The increasing popularity of do-it-yourself health-test kits which screen for everything from high cholesterol to cancer, shows us to be a generation obsessed by illness and distrustful of the medical establishment. But this DIY approach to healthcare carries its own risks. Without better regulation these . . . [read more]
Posted by ChinnyPerez at 0814 on 12.03.08
Dr Chinny Perez is the author of The Booty Myth: Why Your Bum Should Look Big In This.
Comments
JaneT at 0822 today
Overall I think DIY kits are a good thing. They allow people to take responsibility for their wellbeing. I've used a few of them myself.
ChinnyPerez at 0831 today
These DIY kits cause unnecessary anxiety in people who are, by definition, already anxious. The manufacturers are profiting from fear.
SixKindsOfChris at 0839 today
Some interesting points JaneT - Which DIY kits have you tried?
JaneT at 0853 today
Liver function, allergies, cholesterol. And I test my fertility every six months. I am fertile, btw.
MegaDave at 0902 today
I took one that said I was a ment
GaryO at 0909 today
I can't believe that anyone in this day and age would use the word "ment" to describe somebody suffering from a mental illness. It's inaccurate, cruel, ignorant and in very poor taste.
ElSmell at 0912 today
Hi GaryO. This your first trip to the internet?
MegaDave at 0918 today
But I am one of them now so its OK.
I'm reclaiming the word.
ChinnyPerez at 0925 today
Those DIY tests for bipolar depression are clinically useless. Just because you've got certain gene variant doesn't mean you'll get an illness.
BigDorrit at 0936 today
Of course not. How can you do a genetic test for something that's all in your mind?
liberati at 0943 today
For £300, you can even test your propensity to gullibility by posting a bit of your spit to a lab.
BigDorrit at 0954 today
Really? That's amazing! But what if it came back positive?
liberati at 1000 today
It always does.
SixKindsOfChris at 1003 today
I think it's important to note that even legitimate kits which replicate lab tests don't tell the whole story. They're just one diagnostic tool.
JaneT at 1011today
Very fertile, low risk of Alzheimer's, liver function good, no STDs, no bird flu. That's me.
ElSmell at 1017 today
I bought one of those home drug tests the other day, just on the spur of the moment. It confirmed my worst fears: I was on drugs.
GaryO at 1029 today
Why would anyone need to test themselves to find out if they had taken drugs or not?
ElSmell at 1037 today
Don't ask me. I was off my face.
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