When you go to the hospital and you are older, it is likely they'll draw labs for a heart attack. You may be dizzy, may have a bad cold, it doesn't matter. Most older people get these labs. Studies show that the over zealous testing to rule out something that is very unlikely leads to mostly false positives. Even a positive test, called a troponin, only indicates a heart attack about 15% of the time. But once you get a positive, they'll label you with a heart attack and send you down a dangerous road of never-ending testing, specialist visits, medicines, and fearmongering. In fact, these tests don't save any lives when done inappropriately, they are more likely to kill and harm people more than to help them.
Read our article in the Family Medicine Journal to learn more!
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