10-19-2009, 07:42 AM
Quote:Indeed. On a related note, some studies have shown that, even for perfectly healthy people, moderate waiting times can actually reduce mortality. Both doctors and patients have a propensity to want too much treatment too quickly (than is statistically optimal), and that slight delays can actually prevent more deaths due to errors and complications than immediate surgeries. Treatment is always to be judged vs. the alternatives - there is no panacea, only different states of being with different survival rates and quality of life. Sometimes, the disease is more gentle than the cure. Often times not, but it's not always easy to tell.
-Jester
A slightly related topic. Medical treatment is also very culturally driven. In europe you can see big differences between the countries. If in the south somebody goes to the doctor and leaves without a prescription for some kind of drug, they thing the doctor is a moron. In the north doctors are more likely to prescripe some rest/vitamines/asperine, they have the idea that if you don't need to put all kind of drugs in a human body, it is better not to do it.
(of course I am talking about light illnesses, not cancer)