The Health Risk of Diagnostic Mistakes
QHHL 
Aug 23 2019
0 
0 QHHL
Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. But when a doctor makes a mistake, the results can be devastating for your health.
If you’ve been the victim of a medical mistake, then you know how serious it can be. And if you haven’t, then you probably don’t know just how common this health risk is. There are several different kinds of medical mistakes. And if you eliminate the ones that are considered malpractice, this is a serious issue that must be addressed. One of these categories of medical errors is diagnostic mistakes. And it’s perhaps the most serious and damaging problem of all.
You know that health monitoring and an early diagnosis is pivotal to your continued good health. But if your doctor makes a mistake, this effort may all be for nothing. There are several different types of medical errors. All of these can be a serious threat to your health and wellbeing. These errors can include:
Of all of these, diagnostic mistakes are the most common. Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to estimate how many people are affected by this type of mistake. However, there is some evidence to show that between 40,000 and 80,000 deaths in US hospitals may be due to misdiagnoses.
A recent study has thrown light on the problem of medical errors. It suggests that they may be a factor in 80,000–160,000 cases of serious health harm each year. And this isn’t spread evenly across different diseases and disorders either. The study found that three conditions were involved with three quarters of the cases of serious harm related to misdiagnosis. These three conditions were cancers, infections and vascular events. The researchers labelled them “The Big Three”.
This is a significant finding. There are thousands of diseases and disorders in the world. And it’s surprising that only three were so strongly linked to misdiagnosis. These statistics were broken down further. One third of the medical errors linked to death or permanent disability were related to cancer. Another 22 percent were related to vascular events and the last 13.5 percent to infections.
These results were further broken down. Of “The Big Three”, lung cancer, stroke, and sepsis were the most common problems.
You obviously can’t stop your doctor from making medical errors. And measures to reduce the problem of misdiagnosis would be difficult. There are over 10,000 diseases, each of causing a variety of symptoms. So, it’s difficult for the medical establishment to correct the problem of misdiagnosis with a one size fits all plan.
However, you have a role in this as well. Through health monitoring, you can give your doctor more information about your health. You can give them accurate information that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. This can be pivotal in getting the right diagnosis and lowering your health risk.
The other important element is time. An early diagnosis is key to a good outcome with most disorders. This means that you must get help early. See your doctor regularly and draw their attention to areas of concern. Don’t wait for them to do it, because this could be too late for a timely diagnosis.
If you’re concerned about a health risk, try using HomeLab to keep track of your condition and any preventative measures you take. And if you see signs of a significant problem, you should check with your doctor as soon as possible.
Tags: health risk, medical errors