Medical treatment is any care that helps a person with a health condition. It can include medicines, surgery and other procedures. It can also include other healthcare services, such as a person’s regular doctor visits or nursing care. It also can include tests and screenings that help doctors find problems early. For example, a routine yearly mammogram can prevent serious health complications from developing from untreated breast cancer.
People and their health care professionals must make many decisions about what treatment is needed. They must decide whether to see a specialist, what kind of test is necessary, and what the results mean. They must also decide whether to agree on a treatment plan and what is involved in that plan. If a person is too sick to make these decisions, they must have someone else make them for them. That is why it is important for people to discuss their wishes with family members and health care professionals. This process is called advance care planning.
The most common treatments are medicines, which can either reduce symptoms or cure the illness. Medicines may be taken orally, injected, pumped into the body (intravenously), or put on the skin.
Often, health care providers try several different treatments to find the one that works best. This is called ‘evidence-based medicine.’ The evidence-based medicine approach means that doctors use the results of research studies to guide their choices about which medicines and treatments to prescribe. The evidence-based medicine approach is intended to give patients the best chance of a good outcome.
Sometimes, a medicine or treatment does not work or has serious side effects. Then, the doctor can decide to change the treatment or stop it. If a life-sustaining treatment is being stopped, the doctor must consult with the person’s next of kin or health care power of attorney to make sure the decision is in line with that person’s wishes.
Some health care treatments are very expensive. This is due to factors such as the aging population, the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, and technological advancements. It is important to balance the need for quality care with the need to manage costs.
A medical treatment can be considered unnecessary when it does not improve the patient’s health or increase her quality of life. Surveys of people who have made medical decisions show that they often do not receive critical information about the benefits and risks of treatments and interventions they are considering. Patients who participate in shared decision making with their clinicians have a greater understanding of the options and can weigh them more effectively.
A medical treatment is not necessarily unnecessary if it does improve a person’s health or increases her quality of life. In those cases, a medical treatment may be considered necessary. This is especially true in situations where a person has lost the ability to participate in decision making because of a severe illness, such as a coma or delirium.