by Sonia Gow
About 20 years ago I was ill with a mystery ailment.
The symptoms were flu-like and I felt totally drained of energy. My doctor said
he couldn't help me because he didn't know what I had, how I got it, how long I
would have it, or how I could feel better. Basically, I was on my own.
This was the beginning of my journey to figure out
how I could regain and maintain my good health. I read everything I could about
it, altered my diet and exercised. Then, because I enjoyed the exercise and I
felt so much better, I became a fitness professional so I could help others
enjoy exercise and feel better, too.
I was supposed to work with healthy people but
because my focus is working with people over 50 years of age, I never met any.
Most "boomers" are taking at least one prescribed medication, and
frequently many more, usually related to hypertension or cholesterol. For the
past few years I've been working primarily with people living with Parkinson's
disease and they are prescribed numerous medications, as are many of their
partners or caregivers.
Because of all the medical care my friends receive,
there are lots of stories about their visits to the doctors and about their
treatments, but what really hits home with me is how this all affects their
lives. How their activities are limited or the time it takes for medical
appointments. There are family activities and other fun things they miss out on.
I recently heard this referred to as "missed opportunities".
While
the physical, emotional, and financial aspects are easily acknowledged as
having value, these lost opportunities frequently are not. But they do have
value. They are about our lives.
Recently I discovered several books written by
doctors and journalists about overdiagnosis
and overtreatment,
and they confirmed what I already suspected - that people were not only being
tested and treated unnecessarily but that some were being harmed, too. They
thought they were doing the right thing by following their doctors' orders but
were unaware of the harms or that there might be other options, and they were
unnecessarily enduring additional hardship.
What is wonderful about Dr. Wen's book, When Doctor's Don't Listen: How to
Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests, is that she not only explains
the problems but offers user-friendly suggestions on how to speak up and work
with your doctor to ensure that you receive the treatment you need for the
ailments you have and avoid medical treatment for the ones you don’t have
I am so pleased to see that more awareness is being
directed to overdiagnosis and overtreatment. I started writing a blog, Patients Are People Too, to direct
other patients to the information that's out there so they can make better
decisions. .
I never did get a definitive
answer about my mystery ailment from any of the doctors I've seen over the
years, so I guess the first one did me a favor. Because of him, I've been able to
figure out what works best for me. I hope you'll be encouraged to do the same.
Sonia Gow is a patient—and person—and
blogs at patientsarepeople.com.
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