Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America

Contents

Foreword by Shannon Brownlee and Jeanne Lenzer xi Preface to the Paperback Edition xv Acknowledgment xix Introduction 1 one The Methuselah Complex 9 two The Heart of the Matter 15 three Risky Business: Cholesterol, Blood Sugar, and Blood Pressure 33 four You Are Not What You Eat 57 five Gut Check 65 six Breast Cancer Prevention: Screening the Evidence 77 seven The Beleaguered Prostate 95 eight Disease Mongering 105 nine Creakiness 111 ten It’s in Your Mind 135 eleven Aging Is Not a Disease 153 twelve Working to Death 171 thirteen “Alternative” Therapies Are Not “Complementary” 191 fourteen Assuring Health, Insuring Disease 213 contents Supplementary Readings 229 Bibliography 311 About the Author 355 Index 357 viii | contents Table 1 The West of Scotland Pravastatin Study 35 Table 2 The Efficacy of Aspirin Prophylaxis 74 Table 3 The Malmö Trial of Mammographic Screening 79 Table 4 Survival of the Women of Ontario 83 Table 5 Five-Year Mortality Rates in the Scandinavian Trial Comparing Radical Prostatectomy with Watchful Waiting 99 Table 6 Adverse Effects in the Scandinavian Trial Comparing Radical Prostatectomy with Watchful Waiting 100 Table 7 Offensive Diagnoses 138 Table 8 Women’s Health Initiative HRT Randomized Controlled Trial 163 Table 9 Number of Fractures in the “VERT” Trial 167 Table 10 Adverse Effects of Herbal Concoctions 204 Table 11 Therapies Frequently Used by the 10 Percent of American Adults Turning to Alternative Providers 209 Table 12 Incidence of Vertebral Fractures over Four Years of Treatment with Alendronate Versus Placebo 298 tables This page intentionally left blank ...