So, you're claiming that since certain cancer screenings are ineffective it therefore means that managing issues such as hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and diabetes are also ineffective? That seems like a stretcher to me, and I'm not buying it.
I dont know about the former, but the later two are long term diseases that can be caught when visiting the doctor for other reasons. also, compliance to the drugs and lifestyle is very low.
diabetes usually shows itself, hypertension is a silent killer though.
i'm not arguing against check ups, but I could imagine why they are not as effective as you might think.
i myself do not get checkups, i have insurance, but going to the doctors is a miserable experience.
First is trying to schedule a visit. Usually the earliest they can see me is 3-6 weeks away. when I have free time to see a doctor, thats when I need to do it. I dont know whats going to happen in my schedule a month from now?!
next, if I actually get the appointment, I am punctual and show up 15 - 30 minutes before the appointment. However, I dont get seen for 30-45 minutes after the scheduled appointment. This isn't just one time, this is E[X]. thats 45 minutes waiting with people who are coughing , sneezing, etc. after I see a nurse for 2 minutes and get sent to a room, usually thats another 5-10 minutes waiting in an empty room.
when I finally see a doctor, I am only allowed to talk about one thing. if its multiple things, I have to schedule another appointment. usually the doctor cant help with any of my ailments, I need to schedule an appointment with a specialist. usually another facility. unfortunately, I am not allowed to schedule an appointment with a specialist directly, I have to see my primary care first.
For your last 3 paragraphs, that's absolutely terrible. I'm in the US and none of that mirrors my experience at all.
> diabetes usually shows itself, hypertension is a silent killer though.
Diabetes does not always or often show itself until a major issue has come up.
> i'm not arguing against check ups, but I could imagine why they are not as effective as you might think.
I have this sense that medicine is in some kind of "PTSD" from ...something...? right now. I don't feel like I can mention things to a doctor without them feeling like they absolutely need to do something about it. For instance, there is this one doctor at my child's pediatrician who will prescribe things (for instance she prescribed a nausea medicine when my kid had a stomach bug) that my wife and I are like really; it doesn't help that she doesn't communicate anything about the meds. (Yes, we've mentioned her to the other doctors at the practice.) But that's an extreme case, but little things in the same vein do annoy me.
I don't think yearly checkups are a cure all, but there are chronic diseases that our socity lends itself too. Changing social patterns (e.g. what we eat, how we get around, &c) would probably do more than any amount of medicine could.
Btw, there's no evidence of this.
Zero...zip...zilch...none.
http://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.h6080