Archive for May, 2008
Early Breast Cancer Detection
Most women are familiar with mammography as our "gold standard" for breast cancer screening. However, there are additional tools available that women can add to their arsenal.
One of the most effective tools in breast cancer screening is breast self-exam (BSE). However, BSE works best when women are appropriately trained in the procedure, and then followed-up with annual clinical breast exams (CBE) from their physicians. In a 2000 University of Toronto study, approximately 20,000 women were screened for breast cancer with BSE and annual CBE, and 20,000 were screened with BSE and mammograms. After more than 10 years, the BSE and annual CBE reported 610 cases of invasive breast cancer, and 105 deaths. In the BSE and mammogram group, there were 622 cases of invasive breast cancer and 107 deaths. Without question, the first line of defense against breast cancer begins with diligent BSE.
Other tools that are available to women include the AMAS (anti-malignan antibody screen) test and the NMP Nuclear matrix protein) test. Both these are blood tests that measure a certain protein in the blood that may indicate cancer. The AMAS test has been around for several years while the NMP test has not been available until only recently. Clinical trials continue in this area.
One additional tool that may detect an issue early is digital infrared thermal imaging or DITI. In 1982, the FDA approved thermography as an adjunctive tool for breast cancer screening. DITI measures heat emitted from the body and is accurate to 1/100th of a degree. DITI examines physiology, NOT structure. It is in this capacity that DITI can monitor breast HEALTH over time and alert a patient or physician to a developing problem; possibly before a lump can be seen on
X-ray or palpated clinically. There are no test limitations such as breast density. DITI is a non-invasive test that does not emit radiation.
The unique characteristics of cancer allow DITI to detect breast cancer at an earlier stage of growth. As cancer is developing, it builds its own blood supply which is then reflected as increased heat in that particular region of the breast. DITI has a specificity of 83%; which reflects a problem in its early stages of development not late-stage cancer as in mammography. An abnormal thermogram carries a 10-times greater risk for cancer and a persistently abnormal thermogram carries a 22-times greater risk for cancer.
Clinical research studies continue to support thermography's role as an adjunctive tool in breast cancer screening and the ONLY tool that measures breast health over time. There are now more than 800 publications on over 300,000 women in clinical trials. A recent finding published in the American Journal of Radiology in 2003 showed that thermography has 99% sensitivity in identifying breast cancer with single examinations and limited views. Scientists concluded that a negative thermogram is powerful evidence that cancer is not present. Thermographic screening is not covered by most insurance companies but is surprisingly affordable for most people. For more information or to find a certified clinic in your area, go to www.proactivehealthonline.com.
About the Author
Brenda Witt is co-owner of Proactive Health Solutions in Southern California. She has worked in the medical field for 9 years and is now an American College of Clinical Thermology (ACCT) certified thermographer in the Orange County area. To contact Brenda, email her at brenda@proactivehealthonline.com.
Tags: immune system, breast, stages of breast cancer, arm lymphedema, reconstruction
There’s Always a Rainbow: She was 28, pregnant with twins and diagnosed with cancer… (Paperback)
By Michelle H. Kramer
Tags: clinical trials, immune system, research news, support, breast
Title: Paclitaxel Plus Chemo Improves Outcomes in Early Breast Cancer
Category: Health News
Created: 5/28/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/28/2008
Tags: symptom, radiation therapy, breast self exam, treatment, clinical trials
Title: Non-estrogen Option for Menopause
Category: Health News
Created: 5/27/2008
Last Editorial Review: 5/27/2008
Tags: immune system, support, cancer treatment, breast self exam, arm lymphedema
Dr Bob's Newsletter September 2004
Additional Treatment for Prostate Cancer May Enhance Improved Outcomes
A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed improved survival in men who underwent a combination of androgen suppression and radiation therapies. In the study of 206 men who had localized prostate cancer. This study is significant because of the shortened time of male hormone sup- pression. There are numerous side effects with long term suppression. When compared with radiation alone the combination therapy improved survival from 78% to 88%.
Dr Bob's Take: this was a well conducted study and may be a landmark study. It may be the basis of a new treatment method for men with prostate cancer which is localized. A larger study though is still needed to be sure these results can be duplicated.
MRI Screening for Breast Cancer
A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that MRI screening for women who are at high risk for breast cancer was much better. High risk was defined as those women who had family history of breast cancer and those who are genetically predisposed with positive BRCA tests. In the study 1900 women the study picked up 51 women with breast cancer of which 20 were not detected by routine mammograms or breast examinations. The women were followed on average for 2.9 years.
Dr Bobs Take: This is both good news and bad. The good news is that another diagnostic method is starting to be used for high risk women. The bad news is there are many false positive results. False positive is where there is an abnormality thought to be a tumor but turns out it wasn't. Routine mammograms have much less false positives. Also, the MRI techniques vary widely from center to center.
Drug + Therapy Combo Best for Teen Depression
A major study has proved that a combination of counseling therapy and anti depressants are much better than either alone. This was a study done through Duke University. There were 439 children age 12 -17 y.o. There was less suicide tendency with the combination. Dr Bobs Take: I would agree in my experience the combined counseling and medication work best for teens in the high risk for suicide.
Flu Vaccine Will Be Late
About half of the flu vaccine will be late reaching doctors offices. One of the two manufacturers, Chiron Corp, has had contamination problems and is destroying about one million doses.
Guidelines for receiving Flu vaccine are:
1. People 65 years and older;
2. Those with chronic lung (including asthma), heart, diabetes, HIV/Aids or undergoing chemotherapy;
3. People in nursing homes;
4. Children 6 months or older who have chronic heart or lung conditions;
5. Children or adults who have been hospitalized during the previous year;
6. Children 6 months to 18 years of age who are on long-term aspirin therapy;
7. Women who will be pregnant during flu season;
8. All children 6 month to 23 months of age;
9. People 54 ? 64 y.o.;
8. People living with those with the chronic diseases listed above.
Dr Bobs Take: those who are at high risk (# 1 to 4) should be vaccinated early (October). For those you should make an appointment with your physician NOW. By end of November or mid December everyone who needs it should be your vaccinnated.
Causes of Heart Attacks
In a study presented by Dr Yusuf to the European Cardiology Conference showed that up to 90% of all heart attacks can be found to be caused by one or more of these factors.
1. Smoking
2. Abnormal cholesterol
3. Diabetes
4. High blood pressure
5.
Stress
6. Abdominal obesity
7. Sedentary lifestyle
8. Eating too few fruits and vegetables
9. Abstaining from alcohol
Dr Bobs Take: we finally have a study that gives us the reasons for 90% of heart attacks. Until now it has been thought that these factors only accounted for about 54% of heart attacks. We can now take control of these factors and work on reducing them.
Full Body CT Scans
I am sure you have all heard the advertisements, get your full body CT scan and catch diseases early?. Well the American College of Radiology has stated that these not be done on healthy individuals because there is a significant risk of creating cancer from the radiation given during the test. Having one screening probably does little to add to this risk but multiple ones definitely do.
Dr Bobs Take: It has been thought that one full body ct scan can be equivalent of getting between 1000 and 2000 chest x-rays. We need to know that each does of radiation is additive throughout our lifetime.
Stents for Arteries to the Brain
The FDA approved a stent for people who have had strokes or those with symptoms of pre-stroke (TIA?s). A stent is a wire mesh which goes inside blocked arteries to keep them open. You have heard of stents used for people with heart blockages. The new stents will be used right now for patients who cannot tolerate surgery on the carotid arteries (blood vessels leading to the brain). Within 30 days of undergoing the procedure, patients were less likely to die, or suffer a stroke or heart attack than patients who had undergone surgery, the studies indicated.
Dr Bobs take: This is a brand new device and there needs to be more experience gained with the use of it. I would not advise rushing into this unless this is the only alternative. And be sure that your surgeon has had experience in using this first. You don?t want to be the first patient to be operated on.
Increased Death Rate With Antibiotic
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine has shown an increased risk of death associated with the antibiotic Erythromycin when taken with certain cardiac and high blood pressure medications. A review by a team of researchers looked at more than 4,000 people which then was narrowed to 1,476 records. The associated medications included Verelan and Isoptin for verapamil, Cardizem and Tiazac for diltiazem. Dr Bobs Take: this is a preliminary study which needs more studies to verify it. The reason suspected for the deaths was that the concentration of erythromycin was elevated when these medications were used. Until studies prove out this study I would simply talk with your doctor if your are on any of the cardiac medications listed above.
Some Good News For Chocolate Lovers
Another report from the European Cardiology meeting has shown that eating dark chocolate creates more flexibility for the blood vessels. Hard or stiff blood vessels make us more prone to heart attacks. The study was done on a small group of 17 young adults but adds to growing literature on the benefits of chocolate. The bad effects of this are the potential for people to gain weight and lose the benefits of the chocolate. Dr Bobs Take: Although I am chocolate lover myself the studies to date are not well controlled or large enough to make any solid recommendations like we have for wine.
About the Author
A family physician by training with over 20 years of practice. The need to interpret how the latest news affectsr my readers is important. I have 2 websites physician-on-health.com and orchids-plus-more.com
Tags: breast cancer treatment, breast, information, clinical trials, symptom
Dr Bob's Medical News Aug 20004
Hi >
Medical-News-For-You
Hi It's Dr Bob with your latest and up to date newsletter.
Table of Contents
Warning on Salmon - another toxin
Strept Vaccine - hope for the future
Mom's Influence on their Children As Adults
Breast Cancer - more is known
——————————————————————————–
Warning On Salmon from: Environment Science And Technology
Traces of a fire retardant have been found in both wild and farm raised salmon. The study went on to say that wild fish were less contaminated than farm raised.
The toxicity of the chemicals, called polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) isn’t fully understood at this time. The presence of the chemicals raises concerns of health officials. It is known that PBDEs can harm the neurological development of young children and babies.
It's unclear exactly how the PBDEs leach out of products, but they've have been turning up in everything from household dust to women's breast milk. The study shows more evidence of this chemicals climbing up the food change.
Dr Bob’s Take: Once again we are seeing more environmental implication on our food supply. Mercury is better known. More study is needed but until then I would limit this fish in young children to maybe no more than once a week or once every other week. And we need to be more aware of our environment.
A Strept Vaccine
Yes, scientists are making progress in developing a vaccine against the infamous streptococcus Group A. This is the same bacteria that give us strept throat and the so called flesh eating disease of which there are about 9,000 cases a year with a high death rate.
The study of the vaccine on just 28 people showed that protection against the strept bacteria did occur. More studies will need to be done to prove not only the effectiveness but also that there are no serious complications.
Dr Bob’s Take: work on a vaccine has been going on for over 50 yrs and this study bodes well. It does because of the millions of strept throats which if not treated can give rise to kidney disease or rheumatic heart disease in a small percentage of children. Thankfully these complications are not common. A vaccine will be very helpful to all of us.
——————————————————————————–
A quick read - on Health And Fitness And Benefits
——————————————————————————–
It’s Proven Mom’s Have A Strong Role In Shaping Their Childs Family Roles
Depending on the role of the mother, the son and/or daughter will take on different roles as they mature to adults. For example, college aged
men will expect to do more child care if their moms were employed. On the other hand, if their mom’s were homemakers they would expect their wives to be tending after the home and children.
For daughters the roles were reversed. If their mothers were employed they tended to Spend less time with their children. But, if the mothers were homemakers their daughters tended to stay home more.
This study was based on a survey of college men and women conducted by psychologist Heidi Riggio of Claremont McKenna College. The study size was 351 students.
Dr Bobs Take: Although this study was small additional studies are needed to verify the results. So Moms and Dads don’t change what you are doing based on this study.
Breast Cancer And..
Several studies have recently come out linking diet with increased risk of cancer. The first is that breast cancer is more frequent in obese women who have a low HDL (the good cholesterol). This study was by Norway’s University of Tromso. HDL does not have an active role in the development of breast cancer but may act as a signal to pay more attention to women with low HDL.
In another study co authored by Dr Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health and Instituto Nacionalde Salud Public of Mexico has shown an increase in breast cancer in women on a high carb diet. Women in Mexico were twice more likely to get breast cancer if they were on a high carbohydrate diets than those who ate less starch.
Dr Bob’s Take: it has been known for a long time that obesity carries a higher risk of breast cancer and each of these studies goes on to verify this, only in different ways. With the rise in obesity in this country, I am especially concerned about our children and their increases in obesity, you could surmise that this could mean that breast cancer could be detected at younger ages as time goes on.
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About the Author
Webmaster and Family Physician for
Physician-on -health.com a medical information website.
I have 20 years of practice experience and 12 years as a physician executive for several national health insurers.
Tags: cancer, information, immune system, symptom, research news
Diseases of the Colon Caused by Constipation and Past Emotional Trauma
It was estimated that of all the people who died of cancer – colon, lung, prostate, and breast - in 1999 sixteen percent were attributed to colon cancer. But, how many of these other cancers originated in your colon? We do know that colon cancer is the second leading cause of deaths in the United States.
We don’t know what cancers originated in your colon because the medical profession treats symptoms not the causes. Many doctors do not go looking for the cause of your problem. They don’t have the time. In fact, they normally will not tell you what you need to do to prevent your illness. Sometimes the reason they will not tell you is they just do not know.
It is the nutritionist’s job to tell you what foods and supplements you need to prevent and to overcome specific illnesses and what to eat to eliminate or stop constipation.
Why is it that some many people are dying of various diseases at such an early age – at forty, at fifty, at sixty, even 30, or younger? They die of heart diseases, blood diseases, cancers, autoimmune diseases and the list goes on. It has been know for a longtime why diseases occur and what you can do to prevent it.
These death producing illnesses are a result of our life style - the foods we eat, the water we drink, the air pollution we breathe, the thoughts we think, the toxins we are exposed to at work, and the cleaning products we use at home.
What is it that causes us to behave in a way that is harmful to others or ourselves in ways that affect our health, our relationships, and our life? Why do people smoke when they know it causes Cancer? Why do people drink coffee when they know caffeine affects their adrenal gland, which
eventually leads to exhaustion? Why is it that people eat sugar when they know it has untold health effects beyond diabetes? The answer is simple but difficult to accept.
All illness originates from repressed traumatic memories resulting from early life trauma.
Dr Arthur Janov explains this clearly in his book, 1996, Why You Get Sick How You Get Well.
“Over the last thirty years I have learned a great deal about humans and what drives them. As trite as it may seem, what I have found is a single yet complex emotion called love. Not the romantic love of novels, but a fundamental love – the love of a parent for a child. When a child lacks love and nurturing, no matter how that lack is manifest, it creates pain, and if this pain is not “felt” or integrated into the system, it will in turn cause physical and emotional illness in later life.”
It takes disciple to change behavior, thought, and life style, which are good for health. This is what is necessary to reduce or eliminate illness. This is what is necessary to bring on a feeling of well-being way into your old age – at 80, at 90, at 100, and well beyond that. With the new anti-aging nutrients and supplements on the market, I can see people living well into 120 years provided they follow a good lifestyle.
How many people are willing to devote the time and money to start eating the right foods and change their lifestyle? This is the first step in reducing or eliminating constipation.
About the Author
Rudy Silva has a degree in Physics and is a Natural Nutritionist. He is the author of Constipation, Acne, Hemorrhoid, and Fatty Acid ebooks. His information can be seen at http://www.stop-constipation.com
Tags: clinical trials, prevention, breast self exam, treatment, information
Title: Cholesterol Test Spots When HRT Raises Heart Risks
Category: Health News
Created: 5/23/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/23/2008
Tags: breast self exam, immune system, treatment, symptom, support
Diseases of the colon caused by Constipation
It was estimated that of all the people who died of cancer - colon, lung, prostate, and breast - in 1999 sixteen percent were attributed to colon cancer. But, how many of these other cancers originated in your colon? We do know that colon cancer is the second leading cause of deaths in the United States.
We don't know what cancers originated in your colon because the medical profession treats symptoms not the causes. Many doctors do not go looking for the cause of your problem. They don't have the time. In fact, they normally will not tell you what you need to do to prevent your illness. Sometimes the reason they will not tell you is they just do not know.
It is the nutritionist's job to tell you what foods and supplements you need to prevent and to overcome specific illnesses and what to eat to eliminate or stop constipation.
Why is it that some many people are dying of various diseases at such an early age - at forty, at fifty, at sixty, even 30, or younger? They die of heart diseases, blood diseases, cancers, autoimmune diseases and the list goes on. It has been know for a longtime why diseases occur and what you can do to prevent it.
These death producing illnesses are a result of our life style - the foods we eat, the water we drink, the air pollution we breathe, the thoughts we think, the toxins we are exposed to at work, and the cleaning products we use at home.
What is it that causes us to behave in a way that is harmful to others or ourselves in ways that affect our health, our relationships, and our life? Why do people smoke when they know it causes Cancer? Why do people drink coffee when they know caffeine affects their adrenal gland,
which eventually leads to exhaustion? Why is it that people eat sugar when they know it has untold health effects beyond diabetes? The answer is simple but difficult to accept.
All illness originates from repressed traumatic memories resulting from early life trauma.
Dr Arthur Janov explains this clearly in his book, 1996, Why You Get Sick How You Get Well.
"Over the last thirty years I have learned a great deal about humans and what drives them. As trite as it may seem, what I have found is a single yet complex emotion called love. Not the romantic love of novels, but a fundamental love - the love of a parent for a child. When a child lacks love and nurturing, no matter how that lack is manifest, it creates pain, and if this pain is not "felt" or integrated into the system, it will in turn cause physical and emotional illness in later life."
It takes disciple to change behavior, thought, and life style, which are good for health. This is what is necessary to reduce or eliminate illness. This is what is necessary to bring on a feeling of well-being way into your old age - at 80, at 90, at 100, and well beyond that. With the new anti-aging nutrients and supplements on the market, I can see people living well into 120 years provided they follow a good lifestyle.
How many people are willing to devote the time and money to start eating the right foods and change their lifestyle? This is the first step in reducing or eliminating constipation.
Rudy Silva has a degree in Physics and is a Natural Nutritionist. He is the author of Constipation, Acne, Hemorrhoid, and Fatty Acid ebooks. His information can be seen at http://www.stop-constipation.com
Tags: support, information, diagnosis, stages of breast cancer, breast
Title: Hormone Therapy Safe, Effective for Women Entering Menopause
Category: Health News
Created: 5/21/2008 2:00:00 AM
Last Editorial Review: 5/21/2008
Tags: breast cancer treatment, , prevention, symptom, stages of breast cancer
