When the evidence says no but doctors say yes

03 June 2019, 05:57 PM

quote:
Long after research contradicts common medical practices, patients continue to demand them and physicians continue to deliver. The result is an epidemic of unnecessary and unhelpful treatments.

https://getpocket.com/explore/...source=pocket-newtab

03 June 2019, 07:15 PM

Doug

quote:
Originally posted by wtg:
quote:
Long after research contradicts common medical practices, patients continue to demand them and physicians continue to deliver. The result is an epidemic of unnecessary and unhelpful treatments.

https://getpocket.com/explore/...source=pocket-newtab

This lines up rather too well with all of my phobias and biases about the medical profession…

03 June 2019, 07:15 PM

Doug

quote:
Originally posted by Doug:
quote:
Originally posted by wtg:
quote:
Long after research contradicts common medical practices, patients continue to demand them and physicians continue to deliver. The result is an epidemic of unnecessary and unhelpful treatments.

https://getpocket.com/explore/...source=pocket-newtab

This lines up rather too well with all of my phobias and biases about the medical profession…

I hope my tinfoil hat still works…

03 June 2019, 07:17 PM

wtg

quote:
Originally posted by Doug:
quote:
Originally posted by Doug:
quote:
Originally posted by wtg:
quote:
Long after research contradicts common medical practices, patients continue to demand them and physicians continue to deliver. The result is an epidemic of unnecessary and unhelpful treatments.

https://getpocket.com/explore/...source=pocket-newtab

This lines up rather too well with all of my phobias and biases about the medical profession…

I hope my tinfoil hat still works…

Early studies said they work, but subsequent research refutes that....

03 June 2019, 07:31 PM

ShiroKuro

From the article

quote:
stents for stable patients prevent zero heart attacks and extend the lives of patients a grand total of not at all.

Jeezus.

quote:
To that end, one of the president’s top candidates to head the FDA, tech investor Jim O’Neill, has openly advocated for drugs to be approved before they’re shown to work. “Let people start using them at their own risk,” O’Neill has argued.

Also Jeezus.

I've also read about this:

quote:
it took 10 years for large swaths of the medical community to stop referencing popular practices after their efficacy was unequivocally vanquished by science.

It's pretty frustrating to think that you might want to second-guess the experts you rely on to guide your medical care.

Also this

quote:
scheduling “emergencies-by-appointment” for patients to get stents, because, the report said, insurance is more likely to cover the procedure in an emergency situation.

is super frustrating.

03 June 2019, 09:01 PM

QuirtEvans

The latest that I've read about is that it's no longer recommended that patients fast before blood tests. The only number affected by fasting, it turns out, is triglycerides.

Have practices changed? They have not. My doctor's office still wants me to fast before blood tests.

03 June 2019, 09:48 PM

Cindysphinx

The moral of the story is . . . .

If there is any way to avoid a drug or a procedure, avoid it.

And do your homework.

04 June 2019, 01:45 AM

Steve Miller

I went to a doc in the box for the beginnings of a sinus infection. Told her that sometimes Flonase will knock it out but if I wait too long it takes a month to get rid of. I thought her approach was brilliant.

Wait a week, try the Flonase and if it doesn’t work fill the prescription. She left it up to me.

Flonase worked. I’m good.

04 June 2019, 01:51 AM

rustyfingers

I've had this experience a couple of times too for both me and the kids. Here's a script so you don't have to come back, but don't fill it unless you need to.

I generally don't.

Except for bronchitis. If I get bronchitis, the only thing that clears it up is an antibiotic. And the research now says that it doesn't help. I think I may be an outlier on this one...

04 June 2019, 09:53 AM

Piano*Dad

quote:
Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
The moral of the story is . . . .

If there is any way to avoid a drug or a procedure, avoid it.

And do your homework.

What's more likely, the doctor is full of sh!t or in the drug company's pocket, or you and your Internet searches produce a nice confirmation-biased glow as you avoid helpful approaches in favor of avoiding a drug or procedure?

Yes, doing your homework is always a good idea because it helps you ask the right questions about costs/benefits and the literature. But for most people, the patient's understanding of the literature is weak and often very biased in comparison with their physician's understanding.

04 June 2019, 11:20 AM

Nina

Agreed, P*D. If you don't trust your doctor, get a new one. But don't assume that all doctors are charlatans out to line their pockets. ~~That would be the drug companies.~~

I'll also plug the notion that you might want to have a few trusted medical websites that you go to. For me, it's Mayo Clinic. But I'm always surprised at the amount of garbage that's out on the internets on websites promoting things like "healthy living," that offer medical advice or random concoctions to the gullible. I'd also like to point out that even the most competent science journalist is frequently unable to write an error-free article or, if they are being honest, they have to write the equivalent of "more research is required," which then gets twisted into some version of "there's no proof that this works." (Italics to emphasize our fixation with proof, which is almost nonexistent in science).

04 June 2019, 01:16 PM

QuirtEvans

quote:
Originally posted by Piano*Dad:
quote:
Originally posted by Cindysphinx:
The moral of the story is . . . .

If there is any way to avoid a drug or a procedure, avoid it.

And do your homework.

What's more likely, the doctor is full of sh!t or in the drug company's pocket, or you and your Internet searches produce a nice confirmation-biased glow as you avoid helpful approaches in favor of avoiding a drug or procedure?

Yes, doing your homework is always a good idea because it helps you ask the right questions about costs/benefits and the literature. But for most people, the patient's understanding of the literature is weak and often very biased in comparison with their physician's understanding.

Where's that like button again?

quote:
Agreed, P*D. If you don't trust your doctor, get a new one.

I'm still looking for that like button.

04 June 2019, 07:09 PM

Amanda

quote:
The man was an unusually self-possessed patient, so he asked the cardiologist about what he had found. The cardiologist was dismissive and told the man to “do more research.”

Wow!

I find this scenario most unusual in every regard, especially in how the patient was described - "dismissive". Furthermore, for a "dismissive doctor" to advise a patient to do more research! Haha, indeed!!

Au contraire, I have found that doctors up against a mystery patient tend to advise such patients to avoid the internet and their personal findings .

Speaking of Googling ones symptoms and diagnoses, I found to be an invitation to a contemptuous chuckle and shrug, eye rolling.

05 June 2019, 11:12 AM

Cindysphinx

I'm not suggesting rejecting medical advice for internet nonsense.

I'm suggesting that U.S. medicine in general leans heavily toward treating things aggressively. Every problem (and even things that are not problems) should be treated with a drug or a device or an operation.

In my experience, many things respond very well to lifestyle changes. Or waiting and letting your body sort it out.

I just think that the risks and benefits of many things (as presented to patients) focus too much on the possible benefits while the risks are given short shrift.

But hey, if you want to try the latest drug or device or treatment or operation, go for it. How else will I learn whether the thing is safe enough for me?

Cindy -- astounded that people will actually use a prescription drug on their eyes to get longer eyelashes

05 June 2019, 12:29 PM

Steve Miller

quote:
Originally posted by Piano*Dad:
What's more likely, the doctor is full of sh!t or in the drug company's pocket, or you and your Internet searches produce a nice confirmation-biased glow as you avoid helpful approaches in favor of avoiding a drug or procedure?

From what I can tell, this depends greatly on how old your doctor is.