If you have a medical condition, were you ever asked your history?

[Ohalla]

I was thinking about this recently. I seem to have bad luck and have a few medical conditions, two of them that came on in adulthood and all ones that they dont really know what causes it.
No one has ever asked me my history like Did I smoke, did I do drugs, did I eat lots of processed foods or was I a vegetarian etc?
Only reason I wonder is conspiracy theorists on support groups I’m on always run wild with the ‘covid vaccines did it to us’ or similar, and although clearly that’s to fit an agenda, it’s surprising they don’t gather data once you’re diagnosed to maybe help advance information with the why?
I know there are medical studies that limited people can take part in but surely it would be more efficient to ask everyone questions when diagnosed and then send it over and then have masses of data.
Equally my sister had a rare short term illness (hospitalised) and no one has ever checked in on her since to know that she suddenly needed glasses two years later or whatever. Whereas the two could be connected, they just don’t know?
if you have one, were you asked any questions?

I’ve often thought this!

My DD has a tooth condition and according to the dentist/ everything I’ve read it’s caused by taking antibiotics/ being ill during pregnancy. I wasn’t ill and didn’t take antibiotics during pregnancy. However I did take a lot during breastfeeding. But no dentist has ever asked whether I took any, and I know others have experienced similar so I feel a study would be useful.

I wish there was an option to report such information/ history relating to conditions (similar to the yellow card reporting of side effects from medicines, but for a different purpose). Even if the information can’t be used as an actual study, it could flag things that perhaps need to be studied if enough people say the same thing.

There have been a number of times when I’ve thought the same - I’ve had various medical issues but it’s always been about treating alone rather than trying to understand why things happened to help prevent them in the future.

I also had an uncommon but serious condition that needed emergency surgery but the early symptom I had of this condition was not listed anywhere, and the doctors told me they hadn’t heard of people having it before, and they couldn’t explain it. But they didn’t ask in detail and I feel that as it’s an uncommon condition it could be useful to have asked more and flagged it up somewhere.

@MILLYmo0se yep. I had to ask the hospital for the results months later. Just out of curiosity as they told me about all these drugs I should take but not the reason why?! It was very odd. And they've never followed it up either, even though it was more than two years ago. And I was an impatient for five weeks, it wasn't just an outpatient appointment for the DEMSA scan. It was in week three I think. It's like they didn't want me to know? I was under the psych team admittedly.

If the medical professionals know about your illness, then they will know what questions are relevant. "No one has ever asked me my history like Did I smoke, did I do drugs, did I eat lots of processed foods or was I a vegetarian etc?" If the answer to any of these is yes, would that be a likely trigger for your condition? Also though would it give an insight into a better way to treat or look after you now?

I lost a friend to lung cancer a few years back. She was a heavy smoker for much of her life. She was intelligent enough to know that it was not healthy, and clearly got hooked, I don't know how or why. What I kind of think though, is she 100% knew that the likelihood she would have developed and died of lung cancer would have be enormously less if she hadn't smoked. Unless there are some treatments for lung cancer that are unlikely to work on non-smokers, but likely to work on smokers, what would asking her do? Other than remind her that she probably wouldn't have had an early, painful death, depriving her children and grandchildren of a lovely mum and nan early, if she had been strong enough to give up smoking?

Many doctors don't even bother asking anymore, they haven't got the time to deal with anything other than the here and now.

I am often asked about family medical history, and yes I get asked things like how much alcohol I drink, do I smoke etc plus any other medication I'm on.

Obviously my own GP has access to my notes; it seems a bit random as to what info other health professionals can access.

No but then I guess they’re not doing the research into it, but other medical people behind the scenes may well be. Funny you mention Covid vaccine conspiracy theories…..my dh was diagnosed with a very rare autoimmune illness a while after his Covid vaccine and while googling I found someone who is doing research to see if there a link and found potentially there is but nobody asked dh when he’d had a vaccine or covid.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11036870#:~:text=Numerous%20cutaneous%20manifestations%20have%20been,lesser%20extent%20in%20the%20literature. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11036870/#:~:text=Numerous%20cutaneous%20manifestations%20have%20been,lesser%20extent%20in%20the%20literature.]]]]

dd also got a pulmonary embolism after her COVID vaccination and they asked the usual was she on the pill, had she been on a flight, had she had surgery. Seemed puzzled when she said no to all but never asked be if she’d recently had Covid or a vaccine even though clots are known to be a rare side effect of both.

There is always the possibility that you started smoking since 2014. They can't make assumptions.

I've always been asked a ton of lifestyle questions! In fact, it gets in the way in short appointments.

@Ohalla amazed it hasn't happened to you.

@DanielaDressen

dd also got a pulmonary embolism after her COVID vaccination and they asked the usual was she on the pill, had she been on a flight, had she had surgery. Seemed puzzled when she said no to all but never asked be if she’d recently had Covid or a vaccine even though clots are known to be a rare side effect of both.

Presumably she told them and asked if it could be connected?

That's crazy, what was the point of even doing a DEXA if not bothering going to follow it up? You should have been having another scan around now

I have been asked a few times; however because of my age, my condition is unusual. So drs are often interested to hear the history.

Your idea is good, if enough people were willing to pay for it. But as a society, we don't seem so willing to do so. We mostly accept that NHS is on its knees, but who will pay to get it better?

Not those who are going to be £300 a year worse off, not the farmers whose inheritance exceeds £3m and so may pay IHT.

No, always someone else.

I'm a pensioner who cheered when Reeves said she was getting rid of my £300, as long as she was looking after those pensioners on PC who need that £300.

I have a very unpopular view, that taxes need to rise to pay for our NHS and to raise the one in three children who live in poverty out of it. The triple lock was brought in when the poorest amongst us were pensioners. From what I read and see now, the poorest are society's children.

We as a society need to change.

Yes, and they shrugged and said possibly and prescribed her blood thinners and sent her on her way.

Yes, without being too outing I have a rare medical condition and when it first came up I had to be asked by a load of different doctors various different questions about my history

On one hand my gynecological issues were identified and solved by an ENT consultant.

On the other hand, I used to spend a day a month with a dietician and they never saw an obese patient who ate more than 800 cals a day.

Doctors and patients are quite fallible.

GPs don't really have the time in each appointment to go through a long-winded set of questions unless what they are asking is already known to be relevant to the potential diagnosis.

Hospital consultants might go into it more thoroughly, especially at a teaching hospital or if they are researching a particular field of interest, but otherwise a whole random set of questions would only be asked if you become part of a study into your condition. A relative of mine goes up to some hospital or other in London once a year for exactly that sort of thing.

Fair enough
I did mean consultants not GPs.
With one of my conditions, one study noted that smoking may actually protect you from it. My symptoms began once I quit smoking, and I was diagnosed a year later, so was someone else I know. Neither of us have ever been asked. I think gathering data on things like that, where there’s small known links, could help with research. I do understand the NHS isn’t flush though and it’s probably a much bigger process than a central Microsoft form or similar.

@MILLYmo0se yeah. I think I might have to chase it up. It seems awful they didn't want to tell me I had the bones of a 90 yo. I went a DEMSA scan with my mum and her scores were perfect zeros. She's 85! 😐

In the past I had a bad ankle problem and saw one of the top ankle consultants in the country. I had surgery which didn't help, numerous steroid injections which also didn't help. He admitted he was at a loss and offered me more surgery but wasn't really sure what for so I was reluctant.

I had numerous other symptoms none leg related - bladder problems, back problems, digestive problems. I was never asked about this with my ankle doctor and I didn't know it was related. Turns out I had a connective tissue disorder which is why my ankle hurts so much. So surgery was never going to help and I guess for the sake of a more holistic approach I could have avoided an unnecessary operation.