September 23rd, 2011 by AndrewSchorr in Opinion
No Comments »
Thank God television and movie script writers are starting to “get it.” Cancer, “The Big C,” doesn’t always kill people, or maim them, or steal their dreams. Lately there have been new TV shows acknowledging cancer as part of life that many can live through. There’s a new movie coming called 50/50 about a young adult man with cancer (important to acknowledge it in this age group!). I hope he doesn’t die in the end. But from the preview, it’s clear he talks to people about it – including young women he is trying to date. It’s a comedy. On Showtime on cable TV there’s a series, The Big C, where actress Laura Linney plays a teacher with melanoma and a year to live. The good news is they had a second season!
My point is there are now nearly 12 million cancer survivors. Three of work them at Patient Power (one is me, almost 61, one is in her 50’s, one is just 18). More and more of us do not have just months or a year to live. We are true survivors. We have to start watching our cholesterol and taking baby aspirins, we have to watch our weight, plan for retirement or manage a fixed income. For the young one, it’s plan for college. We have to think about who we might vote for in the next election. We are LIVING! Maybe for a full lifespan, maybe not, but living each day with purpose.
Yes, it’s true there could be “another shoe” that drops, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
August 21st, 2011 by GarySchwitzer in News, Opinion
No Comments »
Right off the top, let me be clear that I am NOT minimizing the importance of this week’s news about an experimental treatment for leukemia – one that has drawn much news attention.
It is an important finding.
What I am commenting on herein is the news coverage.
The ABC television piece itself wasn’t bad, with good perspective from Dr. Len Lichtenfeld of the American Cancer Society. But the lead-in and the ending, both involving anchor Diane Sawyer, were hyperbolic. The following screenshot was part of Sawyer’s lead-in. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
August 16th, 2011 by Elaine Schattner, M.D. in News, Opinion
2 Comments »
Last Sunday’s New York Times featured an op-ed by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, on the oncology drug shortage. It’s a serious problem that’s had too-little attention in the press:
Of the 34 generic cancer drugs on the market, as of this month, 14 were in short supply. They include drugs that are the mainstay of treatment regimens used to cure leukemia, lymphoma and testicular cancer.
Emanuel considers that these cancer drug shortages have led to what amounts to an accidental rationing of cancer meds. Some desperate and/or influential patients (or doctors or hospitals) get their planned chemo and the rest, well, don’t.
Unfortunately, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medical Lessons*
August 4th, 2011 by ChristopherChangMD in News, Research
No Comments »
Female models may be tall and beautiful, but they are also at markedly increased risk of developing cancer. The New York Times reported on a fascinating research article regarding height of a women and risk of cancer.
Specifically, for every four-inch increase in height over 5 feet 1 inch, the risk that a woman would develop cancer increased by about 16 percent, especially for:
• Colon Cancer (RR per 10 cm increase in height 1.25, 95% CI 1.19—1.30)
• Rectal Cancer (1.14, 1.07—1.22)
• Malignant Melanoma Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Fauquier ENT Blog*
August 4th, 2011 by AndrewSchorr in Opinion, Research
No Comments »
There are big companies like Quintiles that run clinical trials around the world. There are local clinics that specialize in clinical trials and make a lot of money at it. There are, of course, pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers who depend upon the results to gain marketing approval for new products. People in all those groups know a lot about trials.
But the perspective that counts is the view from you and me – patients. Most of us do not enroll in clinical trials. We don’t want to get too up close and personal with anything “experimental.” And often our doctors never tell us about available trials anyway since it can be a lot of paperwork for them. Given that most people don’t enroll in trials and new science is delayed because of it and also because most people in trials are not journalists, I thought I’d put hunt and peck to the computer keyboard and speak out about trials. I am especially motivated because I have participated twice. The first one, a leukemia trial in 2000, I believe, saved my life. And I enrolled in a second one, studying a new drug for clots in the legs (deep vein thrombosis or DVT) just a week and a half ago.
I enrolled in the DVT trial because 1) the first one worked for me and 2) I crow all the time about how patients should always consider being in a trial as a treatment option. I had to put up or shut up. So I signed on the dotted line.
This particular trial, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
