Abstract
Our understanding of chronic diseases began to change at the dawn of the twentieth century and accelerated in the 1950s. Previously, individual physicians usually provided a diagnosis to explain the patient’s symptoms and an estimate of future problems and life expectancy – a prognosis. Diagnostic tests and treatments were limited by today’s standards. Patients expected little more from their physicians because this was the way it had always been, and the brighter future of more effective medicine was largely unrecognized. A physician’s esteem was derived from his “bedside manner,” wisdom, and the acuity of his diagnostic skills. I tell my patients that I have several well-controlled chronic diseases that my grandparents suffered with and died from when they were younger than my present age.
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Harrington, J.T. (2012). How Has the US Health System Evolved?. In: Harrington, J., Newman, E. (eds) Great Health Care. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1198-7_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1198-7_2
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