by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters
My mother, like many women of her generation, would never dream of telling her doctor that she wants a second medical opinion, even if she suspected that her doctor’s treatment or advice was lacking. This means that, if he were negligent or incompetent or even downright dangerous – which he’s not, by the way – my mother would rather die than get a second opinion. To ask for one would be rude and insulting to her physician, and that just would never happen. Whatever her doctor says goes unquestioned. He is the boss of her health care.
She’s not alone. Many patients choose to simply defer to their physicians, even when that physician is not providing comprehensive information about diagnosis or treatment options. As orthopedic surgeon Dr. Howard Luks described some of his colleagues:
“Time is short for doctors, they often have biases, and many assume patients don’t want the burden of overwhelming information.”
Before my own heart attack, I could have been one of those patients, too. When my doctor ordered lab tests for me, for example, I figured that if the results were bad, I would be phoned. When I was prescribed drugs or procedures, I figured these were necessary – or my all-knowing physician wouldn’t have mentioned them to me. Otherwise, I was much too busy to think much about my medical decisions.
And now when I ask the women in my heart health audiences to raise their hands if they know their blood pressure numbers, it’s common to see at least 1/3 of the group who have absolutely no clue. And when I ask them if they know their cholesterol numbers, the awareness level is even worse.
A survey of women over 40 done by The Federation of Medical Women of Canada (called the LIPSTICK Survey) reported that women spend more time thinking about their weight than they do about their hearts. Only 10 per cent of women surveyed, for example, knew their personal cardiac risk factors, versus 64 per cent who know how much they weighed in high school. Continue reading “Your health care decisions: don’t worry your pretty little head over them”
Heart Sisters 