Early Screening

do not think that the public health system, with its emphasis on screening and early detection of disease, is making Americans think they are sick when they are not. Early screenings and detection of disease are critical in providing the best possible treatment for those afflicted. Overall health outcomes and survival rate dramatically increase when diseases are detected in their earlier stages, before they have been able to spread throughout the body and/or become more severe. Prevention efforts to further educate the public about how their lifestyle choices affect their health are also valuable tools in reducing the incidence of disease. I think these measures serve to make the public more aware of the possibility of disease so that early detection is possible, but I do not believe that it makes the public become hypochondriacs. I believe that it is better to be informed of possible risk of disease and to reduce the risk of it
I think that this phenomenon has only increased with the reach of the Internet and websites such as WebMD. Many people have access to these sites without the medical or science background to fully understand them. Additionally, there are many articles on the Internet that are simply false and the general public may not do thorough fact-checking. Because they read a possible diagnosis on the Internet, they then demand the certain tests at the doctor's office even if the true medical professional deems it unnecessary. This puts doctors in a difficult position of balancing denying unnecessary testing with maintaining a good relationship with/retaining patients. It is an unfortunate situation that the expertise of doctors with 10+ years of education is questioned off of false articles. It is one thing to bring up concerns with a health professional, but not to make unnecessary