Why scheduled checkups put patients' health at risk

Diseases are dynamic phenomena that develop and change over time, with one thing being certain: they do not adhere to a calendar. Dynamic diseases, i.e., de facto, all pathological processes, are those that exhibit changes in their clinical appearance, pathogenesis, and response to treatment over time. The management of dynamic diseases, and thus of diseases per se, poses a major challenge to health care providers because the conventional treatment and control strategies that have come into vogue, based on standard protocols, are not adequate . In many cases, fixed treatment protocols actually impair or even cause death to those who suffer from a disease. This article explores the concept of dynamic disease and the importance of dynamic (flexible) follow-up in the management of such disease, and presents to the public for the first time data from a clinical trial suggesting dramatically worse outcomes in patients with hemorrhoids who were treated and followed-up "on schedule."