Snowball in a Blizzard: The Tricky Problem of Uncertainty in Medicine

According to a wry saying among radiologists, finding a tumour in a mammogram is like finding a snowball in a blizzard. Up to thirty percent of breast-cancer diagnoses are given to those who have no cancer at all. Medicine is subject to far more uncertainty than we commonly acknowledge. While it is portrayed a science, it can sometimes be scarily close to educated guesswork. Covering everything from the efficacy of Prozac to the regular barrage of health advice by the media, Snowball in a Blizzard is a profound meditation on why it's essential that doctors and their patients know what we don't know. The world is more complicated than we like to believe. Informed by years of frontline medical experience and filled with personal reflections, this important book is filled with counter-intuitive revelations about flawed reasoning, helpful guidance and hard-earned insight. It will change the way you view the health of yourself, your loved ones or your patients.