health – Page 3 – Medical Lessons

Legitimate Concerns and Unfortunate Timing on Radiation from C.T. Scanning

December 15, 2009November 23, 2010 Elaine Schattner M.D.

The risks of radiation from CT scanning will almost certainly add to the current confusion and concerns about the risks of breast cancer screening.

Mammography differs from CT scanning in several important ways:

1. Mammograms involve much less radiation exposure than CT scans.
2. Mammography is well-regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies. The Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) requires…
3. Women who undergo screening mammograms can control when and where they get this procedure. Screening mammograms are elective by nature..

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer screening, Diagnosis, Medical News, Oncology (cancer), Women's HealthTagged Breast Cancer, cancer screening, decisions, health, mammography, media on medicine, medical news, radiation risk, Women's HealthLeave a Comment

How Well Do You Really Want to Know the “Red Devil?”

December 11, 2009September 13, 2021 Elaine Schattner M.D.

I know what it’s like to get the “red devil” in the veins.

You can learn about Adriamycin, a name brand chemotherapy, on WebMD. Or, if you prefer, you can check on doxorubicin, the generic term, using MedlinePlus, a comprehensive and relatively reliable public venture put forth by the National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health. If you’re into organic chemistry, you might want to review the structure of 14-hydroxydaunomycin, an antibiotic and cancer therapy first described 40 years ago…

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer treatment, Essential Lessons, Life as a Doctor, Life as a Patient, Medical Education, Oncology (cancer), Women's HealthTagged Breast Cancer, cancer medicine, cancer treatment, chemotherapy, communicating in medicine, decisions, health, life as a patient, medical education, Women's Health2 Comments

On Juno and Screening Test Stats

December 3, 2009November 23, 2010 Elaine Schattner M.D.

“Well, well” says the convenience store clerk. “Back for another test?”

“I think the first one was defective. The plus sign looks more like a division symbol, so I remain unconvinced,” states Juno the pregnant teenager.

“Third test today, mama-bear,” notes the clerk.

…”There it is. The little pink plus sign is so unholy,” Juno responds.

She’s pregnant, clearly, and she knows she is.

(see clip from Juno the movie*)

Think of how a statistician might consider Juno’s predicament…

Posted in cancer screening, Diagnosis, Medical Education, Movies, StatisticsTagged cancer screening, decisions, empowered patient, false positives, health, interpreting medical data, Juno's pregnancy test, medical education, medical tests, movie, sensitivity and specificity, statistics, Women's HealthLeave a Comment

Dinner with my Family

November 25, 2009May 25, 2012 Elaine Schattner, MD

Family gatherings centered on two things – food, and talk about medicine. We spoke of interesting cases (always nameless), challenging conditions and, even back then, the constraints of health care costs. My fiancé, now husband of over 20 years, couldn’t get over how debate over health care dominated our Rosh Hashanah and Thanksgiving feasts…

…when I learned I had breast cancer, I knew exactly what to do. The decisions, though difficult, were almost straightforward, buttressed by my knowledge and familiarity with the language of medicine…

Posted in Communication, Empowered Patient, Life as a Doctor, Life as a Patient, Medical Education, Patient-Doctor RelationshipTagged Breast Cancer, communicating in medicine, decisions, doctors' lives, health, medical education5 Comments

Another Take on Mammography

November 23, 2009October 12, 2011 Elaine Schattner M.D.

Three key issues have escaped the headlines: 1. The expert panel carried out a careful analysis using data that are, necessarily, old; 2. The recommendations don’t apply to digital mammography; 3. Mammograms are not all the same.

We need to set the bar higher for mammography…

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer screening, Diagnosis, Medical News, Oncology (cancer), Women's HealthTagged Breast Cancer, cancer screening, health, health care costs, mammography, medical news, screening controversy, Women's HealthLeave a Comment

Hello Readers!

November 18, 2009March 3, 2010 Elaine Schattner, MD

Well, I went ahead and started this blog without a proper introduction. Why was I in such a hurry?

Because I think the media’s getting – and giving – the wrong message on breast cancer screening. When it comes to long, boring medical publications like those published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine, perhaps it’s not the devil that’s in the details so much as are the facts.

To Screen is Human

November 17, 2009February 12, 2016 Elaine Schattner M.D.

Smack in the midst of October-is-breast-cancer-awareness-month, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a provocative article with a low-key title: “Rethinking Screening for Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer.” The authors examined trends in screening, diagnosis and deaths from cancer over two decades, applied theoretical models to the data and found a seemingly disappointing result.

It turns out that standard cancer screening is imperfect.

The subject matters, especially to me. I’m a medical oncologist and a breast cancer survivor, spared seven years ago from a small, infiltrating ductal carcinoma by one radiologist, an expert physician who noted an abnormality on my first screening mammogram…

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer screening, Diagnosis, Medical News, Oncology (cancer), Women's HealthTagged Breast Cancer, cancer medicine, cancer screening, decisions, health, health care costs, mammography, media on medicine, screening controversy, Women's HealthLeave a Comment

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