Friday, October 18, 2013

This list is not going to affect hypochondriacs

but gives me an excuse for not going for a full medical check-up. I have two retiree friends who are being described by wife of one of them as 'hypochondriacs: one is 'half a kati while the other is 8 tahils'. As for me, I admit I am right so long as I am still alive and kicking. I could be a 'walking time bomb' without realising it.

12 Medical Tests and Procedures Even Doctors Claim Are Useless
August 13, 2013 by DAVE MIHALOVIC

"Doctors are often criticized for prescribing unneeded tests and procedures that harm more than they help and add to medical costs that could otherwise be avoided. 12 medical tests and procedures now being questioned worldwide as unnecessary and potentially cause -- sometimes harmful results to patients. Since a campaign was launched last year, more than 130 tests and procedures have been called into question by 25 medical specialty societies with more than 500,000 member doctors."

Briefly (headings only):
1. Avoid Inducing Labor or C-Section Before 39 Weeks...
2. Avoid Routine Annual Pap Tests
3. Avoid CT Scans To Evaluate Minor Head Injuries
4. Avoid Stress Tests Using Echocardiographic Images
5. Avoid Prescribing Type 2 Diabetes Medication To Achieve Tight Glycemic Control
6. Avoid EEGs (electroencephalography) on Patients With Recurrent Headaches.
7. Avoid Routinely Treating Acid Reflux
ADDITIONAL MEDICAL TESTS TO BE AVOIDED
8. Avoid Lipid Profile Tests
9. Avoid Mammograms
10. Avoid PSA Testing
A PSA blood test looks for prostate-specific antigen,...
11. Avoid Routine Colorectal Cancer Screening
12. Avoid DEXA
Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA or DXA)...

Rest of article:
http://preventdisease.com/news/13/081213_12-Medical-Tests-and-Procedures-Even-Doctors-Claim-Are-Useless.shtml

Meanwhile, in an unrelated development...

The American Medical Association has weighed in on Obama's new health care package.
 
The Allergists were in favor of scratching it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.

Meanwhile, Obstetricians felt certain everyone was laboring under a misconception, while the Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted. Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, "Oh, grow up!"

The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it.
 
Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing and the Internists claimed it would indeed be a bitter pill to swallow.

The Plastic Surgeons opined that this proposal would "put a whole new face on the matter". The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea.

Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and those lofty Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.

In the end, the Proctologists (doctors specializing in diseases of the rectum and anus) won out, leaving the entire decision up to the ass holes in Washington.

Link

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