We
undergo many types of screenings in order to find potential problems with our
health. What if those tests weren't just looking for problems but causing them
as well? That is exactly what some experts are talking about, such as
doctor Keith Heller, a surgeon that shocked his colleagues at a medical
conference by claiming that, " I do not believe that this epidemic (of thyroid cancer) is real. It is due to ....the increasing use of ultrasound-guided needle biopsy of thyroid nodules....We are performing far too many unnecessary thyroidectomies."
The problem is that thyroid nodules are considered fairly normal in most of the world, and in those places people don't rush into invasive medical procedures. Here if you have a nodule they perform an ultrasound guided need biopsy and this is the problem. This test, by the way, has a very poor track record of even being able to determine if a nodule is cancerous or benign.
This test, however, a very lucrative lead into thyroidectomy, which goes for 15 to 20 grand at a time. On top of that patients are roped into a lifetime of thyroid hormone replacement, which all adds up to big bucks, so why are we poking around and removing things considered normal all over the world on a test that can't even reliably detect cancer?
The problem is that thyroid nodules are considered fairly normal in most of the world, and in those places people don't rush into invasive medical procedures. Here if you have a nodule they perform an ultrasound guided need biopsy and this is the problem. This test, by the way, has a very poor track record of even being able to determine if a nodule is cancerous or benign.
This test, however, a very lucrative lead into thyroidectomy, which goes for 15 to 20 grand at a time. On top of that patients are roped into a lifetime of thyroid hormone replacement, which all adds up to big bucks, so why are we poking around and removing things considered normal all over the world on a test that can't even reliably detect cancer?
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