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Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health
by Marty Makary MD, Bloomsbury Publishing
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English
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Bloomsbury Publishing
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$9.99
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$20.49
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$21.00
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About This Book
Bloomsbury presents Blind Spots written and read by Dr Marty Makary From Johns Hopkins medical expert Dr. Marty Makary, the New York Times- bestselling author of The Price We Pay —an eye-opening look at the medical groupthink that has led to public harm, and what you need to know about your health. More Americans have peanut allergies today than at any point in history.
Why? In 2000, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a strict recommendation that parents avoid giving their children peanut products until they’re three years old. Getting the science perfectly backward, triggering intolerance with lack of early exposure, the US now leads the world in peanut allergies—and this misinformation is still rearing its head today.
How could the experts have gotten it so wrong? Dr. Marty Makary asks, Could it be that many modern-day health crises have been caused by the hubris of the medical establishment?
Experts said for decades that opioids were not addictive, igniting the opioid crisis. They refused menopausal women hormone replacement therapy, causing unnecessary suffering. They demonized natural fat in foods, driving Americans to processed carbohydrates as obesity rates soared.
They told citizens that there are no downsides to antibiotics and prescribed them liberally, causing a drug-resistant bacteria crisis. When modern medicine issues recommendations based on good scientific studies, it shines. Conversely, when modern medicine is interpreted through the harsh lens of opinion and edict, it can mold beliefs that harm patients and stunt research for decades.
In Blind Spots , Dr. Makary explores the latest research on critical topics ranging from the microbiome to childbirth to nutrition and longevity and more, revealing the biggest blind spots of modern medicine and tackling the most urgent yet unsung issues in our $4.5 trillion health care ecosystem. The path to medical mishaps can be absurd, entertaining, and jaw-dropping—but the truth is essential to our health.
Introduction
Medicine is expected to heal us, but what happens when it falls short? Blind Spots uncovers the hidden flaws within our complex healthcare systems, revealing the dire consequences when medicine fails. This book takes readers on a journey through a maze of medical missteps, providing a deeper understanding of the industry’s blind spots that can have significant repercussions on our well-being.
As we grapple with these revelations, we gain valuable insight into how these systems can improve, ultimately safeguarding our health.
Key Takeaways
Medical errors can stem from systemic issues rather than human faults. Understanding the limitations of healthcare can empower patients to make informed decisions. Addressing blind spots in medicine requires collaborative reforms and innovative thinking.
Detailed Description
Blind Spots challenges the perception of an infallible healthcare system by exposing the frequent errors that arise not from human error alone but from systemic oversights. Delving into personal stories and detailed research the book reveals how these blind spots significantly impact patient outcomes and trust. \nThe narrative takes readers on a compelling exploration of the healthcare maze dissecting various cases where routine procedures went wrong due to ignored warning signs.
The author argues for a re-evaluation of current practices urging for a healthcare environment that prioritizes vigilant oversight and communication. \nThis book is an illuminating guide through the intricacies of medical failures advocating for a transformative approach that includes collective expertise technological advancements and policy reform. By addressing these blind spots head-on the book envisions a future where medicine becomes more reliable and patient-centric.
\nReaders are left with an empowering message on how awareness and advocacy can drive change in an otherwise opaque medical system. The author concludes with practical suggestions for patients and healthcare professionals to minimize future risks and enhance outcomes. \nIn shining a light on the unseen flaws of modern healthcare Blind Spots stands as a vital contribution to medical literature offering critical insights that challenge complacency and inspire proactive improvements across the sector.
Standout Features
Blind Spots integrates compelling personal narratives with rigorous research making complex medical topics accessible to a wide audience It bridges the gap between scientific analysis and everyday experiences fostering a deeper understanding The book emphasizes practical solutions and empowering strategies for patients and providers inspiring readers to become advocates for safer more effective healthcare systems This practical approach sets it apart from more theoretical works in its field Written with clarity and urgency the author combines storytelling with insightful analysis encouraging a shift from blame-focused critiques to a culture of accountability and innovation in healthcare practices.
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Customer Reviews
Important health information at your fingertips
Crisp, clear and concisely written, Marty Makary's book offers a wealth of information about specific and relevant health topics, while also providing a lens through which to more critically challenge the scientific trends and assumptions around us. His engaging and accessible style introduces the reader to significant amounts of current scientific research. You'll be glad to read it, and you'll want copies to share with our friends.
What doctors think they know might harm you.
The Blind Spot highlights the dangers of groupthink in medical research and practice. Once a consensus is formed, those who attempt to counter it are met with derision and blacklisting. I know this from firsthand experience, since I got blacklisted from conferences for calling out the workplace wellness industry, which as coincidence would have it was enabled by a lower-level employee of Dr. Makary’s own institution. Remember when your employer used to hire a “vendor” to line you up to take your blood and tell you and your employer all the undiagnosed diseases you had? The data quite clearly showed zero value in this but a combination of groupthink, profitability and payoffs to benefits consultants kept it going long past its Sell By date. Now imagine this groupthink thing playing out in the medical field as a whole. Accurate data is developed by independent, underfunded iconoclasts contradicting the consensus, a consensus feeding many careers. As Upton Sinclair said: “You can’t convince someone of something whose salary depends on believing the opposite.” So the medical establishment suppresses this dissent, blacklists the dissenters, and cuts off their research funding. The Blind Spot provides numerous examples of this. Example: antibiotics are not “harmless,” and are probably prescribed maybe twice as often as they should be, especially for children. Children given multiple antibiotics as babies and toddlers end up with adverse effects that don’t show up until years latger. Example: hormone replacement therapy got a bad rap due to one study way back in 2002 and is only now getting its mojo back as a quality-of-life improvement that also significantly reduces common health risks. Example: many people still don’t eat eggs because some researchers were bribed almost a half-century ago by the sugar lobby to demonize fat-and-cholesterol. It’s taken decades to undo that lie, largely because dissenters were suppressed. (My own nutrition course was taught by one of those perps, and it took me decades to get over it.) Even today, sugary products advertise “Contains No Cholesterol.” Example: most deadly ovarian cancers don’t originate in the ovaries. They originate in the fallopian tubes. This is well-established. But women are still subjected to invasive surgeries that don’t address this root cause. My only complaint about Blind Spot is that all the things that could have been in there that aren’t. For instance, few people know that most cavities (including my own, as it turned out) can be treated painlessly for $40 or less with a couple of drops of silver diamine fluoride. It’s been around for years, but for obvious reasons dentists don’t tell you about it. Perhaps Dr. Makary is saving nuggets like this one for a sequel…
