Julia Louis-Dreyfus Raises Discussion-Worthy Points In Her Breast Cancer Update
Her disclosure reflects on the positive impact of awareness, the unfortunate frequency of breast cancer, and benefits of having medical insurance.
Dr. Robert Califf Shares Ideas About Real-World Evidence And Health Data
“Medicine is rapidly falling behind business in the accrual of high-quality evidence,” Califf said.
The Paradoxical Benefits Of A Web App For Cancer Patients
“This tool brings us closer to the country doctor model,” Basch said. “I never thought that survival would be impacted.”
How The 21st Century Cures Act Should Support Public Health
We need and can afford both: to raise the bar so that everyone has access to modern healthcare, and to advance treatments through medical science.
Why Patients Support The 21st Century Cures Act
The Cures Act will keep the U.S. at the forefront of medical progress, a draw for scientists and doctors around the world, a source of pride.
Magic Johnson’s HIV Story Offers Hope For Cancer Patients
Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the basketball legend, announced on November 7, 1991 that he had tested positive for HIV.
Lip Service To Patients And Caregivers, Or Respect? The Significance Of An FDA Panel’s Review
..as if mothers telling an FDA panel about what’s happening to their kids with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disabling condition, is the opposite of science.
Can Journalists Be Too Skeptical About Progress Against Cancer?
On Twitter this week, I happened upon a discussion having to do with the possibility of curing cancer.
On The Death Of Beau Biden, Brain Cancer, Progress And Hope
Brain cancer is an outlier in 2015. It’s among a handful of broad tumor types including liver and pancreatic cancer that, sadly, still kill in most cases.
What We Might Learn From The Early-Stage Breast Cancer Disclosures Of Sandra Lee and Rita Wilson
Ignoring non-invasive conditions like DCIS and LCIS, or telling women they’d be better off not knowing about early stage tumors, is not a smart option.
Thinking Ahead: From ‘The Emperor Of All Maladies’ To Precision Medicine In Cancer
We’re in the 1950s of precision medicine, so to speak. Modern oncology care helps some, many but not all.
Understanding Angelina Jolie Pitt’s Cancer Risk And Her Decision To Tell About It
By telling her story, she helps break the mystery and stigma that deter honest and needed discussion about cancer-causing, inherited genetic mutations.
Recent Studies Of Mammography Use Shockingly Old Data
Researchers today are analyzing our grandmothers’ mammograms to inform women’s health and screening decisions today.
On The Death Of David Carr, And Cancer Survivorship
Carr’s story highlights the need for improved survivorship care. As his recent autopsy disclosed, he died with an aggressive form of lung cancer and heart disease.
Why Yes, We Should Treat Cancer
To deny new cancer treatments that might prolong life in a good way, possibly for cure or a remission, or even just to tame the disease, is a misguided proposition.
Landscape Analysis Reveals How Little Is Known, Or Said, About Metastatic Breast Cancer
Many patients living with metastatic breast cancer need more help than they’re receiving, and many are reluctant to ask.
For This October, A New Kind Of Breast Cancer Awareness
Patients have different preferences and needs; advocates have different styles and priorities. The issue about October is that..
Promoting Empathy: What’s Troubling About a Celebrated Hospital Video
Empathy can distract. It misleads, causing us to act counter to the greater good.
Don’t Judge Her
What’s great about this piece, and what’s wrong about it, is that it comes from an individual woman.
Reconciling Lance Armstrong’s Story With the Realities of Cancer Survival
In retrospect it’s clear that we — patients and their kids, parents, lovers, nurses, doctors, physical therapists and social workers, all of us in cancerland — wanted Armstrong to win.
Vicious Verbiage Targets Cancer Patients’ Voices, at Cardiobrief
A journalist who covers medical matters of the heart grabbed my attention on the Fourth of July. In The Voice of the Patient: Time To Bring Out the Muzzle?, Larry Husten at Forbes’ Cardiobrief blog, insinuates that the women who spoke at the…
Do Abortions Cause Breast Cancer?
In Kansas, legislators recently passed the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act. If enacted into law, the bill would require doctors to tell pregnant women of a relationship between abortion and breast cancer.
New Article on Mammography Spawns False Hope That Breast Cancer is Not a Dangerous Disease
Few forms of invasive breast cancer warrant no treatment unless the patient is so old that she is likely to die first of another condition, or the patient prefers to die of the disease….“Mammograms Spot Cancers That May Not Be Dangerous,” said….
The Truth About Breast Cancer and Drinking Red Wine—or Any Alcohol
Last week’s report that drinking red wine could reduce the risk for breast cancer was just the latest in a long string of studies on the issue.
Why the Term ‘Patient’ Is So Important in Health Care
Providing health care is or should be unlike other commercial transactions. The doctor, or other person who gives medical treatment, has a special professional and moral obligation to help the person who’s receiving his or her care.
The U-Shaped Curve of Happiness
This evening, after I finished cleaning up the kitchen after our family dinner, I glanced at the current issue of the Economist. The cover features this headline: the Joy of Growing Old (or why life begins at 46). It’s a light read, as this…
The X-Rays of Others
Marilyn Monroe’s x-rays, white-on-black films of her chest and pelvis, are up for grabs this weekend. The images, long held by the star’s…