cpe1978
17-10-13, 20:45
As part of my CBT I agreed to start doing some of the things that I would usually avoid. Things such as watching certain TV programmes etc.
So ever the diligent student I am sitting here watching Trust Me I'm a Doctor on BBC2.
They just did a feature on all these companies offering private body scans as a preventative screening measure. It was actually fascinating and if any of you feel able would be worth watching on iPlayer.
Basically the problem with 'healthy' people chasing scans is that a CT scan for instance can pick up abnormalities which are 1mm in size. So for example if you had chicken pox as a child you may have scars in your lungs which look similar on a scan to the start of lung cancer. They said that on average, each of us will have 3 visible abnormalities that a Dr may consider warranting further investigation out of due diligence. Less than 2% of these turn out to be anything other than totally benign.
Similarly chasing tests can never give you the definitive answer you are looking for, they can never be absolutely certain that there is absolutely nothing with you, so by default never providing the 100% reassurance so many of us chase. They are only useful and reliable in following up symptoms that a primary care professional believes may be something serious.
Of course the exception to this is people who have serious predisposing factors such as a hereditary condition that may lead to a condition.
So really I am just regurgitating what this programme said but maybe there is something in it, maybe genuinely we need to trust our bodies as the very best indicator of something seriously wrong, otherwise chasing scans might just fuel the fire of anxiety.
So ever the diligent student I am sitting here watching Trust Me I'm a Doctor on BBC2.
They just did a feature on all these companies offering private body scans as a preventative screening measure. It was actually fascinating and if any of you feel able would be worth watching on iPlayer.
Basically the problem with 'healthy' people chasing scans is that a CT scan for instance can pick up abnormalities which are 1mm in size. So for example if you had chicken pox as a child you may have scars in your lungs which look similar on a scan to the start of lung cancer. They said that on average, each of us will have 3 visible abnormalities that a Dr may consider warranting further investigation out of due diligence. Less than 2% of these turn out to be anything other than totally benign.
Similarly chasing tests can never give you the definitive answer you are looking for, they can never be absolutely certain that there is absolutely nothing with you, so by default never providing the 100% reassurance so many of us chase. They are only useful and reliable in following up symptoms that a primary care professional believes may be something serious.
Of course the exception to this is people who have serious predisposing factors such as a hereditary condition that may lead to a condition.
So really I am just regurgitating what this programme said but maybe there is something in it, maybe genuinely we need to trust our bodies as the very best indicator of something seriously wrong, otherwise chasing scans might just fuel the fire of anxiety.