Terry Prone: Over-diagnosis more than a statistical reality in chronic illnesses

Understandably, more than 80% of those who have recently learned that they have a parent suffering from Huntington’s want the test. Picture: PA

A beach book it isn’t. In my view, the best read of the summer is not wrapped around by a pastel drawing of Adirondack chairs bathed in sunlight. Instead, the cover shows one of those extra strong paper labels you get to wear like a bracelet to identify you and what ails you when you’re in hospital.

That’s by way of a clue to the fact that this book, The Age of Diagnosis by Dublin-born neurophysiologist Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan, is all about what ails you now, may ail you in the future, could put you off your oats, into hospital or, if you get seriously unlucky, kill you less pleasantly than you ever imagined.