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Snowball in a Blizzard: A Physician's Notes on Uncertainty in Medicine Hardcover – Illustrated, February 23, 2016
| Steven Hatch (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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Diagnoses are often just educated guesses, and prognoses less certain still. There is a significant amount of uncertainty in the daily practice of medicine, resulting in confusion and potentially deadly complications. Dr. Steven Hatch argues that instead of ignoring this uncertainty, we should embrace it. By digging deeply into a number of rancorous controversies, from breast cancer screening to blood pressure management, Hatch shows us how medicine can fail-sometimes spectacularly-when patients and doctors alike place too much faith in modern medical technology. The key to good health might lie in the ability to recognize the hype created by so many medical reports, sense when to push a physician for more testing, or resist a physician's enthusiasm when unnecessary tests or treatments are being offered.
Both humbling and empowering, Snowball in a Blizzard lays bare the inescapable murkiness that permeates the theory and practice of modern medicine. Essential reading for physicians and patients alike, this book shows how, by recognizing rather than denying that uncertainty, we can all make better health decisions.
- Print length312 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBasic Books
- Publication dateFebruary 23, 2016
- Dimensions6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
- ISBN-100465050646
- ISBN-13978-0465050642
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Editorial Reviews
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"Informative...Snowball in a Blizzard adds an important perspective...[The book] rightly sounds the alarm: Better communication between doctors and patients is essential to improve medical decision making."―Wall Street Journal
"A penetrating examination of uncertainty in diagnoses and treatment."―Nature
"Snowball in a Blizzard is Hatch's first book, but the clarity and wit of his discussions rank with that of the best science writers."―Shelf Awareness
"This intriguing perspective on the obscurity of medicine...is highly recommended for health-care professionals, health-conscious patients, and well-informed consumer health readers."―Library Journal, starred review
"A carefully argued, unsettling, and important work."―Publishers Weekly
"In writing, Hatch strives to find 'that sweet spot where readability and scholarliness overlap'... he succeeds, telling stories that clarify the points he's making, and he even includes a highly personal anecdote that shows him struggling to deal with doctors who were sure they knew the right treatment for his elderly, hospitalized father... Hatch ably reveals the shortcomings of medicine."―Kirkus Reviews
"I can say with certainty that Steven Hatch's Snowball astutely deconstructs the uncertainty in the practice of medicine--from diagnosis to treatment to media coverage--as well as this important topic has ever been tackled."―Eric Topol, author of The Patient Will See You Now
"What could be more intuitive: that physicians should be humble, admitting the uncertainty of their medical sciences and treating their patients like equals. Would that it were. Although who knows--if enough doctors and patients read Steve Hatch's masterfully-argued Snowball--maybe someday it will be."―Larry Tye, Director of the Boston-based Health Coverage Fellowship and author of New York Times bestseller Satchel
"Hatch's Snowball in a Blizzard is like Carl Sagan's famous 'baloney detection kit' for medical scientific research. How can we figure out which 'discoveries' to trust or to take with a grain of salt? First step: Read this book."―Katrina Firlik, MD, Author of Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Basic Books; 1st edition (February 23, 2016)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 312 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0465050646
- ISBN-13 : 978-0465050642
- Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,618,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #314 in Medical Management & Reimbursement
- #865 in Health Policy (Books)
- #922 in Medical Diagnosis (Books)
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More and more we live in a society that deifies the role of the expert. When faced with a question outside of our own particular milieu, we place near 100% faith in the recommendations of one or more selected experts without appreciating the level to which that expert is or should be confident in that recommendation. In this book, Dr. Hatch helps us to identify when this type of mistake is likely to happen and provides us with a framework (the 'spectrum of uncertainty') to place this information in a more rational context. Let's hope we listen.
Written with passion, humor, and Dawkins-class clarity, "Snowball in a blizzard" is as pleasurable to read as it is instrumental to the understanding of a central topic in every person's life. It is loaded with real world examples drawn from Hatch's experience as a physician and as a person, as well as the thorough research he has done for this book.
Hatch considers multiple perspectives - of patients, research doctors, practicing physicians, the media, policy makers - and while the picture he paints is sometimes grim, his message is ultimately optimistic and empowering.
If you liked Siddhartha Mukherjee's Emperor of All Maladies, I think you're going to enjoy Snowball in a blizzard. (OK, even if you didn't).
This is without doubt one of the best books I've read in a long time!





