Some screening tests should not be advocated
...value and should not be advocated, argues a senior doctor in this week's BMJ . The blood test for cancer of the prostate (PSA) is an example, writes Professor Malcolm Law at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine. Despite there being no published trials showing that early detection reduces mortality,...Patients are less satisfied with better company doctor
... due to psychological complaints visit the company doctor for socio-medical counselling. The greater the com...found that the counselling provided by the company doctor did not affect the extent of the fatigue complaints. These complaints show a marked decrease during ...Most men over 40 take steps to try to prevent prostate cancer, Jefferson survey shows
... both surveys, participants saw their primary care doctor in the past two years and had no known problems with their prostate gland. They didn't have a history of cancer or benign prostate disease. They had never had a prostate biopsy or ultrasound. Dr. Kunkel says, "we need to learn more in terms of both w...Optic nerve disease may cause sleep disorders
...e optic nerve disease," Van Gelder says. "Your eye doctor might want to make a point of asking how you've been sleeping."...Researchers create lung cancer 'cluster bombs'
... famous, but the pharmacist, the engineer, and the doctor may be onto something big. The latter group has combined resources and knowledge to create a novel way to deliver a new lung cancer treatment. The new system, which uses "nanoparticle cluster bombs," has proven effective in treating cancerous lung c...Reach of sigmoidoscopies inadequate in many older women
... tiny video camera in the sigmoidoscope allows the doctor to examine the wall of the colon for polyps, cance...d particularly older women] the study shows that a doctor might be better off recommending the fecal occult blood test, or going for the whole colonoscopy." ...Heart patients want more information from their doctors
...tor, more than half the patients reported that the doctor made the main decision and 35 percent said the doctor did not seriously consider their opinion. In the study, more than 500 patients who had bee...Computer resources help doctors answer patient care questions
You bring questions to your physician, but if your doctor has questions about how to best provide care for you, where does he or she go for answers? Physicians still use paper-based resources, however, a University of Iowa Health Care study focused on pediatricians shows that, in comparison, it takes less t...Study shows how well heartburn sufferers follow directions for over-the-counter Prilosec OTC
...buy more. And 75 percent had already talked with a doctor about their heartburn or did so during the three m...lk about symptoms and whether they had contacted a doctor about their heartburn, as the label advises. In all, 758 returned their diaries, and 649 were succe...EUROCARE3 publishes new childhood cancer survival figures
... Milan, Italy. Lead author Dr Gemma Gatta, medical doctor and epidemiologist, said: "We found large variations in overall cancer survival for children, ranging from a low of 45% in Estonia to a high of 90% in Iceland." In western Europe the range was from 71% to 81%. In the eastern European countries (Czech...Combined drug therapy prevents progression of prostate enlargement
...er urinary tract symptoms and BPH should see their doctor about combination treatment and whether it's right for them." BPH progressed in only 5 percent (49 men) of men on the two drugs, in 10 percent (85 men) on doxazosin, in 10 percent (89 men) on finasteride, and in 17 percent (128 men) on placebo. T...Emergency cardiac monitoring strategy tested in ambulances
... Popovich into the study group, the emergency room doctor received the ECG and immediately alerted James Glancy, MD, a cardiologist who was in the hospital making his rounds. Glancy is medical director of Cardiovascular Services at Dominican, as well as an assistant clinical professor in UCSF's School of Nu...Fertility worries common in young breast cancer survivors
...aid they had discussed fertility issues with their doctor and 17 percent had talked with a fertility specialist. Still, one-quarter of the women felt their unease about fertility was not adequately addressed. As to whether a woman will retain her fertility, Partridge said the effects of older treatments are...National study seeks cause of baffling, fatal disorder called multiple system atrophy
...thing but didn't know what it was," Don said. "One doctor even put her in a psychiatric hospital for 12 weeks." When one doctor finally looked at the entire cluster of symptoms, a diagnosis was reached. Although the Summers wer...No rationale for giving penicillin for a sore throat
...ed 156 children aged 4-15 who visited their family doctor with a severe sore throat. The children were randomly assigned to penicillin for seven days, penicillin for three days followed by placebo for four days, or placebo for seven days. Penicillin did not reduce the duration of symptoms, nor did it affect...New guidelines set standard on test to diagnose acid reflux, heartburn and other diseases
... a computer analyzer where they are recorded. The doctor then analyzes the various wave patterns and determines whether they are abnormal. "Although esophageal manometry has been around for at least two decades, most gastroenterologists continue to see it in somewhat mystical terms. This is because few pr...New computerized tool predicts chance of breast cancer's spread
...se that patients discuss risk estimates with their doctor and consider which treatment options are most appropriate for their individual circumstances," said Dr. Van Zee. The breast cancer nomogram is available for free on the MSKCC Web site: http://www.mskcc.org/nomograms/breastcancer . "We look forward ...Elderly men receiving excessive prostate cancer screening, study suggests
...ng screened elderly men, 88.4% reported that their doctor first suggested screening and 66.5% reported havin...dvantages and disadvantages of the test with their doctor before the screening was performed. "It is somewhat surprising that so many physicians would suggest...HRT and breast cancer: better prognosis more likely due to frequent screening than hormone use
... is doing nothing, other than getting women to the doctor once a year for a prescription renewal - and a mammogram," said Daling, a member of Fred Hutchinson's Public Health Sciences Division. Daling and co-authors from five study sites nationwide reported that 90 percent of women who used combination estro...Inconsistent guidelines lead to wide variation in chaperone use during Pap smears, U-M study finds
...ely to have a chaperone in the exam room while her doctor performs a Pap smear than is a woman living in the...e questionnaire was designed to follow the steps a doctor takes during a Pap smear; chaperone use was a secondary item. The study found that gender was the bi...