A Closer Look at the Details on Mammography, in Between the Lines
A seemingly slight adjustment in a statistic, for teaching purposes, can significantly change a test’s calculated value….
Three Reasons to Celebrate the Supreme Court’s Decision on Obamacare
Like a good, smart doctor, morally grounded and, perhaps, influenced by compassion (hard to tell), the Chief Justice figured out a legally acceptable way for his court to do the right thing. Bravo!
Reading Between the Lines, and Learning from an Epidemiologist
She writes: “I believe that every educated person must at the very least understand how these interpreters of medical knowledge examine, or should examine, it to arrive at the conclusions.”
How Much Do You Want Your Doctors To Say About Risks of Treatment?
This kind of paternalism, when a doctor assesses the risks and benefits, and spares the patient’s “knowing” seems anachronistic. But it may, still, be what many people are looking for when and if they get a serious illness. Not everyone wants a “tell me everything” kind of physician.
This Week’s Triple, Tough Dose of Real Stories on Women with Cancer
This news reminds us an aspect of cancer treatment some of us would rather put out of our heads….all cancer patients should take careful notes on their planned treatments and ask their doctors about the long-term consequences of therapy.
On Sheryl Crow’s Report that She Has a Meningioma, and Singing Loud
Fortunately the LATimes and People magazine got the story right. Their headlines, and text, emphasize the benign nature of Crow’s newly-diagnosed condition, a meningioma.
EMILIA Trial: T-DM1 Appears Helpful in Women with Her2+ Metastatic Breast Cancer
The new agent is a hybrid of an old monoclonal antibody, Herceptin, that’s chemically attached to DM1, a traditional kind of chemotherapy. The preliminary results of this randomized trial are encouraging. …It’s hard to know how this promising, likely expensive, intravenous drug will fit in with others for patients with Her2+ breast cancer.
I Hope My Doctors Aren’t Blogging Too Much
I want my doctors to be happy, up-to-date, and rested. What’s the point of so many busy, needed health professionals writing about their experiences or opinions, except if it’s for their own satisfaction?
Remembering a Warm-Hearted Patient
When I was a resident I worked in a general medicine clinic. One afternoon each week, I’d get more dressed than usual and split off from my inpatient team around noon to go see patients in another building, outside of the hospital. Today, I’m reminded of a man I saw there and treated for two […]
10 Newly-Defined Molecular Types of Breast Cancer in Nature, and a Dream
The 10 molecular BC categories bear prognostic (survival) information and, based on their distinct mutations and gene expression patterns, potential targets for novel drugs….I wonder if, in a few years, some breast cancers might be treated without surgery.
Boobstagram Collects and Displays Breast Photos, Says Aim is to Boost Cancer Awareness
I’m not sure what to make of Boobstagram. The idea is for women to take photos of their breasts, send them in and raise awareness of the value of healthy breasts. The French company breaches cancer culture norms… If it were legit and raised loads of money for cancer research and care, would we tolerate this mode of fundraising?
A JAMA Press Briefing on CER, Helicopters and Time for Questions
What’s clear is that depending on how investigators adjust or manipulate or clarify or frame or present data – you choose the verb – they might show differing results. This doesn’t just pertain to data on trauma and helicopters…
New Article on Mammography Spawns False Hope That Breast Cancer is Not a Dangerous Disease
Few forms of invasive breast cancer warrant no treatment unless the patient is so old that she is likely to die first of another condition, or the patient prefers to die of the disease….“Mammograms Spot Cancers That May Not Be Dangerous,” said WebMD, yesterday. This is feel-good news, and largely wishful.
What Does it Mean if Primary Care Doctors Get the Answers Wrong About Screening Stats?
The new findings have no bearing on whether or not cancer screening is cost-effective or life-saving. What the study does suggest is that med school math requirements should be upped and rigorous, counter to the trend
Harsh Words, and Women’s Health at Risk
In this new climate of shame, it’s easy to imagine a girl might feel really, really bad about herself simply for being sexually active.
New Studies on Colon Cancer Screening by Colonoscopy and Fecal Blood Testing
My take is that periodic colonoscopy has the potential to halve the number of deaths from colon cancer in the general population…As to how colonoscopy relates to fecal blood testing as a screening method at the population level, and the optimal start and frequency of either test, those remain uncertain.
Counterfeit Drugs, A New Concern for Patients
Counterfeit vials were sold and distributed to more than a dozen offices and medical treatment facilities in the U.S. This event, which seems to have affected a small number of patients and practices, should sound a big alarm.
73 Cents: A Film on Regina Holliday’s Work, and Patient Advocacy Through Art
The unreasonable price of the medical records, combined with the delay in receiving them, exemplifies unnecessary harms patients encounter in an outdated, disjointed health care system.
Oh, No Methotrexate!
Methotrexate has been used in cancer wards for over 50 years. And like other beyond-patent meds, it’s become less profitable to manufacture MTX compared to much costlier new agents.
Do Adults Need Physicians to Tell Them to Exercise?
Whatever the reasons are that most doctors don’t bring up the issue, one might ask this: Why do adults need doctors to tell them about the health benefits of regular exercise? After all, it’s common knowledge –