AMA/MJA media statement, 17 January 2010
“Greater attention to palliative care for children with cancer is needed to prevent them from suffering unresolved symptoms at the end of life, according to the authors of a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia.”
Find statement here and article here.
Archive for category Non Communicable Diseases
JAMA 2010;303(3) (doi:10.1001/jama.2009.2025)
Author: J. Michael Gaziano
“In 1900, Henry Ford unveiled the first car made in Detroit, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union was founded in New York, and San Francisco was placed under a federal quarantine to prevent the spread of bubonic plague. Infectious disease was a major concern, and the most common causes of death in the United States and in many parts of the world at the time were pneumonia and tuberculosis. Today, most individuals die of cardiovascular disease or cancer. This dramatic shift in the illnesses that cause the majority of death and disability has been divided into 4 stages known as the epidemiologic transition.”
Find abstract here.
New York Times | Kevin Sack | 20 Nov 2009
“This week, the science of medicine bumped up against the foundations of American medical consumerism: that more is better, that saving a life is worth any sacrifice, that health care is a birthright.”
Read article here.
New York Times | Denise Grady | 20 Nov 2009
“New guidelines for cervical cancer screening say women should delay their first Pap test until age 21, and be screened less often than recommended in the past.”
Read article here.
USA Today | 18 November 2009
“WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal policy on who should get breast cancer screening has not changed, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday.”
Read article here.
Australian Doctor | Sarah Colyer | 18 Nov 2009
“Replacing the traditional Pap smear with HPV testing as the primary screen for cervical abnormalities would see more pre-cancerous lesions detected, research suggests. High-risk HPV testing, followed by a Pap smear in women positive for the virus, was more sensitive than conventional screening, the Finnish trial of more than 70,000 women found.”
Read article here.
Washington Post | Dan Eggen & Rob Stein | 18 Nov 2009
The US Preventative Services Task Force “recommended against routine mammograms for women younger than 50, saying it is not worth subjecting some patients to unnecessary biopsies, radiation and stress.
The independent panel… also recommended against teaching women to do regular self-exams and concluded that there is insufficient evidence to recommend that doctors do exams.”
Read article here.
USA Today | Nanci Hellmich | 17 November 2009
“If Americans continue to pack on pounds, obesity will cost the USA about $344 billion in medical-related expenses by 2018, eating up about 21% of health-care spending, says the first analysis to estimate the future medical costs of excess weight.”
Read article here.
Stephen Morrell , Alexandra Barratt, Les Irwig, Kirsten Howard, Corné Biesheuvel and Bruce Armstrong Cancer Causes & Concerns, Published online 6 November 2009
“Overdiagnosis of invasive breast cancer attributable to mammography screening appears to be substantial. Our estimates are similar to recent estimates from other screening programmes. Overdiagnosis merits greater attention in research and in clinical and public health policy making.”
Read article here.
Read ABC News article “Study sparks breast cancer debate” here.
Daily Mail | David Derbyshire | 2 Nov 2009
“Guidance on breast cancer screening is being rewritten after a study found thousands of women were having unnecessary surgery.
Leading cancer experts have said existing Department of Health advice is misleading, inadequate and patronising – and fails to highlight the risks.”
Read article here.