I’ve warned you about the endless list of unnecessary tests… now let’s get specific, because every year hundreds of thousands of Americans are getting risky screenings they never needed.
Doctors routinely order angiograms — more than 1 million of them last year alone — and in many cases, these radioactive tests reveal absolutely nothing.
Researchers say up to 30 percent of all angiogram patients have no real symptoms
— their doc just wants to check up on them, and the patient just plays along.
When it’s your heart, you don’t ask questions, right?
Wrong! Ask away — because the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 62 percent of the time, these exams find nothing more than the patient’s wallet.
Of course, doctors say they’re shocked — shocked! — to see how ineffective these tests are for so many patients.
Sure they are. And Captain Renault was shocked — shocked! — to find gambling at Rick’s Café.
Angiograms, if you didn’t know, are no small potatoes. The procedure involves sending a tube through the arteries to the heart to check for blockages. The tube shoots dye as technicians click away at an X-ray machine — exposing you to radiation throughout the test.
And no matter what your doc tells you, there is NO safe amount of radiation.
Patients undergoing these tests also have a risk of suffering a stroke or heart attack during the procedure. Your doctor will tell you the risk is small… but so what? It’s still a risk, and you should never, ever put your life on the line if you don’t have to.
We’re being tested left and right, up and down and at every corner — and most of these tests come loaded with danger, inconvenience and cost.
But if we cut back on them, there’s only one risk: Fewer labs and clinics looking to make a quick buck off your health fears.
Finally! A risk even I can live with.
Skipping the scans and screenings,