An Era of Diagnosis by Suzanne O'Sullivan Review – No Harm | Health, Mind, Body Book

wSwim in the seas of e Quackery. The media is flooded with misinformation about health and pseudo-diagnosis based on atmosphere rather than evidence. The book is flooded with error assumptions and wets our charts. Our ears are filled with popular podcasts claiming health benefits, but they actually pitch unregulated dietary supplements. And Robert Kennedy Jr., the man who vomited his life on anti-vaccine Zibar Jabber, is now the Secretary of Health for the US. Vaccination is undoubtedly the most successful health intervention in history (except hygiene) and should depend on the fact that a safer and more effective vaccine than ever has brought the global pandemic closer.

But here is the challenge. In many cases, medical diagnosis has increased dramatically across the board, which is fuel for the healthcare industry. The most obvious example is autism, whose incidence has skyrocketed over decades, correlated with an increase in vaccinations, but not caused. Cancer diagnosis has also been raised. It seems like more people have ADHD these days, but that was rare when I was in school. And now millions of people endure the long Covid. This is a disease with a bucket of symptoms that did not exist five years ago.

Some pessimists will make them believe this increasingly reflects a society of mo-death. Thankfully, Suzanne O'Sullivan comes to help, and her voice deserves amplification. 30 Years of Doctor, 25 Neurologist, her excellent book occupies a space once dominated by Oliver's bags.

One way to counter social papers of illness is to argue that diagnosis is increasing because we are now scientifically literate. Forgetting has been replaced by increased awareness and molecular accuracy, and because of this new accuracy we are actually healthier than ever. But in her outstanding new book, O'Sullivan offers a third possibility. Variations in physical and mental health are becoming unnecessary medicalized and pathological.

She describes the “over” trinity. Overdiagnosis. If medical problems are treated when no treatment is required. Excessive similarities in which non-medical behavior has turned into a doctor's business. And overdetection underlying both: we are better at identifying disease signals faster than necessary if these indicators may not predict the disease itself. For example, some studies have shown that early cancer screening programs can cause difficult treatments when cancer itself is inevitable.

In addition to a balanced analysis of epidemiological data on prostate and breast cancer, O'Sullivan examines the growth of behavioral conditions such as autism and ADHD. Tone doesn't snore because bad science rants can often be. O'Sullivan is instead full of compassion, care and grace.

She presents case studies of pseudonymous patients, highlighting the delicacies that each relates. Poppy has autism. She makes it clear that she is not autistic because she does not carry it in a bag. It's like her. Her diagnosis may help her understand herself, and perhaps help others understand her behavior. In the past, Poppy was a child of your class, a bit strange and might have been bullied in her abnormally. Now, this label helps her process be atypical. There is much evidence that a diagnosis may be beneficial in children diagnosed with moderate or mild autism, but there is new evidence that it involves significant harm. Being autistic means you are reluctant to try things out to recognize that it makes them difficult. In adults there is poor evidence of either benefit or harm from the diagnosis itself.

O'Sullivan dedicated a chapter on Lyme disease and long covid. The cause of Lyme disease is well known and is a bacterial infection transmitted by deer mites, but patients endure the entire spectrum of abuse, from mistrust to huge overdiagnosis based on limited biological evidence. Misdiagnosis rates are facilitated by physicians who may not understand the tools they are using, and by physicians provided by very few companies, which promote false diagnostic rates. Similarly, long covid has an effect that is not limited to one organ or anatomical system. I can tell you, as someone who has it, it's also very real. But uniquely, long Covid diagnosis has often been led by the public via social media. O'Sullivan argues that this has complex scientific definitions and systematic research.

These are areas that are extremely difficult to explore. Of course, medicines exist to help people. It's about identifying and treating diseases, but preventing people from getting sick in the first place. Factors that influence seemingly simple objectives are extremely complex and cover an ever-evolving scientific evidence base and constantly changing diagnostic criteria. A meat-filled manual that describes mental health issues (the best known is the diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders or DSM) has history checked. They remain widely used, but have been highly criticized for their diagnostic reliability, arbitrary lines that divide cultural bias from what is considered normal from mental illness.

O'Sullivan is brave at taking on this subject, and she bumps into the target. I have little tolerance for the boring old man, “In our time, you just kept doing things”, or “Now everyone has autism/ADHD”, or how the worst young people medicalise delicate snowflakes and blame everything. Apart from anything, this feeling has been expressed by all older generations for thousands of years. So how do you take on the real question of medicine about how it can be considered conservative code without going to bed with a vibe-based boa that hits Hammy's fist on the table in a biased agreement? The answer is: O'Sullivan is a great, fluid writer and eloquent speaker, but I celebrate the ordinary alliance from right-wing broadcasters during her very appropriate media appearances.

In a world where medical misinformation and disinformation thrive and as a result, people die, we need the courage to fight against them without immersing themselves in stereotypes. But that's something that works very well in the age of diagnosis. Ignore the subtitle – “Why Illness, Health, and Medicine Goes Too much” – sensationalism from a publisher who believes in otherwise compassionate and measured books. That overall message is clear. Diagnosis is a tool to wield with the greatest care, and resistance to differences and imperfections can go a long way in keeping us healthy.