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There’s a bit too much whataboutery to your argument. I insisted on a PSA test even though I had no symptoms and it saved my life.
Life pro tip: don’t take no for an answer.
https://prostatecanceruk.org/about-us/news-and-views/2024/10/ffb-westminster-launch-event
marcomarcos-
I’m genuinely glad to hear that’s the way it went for you. I fully agree that too many people die from preventable ailments because their condition isn’t caught in time, for myriad reasons especially lack of testing. Fully agree with your LPT.
too much whataboutery to your argument
I didn’t mean to make an argument in favour of less testing, although I see how I effectively did. I was only saying that there’s evidence that, at scale, testing people often for everything seems to result in more harmful outcomes than good ones. It was food for abstract thought and an odd (quasi?)fact.
Personally I consider it normal for people to get full blood work done every year, but that’s very much not the done thing here, I realise.
Muc-ed-off
Something that harms the wellbeing of the patient instead of improving it. The act of testing contribute to anxiety, false positives lead to unnecessary stress and more testing, and statistically every medical procedure carries a degree of risk of harm or complication*. That’s leaving aside more complex issues like psychosomatic illnesses, disfunctional doctor-patient relationships, etc.
Basically, while the jury seems to be still out, there is some evidence showing that people are better off testing when there’s a reason to test for something, rather than blanket testing in case something appears. 🤷♂️
*E.g., yours truly in the recent past. Routine blood draw at Kings College Hospital, stupid fucking phlebotomist hit a nerve, which hurt like hell and left me with reduced feeling and occasional electric shock in my dominant hand. They also didn’t lay me down or brace me when I passed out, and their manager shortly after instructed me to walk to the ER by myself when I fell to my knees saying I was going to faint onto the ceramic floor then and there.
Life pro tip: always get blood drawn from your non dominant arm.