The Dilemma of Preventative Surgeries
With our increasing ability to detect smaller and smaller abnormalities many people are drawing conclusions that these abnormalities will manifest into significant problems and are having preventative surgeries. Are they a precursor to disease or just a risk factor that could turn out to be benign?
An option to consider instead of surgery is “active surveillance” which may involve repeated tests over time to monitor if the abnormality is growing and becoming more aggressive.
Check out these two NY Times articles regarding breast and thyroid cancer:
