As I prepared for a vacation recently, I realized that it’s getting harder and harder to really “check out” of any kind of job these days. The ubiquitousness of BlackBerries, Wi-Fi, cell phones, and other devices designed to keep us forever in touch with each other make it impossible to really escape. As a doctor, I face an added difficulty in taking a break from my work—the inescapable urge to diagnose disease in random passersby.
In the subway, it’s hard not to see the telltale lump of a goiter in someone’s neck; when that’s accompanied by prominent eyes, I have a case of hyperthyroidism staring me in the face. On an airplane, the shaking hands of the woman next to me might just be nerves, but when I see her shuffle down the aisle, I start to think about Parkinson’s disease.
Skin diseases are the hardest to ignore: I don’t envy the dermatologist at the beach who must spend half of his or her time noticing suspicious moles or patches of psoriasis. Hands and fingernails are great clues to medical disease, as I remember each time I collect change from a salesperson; spoon-shaped nails indicate an iron deficiency, red palms go with liver disease, and a distinctive loss of muscles around the thumb are suggestive of diabetes.
Scars are hard to overlook too. The vertical chest incision of open-heart surgery is one that most people recognize instantly. Less common is the diagonal slash across the back that suggests a kidney was removed, or the chevron-shaped abdominal scar of liver surgery.
I suppose that everyone does some people-watching on vacation. That’s what sidewalk cafés are all about, right? My people-watching is just a bit more technically complex. I sometimes wonder what I would do if I diagnosed a deadly disease while waiting in line at the supermarket. Fortunately, it hasn’t happened yet, and I hope it never does.
(PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES)
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Comments (1)
I’m not a doctor, but when I was recently wedding dress shopping with a friend I noticed how many brides had suspicious looking moles on their backs. I didn’t say anything, but felt I should have.
SteamboatEcobroker