A treatment is something health care providers do to control or lessen a disease’s symptoms. Some treatments can cure a problem, while others are not considered a cure but rather ways to manage the condition. A medical treatment may include medicine, therapy, surgery or other approaches.
Some types of treatments are part of modern biomedical science (the scientific study of the causes, course, and resolution of disease). Other kinds of treatment have been derived from religious or philosophical beliefs, herbalism, and the ancient concept of the four humours. In the 19th century, modern scientific biomedical research replaced these early Western traditions with a more modern, scientific approach.
Most countries have some form of universal health care. This might be a single-payer system like Medicare in the United States or compulsory private and cooperative health insurance in other countries. Many of these countries also have nationalised pharmaceutical companies.
When a health care professional prescribes a treatment for a patient, it is important to understand the options. This involves thinking about the benefits (positives) and risks of each option. It is also good to think about a patient’s preferences, as well as the costs of each option.
Patients should always consider how a treatment might affect their quality of life, as well as their finances and social interactions. This is known as the “utility” of a treatment. In general, the more useful a treatment is, the more likely it is to be used.
It is also important to know what happens if a treatment does not work or has unpleasant side effects. For example, a person may get a skin rash or become sensitive to an antibiotic, even though the test results indicate it will work for most people. This is because people differ in how they respond to medicines.
If a treatment is no longer working or producing intolerable side effects, doctors will try other options. These are called second-line therapies. Eventually, the aim is to find a treatment that works for all patients. This is referred to as a cure.
Health care costs are often high in developed countries. This is partly because of the need for specialised equipment and specialist staff. In addition, some services have to be provided in a hospital setting. This is especially true of diagnostic tests such as MRIs, CT scans and ultrasounds.
The price of a health care service can vary greatly depending on where it is given and who pays for it. For example, the cost of an MRI is usually much higher in the United States than in New Zealand or Spain. Health care costs are also influenced by geographical areas and the level of economic development in a region. Some countries have a fee-for-service health system in which individuals pay for medical treatment on the basis of their ability to afford it. In other countries, a single government-run insurer covers the entire population. In some cases, doctors or hospitals receive grants and contracts to provide certain services.