3 ms·
It's complicated... Not all instances of cancer are harmful, more men die with prostate cancer then die because of of it and thyroid cancer is found as an incid
by astura 8y ago
It's complicated... Not all instances of cancer are harmful, more men die with prostate cancer then die because of of it and thyroid cancer is found as an incidental in ~30% of autopsies. More detection can cause more harm than good, as what happened in South Korea with thyroid cancer screening, a huge increase in detection and treatment without any decrease in survival rates.
Here's a good overview:
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/a-skeptical-look-at-screening-tests/ https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/a-skeptical-look-at-screeni...
Info about thyroid cancer over diagnosis:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/05/09/527569291/dont-screen-for-thyroid-cancer-task-force-says https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/05/09/5275692...
- chii 8y agoUnder-rated opinion - if you're not feeling ill, there's probably no reason to perform any medical diagnostics. If you're wearing a medical diagnostic bracelet, and it tells you that you have some issue, you might end up getting more anxcious and stressed (which can cause real harm), despite the fact that there's nothing "wrong" really.
- astura 8y agoThere's evidence that the following are beneficial on an asymptomatic population level: Obesity screening Blood pressure screening Cervical cancer screening (pap test) though most medical providers test at the wrong intervals.