Your Medical Mind_ How to Decide What Is Right for You - Jerome Groopman [94]
Eamon Dolan was our editor at the Penguin Press. He shepherded us with a firm hand and wry sense of humor, pulling us back when we veered astray. Eamon relentlessly (and in the kindest possible way) pushed us to express our ideas on the page in a lucid and cogent manner. Any writer who works with him is fortunate, indeed. Ann Godoff applied her keen intellect and incomparable skills as a publisher to shape the book. Her vision and commitment mean so much to us. We are also deeply thankful to the other members of the Penguin Press who contributed their expertise: Sarah Hutson, Tracy Locke, Emily Graff, Katherine Griggs, Sona Vogel, and Darren Haggar.
Special thanks to Shelly Harrison for her talent in creating our author photographs.
As is clear from both the narratives and the endnotes, we drew from many disciplines, including psychology, cognitive science, economics, history, mathematics, and, of course, medicine. The scope of our inquiry called on the extraordinary efforts of an extraordinary person. That person is Youngsun Jung, and her diligence and intelligence in researching ideas, fact checking, and manuscript preparation are unparalleled.
We received support, encouragement, and suggestions from numerous friends and colleagues: Ron Ansin, Arthur Cohen, Tom Dyja, Nora Ephron, Myron Falchuk, Carol Greenlee, Rabbi William Hamilton, Susan Harrison, James Hennessey, Tony Hollenberg, Keith Johnson, Alex Joseph, Hercules Kyriazidis, Annik LaFarge, Emily Lazar, Anika Lucas, Norman Manea, Ted Marmor, Ben Mizell, Peter Moschensen, Stephen Nimer, Johanna Pallotta, Nick Pileggi, Thomas Ramsey; Dina, Michael, and Oudi Recanati; Frank Rich, Maria Rossano, Harold Rosen, Julie Sandorf, Stuart Schoffman, Shanti Serdy, Michael Share, Judy Shih, Jodi Silton, Chris Smith, Abe and Cindy Steinberger, Jeffrey Tepler, Sarah Elizabeth Button White, Jay Winik, Alex Witchel, and Ed Zwick. During the writing of the book, we met Rabbi Yitzchok Itkin and Rebbetzin Chanie Itkin. Their strength and wisdom inspired us, and we honor the memory of their beloved daughter, Chaya Mushka, .
Our family is populated by believers and doubters, maximalists and minimalists, some with a naturalism orientation and others with a technology orientation. We thank them all for their opinions. Our children, Steve, Mike, and Emily, endured countless dinner discussions about this project (not always willingly). They did not hesitate to pass judgment on how we shaped our points and crafted our prose. We also received key input from our sibs, Meryl, Lori, Lenny, and Judy.
Over the past years, we honed our thinking and individual and joint writing skills through our work with Ryan DuBosar and Janet Colwell at the ACP Internist, Debbie Malina at the New England Journal of Medicine, David Remnick, Dorothy Wickenden, Henry Finder, Daniel Zalewski, and Andrea Thompson at the New Yorker, Robert Silvers at the New York Review of Books, Dorothy Rabinowitz and Robert Pollock at the Wall Street Journal, David Shipley at the New York Times, and Marty Peretz and Leon Wieseltier at the New Republic. We thank them all.
Notes
INTRODUCTION
1 A national survey of common medical decisions, made by adults forty and older in the United States, was conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan. The results indicate that over a two-year period, thirty-three million people considered medication for an elevated cholesterol level, twenty-seven million for high blood pressure, and sixteen million for depression; ten million people considered cataract surgery, seven million hip or knee replacement, and seven million an operation for low back pain. See: Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher et al., “The decision study: A nationwide survey of United States adults regarding 9 common medical decisions,