Overdiagnosis and Overtreatment: Boon or Bane?

Abstract

With the help of modern medical technology, various neoplastic and nonneoplastic lesions are getting diagnosed in the subclinical stage. Also, by lowering the threshold of disease definition, a large number of at-risk individuals get reclassified to the disease category. Quite often, these conditions remain harmless throughout a lifetime. Overzealous management in these settings becomes therefore unnecessary and results in various treatment-related adverse effects.