1 in 4 (possible baby-related triggers)
Soapbox topic of the day: Miscarriage.
In the U.S.:
1 in 10 people has diabetes. Trust me when I say we talk about it All the Friggin' Time with our patients.
1 in 12 people has heart disease, give or take. This is also on the Top 5 Things to Discuss with Patients.
1 in 3 of us will have cancer at some point in our lives. That's why we have all that screening, yeah?
1 in 2 elderly women has osteoporosis. Mary Tyler Moore's doing good work, indeed.
1 in 60 people have had a stroke, and 1 in 450 will have a stroke this year (bet you thought it was more common - I did). That's one stroke per minute, if you're counting - other diagnoses can be judged relative to that.
And there's a slew of much less common events that I actively screen for/discuss with my patients: 1 in 700 people has liver disease, 1 in 20,000 will have an abdominal aortic aneurysm at some point, and etc, etc, etc.....
1 in 4 pregnancies is miscarried (75% of these happen in the first 2 months). If we roughly estimate that half the U.S. population is women, and that perhaps two-thirds of them are in the "reproductive age range" (and I'm supposed to consider them as being "potentially pregnant," right?), that's a rough 1 in 10 chance that any of my patients will have a miscarriage. This isn't including the skew for the populations who actually see the doctor. Nor am I including the lovers/husbands/etc who will be profoundly impacted by a miscarriage (for whom I also have some responsibility, yes?).
I checked my endocrine module, then I went back and checked all my other modules: miscarriage is not discussed. I have no idea how to talk to patients about a) the real risk of miscarriage, b) what will happen, c) support options. At this point, I don't know how to practice good medicine when it comes to helping a woman (and her s.o. as needed) through a profound and incredibly common trauma.
This adds on to my soapbox of lack of sexual health education on my curriculum, a curriculum that's supposed to be one of the most inclusive and progressive in the country.
A few weeks ago, there was a lovely My Turn column on miscarriage, simply pointing out our cultural silence on the matter, as well as the ridiculousness of that silence. We've has massive movements to ensure that cancer patients, AIDS patients, and patients with all sorts of traumas, concerns, and conditions don't have to suffer in silence, or under stigma. Why is there such a profound silence, even in our institutions of medical education, on miscarriage?
I keep a little list of "things I will educate myself about because They won't do it." This is definitely going on there.
I'm not trying to be fear-mongering, but awareness, in this case, is always better. So be aware! You'll be better friends when it happens to someone you know, you'll be better prepared for the possibility if you're pregnant, and you'll know you're not alone if it happens to you. I don't know how much that's worth to a grieving mother, but it's better than a big void of nothing.
(tangent: I want you all to know that I keep track of the health experiences you share with me, as learning lessons. you can always e-mail me with more, if you want confidentiality. Rest assured they will shape me, and the kind of medicine I will someday practice.)
citations (now that this is open for the public): wikipedia, up to date, the u.s. census, the american diabetes association, my endocrine and GI modules.
In the U.S.:
1 in 10 people has diabetes. Trust me when I say we talk about it All the Friggin' Time with our patients.
1 in 12 people has heart disease, give or take. This is also on the Top 5 Things to Discuss with Patients.
1 in 3 of us will have cancer at some point in our lives. That's why we have all that screening, yeah?
1 in 2 elderly women has osteoporosis. Mary Tyler Moore's doing good work, indeed.
1 in 60 people have had a stroke, and 1 in 450 will have a stroke this year (bet you thought it was more common - I did). That's one stroke per minute, if you're counting - other diagnoses can be judged relative to that.
And there's a slew of much less common events that I actively screen for/discuss with my patients: 1 in 700 people has liver disease, 1 in 20,000 will have an abdominal aortic aneurysm at some point, and etc, etc, etc.....
1 in 4 pregnancies is miscarried (75% of these happen in the first 2 months). If we roughly estimate that half the U.S. population is women, and that perhaps two-thirds of them are in the "reproductive age range" (and I'm supposed to consider them as being "potentially pregnant," right?), that's a rough 1 in 10 chance that any of my patients will have a miscarriage. This isn't including the skew for the populations who actually see the doctor. Nor am I including the lovers/husbands/etc who will be profoundly impacted by a miscarriage (for whom I also have some responsibility, yes?).
I checked my endocrine module, then I went back and checked all my other modules: miscarriage is not discussed. I have no idea how to talk to patients about a) the real risk of miscarriage, b) what will happen, c) support options. At this point, I don't know how to practice good medicine when it comes to helping a woman (and her s.o. as needed) through a profound and incredibly common trauma.
This adds on to my soapbox of lack of sexual health education on my curriculum, a curriculum that's supposed to be one of the most inclusive and progressive in the country.
A few weeks ago, there was a lovely My Turn column on miscarriage, simply pointing out our cultural silence on the matter, as well as the ridiculousness of that silence. We've has massive movements to ensure that cancer patients, AIDS patients, and patients with all sorts of traumas, concerns, and conditions don't have to suffer in silence, or under stigma. Why is there such a profound silence, even in our institutions of medical education, on miscarriage?
I keep a little list of "things I will educate myself about because They won't do it." This is definitely going on there.
I'm not trying to be fear-mongering, but awareness, in this case, is always better. So be aware! You'll be better friends when it happens to someone you know, you'll be better prepared for the possibility if you're pregnant, and you'll know you're not alone if it happens to you. I don't know how much that's worth to a grieving mother, but it's better than a big void of nothing.
(tangent: I want you all to know that I keep track of the health experiences you share with me, as learning lessons. you can always e-mail me with more, if you want confidentiality. Rest assured they will shape me, and the kind of medicine I will someday practice.)
citations (now that this is open for the public): wikipedia, up to date, the u.s. census, the american diabetes association, my endocrine and GI modules.