Even My Wife Thinks I am a Nutcase

Susan often thinks that my feeling about the health professions and medical care are off the wall.
For instance, I told her that osteopenia  (early bone loss in older women) is a not a diagnosis and that unless a bone density test was performed when a woman is 20, there is no basis for a diagnosis of osteopenia....And even if there was, there is no evidence that taking drugs for osteoporosis prevents fractures.

Or when I told Susan that most of the time taking a flu shot is not very helpful since the 3 viruses in the vaccine are usually not the virus causing this years flu.

Or the fact that 99,999 people have to take a statin for one...ONE...persons life to be saved.

In Friday's edition of the New York Times, an oncologist and a vice provost at the University of Pennsylvania wrote an op-ed piece in which he said:

"Skip your annual physical...They cost the country billions , but they don't save lives."

Can you believe that? Finally truth be told.

Much of what we were taught growing up gets repeated from generation to generation without much scientific evidence to back it up....

Just as I have been telling MY patients for the last 20 years:  Most teeth in 20, 30 or 40 year olds do NOT need a crown for protection.(Except back teeth that have had root canals.) The overwhelming majority of the direct bonded resins placed with a rubber dam are still functioning very well and very few have gone on to needing a crown during the last 20 years...

Just keep that in mind.