I understand screening to be an act of decisive testing among an asymptomatic target population with an aim to identify pre-disposition to a disease or condition if any.
For me as the example of gestational diabetes was brought up in discussions in the lecture, I could not help it but make an immediate connection with the experiences of a dear friend who learnt through routine ante-natal screening that she was possibly at risk and later learnt that she actually had the condition. I remember finding out about the existence of this condition and associated risks to the pregnancy outcome for the first time when visiting her in hospital where she was being managed. She was very animated in her description using expressions like:
“Why on earth do I have to prick myself daily, I hate needles!”
“I’m extremely tired of being in the hospital but for the sake of this unborn life I will soldier on”
“I hate this bland food but if it’s what I need to do I will force myself to eat it for the next 2 months.
She was at the time running a growing medical bill in private hospitalisation and having exhausted her med insurance cover she parted with even more family savings as she chose to deliver in a more high tech hospital in a neighbouring country.
In a way she did feel a great sense of responsibility and there were moments where she sounded like she blamed herself. So the choices she made such as getting the ‘best’ medical care reflected that. For a happy ending, she did deliver a bouncing baby boy who is now 3 years old.
Her story for me highlights the very issue that whilst learning of one’s risk may become a great source of anxiety, it does in turn lead to a possibility of medical intervention and thus the risk itself turns into condition to be treated.
