Body of lies: Patients aren't 100% honest with doctors
When patients aren't truthful, misled doctors may give wrong a diagnosis or treatment. Bill Moore of Pacific Grove was barely in his 20s when he found out he had cholesterol trouble. ¶ This was bad news for Moore because his father had died of a heart attack at 45 and because, as he told his doctor, Moore was eating all the right stuff. ¶ The doctor prescribed cholesterol-lowering medication, and a subsequent test showed the drug was working very well. Too well. ¶ His doctor was very surprised, Moore says. "I told him I must be unique. I must have a unique body composition." But the truth was Moore had fed his doctor a false written record of his eating habits before beginning the drug -- reporting vegetables and salads that had never been on his menu, and not reporting all the hamburgers and pizzas that had. ¶ Only when he started on the cholesterol drug did he finally begin eating the way he'd been claiming to eat all along. It was that change combined with the drug that made his cholesterol levels plunge. ¶ Inaccurate information can do more than confuse a doctor. It can lead to misinterpreted symptoms, overlooked warning signs, flawed diagnoses and treatments -- potentially endangering a patient's health, even life. ¶ Still, doctors know that at least some of the time, at least some of their patients overstate, understate, embellish, omit, or otherwise stray from a straight and thorough reporting.