1.2.4 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

I would never…..

A. Have a full health check

I would never take up the regularly advertised offers by private medical companies. Why? Well, if you have symptoms, you go to your GP and they listen to your history, examine you, request investigations, and reach a decision. This process is known as ‘diagnosis’. A full check when you feel totally well is not diagnosis, it is ‘screening’. There are few screening tests where (1) the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and they could lead you to have potentially harmful investigations, or indeed treatment, that you may not have needed. One hears anecdotes about the advantages of health checks. One hears anecdotes about people who have fallen out of sixth-floor windows and lived, but I wouldn’t try it myself. – Mike Smith, G.P.

B. Go to the doctor with a long list of symptoms

Patients often think this helps, but (2) it makes the doctor’s heart sink. They’re not going to be able to deal with everything in one go, and most importantly of all, it makes them think you haven’t got one particular problem, you’ve got multiple problems, which is a sure sign of a hypochondriac. – Carol Cooper, G.P.

C.Sunbathe

(3) People underestimate the risk. They think, ‘My skin looks all right; how can it be damaged?’ Even if your skin doesn’t look aged, you can end up with skin damage that sets you up for potential cancers in the future. Sunbathing in your teens and early 20s is a very strong risk factor. We are now seeing cancers in the under-40s that we used to see only on the faces of old, weather-beaten guys who had spent a lifetime outdoors. I would go out in the sun, but I would never lie in it with the purpose of getting a tan. – Carol Cooper, G.P.

D.Take sleeping pills

I have come across many patients who have been taking them for decades. They are addictive and (4) it can be very difficult for people to wean themselves off them; the side-effects can include falls, confusion, sleepiness in the daytime, and the feeling that increasingly high doses are needed to achieve the same effects. I can’t imagine any situation in which I would start using them. – Helen Drew, G.P.

E.Follow a low-carb diet

Why? Because although you will probably lose weight, it may kill you. Don’t take my word for it – read about 43,396 Swedish women followed for an average of 15 years. (5) Those who stuck to low carbs and high protein had a rising risk of dying from heart attacks and strokes. There was a staggering 62% higher risk of such illnesses among the women eating the strictest diet over those who ate normally. Eating is for enjoyment; these diets turn food into medicine and it’s the wrong medicine. – Tom Smith, G.P.

F. Have cosmetic surgery

The reason for my reluctance? Nothing to do with anaesthetics (safe these days), but entirely to do with surgry, which (6) should never be undertaken for what you might call ‘soft’ reasons. It’s not that surgery is so dangerous that I would worry about death. Mainly it’s the worry of an infection, which can be very unpleasant. – Mark Patrick, consultant anaesthetist.

G. See a counsellor

I’d never go to one if I was having mental health problems. This is an entirely unregulated area and absolutely anyone can claim to be one. As a result, (7) quality varies hugely. I have seen too many patients who have been further psychologically damaged by seeing poorly-qualified practitioners. – Max Pemberton, psychiatrist.

Abridged version from The Guardian newspaper