Cancer Tests –
Sometimes Less is Better
When you're diagnosed with breast cancer, you deserve the very best care --
based on the very latest science.
But a disturbing new study proves that most cancer doctors may be designing care plans that throw science (and your best interests) right out the window.
A stunning 90 percent of women with early-stage breast cancer are being sent for three dangerous tests that medical researchers -- and leading cancer groups -- demanded be stopped years ago.
Tests that won't do a thing to help cure your cancer and could even leave you with a far more serious and life-threatening version of the disease.
It seems impossible to believe that cancer doctors could be making a medical mistake on nearly nine of every 10 early-stage breast cancer patients they treat.
But that's exactly what Dr. Mark Clemons, a cancer expert at The Ottawa Hospital in Canada, discovered when he analyzed health records on 26,000 women diagnosed with stage I and II breast cancer.
Nearly 90 percent of the women studied had been sent for follow-up CT, PET and MRI scans they never needed to see if their cancer had spread. Scans that use heavy doses of radiation and toxic metals.
Having a doctor check to see whether your cancer has advanced may seem like sound medicine. But stage I and II cancers, by definition, are confined to your breast.
CT, PET and MRI scans are so useless for women with early-stage breast cancer that even groups like the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network have recommended for years that doctors should almost never use them.
"The extensive evidence tells us," said Dr. Clemons, that for women who have early stage breast cancer, "the chance of seeing metastases is so low that the risk of harm (from testing) is far greater."
But Dr. Clemons found that evidence is being ignored, and it could be causing a rash of additional cancers and dangerous overtreatment.
CT, PET and MRI scans are not the harmless tests the mainstream makes them out to be. The radiation from CT and PET scans has been proven to damage your DNA and potentially trigger deadlier cancers down the road. A CT scan alone can deliver as much radiation as 500 X-rays, and research has shown that every CT scan you get increases your cancer risk.
And just last week I told you how MRIs are often using dangerous contrasting agents with gadolinium, a toxic metal that pools in our tissues and our brains and may actually help tumors grow.
But the risks of all these unnecessary CT, PET and MRI scans could be even more immediate, said Dr. Daniel Rayson, another cancer researcher who analyzed Dr. Clemon's findings. That's because most of us have tiny abnormalities... things we've probably had our entire lives... that are practically guaranteed to show up on common medical scans.
But you know what happens when cancer is in the picture. Suddenly these "clinically insignificant" findings turn into giant worries. Women are regularly sent for biopsies, surgeries, and more harmful scans they don't need.
"When these tests are done... this usually triggers further testing and evaluation which results in escalating anxiety, and occasionally can lead to wrong conclusions," Dr. Rayson told Reuters.
So how can that important message get through to doctors? North of the border they've launched a campaign called "Choosing Wisely Canada" to try and educate doctors and patients about unnecessary testing and procedures.
But even health experts admit that getting stubborn doctors to change their behaviors will take time. That's why it's important for you to manage your own care and ask questions about which tests you need and which you can skip.
It can be hard, especially during such a stressful time, to step back, take a deep breath, and realize that, as Dr. Clemons said, more is not always better.
But if your doctor insists on ordering CT, PET and MRI tests and following an outdated rulebook, maybe it's time to get a second opinion.
But a disturbing new study proves that most cancer doctors may be designing care plans that throw science (and your best interests) right out the window.
A stunning 90 percent of women with early-stage breast cancer are being sent for three dangerous tests that medical researchers -- and leading cancer groups -- demanded be stopped years ago.
Tests that won't do a thing to help cure your cancer and could even leave you with a far more serious and life-threatening version of the disease.
It seems impossible to believe that cancer doctors could be making a medical mistake on nearly nine of every 10 early-stage breast cancer patients they treat.
But that's exactly what Dr. Mark Clemons, a cancer expert at The Ottawa Hospital in Canada, discovered when he analyzed health records on 26,000 women diagnosed with stage I and II breast cancer.
Nearly 90 percent of the women studied had been sent for follow-up CT, PET and MRI scans they never needed to see if their cancer had spread. Scans that use heavy doses of radiation and toxic metals.
Having a doctor check to see whether your cancer has advanced may seem like sound medicine. But stage I and II cancers, by definition, are confined to your breast.
CT, PET and MRI scans are so useless for women with early-stage breast cancer that even groups like the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network have recommended for years that doctors should almost never use them.
"The extensive evidence tells us," said Dr. Clemons, that for women who have early stage breast cancer, "the chance of seeing metastases is so low that the risk of harm (from testing) is far greater."
But Dr. Clemons found that evidence is being ignored, and it could be causing a rash of additional cancers and dangerous overtreatment.
CT, PET and MRI scans are not the harmless tests the mainstream makes them out to be. The radiation from CT and PET scans has been proven to damage your DNA and potentially trigger deadlier cancers down the road. A CT scan alone can deliver as much radiation as 500 X-rays, and research has shown that every CT scan you get increases your cancer risk.
And just last week I told you how MRIs are often using dangerous contrasting agents with gadolinium, a toxic metal that pools in our tissues and our brains and may actually help tumors grow.
But the risks of all these unnecessary CT, PET and MRI scans could be even more immediate, said Dr. Daniel Rayson, another cancer researcher who analyzed Dr. Clemon's findings. That's because most of us have tiny abnormalities... things we've probably had our entire lives... that are practically guaranteed to show up on common medical scans.
But you know what happens when cancer is in the picture. Suddenly these "clinically insignificant" findings turn into giant worries. Women are regularly sent for biopsies, surgeries, and more harmful scans they don't need.
"When these tests are done... this usually triggers further testing and evaluation which results in escalating anxiety, and occasionally can lead to wrong conclusions," Dr. Rayson told Reuters.
So how can that important message get through to doctors? North of the border they've launched a campaign called "Choosing Wisely Canada" to try and educate doctors and patients about unnecessary testing and procedures.
But even health experts admit that getting stubborn doctors to change their behaviors will take time. That's why it's important for you to manage your own care and ask questions about which tests you need and which you can skip.
It can be hard, especially during such a stressful time, to step back, take a deep breath, and realize that, as Dr. Clemons said, more is not always better.
But if your doctor insists on ordering CT, PET and MRI tests and following an outdated rulebook, maybe it's time to get a second opinion.
FDA Issues NSAIDS
Warning
It may be the most stunning about-face in FDA history.
For years the agency denied that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) -- a popular class of OTC and prescription painkillers -- were dangerous. They even claimed it was safe to pop the pills every single day.
And for years the FDA ignored troubling science linking these meds like ibuprofen (Motrin and Advil) and naproxen (Aleve) to hundreds of thousands of heart attacks and strokes.
But now even the FDA is claiming the evidence is too overwhelming to ignore They're demanding that these painkillers siting in millions of medicine cabinets and purses right now start carrying a label admitting they could kill you.
Even if you're perfectly healthy. And even if you only take one pill.
"There is no period of use shown to be without risk."
That warning comes straight from Dr. Judy Racoosin, deputy director of the FDA division that oversees NSAIDs.
And it's the FDA's way of admitting that NSAIDs up your heart disease and stroke risk from the moment you take your first dose. And that includes cheap ibuprofen drugs that you can buy over the counter at any pharmacy in America.
I've been warning you about the serious -- and immediate -- heart dangers of NSAIDs for years. In fact, just last spring a study found using NSAID pain relievers increase your risk of A-fib, a potentially deadly heart rhythm, by a whopping 84 percent.
And that risk skyrocketed during the first 30 days of use.
And all the while the FDA sat on its hands and let ibuprofen, naproxen, and other NSAIDs become some of the top-selling drugs on America. They're taken by millions of people a day who are totally unaware of the risks.
Now that's starting to change. After years of pressure from consumer groups -- and NSAID victims and their families -- the FDA finally agreed to take a new look at the science behind the meds.
And what the agency found was so appalling that it's forcing drug makers to change the labels on prescription and OTC NSAIDs to admit they can cause heart attacks and strokes.
In fact, here's just a summary of what the FDA found in its review.
It may be the most stunning about-face in FDA history.
For years the agency denied that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) -- a popular class of OTC and prescription painkillers -- were dangerous. They even claimed it was safe to pop the pills every single day.
And for years the FDA ignored troubling science linking these meds like ibuprofen (Motrin and Advil) and naproxen (Aleve) to hundreds of thousands of heart attacks and strokes.
But now even the FDA is claiming the evidence is too overwhelming to ignore They're demanding that these painkillers siting in millions of medicine cabinets and purses right now start carrying a label admitting they could kill you.
Even if you're perfectly healthy. And even if you only take one pill.
"There is no period of use shown to be without risk."
That warning comes straight from Dr. Judy Racoosin, deputy director of the FDA division that oversees NSAIDs.
And it's the FDA's way of admitting that NSAIDs up your heart disease and stroke risk from the moment you take your first dose. And that includes cheap ibuprofen drugs that you can buy over the counter at any pharmacy in America.
I've been warning you about the serious -- and immediate -- heart dangers of NSAIDs for years. In fact, just last spring a study found using NSAID pain relievers increase your risk of A-fib, a potentially deadly heart rhythm, by a whopping 84 percent.
And that risk skyrocketed during the first 30 days of use.
And all the while the FDA sat on its hands and let ibuprofen, naproxen, and other NSAIDs become some of the top-selling drugs on America. They're taken by millions of people a day who are totally unaware of the risks.
Now that's starting to change. After years of pressure from consumer groups -- and NSAID victims and their families -- the FDA finally agreed to take a new look at the science behind the meds.
And what the agency found was so appalling that it's forcing drug makers to change the labels on prescription and OTC NSAIDs to admit they can cause heart attacks and strokes.
In fact, here's just a summary of what the FDA found in its review.
- These drugs can increase your risk
of heart failure;
- Your chance of having a heart
attack or stroke jumps quickly in the first week of taking an NSAID. The
longer you take them and the higher the dose, the greater the danger;
- Even occasional users of NSAIDs
have an increased risk of heart attack of stroke;
- Patients who were given NSAID
drugs after a first heart attack were more likely to die within a year
compared to those who didn't take such medications.
"Everyone may be at risk -- even people without an underlying risk for cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Racoosin.
Along with the OTC drugs like Advil, Aleve and Motrin that I mentioned, many prescription meds are in the NSAID class as well. So you could easily be taking a massive dose without ever realizing it.
The most notorious prescription NSAID, of course, was Vioxx, which was pulled off the market in 2004. At the time, the low-ball estimate was that the drug had caused 139,000 heart attacks and killed 60,000 people.
But even though Vioxx is gone (thank goodness!), there are still other prescription NSAIDs like Celebrex that we've known for years are dangerous for your heart. Celebrex carries a black box warning claiming it can cause fatal heart attacks and strokes -- but many other prescription NSAIDs don't.
And such warnings have never been placed on OTC meds.
If you want to see if any of the drugs you're taking right now are NSAIDs, here's a good list from RxList.com.
Our government and the drug companies waited years to come clean about the risks of these meds. But you can protect yourself and your family from these deadly pills, starting today.
And here is another reason to be careful with OTC drugs like NSAIDS
When Donna Emley was
rushed to a Nashville hospital, she was practically blind. And painful burns
covered nearly half her body. She probably looked like she'd escaped a house
fire or a terrible car accident.
But all she'd done was pop a couple of Tylenol for a headache.
Donna is one of the latest victims of a gruesome drug side effect called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. It can leave people crippled, scarred, blind, and with lifelong heart and brain damage -- and those are the ones lucky enough to survive.
SJS is being caused by some of the most common... and top-selling... drugs on the planet. Even meds you've taken dozens of times before. And the only way to beat SJS is to know how to spot symptoms -- and get help -- quickly.
We don't often hear much about SJS -- and most of us never even consider it before popping a prescription or OTC pill. But if you or someone you love has ever battled the condition, you know it's a painful and life-threatening experience you'll never forget.
SJS is a severe allergic reaction to medication that basically burns your flesh from the inside out. Victims are often described as looking like they'd just been pulled from a pot of boiling water.
"Even if water hit my mouth, it would feel like I was chewing on hot coals," said Jonah Lake, a Pennsylvania man who was lucky to survive a sudden outbreak of SJS.
It's hard to imagine that common drugs we take every day could cause such a gruesome reaction and basically make our bodies attack themselves.
But just about any med can trigger SJS, and the condition has been most frequently caused by antibiotics, seizure drugs, and painkillers like ibuprofen, naproxen and acetaminophen (like Tylenol).
In fact, just a few years ago Motrin was ordered to pay the family of a 13-year-old girl $10 million after 84 percent of her body was covered in burns after taking the medicine for a fever.
SJS can turn deadly quickly. It can start as a rash or painful blisters all over your body, and then quickly progress to a stage called toxic epidermal necrolysis, where skin starts falling off.
Last year, the FDA even issued a "Drug Safety Alert" for SJS covering both prescription and OTC meds that contain acetaminophen, such as Tylenol. It even warned how these drugs could cause SJS and "detachment of the upper surface of the skin."
Unfortunately, the agency practically made sure customers would ignore the alert by mentioning -- seven times -- how rare the reaction is. But experts say that's just not true. And there are far more SJS cases than our government would like to admit.
Jean Farrell founded the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Foundation after her daughter Julie almost died from the disease. She said her group gets reports of 15 new cases a week -- and that's only through the Internet. "SJS is not as rare as we are led to believe," she said.
What makes SJS especially dangerous is that people may not realize that their drugs are causing their symptoms. So they keep taking the meds, which can be a deadly mistake.
That's why it's important to spot these earliest signs of SJS, so you can stop your medications and call your doctor immediately:
But all she'd done was pop a couple of Tylenol for a headache.
Donna is one of the latest victims of a gruesome drug side effect called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. It can leave people crippled, scarred, blind, and with lifelong heart and brain damage -- and those are the ones lucky enough to survive.
SJS is being caused by some of the most common... and top-selling... drugs on the planet. Even meds you've taken dozens of times before. And the only way to beat SJS is to know how to spot symptoms -- and get help -- quickly.
We don't often hear much about SJS -- and most of us never even consider it before popping a prescription or OTC pill. But if you or someone you love has ever battled the condition, you know it's a painful and life-threatening experience you'll never forget.
SJS is a severe allergic reaction to medication that basically burns your flesh from the inside out. Victims are often described as looking like they'd just been pulled from a pot of boiling water.
"Even if water hit my mouth, it would feel like I was chewing on hot coals," said Jonah Lake, a Pennsylvania man who was lucky to survive a sudden outbreak of SJS.
It's hard to imagine that common drugs we take every day could cause such a gruesome reaction and basically make our bodies attack themselves.
But just about any med can trigger SJS, and the condition has been most frequently caused by antibiotics, seizure drugs, and painkillers like ibuprofen, naproxen and acetaminophen (like Tylenol).
In fact, just a few years ago Motrin was ordered to pay the family of a 13-year-old girl $10 million after 84 percent of her body was covered in burns after taking the medicine for a fever.
SJS can turn deadly quickly. It can start as a rash or painful blisters all over your body, and then quickly progress to a stage called toxic epidermal necrolysis, where skin starts falling off.
Last year, the FDA even issued a "Drug Safety Alert" for SJS covering both prescription and OTC meds that contain acetaminophen, such as Tylenol. It even warned how these drugs could cause SJS and "detachment of the upper surface of the skin."
Unfortunately, the agency practically made sure customers would ignore the alert by mentioning -- seven times -- how rare the reaction is. But experts say that's just not true. And there are far more SJS cases than our government would like to admit.
Jean Farrell founded the Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Foundation after her daughter Julie almost died from the disease. She said her group gets reports of 15 new cases a week -- and that's only through the Internet. "SJS is not as rare as we are led to believe," she said.
What makes SJS especially dangerous is that people may not realize that their drugs are causing their symptoms. So they keep taking the meds, which can be a deadly mistake.
That's why it's important to spot these earliest signs of SJS, so you can stop your medications and call your doctor immediately:
- Flu-like symptoms, which often
signal the start of an SJS reaction.
- A skin rash, blisters or red
blotches that are often accompanied by a fever.
- Blisters that appear in your
mouth, eyes, ears, nose and around your genitals.
- Pink eye or an abnormal swelling
of your eyelids.
The one
simple change that could add YEARS to your life
You can add years -- even decades -- to your life if you tune out all the nonsense you hear from mainstream medicine and swap a handful of pills at every meal for some common sense back-to-basics good nutrition.
It's the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil -- the very same healthy fats I've been urging you to get plenty of. And if you've been taking my advice, it's time to make some long-term plans no matter how old you are.
New research on some 4,000 older folks finds that boosting your intake of fish oil will help you live longer. You'll be less likely to die of heart disease, and 20 percent less likely to die of ANY CAUSE at all over 15 years.
But you don't have to wait 15 years before you see the results yourself.
A second new study finds you'll see some of the biggest benefits a whole lot sooner: Four capsules of fish oil per day can restore flexibility to arteries that are stiffening up…. in just 12 weeks.
It's the miracle pill the drug industry only WISHES it invented... and has even pretended it did, now that they're selling overpriced patented synthetic versions of fish oil.
Stick to the real deal. It's better, cheaper and backed by more studies. The newest one suggests levels of up to 4,000 grams per day. This is not a "mega" dose but it's more than what most people take -- so speak to your doctor before you get started.
You can add years -- even decades -- to your life if you tune out all the nonsense you hear from mainstream medicine and swap a handful of pills at every meal for some common sense back-to-basics good nutrition.
It's the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil -- the very same healthy fats I've been urging you to get plenty of. And if you've been taking my advice, it's time to make some long-term plans no matter how old you are.
New research on some 4,000 older folks finds that boosting your intake of fish oil will help you live longer. You'll be less likely to die of heart disease, and 20 percent less likely to die of ANY CAUSE at all over 15 years.
But you don't have to wait 15 years before you see the results yourself.
A second new study finds you'll see some of the biggest benefits a whole lot sooner: Four capsules of fish oil per day can restore flexibility to arteries that are stiffening up…. in just 12 weeks.
It's the miracle pill the drug industry only WISHES it invented... and has even pretended it did, now that they're selling overpriced patented synthetic versions of fish oil.
Stick to the real deal. It's better, cheaper and backed by more studies. The newest one suggests levels of up to 4,000 grams per day. This is not a "mega" dose but it's more than what most people take -- so speak to your doctor before you get started.
Use a good
quality fish, flax, or krill oil to get your omega-3s.
Until next
time, stay healthy and happy
JD Roma
The information on this blog is provided for educational
purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical care, and
medical advice and services are not being offered. If you have, or suspect you
have, a health problem you should consult your physician (preferably a
Naturopath).
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