A complex web of factors has created the phenomenon of overdiagnosis: the popular media promotes fear of disease and perpetuates the myth that early, aggressive treatment is always best; in an attempt to avoid lawsuits, doctors have begun to leave no test undone, no abnormality overlooked; and profits are being made from screenings, medical procedures, and pharmaceuticals. Revealing the social, medical, and economic ramifications of a health-care system that overdiagnoses and overtreats patients, Dr. H. Gilbert Welch makes a reasoned call for change that would save us pain, worry, and money.

"This is the book for anyone (and that's most of us) who has ever felt whipsawed by the incessant and often contradictory media reports of health threats and medical fixes. The authors--well-known experts in risk analysis--take readers by the hand and show them in easy-to-follow steps how to evaluate health stories and decide for themselves what really matters and what is merely hype. A valuable and unique contribution."--Marcia Angell, MD, former editor of "The New England Journal of Medicine"
"We have a deluge of medical information coming from caregivers, drug companies, and the media. Some of this is accurate and important, some misleading and irrelevant. This concise and clearly written primer gives us a strategy to navigate through these data and arrive at an intelligent understanding of what we need for our health and what we can forgo."--Jerome Groopman, MD, author of "How Doctors Think"
"Valuable to any patient or prospective patient, from junior high schoolers to senior citizens."--Joel Best, author of "Stat-Spotting: A Field Guide to Identifying Dubious Data"
"Many people have an interest in making you unnecessarily afraid about diseases you're not likely to get or cause you to have unrealistic expectations about the benefits of treatment. This book gives you the skills to make your own judgments about these claims. It provides a roadmap for deciphering the kinds of statistics that keep us from making truly informed decisions."--Maryann Napoli, Associate Director of Center for Medical Consumers
"The authors have done a remarkable job of dispelling the clouds that often separate people from the medical information that they need. "Know Your Chances" reflectsthe authors' confidence that, with a little help, people can make sound decisions about their own health."--Baruch Fischhoff, author of "Acceptable Risk"

Getting tested to detect cancer early is one of the best ways to stay healthy - or is it? In this lively, carefully researched book, a nationally recognized expert on early cancer detection challenges one of medicine's most widely accepted beliefs: that the best defense against cancer is to always try to catch it early. Read this book and you will think twice about common cancer screening tests such as total body scans, mammograms, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests. Combining patient stories and solid data on common cancers, Dr. H. Gilbert Welch makes the case that testing healthy people for cancer is really a double-edged sword: while these tests may help, they often have surprisingly little effect and are sometimes even harmful. Bringing together a body of little-known medical research in an engaging and accessible style, he discusses in detail the pitfalls of screening tests, showing how they can miss some cancers, how they can lead to invasive, unnecessary treatments, and how they can distract doctors from other important issues. Welch's conclusions are powerful, counterintuitive, and disturbing: the early detection of cancer does not always save lives, it can be hard to know who really has early cancer, and there are some cancers better left undiscovered. "Should I Be Tested for Cancer?" is the only book to clearly and simply lay out the pros and cons of cancer testing for the general public. It is indispensable reading for the millions of Americans who repeatedly face screening tests and who want to make better-informed decisions about their own health care.