of a button. Medical IT systems are not standardized, so EHRs allow share individuals’ records of medical information, diagnosis, test results, existing conditions, allergies and medications with all care providers and have such information available to one another.
Be Wary. Maintain a healthy skepticism about premature diagnosis, especially when being prescribed medication. Use evidence-based research to help make informed decisions.
Ask. After a diagnosis, do not be embarrassed to ask what else it could be and why such other findings were ruled out. Ask about treatment options and alternatives. Have them explain the diagnosis to you in layman’s terms.
Follow Up. Physicians are being assigned more patients and are so busy that they often do not review the diagnostic testings that are ordered in a timely manner. Call for important lab results. Do not wait for the doctor to get back to you.
Get a second opinion. Or third, if the diagnoses still do not converge.
Resist hype. Do not guilelessly give into new screenings, tests and procedures that are being pushed.
Do not be overly anxious. Health consciousness is beneficial but hypochondriasis is detrimental.
Finally, focus on prevention rather than pursuing early detection.