Thank you to Drs Thomas R. Freeman and Moira Stewart for their article on abdominal pain in the May 2023 issue of Canadian Family Physician1 that provides an important example of the idea expressed in their 2020 article.2 Harrison, in his eponymous textbook of internal medicine,3 first published in 1950, recognized that symptoms were the starting point in the practice of medicine. We need many more studies of this kind to follow such important symptoms as headache, back pain, fatigue, dizziness, etc.
Drs Freeman and Stewart deserve a place among the best of family practice thinkers for articulating this idea and providing a practical demonstration.
Footnotes
Competing interests
None declared
The opinions expressed in letters are those of the authors. Publication does not imply endorsement by the College of Family Physicians of Canada.
References
- 1.Freeman TR, Stewart M, Léger D, Jordan J, Copeland J, Hons I, et al. Natural history of abdominal pain in family practice. Longitudinal study of electronic medical record data in southwestern Ontario. Can Fam Physician 2023;69:341-51. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Freeman T, Stewart M. Making the case for the study of symptoms in family practice. Can Fam Physician 2020;66:218-9. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.Harrison TS, Resnick WR, Wintrobe MM, Thorn GW, Beeson PB, editors. Harrison’s principles of internal medicine. Philadelphia, PA: Blakiston’s Son and Co; 1950. [Google Scholar]