SNS: Special Letter: Undiagnosed: Why is the Future of Medicine Being Ignored?

SNS Subscriber Edition
Volume 18, Issue 31
Week of August 18, 2015
 
In This Issue

Feature: Special Letter: Undiagnosed: Why Is The Future Of Medicine Being Ignored?

• My Diagnostic Odyssey
• Defining “Undiagnosed”
• The Future of Medicine: Can Technology Save Us?
• Medical Refugees
• Hazards of an “It’s All in Your Head” Diagnosis
• How I Accidentally Became a Filmmaker
• The CLARITY Undiagnosed Challenge

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Publisher’s Note: This week’s discussion combines the most advanced areas of medical discovery with the personal challenges that come with living just beyond the edge of today’s medical knowledge.

When I first met Dr. Katia Moritz, and heard about her search for a diagnosis, I considered “The Undiagnosed” to be a small, unfortunate group of people who had somehow fallen through the cracks of modern medical practice. Now, I know better.

Despite the money and time that has gone into today’s medical toolbox, there are an unbelievably large number of people who are either un- or mis-diagnosed. A recent randomized study of those who die in US hospitals, conducted by the University of Michigan, found that about one-half die of diseases for which they had not been diagnosed or treated.

As I learned more from Katia, I came to realize that “Undiagnosed” is a synonym for all that doctors today do not know. And unfortunately, there is a very great deal that fits this description. All of our members interested in the edge of medical knowledge will find Katia’s tale fascinating, and not just a little frightening. – mra.