Medical Screening Tests - 5 Ways They Can Harm Your Health

Medical screening tests are performed to determine whether a particular disease or health condition is present in someone who has no signs or symptoms of the disease in question. Because of the health checks are offered healthy people, the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of medical tests are more stringent than the tests used to diagnose the disease in those who sought medical help for symptoms of noticeable illness. advantage of views clearly must outweigh the potential harm.

benefits of medical tests vary according to the characteristics of the test, and prevalence (the proportion of those with the condition) in a population or sub-populations (eg sex, age group, ethnicity) were tested. Low frequency of testing or specific characteristics lead to false positive results.

harm of false-positive result

a positive test result in someone who has the disease will lead to more tests and if any of these are positive, treatment may be unnecessary. All medical tests and treatments have potential adverse effects, up to and including death. Unnecessary worry or fear of falsely believing one has a disease (cancer, for example), can also cause psychological harm. regular health screening (eg annually), with a special test dalažno increases the likelihood of a positive test.

harm of a false negative result

a negative test result in someone who is actually the disease can lead them to ignore the later symptoms and delay seeking treatment when it is most effective.

for a longer time to disease

medical screening tests to reduce disability and mortality, not only to find more cases. If there is no effective treatment for the disease, the patient will spend more time to be sick than if you were not tested until symptoms appeared.

test itself can be harmful to health

Medical screening tests involving radiation exposure could conceivably increase the risk of cancer over time, especially if used regularly or on-screen younger people. Cat scans provide radiation-the equivalent of 500 chest X-rays, but they all offer an annual corporate health screening.

ineffective Health Screening reduces the Health Resources

substantial costs and professional time associated with ineffective health screening and follow-up tests and treatment reduces the resources available to provide effective health care. This can lead to more waiting for special care or treatment, or some effective interventions are available to all who need them.

number of medical tests have shown to be effective in certain populations. For more information on health screening visit of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force or the request for screening.