disease screening certificate

Any negative disease screening certificate you get is not a "lifetime disease-free guarantee", but a "phased health risk screening certificate" corresponding to the screening items and sampling time points. It can neither directly rule out all related diseases, nor can it replace subsequent routine physical examinations and medical examinations. This is the first thing I want to make clear to you after seven years of grassroots public health education and encountering no less than a hundred related misunderstandings.

Many people only read the words "negative" and "no abnormality" at the top when they get the certificate, and ignore the rest of the content. The uncle Zhang I met last week is a typical example. He just received a negative certificate for free early lung cancer screening in the community last month.

In fact, it’s not that the proof is inaccurate, it’s that most people simply don’t understand the boundaries of this piece of paper. It's interesting to say that the public health circle and clinicians have always had disagreements about the positioning of this certificate: We in the public health field are actually more willing to amplify its positive significance. After all, the popularity of early screening for high-risk cancers in China is less than 30%. In any case, if you are willing to come for screening, you have won over half of the people. Getting a negative result can reduce unnecessary health anxiety. If you are found positive, you can intervene early, which is profitable in itself. ； However, the doctors at the clinic complain every time they hold a missionary meeting, saying that too many patients now refuse to undergo examinations with screening certificates issued a few months ago. Last time, a young man with abdominal pain and black stools was admitted to the emergency department. He had just done an early screening for gastric cancer at a physical examination institution three months ago and the result was negative. He refused to do a gastroscopy no matter what. In the end, it was found that the gastric ulcer had bleeding points, and there was a possibility of perforation if it was delayed for another two weeks.

If you carefully turn over any formal screening certificate, there will definitely be a line of small words in the corner: "This report is only responsible for the samples submitted for inspection this time." To put it bluntly, it’s like the photo you took at the amusement park last week. It can only prove that you actually went there that day, but it can’t prove that you are still in the amusement park now, right? What particularly impressed me was that last year, a 52-year-old Aunt Wang got a breast cancer screening certificate. The big letters read "No signs of malignancy", and she happily stuffed it in a drawer at home. In fact, the small letters below said "Breast nodule level 3, recommended for 6 months of follow-up." When she felt a lump in her chest, she found that it was stage 2 invasive breast cancer. Fortunately, it had not metastasized far away, but the treatment was much more expensive than the regular review.

Nowadays, many commercial organizations sell "full cancer screening packages" and issue a gold-plated "cancer-free certificate" for thousands or even tens of thousands. Is this an IQ tax? This matter is now very noisy in the industry. I have a friend who works in the Internet industry. He spent more than 8,000 yuan on a genetic early screening test last year. He was very happy when he got the negative certificate. He said that now he feels at ease. ； But the director of our department feels that the money is wasted. In order to appear to have many programs, many commercial screening programs include programs that are not suitable for the corresponding groups. For example, breast cancer screening for 20-year-old men, and ovarian cancer gene screening for girls with no family history. Even if the results are negative, the reference significance is not great, and it is easy for people to relax their vigilance.

When I was sorting out the follow-up records last week, I came across Mr. Li’s file three years ago. At that time, he was screened for colorectal cancer and he was positive. He was so frightened that he went to make an appointment for a colonoscopy on the same day when he received the certificate. Two adenomas that were already slightly cancerous were removed. Now, the check-ups are fine every year. The last time he came to the community to receive antihypertensive drugs, he told me that the positive screening certificate was his "life-saving talisman." You see, whether the same piece of paper can be used as a life-saving reminder or a "shield" that delays things, to put it bluntly, it depends on whether you can read it. By the way, next time you get the screening certificate, don’t rush to stuff it in the drawer. Scan the small print below and the recommended follow-up time first. If you really can’t understand, ask the community doctor for a few words. It won’t take more than two minutes. It’s much more useful than just staring at the word “negative”.