Misdiagnosed diseases

Introduction

Nowadays, a big issue in medicine practice is misdiagnosis. According to experts, there are several diseases that tend to be misdiagnosed and some of the most frequent ones are cancer, heart attack, and infections. One of the examples is the death of actor John Ritter, who died because of misdiagnosis. In 2003, he died tragically of an aortic dissection. His wife stated that he was misdiagnosed twice, both times by different doctors, which is why she filed a complaint and settled out of court with the Hospital in California.

The most frequent misdiagnosed diseases:

Aortic dissection is one of the most often misdiagnosed diseases, because the symptoms of this disease resemble heartburn. The patient suffers from a tearing sensation in chest, and the same thing occurred to the actor mentioned above.Cancer is the second disease that can be misdiagnosed, and according to the study that was conducted at Harvard, cancer of the breasts and colorectal cancer are misdiagnosed in great number of cases. Study reveals evidence that doctors do not follow cancer certain guidelines.Coronary artery disease is misdiagnosed because patients who suffer from this condition are out of breath, and doctors think it is because they are out of shape.Due to the fact that it isn’t always so obvious, heart attack is also disease that is misdiagnosed. Symptoms that indicate heart attack are sense of fullness in the heart, nausea problem and overall sense of not feeling well. All of these symptoms can apply to many other conditions and therefore, heart attack can be excluded as a possible condition very easily.According to the Harvard study, infection is the second condition (right after the cancer) that can be misdiagnosed.

If you think that there is something wrong, do not hesitate to ask for more tests, and if that does not help, then visit a different doctor. It is difficult to change doctor’s mind, but be persistent by asking questions such as “What else could my illness be?” Ask the doctor to explain your results and tests, and do not fool yourself that, if the tests are late, everything is OK. It is difficult to be well treated in a hospital where doctors and nurses work in shifts, because everyone has its own opinion and you get caught in the middle of it. Try to stay calm and fight for your right to be treated properly.