Less medicine, more health
Subtitle: 7 assumptions that drive too much medical care
By: Dr. H. Gilbert Welch
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 218
ISBN-13: 9780807071649
Subjects: Medicare; Health risk assessment
Description: "Eat smart, exercise regularly, and get routine health screenings," the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services advises the public in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. And that is absolutely true - except for the checkup part. The American public has been sold the idea that seeking medical care is one of the most important steps to maintain wellness. However, surprisingly, medical care is not in fact well correlated with good health. The major determinants of health are outside individual medical care. Dr. Gilbert Welch pushes against established wisdom, and suggests that medical care may be too aggressive. From his twenty-five years of medical practice and research, Welch explains that excessive medical care is often powered by economics and lawyers. But American medical care would not exist in this state if the general public did not harbor powerful assumptions about the value of tests and treatments - a number of which are just plain wrong. "--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Our enthusiasm for everything medical; title: Assumption #1. All risks can be lowered; title: Assumption #2. It's always better to fix the problem; title: Assumption #3. Sooner is always better; title: Assumption #4. It never hurts to get more information; title: Assumption #5. Action is always better than inaction; title: Assumption #6. Newer is always better; title: Assumption #7. It's all about avoiding death.