Know Your Body
How to research, ask better questions, and advocate for yourself without becoming a crank.
8 articles in this section.
- How to Get Your Own Medical Records and Lab Results
You have a legal right to your medical records in the United States. What to request, how to word it, what it can cost, and what to do if you are refused.
- How to Read a Study Without a Science Degree
You do not need statistics training to judge a study. Learn what to check first, which numbers actually matter, and the phrases that signal a weak result.
- How to Research a Treatment Your Doctor Hasn't Offered You
A repeatable method for finding out whether a treatment has real evidence behind it, and how to bring what you find to your doctor without shutting the conversation down.
- How to Spot a Bad Health Claim
The recurring patterns behind health claims that do not hold up, and a short set of checks you can run in a few minutes before you spend money or hope.
- Making Sense of Common Lab Results
What a reference range actually means, why a flagged value is often nothing, and how to read your own lab results well enough to ask a better question.
- The Questions Worth Asking at Every Appointment
A short set of questions that works for any visit, plus how to structure fifteen minutes so the important thing gets addressed instead of the last thing mentioned.
- What to Do When Your Doctor Says No
Sometimes no is the right answer and sometimes it is a coverage rule or a time limit. How to find out which one you got, and what the legitimate next steps are.
- When to Get a Second Opinion, and How to Ask For One
Second opinions are routine, usually covered, and rarely offend anyone. When they are worth the trouble, how to ask without damaging the relationship, and how to prepare.