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Dr. Joseph J. Salvo attended Phillips Andover Academy, received his A.B. degree from Harvard University and his Master and Ph.D. degrees in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University. Dr. Salvo joined the GE Global Research Center in 1988. His early work focused on the development of genetically modified bacteria and fungus, for the production of novel high performance polymers. In the mid 1990's he turned his group's efforts towards developing large-scale internet-based sensing arrays to manage and oversee
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In 1997, he joined the Visualization and Computer Vision Group at the GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna, NY. He has developed algorithms for the FBI Automatic Fingerprint Identification System. He is the principle investigator for the ReFace program, which has the goal of automatically computing the appearance of a person’s face from skeletal remains. Dr. Tu has also developed a number of algorithms for the precise measurement of specular and high curvature objects. His current focus is the development of intelligent video algorithms for surveillance applications.
This is the eleventh daily question on the Collective Imagination blog.
Every day, respond to the question (or another commenter's answer) and you will be eligible to win a custom ScienceBlogs USB drive. We'll announce the previous day's winner in each daily question post.
Yesterday, we asked whether your home or work environment limited your ability to practice a healthy lifestyle.
Overall, it seemed like most of you live and work in places where you are able to get plenty of exercise. Availability of healthy food was cited as the more limiting factor - college campuses in particular seem to be full of cheap, sugar- and fat-laden food options. Others said that even with walking trails convenient to them, it is difficult to drag themselves away from their computers.
NewEnglandBob is our randomly selected winner of the day. NewEnglandBob, we've been enjoying your answers to all the questions so we're glad we could finally draw your name! Email us at [email protected] to claim your prize.
We'll be giving out USB drives daily through the end of March. To get your own, answer today's question in the comments below:
Is going to the doctor something you put off? Why?
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Medicine & Health
Comments
It depends on what I'm seeing the doctor for. As a student, I can get free examinations/x-rays/cheap prescriptions from the campus health center, and I've taken advantage of this when I've been injured playing sports. However, I have not been to a regular doctor for a general checkup, since that would involve my student health insurance which greatly complicates things.
Posted by: MiddleO'Nowhere | March 15, 2010 11:50 AM | Reply
doctor, no. Dentist, yes.
And it's for "social reasons". I know what I'm not doing (consistently flossing), and I know the dentist will be able to tell. I know I need to. And hearing, "you know, you need to floss more" serves as an annoyance. No talk of strategies how to incorporate flossing. just "floss more".
Some of it is the perceived downside for nonadherence: I don't get my drugs refilled by my MD, don't get checked, poked, and prodded, there are serious downsides. I don't perceive the same set of threats for not going to the dentist.
(inflammation and CV risk notwithstanding, at the mouth-level, that's an abstraction for me)
Posted by: VikingMoose | March 15, 2010 11:52 AM | Reply
GOOD question!
Yes, I do. For things that come up that I think will probably resolve themselves. Like my shoulder pain and my 'roid rage (hemmhor-, not ster- ;^), neither of which did, so I wound up having surgeries for both -- with very GOOD results.
No, I don't. For routine checkups that may find problems that should be dealt with. Like the colonoscopy I had when I turned 50 and the prostate checks and . . . . Or the mole that suddenly started oozing: I went in for that RIGHT AWAY and had it removed. The biopsy showed that it was benign.
Posted by: Don | March 15, 2010 11:56 AM | Reply
I no longer procrastinate about going to see my doctors due to my health issues but after childhood and until age 50, I hardly ever saw a doctor. I would procrastinate because I (unconsciously?) thought I was invulnerable and indestructible.
I still put off going to the dentist at times, even when I need to go, but that is just to avoid some unpleasantness.
I hardy ever visit an eye doctor. I did need reading glasses at age 48 and didn't go again for 11 years to get a new prescription, but I was correct in that assessment, because my eyes did not change much over that span and my vision is still 20/20 for distance.
I think most people are somewhat afraid of bad or unpleasant diagnoses and tend to avoid doctors, but that is just part of living life.
Posted by: NewEnglandBob | March 15, 2010 11:59 AM | Reply
Yes, I do.
As a pretty healthy (self-reporting) male aged 32, I still feel basically invincible - illness is something that happens to other people. I have no chronic illness or complaints, and no nagging worries. So I don't even think about medical attention at all most of the time.
Besides apathy, one major reason I don't go to doctors is my uncertainty about the health care system and when money comes into the equation. I'm in Canada, in Saskatchewan (where Canadian socialized medicine was born), so I'm pretty sure my out-of-pocket costs would be zero in any case. But I'm not 100% certain about this, especially regarding the edges of the medical system - do I have to pay for a check-up? (I did several years ago, in BC) How much do boring, low-level prescriptions cost? (like the antibiotics I got for an ear infection about 4 years ago, in Ontario). And why the hell are my eyes (presciption glasses / contacts) and teeth not included in normal discussions of health care? This uncertainty and ignorance about how routine medical procedures such as a simple visit to a doctor so I can cough into a stethoscope is a major factor in keeping me away from the office.
That, and the general attitude of shock-horror-disbelief when I tell people "no, I don't have a family doctor, I haven't been to visit a doctor for years". Telling me I'm crazy for not going to the doctor is not going to motivate me to go visit one.
I know I *should* go get a checkup, but from my perspective it looks like a huge hassle to arrange to get to a doctor's office for an appointment, away from school/work (even on-campus), and I don't know which documents I'd need to bring with me.
Posted by: TheBrummell | March 15, 2010 12:06 PM | Reply
Yes, to some extent--chiefly because my doctor's office is now 30 miles or so from my house--and about 60 from where I work, so making the arrangements for an appointment get VERY tricky. My doctor is also close to retirement, thus has very limited office hours.
Also, last year, I got health insurance again after not having it for much of the last 10 years--and I also turned 50. I did a BUNCH of testing, and can coast for a while, as long as nothing shows up.
Posted by: NancyNew | March 15, 2010 12:08 PM | Reply
Since a large number of self-lilmiting maladies "run their natural course" within the "lag time" between calling to set up an appointment and actually getting to see a physician, well, yeah, I often "wait and see."
Posted by: bob koepp | March 15, 2010 12:41 PM | Reply
I've been putting it off because I'm a college student and poor and I don't have the money for the copayment, even though I'm lucky enough to still be on my parent's insurance. And I'm relatively healthy.
Posted by: Rose W. | March 15, 2010 1:06 PM | Reply
Not as much as I used to. With the health insurance deductible, co-pays and other fees I fear to go to the doctor because if anything needs to be done (colonoscopy, any test or procedure, presecription drugs, etc.) means hundreds to thousands of dollars that have to be paid out of pocket.
Posted by: Jim | March 15, 2010 1:19 PM | Reply
No, but then again, I'm generally flexible, since I'm a student.
Posted by: Katharine | March 15, 2010 1:37 PM | Reply
Is it something that I put off? Not exactly. It's something that I don't do at all. I haven't seen a doctor in probably 12 to 15 years or so and I doubt that I'll see one until the one that pronounces me dead. It's not that I don't want to, I'd love to, it's that I can't afford to. If I see a doc my wife or kid doesn't so they go and I don't.
It's not a position that I'm happy with nor one that I want but I can't see a way around it. I can't afford insurance, we have to pay for each visit or service as they come and I'm not going to leave my wife and kids in debt for decades after I'm dead just so that I can selfishly have a few extra weeks or months with them. Debt is what it would be, and with the new bankruptcy laws passed a few years ago there's no way out for them. I won't do that to them.
Posted by: Dan | March 15, 2010 1:40 PM | Reply
i live in the UK and i have to say that 99% of the doctors i met don't care and don't want to know about their patients health problems. They are sarcastic, rude, abusive, I have even been shouted by one for a department forgetting to contact me. If they can get rid of a patient asap without treatment they will do so. They also misdiagnose on a regular basis, fatally in some cases. They are a complete waste of time.
Posted by: sev | March 15, 2010 2:30 PM | Reply
I thought the rudeness had to do with not being able/willing to put up with my accent and generally mediocre English. Good to see that others (who I assume to be native speakers) had similar experiences. Well, not for the medical system, but for my self-esteem.
NgeliMwenu replied to comment from sev | March 16, 2010 12:38 PM | Reply
Good question and the answer is?
It has varied over the years. When I was young and healthy? Rarely. While I was expecting? Always, every appointment. Once I hit middle age and the doctors made you wait hours and hours in their waiting room while I had to miss the day of work? I had better seriously be in need of them.
The scheduling, and pricing, even with great insurance, is not conducive for people who have to be at work. Also, I've found middle age comes with weird things the doctors have no clue on how to treat. The best plan is to eat healthy and workout regularly. Through clean eating, I've been able to heal most of my middle age issues after trying all the pills the doctors threw at me with no avail.
Posted by: Vicki | March 15, 2010 2:34 PM | Reply
Not particularly, although +1 to avoiding the dentist. Both because I have relatively inadequate dental coverage and because I'm afraid. Also, I've been putting off seeing the eye doctor for some time, but that's because I'm seeing well enough and it's a hassle. I actually kind of like the eye doctor.
Historically, I've only put off seeing a doctor if I'm worried about cost and/or the misery that is dealing with insurance.
(I define "putting off" as NOT going when I really think I should go. "waiting and seeing" on an upper respiratory tract infection doesn't count)
Posted by: becca | March 15, 2010 2:41 PM | Reply
I almost always go in for my various routine exams. (I'm a female in my late twenties, if it matters). I have enough niggling things that need a doctor's attention (new glasses, birth control) that I can't avoid them for very long at a time anyway.
I have found that I have a tendency to put them off if I don't currently have a doctor I'm comfortable with. So my biggest gap in care I've had was after college when I moved to a new city. Though even with this, I don't think I've ever been more than about a year late for a routine checkup.
As a contrast to what seems to be the general trend, I wouldn't dream of skipping the dentist. This is mostly due to having had braces for five years when I was a teen. I'm not about to let anything happen to my teeth after "investing" that much pain and suffering in them.
Posted by: kierra | March 15, 2010 3:20 PM | Reply
It depends. When I was a student and seeing a doctor required no appointment, no additional fees and no work to miss, I went to the doctor for every little thing imaginable, just in case. All it took was 30-60 minutes of my time and a short walk. Sometimes i would go to the doctor multiple times per week. The barrier to entry was so low.
In contrast now that I am working, I will only go to the doctor if it seems serious enough to warrant missing a half of day of work. Plus with appointments to my general practitioner taking 3 weeks or so, I only make an appointment if I think it will still be an ongoing problem in 3 weeks.
Posted by: Mike | March 15, 2010 3:45 PM | Reply
Usually I do for financial reasons. If it is an obvious emergency I will go, but with the saturation of anti-biotics, I try to give my body a fighting chance at healing itself first.
Posted by: SouthernFriedSkeptic | March 15, 2010 6:22 PM | Reply
Put off?
Well, if the situation really demands a doctor, realizing that most doctor visits are dealing with situations that will resolve themselves, can be handled quite effectively with OTC drugs, something that the doctors can do nothing about, I go. Spurting blood, broken bones, and intractable pain usually get me to go.
Otherwise I would rather not have to sit in an overly air conditioned office for two hours, spend another forty-five minutes sitting in a cheap, peek-a-bo robe shivering in an even colder exam room, and pay the better part of $100 to have some condescending idiot tell me he doesn't know what is going on. Of course he is always willing to have me go broke to satisfy his curiosity so we can attach a name to the condition he can't do much about.
And if I hear one more time about how they went $200,000 into debt to get their shingle and how this means I have to pay them through the nose and treat them like they are God's own gift to have them so much as share the air with me I'm going to garrote him with his stethoscope.
Posted by: Art | March 15, 2010 6:51 PM | Reply
I indeed do. Not only am I in the Great People's Democratic Republican British Jamahiriya, unceremoniously known as UKistan and going to the doctor here requires long waits and knowledge of the medical language (I am not a Brit and in certain areas, my vocabulary has large gaps), I also hate going to the doctor in general. Why? Because I hate to divert more attention to my body than strictly necessary. Because I hate to undress myself in front of strangers, because I hate the noisy kids in the waiting area (especially when I'm ill) and in the GDR 2.0, I hate insurance issues which tend to pop up for no reason and annoying small talk. All doctors there seem not to understand that I feel uncomfortable with their way to ask questions about things like my education or my love life.
Posted by: NgeliMwenu | March 15, 2010 8:10 PM | Reply
No, I don't put off going to the doctor if it matters (that is, I need a prescription, or a certificate for time off work because I am sick, or something unpleasant has cropped up). But I will not go for colds, stomach upsets that last less than 48 hours, headaches/migraines that self-limit and so on. Cost is not an issue (in Australia the gap-payment is not much, and if you need it, bulk-billing is readily available), but time is. I don't begrudge the person before me whose appointment goes for 25 mins instead of the prescribed 10mins - if they need the attention, then they probably really need it, and if it was me, I wouldn't be happy being cut short. I just don't like to waste my doctor's time (or mine) on things I can manage myself. Dentistry is a bit different - I have never avoided it when I could afford it, but in broke times I would not go until it was urgent.
Posted by: Di Hobday | March 15, 2010 9:31 PM | Reply
Absolutely. I've been putting off my annual exam for a couple of years now, because it's difficult to get myself to undress in front of someone who treats me like I'm insignificant.
Also, I tend to not go because I can't find a doctor who will take me seriously. Even with stuff like ruined joints that eventually require surgery, I can't seem to get doctors to look at it as if it might be a real problem and not just me lying. It's a pain to take half a day off work and not even have the doctors be willing to take a critical look at your complaint.
Posted by: Chiral | March 15, 2010 10:19 PM | Reply
Yes, because between myself and my three children I feel like half my life is spent in medical appointments and it's getting old. My doctor's going to think I'm stalking him! And that's not counting all the other medical types I have to see. And of course there's the question of the cost, but mostly I'm just sick of doctors.
Posted by: Janet Holmes | March 16, 2010 12:14 AM | Reply
Bueno... doctors cost money and not having medical insurance hinders me from making frequent visits to the hospital. I'm propelled to create ways to cure myself and I like the feeling of independence from medication. I enjoy learning about natural antidotes apposed to consuming drugs. It's empowering knowing that I found my own solution to my condition; rather than going to the hospital with a sickness, getting diagnosed and sent home with a prescription to fill. The cycle of popping pills begins and where honestly, does it end?
Posted by: Lady Patrell | March 16, 2010 1:17 AM | Reply
No... and yes.
I go once a year so that I can get my acid reflux medicine prescription refilled, so I tend to get a physical at the same time.
But for sickness? You bet I put it off. It takes a lot for me to go to a doctor office. If I'm not coughing up blood (or sick for less than 3 days) I won't go to the doctor. Anything a family physician can deal with, I can usually get better from anyways.
And luckily, I've never had to go the hospital for any sickness, so you can probably say I've put off doctors visits for years!
Also going to agree with others about dentists, I put those off. I know I don't floss! Help me find a way to make it part of my schedule; treating me like a naughty child and trying to 'guilt' it into existence just makes me want to floss LESS.
Posted by: Lyle | March 16, 2010 4:07 AM | Reply
It depends. I go for annual pap tests because it's really important. I'm prone to strep throat, so I'll go in at the first sign of a sore throat for a strep test. I actually hope for strep because then I can take antibiotics and feel better in a day, rather than waiting a week to get over a virus.
However, I really hate going to the dentist. It is just so unpleasant with all the scraping and poking and sharp pointy metal sticks. On top of that, I have negative personal time right now so I can't take off work unless I really need to. I also don't go to the eye doctor as often as I should. I get a year's worth of contact lenses at a time, but they want me to come in every six months for a check-up. I've been using the exact same lenses for 5 years, and other lenses for 4 years before that, and I've never had problems so I just don't think it's worth taking off work to get checked that often.
Posted by: catgirl | March 16, 2010 10:27 AM | Reply
Yes, I put off going to the doctor, for two main reasons:
First, EVERY problem I might report is blamed on my weight. I had my chronic migraines blamed on being overweight, at least until I pointed out that when the migraines started, I was at normal weight, and it was the preventative treatments (tricyclics and Depakote) that put the extra weight on.
Second, my PCP simply doesn't treat anything more complex than strep throat. Everything involves being referred to a specialist -- and not getting ANY treatment from the PCP! And like everyone else, I simply don't have time to spend half a day at the PCP's, then half a day in a specialist's office.
Don't get me started on dentists. I have a huge dental phobia; my dentist "at home" is a saint, but I recently moved cross-country. Aggghhh!
To boil it down: it's lack of time; a perceived lack of treatment when I DO go; and a lack of trust that keep me at home. If I could order my maintenance meds off the internet, I'd never go.
Posted by: Oleander_Tea | March 16, 2010 12:46 PM | Reply
Yes. Money.
I have had Type 1 diabetes for almost 35 years, diagnosed depression for at least 15 years and I am currently underemployed. I should be regularly seeing a primary care physician, endocrinologist, opthalmologist, cardiologist, nephrologist, dentist, podiatrist and psychiatrist. When I was working and insured, I was able to see all of these regularly, but now I can only see my primary care doc mainly to get prescriptions for insulin and blood glucose testing supplies from the local clinic pharmacy which is much cheaper than retail; my cardiologist to get free samples of cardiovascular meds [statin, CCB & ARB] and psychiatrist at the state mental health clinic for antidepressants and group therapy.
I will shortly be seeing the nephrologist and opthalmologist due to my changing visual status and blood tests. These visits are absolutely necessary due to changes in vision and blood tests.
I have not suffered any major complications - partly due to good luck, partly from knowing a lot of physiology, and partly from doing a lot of exercise and eating a mostly healthy diet. If I had any major complications, I don't know how I would survive. When I do see a doc nowadays, I can usually know what she & he will say anyway.
I am one of the people that is in real need of more than the kind of health care reforms that have been proposed and have been subjected to the scumbag do-nothing recalcitrance to enacting universal single-payer healthcare in the US. I will probably be eligible for Medicare before any reforms will come to pass and are fully implemented.
Posted by: natural cynic | March 16, 2010 3:50 PM | Reply