Anyone, it seems, can create an epidemic. Witness a recent article in the Fairfax papers that provides “startling” news about the large number of Australians with high cholesterol who don’t even know they…
Have you ever wondered how diseases get defined? How “high” does your blood pressure have to be before it’s called “high blood pressure”? How “low” does bone density have to be before it’s “osteoporosis…
Kidneys are probably not a subject most of us think about too much – but right now they’re at the centre of a global medical controversy. In a paper published in the British Medical Journal today, we explain…
When they were introduced over 20 years ago, national breast screening programs were a milestone in public health. They were based on evidence from randomised trials that screening saved lives. But there…
HEALTH RATIONING – a series which examines Australia’s rising health costs and the tough decisions governments must make to rein them it. Any mention of the “R” word in health care immediately brings to…
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation and Georgina Scambler, The Conversation
One of the world’s top medical journals has launched a campaign against overdiagnosis, where people are diagnosed with medical conditions they don’t have and prescribed medicine they don’t need. The British…
Women in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will all soon be advised to start screening for cervical cancer at 25 years, and those aged between 50 and 64 years to screen every five years rather…
It promised to be a full year of reforms: pokies legislation, front-of-pack food labels and a dental system that doesn’t cost those in need an arm and a leg. But while we did see cigarette companies forced…
Public discussion about the risks of over-diagnosis of breast cancer have left some women wondering whether they should take part in the government’s breast screening program. Let’s take a look at what…
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most diagnosed childhood disorder in Australia. Most of us now know someone, or someone’s child, who has been diagnosed with ADHD. Reports on television…
OVER-DIAGNOSIS EPIDEMIC - In the final instalment of our series, Paul Glasziou talks about the way forward. Over-diagnosis is a significant problem that’s already common in some areas of medicine, such…
OVERDIAGNOSIS EPIDEMIC – Today, Stacy Carter presents a philosophical view of over-diagnosis and what can be done to change how things stand. Recently a friend told me a story about her dad. Fit and well…
OVER-DIAGNOSIS EPIDEMIC – Today, Rae Thomas looks at the growing prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Does your five-year-old have difficulty sustaining attention? What about organising…
OVER-DIAGNOSIS EPIDEMIC - We kick off the second week of this series with Jenny Doust looking at some drivers of over-diagnosis in general practice. It’s easy to dismiss general practice as being about…
OVER-DIAGNOSIS EPIDEMIC – We finish our first week of this series with Robert Burton, Christopher Stevenson and Mark Frydenberg examining prostate cancer screening. Scientific oncology started with the…
OVER-DIAGNOSIS EPIDEMIC – Today Jacqueline Savard talks about the growing prevalence of genetic testing and what impact they have on over-diagnosis. Genetic testing and screening is increasingly becoming…
OVER-DIAGNOSIS EPIDEMIC – David Le Couteur discusses recent changes in the definition of dementia and their ramifications. The pattern of over-diagnosis is the same for many diseases: we screen healthy…
OVER-DIAGNOSIS EPIDEMIC – Today Robin Bell and Robert Burton examine breast cancer to evaluate the role of population-wide screening in over-diagnosis. Since the national screening mammography program…
OVER-DIAGNOSIS EPIDEMIC – In the first instalment of a nine-part series Ray Moynihan outlines the growing problem of over-diagnosis. If you haven’t heard much yet about the problem of over-diagnosis, rest…
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne