Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Doing Harm: The Truth about How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbery

7 reviews

_pauline's review against another edition

informative

5.0

according to my kindle i’ve highlighted 133 sections in this book & I think that speaks for itself but here are some additional thoughts in no particular order:

• I don’t think i’ve ever been this angry in my entire life
• honestly I thought I already was somewhat knowledgeable on this topic but if you, too, think you know how bad it is - it’s that, times ten
• this should be essential reading for every medical student
• so so many of the anecdotes lines up with my own experience (like having a literal ‘fibromyalgia specialist‘ tell me the condition doesn’t exist & then proceed to prescribe me antidepressants) - ofc I knew most women with poorly understood illnesses have had bad encounters with doctors but I thought certain things were more of an exception than they actually are (which makes me feel both sad/angry & understood)
• every time I‘m reminded how little time certain topics - e.g. nutrition, pain (wtf) or certain diseases - take up in med school, I wonder where doctors get their confidence when dismissing patients bc what did you really learn about it in those 1-4 hours you spent studying it (if at all)?
• it’s a little repetitive at times & not the easiest book to read but so worth it (try to read a physical copy, there’s an abbreviations page at the end)
• relatable anecdotes backed up by lots of scientific research + history for context
• loved the deep dive into certain chronic illnesses more prevalent in women & their history
• focus is on sexism but there are also sections on racism & other forms of discrimination 
• some cited studies were conducted in several countries but for the most part it’s a book about sexism & gender bias in the US healthcare system (which makes sense given how long & dense it already is - just important to note in case you’re expecting a more international view (though a lot of US based research impacted medicine around the world ofc so it’s still 100% worth reading))
• it’d be great to have an updated version of this, not sure if there is one

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Misogyny, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Cancer, Fatphobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, Vomit, and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

mscalls's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Transphobia

beetree's review against another edition

challenging informative sad slow-paced

3.5

This is a really important book but I found it dry and repetitive, despite being passionate about this topic. It’s structure and formatting (very long chapters sometimes) didn’t work for me and because of the repetition, I sometimes lost the point of the chapters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Gaslighting

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and Classism

arayo's review against another edition

informative sad

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Sexism, and Medical content

Moderate: Ableism, Cancer, Fatphobia, Infertility, Racism, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Classism

betsygrace's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

This book is a wealth of information! Especially as someone living with endometriosis, I appreciated Dusenberry’s analysis and understanding of what it looks like for people who live with various chronic illnesses and how challenging it can be for them to get help. Great read, wish everyone medical student would read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Fatphobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Classism

rayne_1906's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

2.25

4 hours 12 minutes - This book focuses on a very relevant and important issue, but unfortunately is very boring to read. The author has certainly done her research on the topic, but it is presented in a way which is repetitive and dull most of the time. Dusenbery does cover a lot of ground on sexism in medicine, and how this might intersect with other things such as race, class, transphobia, etc., but many parts of this book could have been cut without any impact on the message the book is trying to convey. Definitely makes me want to read more into the subject though.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

bxtskr's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Medical trauma