In medicine, beliefs and ideas get very ingrained. Some, such as screening mammography become sacred cows. And when sacred cows are questioned the reaction is more akin to dealing with heresy than dealing with science. This was on display again with yet another...
Last weekend the family decided to get take a ways from a new Singaporean restaurant we had heard good reports about. After making menu selections I rang up to place the order. As it turned out I dialed the wrong number. The kids had a laugh; I apologised to the lady...
This reversal of a commonly used phrase is a plea. A plea against the bias that leans doctors towards diagnosing and treating, even when the scientific evidence may not support it. Sure, it is expected that a doctor will diagnose and treat you, but sometimes there is...
What’s your blood count? Blood pressure? Bone density? PSA? If it is abnormal, odds are that you will want it to be normal. In doing so, you are making the same leap of faith that your doctor is making when he commences treatment: that treating the numbers will...
Always be wary of a call to do a “simple blood test”. There is no such thing. Whilst taking blood out of a vein is simple, the results are never simple and a “simple blood test” can start a chain of events, which are far from simple. The worst example is the call to...