American Healthcare

The study of 130,000 women in two communities in Sweden showed 30 percent fewer women in the screening group died of breast cancer and that this effect persisted year after year

Now, 29 years after the study began, the researchers found that the number of women saved from breast cancer goes up with each year of screening

“We’ve found that the longer we look, the more lives are saved,” Professor Stephen Duffy of Queen Mary, University of London, whose study was published in the journal Radiology, said in a statement

Dr Stamatia Destounis, a radiologist at Elizabeth Wende Breast Care in Rochester, New York, who was not involved in the study, said radiologists have been quoting results of the Swedish study for years and the new findings show breast cancer screening is “even more of a benefit than we understood”

She said sweeping changes in the US screening guidelines two years ago that scaled back recommendations on breast cancer screening caused a lot of confusion among doctors and patients about the benefits of mammograms

“We’ve had to do a lot of education of the patients and their doctors This will help for that,” Destounis said

In the study, women were divided into two groups, one that received an invitation to have breast cancer screening and another that received usual care

The screening phase of the trial lasted about seven years Women between 40 and 49 were screened every two years, and women 50 to 74 were screened roughly every three years

“Our results indicate that in 1,000 women screened for 10 years, three breast cancer deaths would be prevented,” Duffy said, adding that most of the deaths prevented would have occurred more than a decade after the screening had started

“This indicates that the long-term benefits of screening in terms of deaths prevented are more than double those often quoted for short-term follow-up”

The new data adds to evidence on the long-term benefits of regular mammography screening

SCREENING CONTROVERSY

New breast screening recommendations issued in 2009 by the US Preventive Services Task Force, an influential advisory group, recommended against routine mammograms for women in their 40s and said women in their 50s should get mammograms every other year instead of every year

The guidelines contradicted years of messages about the need for routine breast cancer screening starting at age 40, eliciting protests from breast cancer experts and advocacy groups who argued the recommendation for fewer screenings would confuse women and result in more deaths from breast cancer

The changes were meant to spare women some of the worry and expense of extra tests needed to distinguish between cancer and harmless lumps But the latest results from the Swedish study show the rate of false positive results was low

“We saw the actual number of overdiagnosed cases was really very small — less than 5 percent of the total,” Robert Smith, director of cancer screening at the American Cancer Society and one of the study’s authors, said in a telephone interview

Many groups, including the American Cancer Society, have stuck by their long-standing recommendations of a yearly breast exam for women starting at age 40, stressing that the breast X-rays have been proven to save lives by spotting tumors early, when they are most easily treated

“I think for anybody who was beginning to have their faith shaken in the value of mammography, these data show mammography is quite valuable as a public health approach to reducing deaths from breast cancer,” Smith said

Duffy said he thinks screening women 40 to 54 every 18 months and screening women 55 and older every two years would be a reasonable schedule

He said the new findings do not speak to the frequency of screening issue, but they do make clear that screening works

“Everyone must make up their own mind, but certainly from combined results from all the screening trials, mammography in women aged 40-49 does reduce deaths from breast cancer,” he said

Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death among US women, after lung cancer It kills 500,000 people globally every year and is diagnosed in close to 13 million people around the world

Editing by Todd Eastham

After the long winter youre probably ready to enjoy fun in the sun. Before racing out the door, refresh your knowledge of some outdoor perils and how to manage them. A little caution can help keep your summer safe and healthy.

Bees are good for the garden, but their sting can be dangerous.

To avoid stings:

To avoid infection in parks and woodlands:

Summers heat and humidity make the problem worse by causing an increase in perspiration. So, every day, try to drink at least 64 ounces of water, milk, juice, soups or other non-caffeine or sugared drinks. Avoid caffeine, found in regular coffee, cola and many teas.

Full Post…

The Supreme Court decided today that its unconstitutional for the state of California to bar minors from buying violent video games (heres the WSJ story). The 2005 law, which never took effect, violates children and adolescents right to freedom of expression, the court ruled by a 7-2 margin.

But do video games actually provoke aggressive feelings, reduce activity in the frontal lobe of the brain and promote violent behavior, as the California law asserts? (Justice Stephen Breyer believes so; his dissenting opinion includes an extensive bibliography of academic literature on the topic.)

Many academics and medical professionals say yes, though not all agree.

Full Post…

Many people have heard of nursing homes for the old, and also for the disabled people. Not too long ago, there is a new trend that has emerged as an alternative to these nursing homes, which comes in the form of ‘assisted living’.

Assisted living is considered a balance between nursing homes and being able to be independent. This is evident from the fact that some community of assisted living offers a more comfortable living environment with apartment style residences but at the same time provides assistance to the residents who need aid with their daily life activities.

Assisted living has been gaining popularity in a short time among the people of many nations, especially in the United States of America. One Full Post…

Metro Atlantans face risks of medical errors and life-threatening infections that are above national averages when they are admitted to some of the area’s most prestigious hospitals, according to a study of new federal data.

These conditions occur only a few times per year at most hospitals, according to the statistics, which cover Medicare patients treated between October 2008 and June 2010. Even so, the last thing hospital patients expect is that a hospital will make them sick. Or worse.

The new data show most Atlanta hospitals had at least one case of a potentially deadly catheter-related bloodstream infection — commonly referred to as a “central line” infection — and Emory University Hospital posted the highest rate in the state and one of the highest in the nation, the report shows.

Full Post…