Clear The Confusion: How To Make Good Health Decisions

If you’re just looking to live as healthily as possible, the sheer amount of discussion and different opinions that surround healthcare can often be overwhelming. As a result, we thought it would be helpful to put together a few tips on how you can clear the confusion that surrounds the subject of health, so you can make the best possible health decisions in future…

#1 - Trust your instincts

While it’s always important to trust your doctor as the foremost source of health advice, sadly, misdiagnoses can, and do, happen - and, unfortunately, misdiagnosis is all the more likely to occur if you're a woman.

It’s therefore essential to trust yourself as much as you trust your doctor. If you believe that something is wrong with your health, but your doctor says otherwise, then you can choose one of two decisions:

Trust your doctor implicitly and let the matter rest
Trust your own perception of your health and seek a second opinion

Unsurprisingly, we’re going to recommend the second - always value your own thoughts, feelings, and perception on an equal level to your doctor’s. Doctors are, of course, the experts, but they’re also human, so if you disagree with their opinion, then don’t hesitate to decide a second opinion is the right choice for you.

#2 - Be cautious when looking to buy new, innovative health-related products

Every so often, a new product or idea will hit the market and enjoy near-immediate acceptance. For example, e-cigarettes and vape juice were an instant hit, and CBD oil is a more recent example of the phenomenon.

After the initial introduction of genuinely beneficial products, there’s usually a second wave of what is effective people jumping on the bandwagon, bumping up the price accordingly. This second wave can lead to a huge amount of misinformation via less-than-reputable advertising campaigns and, for consumers, overspending on products that offer few additional benefits compared to more reasonably priced options. So, when you see an exciting new product hit the market and wonder why some prices are so much higher than others, be cautious; given that it’s more than possible to buy cheap vape juice, vaping devices, and CBD oil, the same will be true of any future products that experience this phenomenon too.

#3 - Always try to believe the consensus

In the two points raised thus far, we’ve looked at the way that health decisions can be influenced by various factors, such as mistakes or bandwagon-jumpers.

There is, however, one aspect of health that you can trust: consensus. If you were to have a test result that you disagreed with, as discussed, you are more than entitled to seek a second opinion and another test. If the second test were to produce the same result, and you still disagreed, you may even seek a third test, which may again repeat the same result as the first two. By this point, a consensus has been established, and the statistical chances of all three tests being incorrect are meager.

The same applies to medical studies. Let’s say a medical study claims a particular product or practice is beneficial to health; a promising result, but it’s just one study. However, three more studies then produce the same result - so a consensus has developed. If a fifth study were to find the opposite results, the consensus would still be on the side of the first four studies, and thus - statistically - you’re best to believe the majority,and use this to influence your future choices regarding that product or practice.

In conclusion

By following the advice above, you should be able to ensure you can make good health decisions for you and your family in the future.