October 26th, 2011 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Research
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If you want to create an outcry of indignation, just inform people that certain screening tests are of no value and do not increase time on this earth. People love the idea that if they do all the right things and get all the medical tests at the right time, they can prevent disease ( ….uh…no, tests don’t prevent anything) or catch cancer early and cure it.
The furor over the lack of benefit for men of the screening Prostate Specific Antigen test (PSA) is still being heard. It seems everyone knows someone who was “saved” by getting a PSA and don’t try to tell me there is evidence to suggest otherwise, dammit!
There is a new report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
October 26th, 2011 by MelissaSchaeferMD in Announcements, Health Tips
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As clinicians, we know that the nearly one million patients who receive outpatient cancer treatment each year are at risk for serious infections that may lead to hospitalization, disruptions in chemotherapy schedules, and in some cases, death. Even so, it appears that outpatient oncology facilities may vary greatly in their attention to infection prevention. As one example – at an oncology clinic in Nebraska, it was discovered that syringes were reused to access bags of saline that were shared among multiple patients. This unsafe practice led to the transmission of hepatitis C virus to at least 99 cancer patients, resulting in one of the largest healthcare-associated outbreaks of its kind.
To help address this problem, CDC is launching a new program called Preventing Infections in Cancer Patients, featuring tools to help both clinicians and patients prevent infections.
As a cornerstone of this new initiative, CDC worked with Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Safe Healthcare*
October 24th, 2011 by Harriet Hall, M.D. in Research
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From a message posted on Facebook:
Is the pill safe? The International Agency for Research on Cancer in a 2007 study made by 21 scientists reported that the pill causes cancer, giving it the highest level of carcinogenicity, the same as cigarettes and asbestos. It also causes stroke, and significantly increases the risk of heart attacks. Several scientific journals have stated that the natural way of regulating births through the Billings Ovulation Method has no side-effects, and is 99.5 % effective.
The Billings Ovulation Method (BOM) is a method of natural family planning where women are taught to recognize when they have ovulated by examining their cervical mucus, allowing them to avoid intercourse during fertile periods or conversely, to have intercourse during fertile periods when pregnancy is desired. We used to call people who used the rhythm method “parents,” but BOM is more reliable than older abstinence methods.
I’m a big fan of oral contraceptives. They contributed to Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
October 23rd, 2011 by GarySchwitzer in Opinion
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On the NPR Shots blog, Scott Hensley addresses, “Avastin For Breast Cancer: Hope Versus False Hope.” Excerpt:
Any day now FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg is expected to make a final decision on Avastin’s fate. Women who said Avastin helped their breast cancer were out in force at a June hearing of an appeal of FDA’s proposal. At this point, it would be a big surprise if the agency let the approval, granted on an accelerated basis back in 2008, stand.
Now, one of the cancer specialists on the expert panel, which Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
October 18th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in Research
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Oropharyngeal cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) are on the rise in the United States since 1984, as changes in sexual habits further the virus’ spread. But the focus of the HPV vaccine will remain on preventing genital warts and cervical cancer.
Reuters reported one clinician’s opinion that throat cancer linked to HPV will become the dominant cause of the disease, ahead of tobacco use.
To study the issue, researchers determined HPV-positive status among 271 of all 5,755 oropharyngeal cancers collected by the three population-based cancer registries in Hawaii, Iowa and Los Angeles from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program from 1984 to 2004. Prevalence trends across four calendar periods were estimated by using logistic regression. The study appeared online Oct. 3 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
HPV prevalence Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Internist*
If you want to create an outcry of indignation, just inform people that certain screening tests are of no value and do not increase time on this earth. People love the idea that if they do all the right things and get all the medical tests at the right time, they can prevent disease ( ….uh…no, tests don’t prevent anything) or catch cancer early and cure it.
