Medical treatment is something that a doctor or other health care provider uses to help control, lessen or cure a disease, illness or injury. It may include medicines, therapy or surgery. Medical treatment can also be used to help prevent a disease or condition from developing.
Doctors and other health care providers must explain the benefits and risks of all available treatments to their patients. They must also give their patients the chance to discuss the options and make their own decisions about which treatment is best for them. They must be willing to share information about the results of clinical trials, which compare groups that are given different therapies to groups that receive standard therapy.
The choice of which treatments to use in individual patients depends on the health needs and preferences of the patient, the doctor’s knowledge of the medical literature and the patient’s previous experiences with other treatments. It also may depend on the availability of alternative therapies, which may be useful to some patients. Choosing a specific treatment requires weighing the evidence and evaluating the costs and side effects. A patient’s personal experience, the opinion of friends and family members and religious beliefs may also affect their decision.
Some treatments have a clear benefit, such as treating athlete’s foot with creams or powders that kill the fungus that causes it. Others have less of a clear benefit, such as controlling diabetes with medicine that keeps blood sugar levels in a safe range. Still other treatments have no known benefit or may cause harm. Some of these treatments may have a chance to lead to a cure in the future as scientists learn more about what causes a health problem.
Health care professionals must be able to understand and interpret the scientific evidence about which treatments are effective, harmful or not useful. This includes being able to analyze research studies, such as randomized clinical trials that compare the outcomes of groups treated with a new therapy against those of groups receiving standard therapy. They must also be able to communicate the results of these studies to their patients in ways that are easy to understand and use.
In addition to medical training and clinical experience, doctors must have an understanding of the quantitative disciplines of biostatistics and epidemiology. These skills enable them to understand the evidence and apply it rationally to individual patients. Without these skills, it is impossible for any physician to responsibly and sensibly interpret the medical literature and recommend appropriate therapies for their patients. This includes interpreting the results of clinical trials that compare alternatives for treating the same health problem, such as a drug to prevent strokes or another treatment for hepatitis C. This type of evaluation is called comparative effectiveness research. This type of research is being increasingly conducted to support evidence-based practice in health care. It aims to reduce unnecessary procedures and costs while improving the quality of health care.