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Question of the Day | 04/05/2009 11:00 pm

What medical tests would you like to have the option of doing in the privacy of your own home?

The makers of the First Response pregnancy test just released the first nationally advertised at-home fertility test. Candice Bergen, Joan Ganz Cooney and Liz Smith reveal the tests they would like to self-administer.
© iStock
Joan Ganz Cooney

Joan Ganz Cooney | 04/06/2009 12:00 am

Joan Ganz Cooney's Stipulation

A colonoscopy without the prep.

Liz Smith

Liz Smith | 04/05/2009 11:00 pm

Liz Smith to Play Doctor?

I’d like to be able to do all of them.

Candice Bergen

Candice Bergen | 04/05/2009 11:00 pm

Candice Bergen Keeps Her Feet on the Ground at Home

Forgive me, but is this not a tad too princess-like when millions can’t even afford health care? I am so goddamned grateful to get in to see the best doctors. Having my feet in the stirrups at home doesn’t speed that one up.

53 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Juanita Ward

Thanks for saying eveything I had in mind, But get upset when people think,their health is too be second rate. Doing certain test at home is not a brainer for some. That is why, there are Doctors. You said it like you are a medical person,are you?

 

By Juanita Ward on 04/06/2009 9:47 pm
Steve R
Thanks, Juanita. I am not part of the health care industry, but I have given it a lot of thought to it over the last few years. Thinking about a home testing kit as a convenience is the trap that the instant-gratification generation falls into. What it really is, is a specialized medical lab in a box. I think about the risks like misunderstandings and overconfidence - and cutting the doctor out of the loop; but I also think about the potential benefits. I think about the uninsured, who can’t afford a trip to the doctor, but maybe can afford a home test. I think about rural communities that have trouble holding on to resident doctors. Traveling doctors, visiting nurses, and minute clinics who could use such on-the-fly tests safely and properly. I think about people who have risk factors, and could benefit from closer monitoring than an annual check-up or what the insurance covers. I think about the high cost of health care, and that something like this could, if properly used, improve health care while lowering the cost. And then there is the whole third world… I also agree with you that the doctor’s office is the best place to start for medical care.
By Steve R on 04/07/2009 12:11 pm
Juanita Ward

I understand what you are saying, and know that many would or could benefit, from home kits. But who can be trusted too wash hands, before and after a test. It is also like a pee test, some people use others, in order too pass  the test. But until those untrusted souls, can tell the truth, we have too continue too go into the office. You might think I enjoy going,HUH! I do not and like others, everything goes too (H) in a hand basket.

 

 

By Juanita Ward on 04/07/2009 6:18 pm
Livia Jones
There’s no test I could do at home that would have diagnosed what I have. I can be an active collaborator in the cause of my own health, and I believe I must, but I didn’t go to medical school. I still need real experts on my side, and I’m grateful to have that. 
By Livia Jones on 04/06/2009 10:30 pm
E .

Echoing Liz Smith - "all of them".  I dread going to the doctor’s office.

Absent that I’d like to have hand-held medical scanners like on Star Trek to tell the doc everything from my vitals to a complete diagnosis.

By E . on 04/06/2009 10:37 pm
Juanita Ward
Perhaps one day, we will have a Star Trek scanner, but now we have too go with the flow.
By Juanita Ward on 04/07/2009 6:10 pm
Juanita Ward
By Juanita Ward on 04/07/2009 6:10 pm
Belinda Joy
Cancer.
By Belinda Joy on 04/08/2009 1:22 pm