The more you heal, the more you're sick, the doctors say.
Last reviewed: 23.11.2021
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The more you heal, the more you get sick: this conclusion was reached by American doctors who found out that some tests and treatment methods do more harm than good, Newsweek writes. "There are many areas of medicine where refusal of tests, X-rays and treatment ultimately affects health better," Rita Redberg, professor of medicine at the University of California, says.
"For many, in general, healthy people, some analyzes are followed by others, and they, in turn, can lead to interference caused by an allegedly existing problem that can be resolved by itself or be harmless," the publication notes. prostate-specific antigens for the diagnosis of prostate cancer (which are annually exposed to 20 million men in the US) before the surgical treatment of chronic back pain and the use of antibiotics against sinusitis, many tests and treatments in fact prove to be or harmful, or as useless as a placebo. "
According to experts, the US government annually allocates hundreds of billions of dollars for medical procedures that do not do any good or even pose a serious health risk. They believe that the Medicare program could save money and save lives by stopping paying for some common procedures.
And although the tests really save one patient's life, helping to identify the disease at an early stage, they can also be harmful and even destructive to others. Large-scale studies analyzing the impact of various surgical interventions in the field of cardiology on patients with stable health experiencing only mild chest pains showed that these procedures increased life expectancy and quality of life no more than non-invasive methods such as tablets, exercise and a healthy diet, although much more expensive. Studies have also shown that blockage of the arteries, detected by means of computed tomography and other radiologic methods and for a long time considered the cause of heart attacks, as a rule, does not cause heart attacks, but its treatment can lead to a heart attack. The fact is that when these clogs are removed surgically, a whole stream of organic matter falls into tiny blood vessels and can cause a heart attack or an attack of stenocardia, said Norton Hadler, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina. According to him, many of the 500,000 plastic surgery performed annually on the vessels were made to patients who could better benefit from pills, exercise and diet.
New technologies sometimes can even lead to an aggravation of the problem. According to Dr. Lauer of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, computed tomographic angiography, which allows you to see the heart and coronary arteries in 3D, is "extremely good and gives us the opportunity to see what we have not seen before, but our ability to understand what exactly we are we see and should we intervene, do not keep pace with "new technologies.
A study conducted by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions showed that among 1,000 low-risk patients undergoing CT angiography, the number of heart attacks and deaths in the next 18 months was not lower than in 1,000 patients who did not pass the test. However, they used more medications, took more tests and underwent various types of surgical intervention, fraught with the threat of side effects. The computed tomography angiography itself has a side effect, since by exposing patients to high doses of radiation exposure, it increases the risk of cancer.
Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Hospital does not recommend patients without symptoms of any illness to undergo tomographs, echocardiograms and even stress tests on the treadmill, because according to studies, they often reveal false positive reactions and can lead to dangerous interference. Even the best research results can lead to a deterioration in health if they instill in people the belief that now they can eat everything and give up physical exercises.
The same applies to expensive computer tomography of the spine. With its help, it is possible to identify diseases that can be cured by surgical intervention. However, it is no more effective than light gymnastics and a sparing regimen, but at the same time it carries with it serious risks and does not necessarily lead to the elimination of pain.
"Among doctors, it is a common misconception that if you find something different from what you consider" normal ", then this is the cause of the patient's problems," the newspaper quotes Hadler. In addition, some doctors believe that if treatment, for example a pill, helps with a severe case of illness, it will be effective even if it is easier, but it is not necessarily so, the newspaper stresses.
Sometimes traditional analyzes should be avoided. In the Archives of Internal Medicine this month, a group of doctors published a list of tests and treatment methods that some patients should completely abandon: this treatment of sinusitis with antibiotics, a chest pain x-ray, an osteoporosis check for women under 65, electrocardiograms and other cardiac examinations for patients with low risk and even a clinical blood test for healthy adults.
And although studies show that some treatments are not more effective than placebo, many doctors do not refuse the useless and even harmful health care that is so costly to taxpayers, the publication notes.