healthy you
YO UR HEALTH
Not
ngBut
the Truth
Avoid little white lies
in the doctor’s office.
BY
GINA RO B ERTS-GR EY
our next trip to the
doctor’s office should
include some pretty
probing questions. If
you’re like most
women in America, you might
answer these questions less than
honestly. In fact, 52 percent of
women stretch the truth with their
health care providers, according to a
recent national survey by Synovate, a
healthcare market research firm. Of
these, 26 percent are not concerned
about the consequences these
falsehoods have on their health.
They should be. “Not being truthful
can result in unnecessary tests or a
delay properly diagnosingsymptoms,”
says Dr. Nancy Jasper, a professor
of obstetrics and gynecology at the
College of Physicians and Surgeons
at Columbia University. Here are
questions most likely to evoke little
white lies.
ARE YOU TAKING YOUR
MEDICINE?
One out of four women fib about
their medicine. “Lying about
finishing a course of antibiotics or
following dosage directions may lead
to additional, unnecessary prescrip-
tions or serious interactions,” says
Dr. Terrie Wurzbacher, a retired U.S.
Navy emergency medicine physician
and author of
Y o u r D o c to r S a id
W h a t?
Not only does your doctor
need to know you didn’t finish a
prescription, she also needs to know
why not. “Honesty helps to explore
alternative medications that better
fit your lifestyle or budget, or that
produce fewer side effects,”
Wurzbacher says.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU
WORKOUT?
Questions about diet and exercise
have 24 percent of women stretching
the truth. Dr. Jane Sadler, a family
physician with Baylor University
Medical Center in Garland, Texas,
has many patients who round down
the amount of fat, sugar, and salt they
consume, and round up the amount
of time they exercise. “I don’t want a
patient to under-report calories
because she thinks that’s what I want
to hear,” says Sadler.
HOW MUCH DO YOU
SMOKE?
The smoke swirls around this
examination room question with 13
percent of women failing to fess up
to the number of cigarettes they
smoked daily. Or they tty to hide
smoking entirely. This has several
serious ramifications. “In addition to
the health dangers, lying about
smoking can put women at a higher
risk for serious prescription side
effects,” says Jasper. Birth control
pills, for example, can cause poten-
tially fatal blood clots at a higher rate
in smokers.
HOW ARE YOU FEELING?
Doctors say at least 10 percent of
women prevaricate about emotional
symptoms. “Too many women go to
the doctor for fatigue or weight loss,
and neglect to mention stress or
depression,” says Wurzbacher. It’s
a leftover from the old “keep a stiff
upper lip” approach to life.
I 9 6 MARCH 2009 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS
PHOTO: VEER
