4 ms·
The fact that these cancers go undetected until it's too late at present is evidence enough that GPs are not adequate for this purpose.
by ianlevesque 10y ago
The fact that these cancers go undetected until it's too late at present is evidence enough that GPs are not adequate for this purpose.
- Ralfp 10y agoThe rule GP's are taught to follow is "when you hear the horses running, don't think of zebras". Symptoms are frequently either non-present or unspecific for such a long time that GP's stick to what fits and is most propable and only look further if current approach isn't working.
- jstimpfle 10y agoThis is Occam's razor. The horses saw is new to me.
- barking 10y agoThe squeaky wheel gets oil. I would say that people who are less acquiescent will get more tests, sooner, especially in a scenario where demand outstrips supply. Women tend to be better in that way in my experience, men are more easily fobbed off.
- dboreham 10y agoThis is unfortunately a systematic problem with medicine that probably arises from the fact that the signal to noise ratio is so low. If you see 100 patients/year who have indigestion but think they have stomach cancer, then the 1 patient that really has cancer is impossible to detect (without also spending unreasonable resources on the other 99).