More on Mammography, Breast Cancer, Misleading Arguments, Emotion and Women’s Health

While therapy has improved quite a bit since 1985, the greatest benefit derives from most women avoiding the need for life-long treatment by having small tumors found and removed before they’ve spread.

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A Message for Doctors, on Christmas in the Hospital

Please don’t race through rounds. Be a little generous with your time, your thoughts and words. Patients may need more examination, a bit of hand-holding, besides extra diligence.

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What to do about a Curved Spine? On Data, ‘BodyCast’ and New Directions

The NIH provides some information on scoliosis …Life is curved, usually, and maybe it’s better that way. Perhaps that was the Bocanegra’s point,

Posted in from the author, Life as a Patient, Life in NYC, scoliosis, Theater, Women's HealthTagged , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on What to do about a Curved Spine? On Data, ‘BodyCast’ and New Directions

“The Dallas Buyers Club” Takes on AIDS, Peer Patients, and Not Taking “No” for An Answer

Published trials can be flawed. Even if they’re well-analyzed, the findings can be hard to interpret when it comes to a single patient’s course and well-being. What’s a dying man to do?

Posted in Empowered Patient, Essential Lessons, Infectious Disease, Life, Movies, Patient Autonomy, ReviewsTagged , , , , , , , 2 Comments on “The Dallas Buyers Club” Takes on AIDS, Peer Patients, and Not Taking “No” for An Answer

Why I Like the (Absurd) Dancing in the OR Video

What Deb did, and I thank her for this, is offer an extreme example of patient-centered care. Among other things, she did everything possible to assure that the people caring for her perceive her as a human being who loves dancing.

Posted in Breast Cancer, Empowered Patient, Life as a Patient, Medical News, Patient-Doctor Relationship, Video, Women's HealthTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on Why I Like the (Absurd) Dancing in the OR Video

A Conference on Bioethics and Humanities, and Future Planning

The tone, overall, was intense. Intellectual, brain-stimulating… By contrast to other medical meetings I’ve attended, there was little glitz, scant makeup and limited Wireless. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the ASBH conference

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A Theoretical Note to My Students, On a Breast Cancer Case and Future Learning

Keep thinking, constantly – how the data applies to the person, an individual, the real patient you’re trying to help.

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Birth of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance

The new Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance includes a spectrum of agencies, young and old, working together. The goal is to promote knowledge and research about breast cancer metastases – to develop more effective, less toxic treatments, and to improve the lives of people living with Stage 4 disease.

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A Little Bit of Good? on Dying, Communication, and Breaking Bad

Sometimes there’s no way to mend a person or a bad situation. You can’t deny reality. But if you’re still conscious and able to communicate, you may be able to lessen the damage you’ve done, or the pain someone else is experiencing, just a bit.

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A Case for Slower Medicine

Anger is an understandable reaction to a system that dehumanizes patients, that treats bodies as containers of billable ailments and broken parts. But most doctors go about their daily work with good intention – to heal.

Posted in Books, Communication, Informed Consent, Medical Ethics, Patient Autonomy, Patient-Doctor RelationshipTagged , , , , , , , Leave a Comment on A Case for Slower Medicine

Seeing ZocDoc, And Listening To A Panel On Improving Health Care

No word cloud is needed; we were in one. It’s hard not to be charmed by the brightness of delightful, eager tech-workers who want to make it easier for people to get to doctors they might need. In theory. The ZocDoc space bore no semblance to any hospital or office where I’ve been a doctor or a patient.

Posted in Future of Medicine, health care delivery, Health IT, Life in NYC, Public HealthTagged , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments on Seeing ZocDoc, And Listening To A Panel On Improving Health Care

Visiting an Exhibit on Early AIDS at the New York Historical Society

Most doctors didn’t know what was going on. The young men weren’t sure either. There were rumors but also credible denials about a disease affecting the community…

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Good News from SCOTUS on Gene Patents, But Questions Remain

What goes unaddressed by the justices is the patentability of cDNA based on common genetic variants in cancer. Those are “naturally occurring” mutations, inasmuch as they arise in humans….And the Supremes need to know about biology.

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On Friends Affected by Cancer, and Environment Oncology

If I could pick a field for future investigation that might lead to insight on cancer’s causes and, ultimately, reduce the cancer burden 30 and 50 years from now, I might choose the tiny, under-funded area of environmental oncology

Posted in Blogs, cancer causes, Environmental Health, journalism, Life, Life as a Patient, Life as a writer, Oncology (cancer)Tagged , , , , , , , 1 Comment on On Friends Affected by Cancer, and Environment Oncology

Questions for ASCO – on Tamoxifen, ATLAS and aTTom

The problem with Tamoxifen is that it has anti-estrogen effects that many young (and older) women consider undesirable. Already our breasts have been cut. Feeling “feminine” is not trivial.

Posted in Breast Cancer, cancer treatment, clinical trials, Medical News, Oncology (cancer), Women's HealthTagged , , , , , , , , 3 Comments on Questions for ASCO – on Tamoxifen, ATLAS and aTTom

Should People With Health Problems Talk About their Conditions?

Do you need to explain to the person on the checkout line or, say, a mother organizing a bake sale, why your back hurts? Or why you need a seat on the bus?

Posted in Communication, Essential Lessons, from the author, journalism, Life, Life as a Patient, PrivacyTagged , , , , , , , , 8 Comments on Should People With Health Problems Talk About their Conditions?

Don’t Judge Her! An Essay on Angelina Jolie, BRCA, Cancer Risk and Informed Decision-Making

There’s no right answer…Jolie’s essay reflects the dilemma of any person making a medical choice based on their cir­cum­stances, values, genetic test results and what infor­mation they’ve been given or oth­erwise found and interpreted.

Posted in Breast Cancer, journalism, Medical News, Oncology (cancer), Public Illness, Women's HealthTagged , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments on Don’t Judge Her! An Essay on Angelina Jolie, BRCA, Cancer Risk and Informed Decision-Making
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