Is There a Crisis of Overdiagnosis in Modern Medicine? With Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan

现代医学是否存在过度诊断危机?苏珊·奥沙利文博士访谈

Intelligence Squared

2026-04-13

48 分钟
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单集简介 ...

More people are being labelled with medical conditions than ever before. Diagnoses of autism, ADHD, allergies, and long COVID have skyrocketed - but are we actually getting less healthy?  In this episode, neurologist Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan speaks to Dr Güneş Taylor about an impending crisis of overdiagnosis. Drawing on histories of real people, as well as decades of clinical practice and the latest medical research, O’Sullivan argues her research indicates that ordinary life experiences, bodily imperfections, sadness and social anxiety are being subsumed into the category of medical disorder. In other words: we are not getting sicker – we are attributing more to sickness. Dr Suzanne O’Sullivan is a neurologist and writer. She is the author of The Age of Diagnosis, as well as previous books including It’s All in Your Head and The Sleeping Beauties. Dr Güneş Taylor is a science broadcaster and Fellow at the Centre for Reproductive Health. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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单集文稿 ...

  • Welcome to Intelligence Squared, where great minds meet.

  • I'm producer Mia Sorrenti.

  • From autism to allergies, ADHD to long COVID, more people are being labelled with medical conditions than ever before.

  • But can a diagnosis do us more harm than good?

  • On today's episode, Dr. Suzanne O'Sullivan,

  • neurologist and author, joins Dr. Ganesh Taylor to discuss how the boundaries between health and sickness

  • are shifting in modern medicine and how we could be witnessing a crisis of overdiagnosis.

  • Let's join our host, Dr. Ganesh Taylor, now with more.

  • Hi, and welcome to Intelligence Squared.

  • My name's Ganesh Taylor, and I'm here today to talk to Dr. Suzanne O'Sullivan about her new book, The Age of Diagnosis.

  • Suzanne has been a consultant in neurology since 2004,

  • working at the London Hospital and is now a consultant in clinical neurophysiology and neurology at the National Hospital

  • for Neurology and Neurosurgery and for a specialised unit based in the Epilepsy Society.

  • She specialises in the investigation of complex epilepsy and also has an active interest in psychogenic disorders.

  • Suzanne's first book, It 's All in Your Head,

  • won both the Welcome Book Prize and the Royal Society of Biology Book Prize.

  • And Sleeping Beauties was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize.

  • She is from Dublin, Ireland.

  • Thank you so much for joining us today, Suzanne.

  • Thanks so much for having me.