These new goals are based on a significant number of research studies but especially the SPRINT study.  This was a large investigation with more than 9000 patients over the age of 50 whose blood pressure measured higher than 130 mm Hg.  Participants also had at least one of these risk facts:  1) "Presence of clinical or subclinical cardiovascular disease other than stroke 2) Chronic kidney disease, defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) 20-59 ml/min/1.73 m2 3) A Framingham Risk Score for 10-year cardiovascular disease risk ≥15% 4) Age >75 years"** The study's goal was to lower patients' blood pressure[ Read More ]

Eating Together For many, being able to commune around a table--talking, laughing and eating--is a sign of health and well-being.  That's why, when someone is sick, and doesn't eat, conflict can result. Caregivers may feel enormous anxiety, guilt and hopelessness as their loved one loses weight. Yet, caregivers need to know what is really happening.  Cancer patient, Ann Silberman, in her blog, "Breast Cancer? But Doctor...I hate pink!"  explains, "This problem of being unable to eat is not a matter of will-power, nor is it in our [the patient's] control." What is going on? Cachexia There is a distinct metabolic[ Read More ]

November 2, 2017 Beth Caldwell died. *** "Since being diagnosed with terminal cancer, I have had one goal: to live long enough to see The Girl start kindergarten. She was 2 and a half when I got diagnosed back in March of 2014, and starting kindergarten in 2017 would fall past median survival for me. Thinking about her having to start school without her mother brought me to my knees every time I thought about it. It’s the thing that would bring me to tears, that would break my heart–it was my biggest fear, by far. Today, The Girl went[ Read More ]

We are made of elegant, interacting, dynamic structures called cells.  The best estimate is that there are around 32 trillion cells in the human body.   Today 5th graders begin to learn about cells and cell biology.  But for the rest of us, who may be a bit rusty, or who aren’t as caught up with all the advances that have occurred in understanding cells in the last 30 years or so, this is where we have to start to understand oncology in 2016. The Old View of Cells Let’s look at what you may know.  Cells are made of cell[ Read More ]

The mitochondria in cells produce energy. In the process they form reactive oxygen species. Reactive oxygen species, also called free radicals or oxygen radicals are used in many metabolic processes that are essential to life. For example, they are are part of enzyme reactions in the body.  White blood cells, like neutrophils produce reactive oxygen species to kill bacteria and other germs that have entered the body. They are also involved in the communication within and between cells. But when cells are stressed or exposed to radiation, they overproduce oxygen radicals.  Because they are unstable molecules, they can damage proteins,[ Read More ]

This past week a big announcement came from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Steven Rosenberg, the leading authority on immunotherapy, a treatment he pioneered that uses a person's own immune cells to fight cancer, told the world about Judy Perkins. In 2003 at age 38, Judy was diagnosed with stage 0 breast cancer. "At the time I was completely ignorant and believed that more is better, and apparently so did my surgeons," she said at an National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) Advocate Leadership Summit in 2017. So she had a mastectomy and a complete axillary dissection as her treatment. Two[ Read More ]

"Nixon asked, 'Doctor, what do you consider the most pressing problem that medicine has today?'...My answer was simple: 'Cancer.' He said, 'I'm amazed. Why do you say that?' My reply was, 'I think every physician who is dedicated and sincere never goes on the floor of a hospital where he has cancer patients...-without feeling helpless. We always come away with the feeling that there is so little that we can do. Often, I dread going in the room to see someone I've known for a long time pitifully ill of cancer.  I think of the millions of hours and the millions of dollars spent on cancer research and[ Read More ]

Cost Medical care for cancer is costly. In addition, there is the financial burden that patients and families face in getting to and from the best care--which may be located at medical centers far from home. The situation can seem overwhelming. Corporate Angel Network Into this dilemma, little known resources have arisen to meet this challenge. One of these is called The Corporate Angel Network. Started in 1981 by two cancer survivors, Priscilla Blum and Jay Weinberg and by Leonard Greene, who lost his wife to cancer, The Corporate Angel Network (CAN) has flown over 45,000 patients to their care—free[ Read More ]

Or Patient-Centered Cancer Care:  IOM’s recommendations Last week, we looked at the recent Institute of Medicine’s report and wrote the post about "How the US Got Its Cancer Care Crisis". This week we get more practical. With specific recommendations you can use! The general recommendations include: (1) becoming engaged patients. (2) ensuring an adequately  staffed, trained, and coordinated workforce. (3) providing evidence-based care. (4) learning health care information technology (IT). (5) translation of evidence into clinical practice, quality measurement and performance improvement. (6) addressing accessible and affordable care.   One of the most important sections of the report, from the patients’ perspective,[ Read More ]

Prior to the 20th century, most people lived about 47 years in the developed world because of infectious diseases. In 1940, the first use of penicillin to treat infectious diseases occurred and penicillin became available in 1945 to the general public. Science and research conducted throughout the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, created more antibiotics so that life expectancy increased to 78.8 years. Clinical trials, the research component of medicine, made this possible. Take a moment to thank all the countless people who participated in the clinical trials and this achievement that has improved our lives so greatly. Clinical Trials Today[ Read More ]