When you’ve got a health concern, there’s no question that a trip to your doctor should be top priority. But are they always going to be right about the diagnosis? Not necessarily, says new research. Primary care doctors often miss or incorrectly identify a wide range of common conditions, some as minor as carpal tunnel syndrome and some as serious as cancer, according to a new study in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers looked closely at about 200,000 doctor’s visits made to two large health systems and found 190 slip-ups—about one-third of which could have led to permanent harm or even death. More than two-thirds of the time, the error was linked to something that happened during the patient’s visit. For instance, often the doctor didn’t ask for—or the patient didn’t volunteer—a key piece of information that could have pointed to the truth, notes study author Hardeep Singh, MD, MPH, of the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Which means that, while some medical professionals should aim to do better, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk of diagnostic disaster. “Patients play a very important role in making sure the doctor has the accurate facts by being prepared to describe their symptoms and history,” Dr. Singh says. “And if something doesn’t sound right, feel free to ask questions.” Stay alert for these three conditions, which the study found were frequently missed: Medication side effects. Your doctor might blame fatigue or muscle aches on stress or your gym habit. Instead, he or she should be looking in your medicine cabinet, says Sagar Nigwekar, MD, a kidney specialist in Boston and co-author of the book Top 5 Questions to Ask Your Doctor. High doses of anti-inflammatories, including ibuprofen and naproxen, can damage your liver and kidneys, which at first can leave you dragging but could eventually land you in the hospital with organ failure. Reflux medications and statins can cause similarly vague symptoms and long-term harm. Your move: Make sure your doc knows about all the drugs you take, including prescriptions, supplements, and over-the-counter pills. Pneumonia. Imagine a busy medical office in the middle of winter. “Your doctor is thinking, ‘This is my seventh case of cough this morning and the first six have been flu, so let’s call this flu and be done with it.’ It’s a very human process,” Dr. Nigwekar says. In fact, you could have pneumonia, a more serious respiratory infection. Your move: Ask a simple question—“Is there anything else that could be causing my symptoms?”—to jolt your MD out of autopilot and encourage a closer look at your individual case. High blood pressure. Sure, it’s one of the first things the nurse checks at each visit. But if you’re relatively young and your numbers are only a little high, your doctor may write it off as stress or the side effects of coffee or alcohol, Dr. Singh says. Adding to the issue, high blood pressure can harm your organs and increase your risk of heart attack and stroke without causing a single symptom. Your move: Start by having your blood pressure checked at least once every couple of years. Don’t stop there—keep track of the results yourself and ask your doctor what they could mean for your health. More from Prevention: 10 Delicious Ways To Lower Blood Pressure Questions? Comments? Contact Prevention’s News Team.
