Cancer
Dad, How About Some Good News? – Melanoma
Who is a big supporter of my column? I would like to think my children as I e-mail them copies each week. But a recent e-mail response was, "Dad, you always have such cheery thoughts, like colonoscopy! What other forms of poking must you subject us to? Will it be root canals? How about one that's more dignified? So here's one that needs removal of clothing but no poking. Recently my wife asked me to check her body for suspicious moles. I didn't see any but it's never prudent to be your wife's doctor. If I missed diagnosing a melanoma my children might suspect I was after her insurance money. So I suggested we should both arrange for a molar checkup. Several...Read More
Cancer, Radiation
Mammography – “I’m Sorry I Don’t Know How Much Radiation Is Given”
I have previously reported on a study conducted by Peter Gotzsche, a leading Danish researcher. His study claimed there's no convincing evidence that annual mammograms decrease the risk of dying from breast cancer. But can repeated exposure to radiation cause breast cancer? Three decades ago I reported a shocking discovery. Some x-ray machines were exposing patients up to 60 X the amount of radiation necessary for some procedures. X-ray equipment was often old, others rarely calculated for radiation exposure, and some technologists were incompetent. This column did not win me friends. But it resulted in a crack down by the government. However, regulation of equipment still didn't teach radiologists enough to know you don't mess around with nuclear engineers. A few years...Read More
Cancer, Gynecology, Women's Health
Ovarian Cancer, Scaring Women Half-To-Death
It's been said that, "A little knowledge is an dangerous thing." A report from the Mayo Clinic shows that this is particularly true when the subject is ovarian cancer. And it illustrates how easy it is to both inform women and worry them at the same time. Mayo researchers have claimed recently that there are early symptoms of ovarian cancer. To prove this they reviewed the symptoms of 107 women, aged 38 to 96, in the two years prior to being diagnosed with this disease. The most common complaints were crampy abdominal pain, increased frequency, urgency or leakage of urine. And they urged women with these symptoms to seek medical attention. But there's a major problem. Doctors see hundreds of women...Read More
Cancer, Gynecology, Infection, Nutrition, Women's Health
Garadsil – A Vaccine To Prevent Cervical Cancer
Some patients you never forget. Years ago, a young talented pianist after years of dedicated study, was scheduled to give her first piano recital in Toronto. For months she noticed vaginal discharge and did nothing. Finally, due to abnormal bleeding she consulted me. Pelvic examination revealed an extensive cancer of the cervix. She died a few months later and never gave her recital. Now, a vaccine "Gardasil" will prevent these needless deaths. Worldwide cervical cancer strikes half a million women each year and 250,000 die from this disease. What causes these cancers was unknown for many years. Now, we know that the majority are due to infection with the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). The Human Papillomavirus is an extremely common virus and there...Read More
Cancer, Nutrition
How To Fight Cancer With Food
Imagine that every day of the year four fully loaded Boeing 747s crashed, killing everyone. This is the number of people who die every year from cancer. Two Montreal reseachers, Drs Richard Beliveau and Denis Gingras, say in their book "Foods That Fight Cancer" that 30 percent of these deaths are caused by poor dietary habits. But that if you're cancer smart with food you can have a safer flight through life. Most people believe that cancer is an acute disease that kills within weeks or months. The doctors claim this is a misconception. Rather, cancer must be considered a chronic disease that normally poses no dangers. For instance, people who die from other causes are often found at autopsy to have...Read More
Cancer
Non-Smokers With Lung Cancer Get Double Whammy
An interesting psychological reaction happens to non-smokers who develop lung cancer. But it occurs over and over again. When told someone has breast cancer friends often say, "How sad. Is there anything we can do to help?" But when informed a person has lung cancer, the first response is "Was he or she a smoker?" The remark often stigmatizes non-smokers afflicted with this disease. Dana Reeves, the widow of former Christopher Reeves (Superman), who has never smoked, recently announced she has been diagnosed with lung cancer. It's a frightful tragedy for a young woman who dedicated so many years to help her stricken husband. But her plight has made everyone aware that non-smokers develop lung cancer more often than suspected. Dana's...Read More
Cancer
Cholesterol-Lowering Foods
"How can I lower blood cholesterol by dietary means? My doctor says the effect of food is trivial and that I should immediately take medication. But I want to do everything I can before starting drugs." Readers often pose this question. Dr. Christopher Gardner, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford Prevention Research Center, says studies show that what you eat can help to control blood level of low density lipoprotein (LDL) the bad cholesterol. It's the type that increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Gardner claims that part of the reason diets were not given a fair shake in the past is that too much emphasis was placed on what not to eat, rather than on what to eat. His study...Read More
Cancer, Genitourinary, Psychiatry
The Prostate Dilemma In Treating Cancer
What should I do? I've been diagnosed with cancer of the prostate gland and my doctor has suggested a radical prostatectomy. He claims that a new report shows that surgery is the best way to ensure a cure. Of all the letters I receive this question is always the hardest one to answer. The New England Journal of Medicine recently published a study from Sweden in which doctors followed men with an average age of 65 years with prostate cancer for 10 years. 695 men with prostate cancer were treated with radical surgery. In radical prostatectomy surgeons remove the prostate, as well as surrounding tissue and lymph nodes. Another group of 347 men with the same problem were treated by watchful waiting. At...Read More
Cancer, Genitourinary
Darling, I Decided To Get a Second Opinion – Prostate Cancer
"How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" That's a tough question to answer. Almost as hard as providing logical answers to questions of the PSA test used to detect prostate cancer. A recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) claims that the accepted normal PSA value of 4.1 misses 15 per cent of prostate malignancies. To correct this problem it's been suggested that the normal level for PSA should be lowered to 2.5. But a Texas study of 3,000 males aged 62 to 91 revealed that 6.6 per cent of these males with PSA levels of only 0.5 had prostate cancer! It appears no value is totally safe. The PSA test measures the level in...Read More
Cancer, Philosophy
A Bus Advertisement May Be The Answer
"Why must I wait so long for a cataract operation?" one reader asks. Another angrily asks why her mother had to die in agony from terminal cancer. This past year I've received an increasing number of letters from readers dealing with this type of problem. And during a recent trip to Oxford University in England a bus advertisement could help to solve these troubles. The bus ad read, "Now you can have the hospital you've always wanted". Since there's so much debate in this country about our deteriorating hospital system I couldn't resist calling the number on the bus and visiting Acland Hospital. I was surprised to find that Acland Hospital in Oxford was merely one of their 45 Nuffield "private hospitals"...Read More
Cancer, Genitourinary
Cran-Max Cranberry To Prevent Urinary Tract Infections
Why didn't doctors listen to their mothers? For years she counseled that cranberry juice was a sound way to treat urinary tract infections (UTI). Yet doctors have passed off her advice as just another old-wives tale. Research now proves them wrong. And there's a new super-charged cranberry supplement, "Cran-Max", to help people suffering from the "We-know-where-you're-going" syndrome. Maurice Chevalier often said "vive la difference!" when comparing men and women. He wasn't, of course, thinking about bladder infections. But when the Great Creator designed the female anatomy he or she made a structural error. Women have a short urethra, the tube that carries urine to the outside. This makes it easier for bacteria to enter the bladder causing cystitis. Few women ever forget...Read More
Cancer, Eyes, Ears, Nose & Throat, Surgery
A Scotch and Soda And an Alarming Surgical Dilemma – Cancer of the Tongue
"Stick out your tongue", my dentist invariably requests during my regular dental checkup. I know that shortly he'll examine my teeth. But for the moment he's looking for any sign of cancer of either the tongue or the rest of the oral cavity. But what happens if your dentist or doctor detects a malignancy? What I learned over a scotch and soda should alarm all of us. Cancer of the tongue is one of the more common and serious types of mouth cancer. Every year 30,000 North Americans are diagnosed with this malignancy and it's curable in about 80 per cent of cases when diagnosed early. Malignancies of the tongue start as a small lump or a thick white patch. Over time...Read More
Cancer, Genitourinary
His Sex Prowess May Enter The Guinness Book of Records
Every year thousands of men face a dilemma. Their blood test for prostate cancer (PSA) suspects a malignancy. Later biopsies prove that cancer is present. But today the wisdom of Solomon is required to know what to do about it. Particularly, when the first question they and their wives ask is, " Will the treatment result in impotence?" Dr. Gary Onik is a radiologist and Director of the Centre for Surgical Advancement in Celebration, Florida. He recently reported to the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago that freezing the prostate gland (cryosurgery) can save men from impotence, urinary incontinence and injury to bowel. Cryosurgery kills the malignancy by freezing only part of the gland, but spares the nerves responsible for...Read More
Cancer, Medicine
Potassium Iodide For A Nuclear Disaster?
What would happen if terrorists attacked a nuclear power plant? Or an accident caused fallout of radioactive iodine? If you were driving in the opposite direction your first reaction would be to step on the gas. But for those trapped in a large city there would be absolute chaos on roadways as people tried to escape. So is it time to provide potassium iodide (KI) to Canadians to protect the thyroid gland from cancer? A terrorist attack would expose thousands to thyroid cancer as a result of the fallout of radioactive iodine (I-131). And today there are over 400 nuclear power plants in the world. Some countries such as France derive 70 percent of their power from nuclear energyUnder current conditions...Read More
Cancer
The Good and the Bad of Cancer Screening
"Why did my wife die of breast cancer when she's had a mammogram every year?" Or "I went through hell after the mammogram revealed a possible cancer." Or "During a routine checkup examination the doctor discovered my 73 year old husband had an elevated PSA test. He didn't have any symptoms, but a biopsy revealed cancer of the prostate. A specialist advised a radical prostatectomy. Now he's impotent and in diapers." Every year I receive letters asking these questions. That's why it's vital to know the negatives as well as the positives about cancer screening. There is no doubt that cancer screening saves lives. But there is also a price to pay. Any woman who agrees to mammography has to understand...Read More
Cancer, Genitourinary
PSA Screening Results in 30 Percent Over-Diagnosis
For women, a telephone call reporting that mammography has detected an abnormality, and a second picture is needed, triggers instant fear of breast cancer. For men, an elevated PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) test has the same devastating effect. They dread the thought that they've developed cancer of the prostate gland with all its grim implications. But how accurate is the PSA test? And if a malignancy is present, what is the best treatment? A report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute is hardly reassuring about the accuracy of the PSA test. Researchers studied men ages 60 to 84 between 1988 and 1998. They estimated the PSA test over-diagnosed prostate cancer 29 percent of the time in white men and an...Read More
Cancer, Gynecology, Nutrition
Milk Cuts Ovarian Cancer Risk By 50 Percent
How can we change these grim facts? That we can't diagnose early ovarian cancer. And that once this malignancy spreads to other organs, 85 percent of women are dead within five years. Every doctor asks himself this question when confronted with the tragic confirmation of this disease. Now a new study shows that drinking milk cuts the risk of ovarian cancer by 50 percent! It's logical for women to ask, "Why can't doctors diagnose early ovarian cancer?" After all, we live in an era of CT scans, MRI's, ultrasound and blood tests. Unfortunately none of these tests can spot "early" malignancies of the ovary. The problem is anatomy. The Creator was friendly to women when he or she placed the cervix at...Read More
Cancer, Cardiovascular, Gynecology
Infection and The Nation’s Number one Killer
For centuries infection has been the number one killer. But several years ago it appeared that antibiotics and vaccines had largely eradicated this menace. Then unexpectedly the AIDS virus struck with a vengeance. Lately, to the surprise of everyone, scientists are now linking infection to, peptic ulcers, heart attack and cancer. So how can you protect yourself and your family from these problems? In 1984 an Australian physician, Barry Marshall, decided to prove that his theory was right. He drank a bacteria laced concoction to show that it was bacteria, not stress, that caused peptic ulcers. Subsequent studies confirmed that most ulcers are infected with a bacterium called H. pylori. But there's a problem. About half the people over 60 years of...Read More
Cancer, Philosophy
Do Support Groups Extend Life?
Does the power of positive thinking extend life when patients face serious life-threatening disease? Will joining support groups add months or years to life? Will they provide psychological benefit and ease the pain? Or is holding hands with strangers just a lot of hokus pocus? Numerous studies have shown that focussing the mind on the fight against disease dies work. That it not only improves life, but also extends it. In 1989 the medical journal, Lancet, reported a study conducted by Dr David Spiegel, a psychiatrist at Stanford University. Patients with advanced breast cancer were randomly treated with standard care or standard care along with a support group. Dr. Spiegel believed those in the support group would enjoy an increased quality of life....Read More
Cancer
How Music Can Save Lives
Do you listen to western music, jazz or Mozart? It doesn't matter which type because any can save lives. So why isn't music a part of all medical procedures? Every year thousands of people die from colon cancer. The majority could have been saved by regular examination of the large bowel. Yet many people refuse this procedure because of its indignity and discomfort. But researchers report to The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons that music therapy during colonoscopy reduces psychological and physical stress. In a study conducted at Bethesda, Maryland, 50 patients scheduled for colonoscopy were divided into two groups by the flip of a coin. One group received music therapy and listened to their favourite music through headphones during the...Read More
Cancer, Gynecology
The Wisdom of a Full Body Scan
How often do you wonder if that nagging pain is due to cancer? Or an impending heart attack? But suppose you're feeling fine, could there be a life-threatening disease present that hasn't been diagnosed? Some clinics now advertise it's possible to eliminate all these fears by a single "full body scan?" So what should you know about this 3-D peek at your insides? It's been recently announced that the world's largest MRI body-scan screening chain, Wellbeing Inc, will be established in Toronto. Wealthy investors in Canada and the U.S have anted up 300 million dollars to develop 121 body scanning centers around the world. Many of these digitized images will be interpreted by radiologists in Toronto whether they're done on patients...Read More
