It is human nature to want to name an illness. This allows patients to come to terms with their symptoms and prognosis. It also permits physicians to adopt a course of treatment. In the case of COVID, diagnosing the disease presents pitfalls as well as opportunities. First, the pitfalls. As new diseases evolve, many of the symptoms associated with […]
Category: Diabetes
Every couple of years a group of experts lowers the level of blood pressure required to diagnose and treat hypertension. On the face of it, the advice seems reasonable: obesity and diabetes are on the increase across the globe and both are related to hypertension and its result, cardiovascular disease. So, dropping the upper limits […]
Determining value in contemporary healthcare has always been a matrix of competing and synergistic forces primarily driven by clinical parameters, costs and patients…until recently. Earlier this year The American Society of Clinical Oncology attempted to unpack and quantify the matrix through the identification of five categories: Clinical benefit (as determined by survival), Toxicity, Palliation (a […]
The noun invasion has its origins in the 12th century Latin word invadere: to walk, to go into, to fall upon. In the 15th century we adopted the Old French term invasion, which is steeped in negative concepts like attack and assault. This definition, ubiquitous across healthcare, remains in use today. It stands to reason […]
The Thinker 