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Previous Volume 342:522 February 17, 2000 Number 7 Next

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By Nicholas Christakis. 307 pp. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2000. $30. ISBN 0-226-10470-2.

"Will my congestive heart failure ever go away?" "Just what will the diabetes do to me?" "Does this cancer mean I'm going to die?"

These questions demand answers that will shape how patients relate to their illnesses. Prognosis affects their lifestyle choices, health care decisions, and overall outlook. Yet, many physicians dread responding to such questions. What underlies this fear, and what are its consequences?

It seems natural that we should wish to avoid sharing bad news. Offering a grim prognosis forces us as physicians to deal with a patient's grief and confront our own sense of futility. Furthermore, patients . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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