One of the great things I have seen over the last forty years is the huge improvement in the survival rate from breast cancer. I well remeber the “rule of thumb” statistic among doctors that ninety per cent of cases after radical mastectomy had,at best, fifteen more years of life. It appeared that there nearly always was a recurrence.
How things have changed! Not only has technology given us quicker and more accurate diagnosis but Breast Specialists have emerged and my experience that this field attracts particularly caring and sensitive individuals. But, for the professional there has been a slight downside in that the incidence of overdiagnosis is slowly increasing.
Overdiagnosis is the finding and treatment of a growth, or tumour, that would not be expected to be fatal during the course of the persons natural life time. Better radiology, imaging and reading of results is probably at the heart of this. When such densities are seen on mammograms the radiologist has no way of telling whether these are cancerous or benign. Site, size, age, history etc may strongly indicate a non threatening growth but fear of litigitation etc means it can’t be ignored. In many cases these are best just monitored but often there is a patient insistence on surgery “just in case”. This is why a three point check is important – ie: physical exam ( palpation ), imaging and biopsy and cell testing for hormone receptors.
The good news is that all is moving forward and screening programmes, education and lifestyle advice seem to be having an effect. The scene is not as scary as it once was!
Here is a link to a risk assessment tool that you can download, install and run to use.
http://www.oncolink.org/types/article.cfm?c=3&s=5&ss=34&id=7242
Neil
Ten quick tests that strongly suggest an onset of Alzheimers:–
- Memory loss that affects job skills
- Difficulty performing familiar tasks
- Problems with language
- Disorientation to time and place
- Poor or decreased judgment
- Problems with abstract thinking
- Misplacing things
- Changes in mood or behavior
- Changes in personality
- Loss of initiative
Neil
This seems a good place to tell you that I live in New Zealand and as I write this morning -June 06 – it’s cloudy after some light drizzle, about 18 Celsius as we move into our winter. But, only one month ago our sun was fierce and you may not be aware that we have the highest incidence of melanoma and keratoses from UV in the world. Many visitors and tourists from the northern hemisphere grossly underestimate the damage our sunshine can do. When I was working in a hospital ( 20 years ) we would have several admissions each summer of, mainly British because of their links here, visitors with severe sunburn. They would arrive, go to the beach and not quite realise that, within an hour they could be very severely burnt. Remember also that we have a huge hole in the ozone layer just South of us – over Antarctica.
Skin Cancer is real and life threatening, and the sun has a lot to do with it. So remember, if you are going to visit this lovely country in our summer, listen to radio for UV warnings, slip, slap and slop like a Kiwi ( I should say here that one of the things I admire Shane Warne for is that he liberally uses zinc ointment for sun protection - and I won’t go into his other “attributes”! ) and very gradually increase your daily exposure.
Neil
Take a look at our advices and information site on Parkinson’s Disease. Please give us your feedback and suggestions!!!
Parkinson’s Disease affects people from many walks of life, why not share your experience with our readers?
Thank you – Doreen
Multiple sclerosis is one those “young peoples diseases” and always seems to hit at one of those “peak” times in our lives, ie: when career just taking off, or family just established etc. It’s a disease with multiple factors in its causation which makes research the more difficult and a disease where “support” is as important as the treatment. Here is a quick summary.
MS is a progressive disease of the nervous system, for which there is no cure.
An estimated 2,500,000 people in the world have MS.
More women than men have MS, with a ratio of 2 men to 3 women affected.
MS is the most common diseases of the central nervous system in young adults.
There are four types of MS: benign, relapsing remitting, secondary progressive, primary progressive.
Sclerosis means scars, these are the plaques or lesions in the brain and spinal cord.
In MS, the protective myelin covering of the nerve fibres in the central nervous system is damaged.
Inflammation and ultimate loss of myelin causes disruption to nerve transmission and affects many functions of the body.
While the exact cause of MS is not known, much is known about its effect on immune system function which may be the ultimate cause of the disease.
MS is not directly hereditary, although genetic susceptibility plays a part in its development.
MS is not contagious.
Diagnosis of MS is generally between 20 and 40 years of age, although onset may be earlier.
MS is rarely diagnosed under 12 and over 55 years of age.
Life span is not significantly affected by MS.
There are a wide range of symptoms. Fatigue is one of the most common.
The incidence of MS increases in countries further from the equator.
There is no drug that can cure MS, but treatments are now available which can modify the course of the disease.
Many of the symptoms of MS can be successfully managed and treated.
Neil
Please check out our site on lung cancer. We offer information on things like the different types of lung cancer, the cause of lung cancer, treatment and prevention of lung cancer.
We would value your input, so please tell us what you think and share your own experiences and stories with us for the benefit of all our readers.
Thanks,
Doreen
What a controversial subject but one that is infiltrating society in ways we are still not sure how to cope with. Drugs, Alcohol and so called ‘natural’ highs in the form of party pills are taking over our lives and we are sitting by and watching. Addiction (alcohol, drugs, sex, food, games, gambling) is a huge issue in the world today but not enough people are willing to recognise that addiction it as a disease, not a lack of will power.
What should we do about it?
Take a peak at the information we offer on this topic (guide4living) and then give us your view please.
Doreen
