As I was working on the post I published yesterday, I ran into a very interesting 2015 editorial by a Finnish professor on the issue of HIGH RISK and decided it was worth a post of its own, before I go on and finnish, I mean, finish! the bone microenvironment post.  😉 

Here’s the link: goo.gl/CWAexK

Prof. Järvinen argues that “high risk” has become a disease today. That is, relatively healthy people can start seeing themselves as no longer relatively healthy. AND, he adds, “almost every treatment has inherent risks.”

Who can determine the threshold for “high risk”? Doctors? And what if patients disagree? Well, check out  what he says about that, in the section titled: “Understanding risk: are the blind leading the blind?”: “If we assume doctors are truly more competent in making value judgements about the lives of their patients than the patients sitting in front of them, should we not have proof that doctors can do the job? Sadly, despite medical education and clinical experience, doctors do not seem to possess the required skill.”

Wow.

Once again, we run into the issue of statistics, which tell you that you are at “high risk” of developing this or that if you fall into such and such a category. This has to have an impact on our mental health, among other things. Has to. And we know how much stress is related to a bunch of cancers, including myeloma.

Perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate the issue of “high risk”…?

Anyway, a very interesting editorial…