September 2007 Blog Archive
Friday, September 28, 2007
Heart Scans Save Lives ... and Money
It's fairly obvious that heart scans save lives. After all, they check for problems in the heart which helps catch issues before they become fatal and also helps to determine treatment for problems. But did you know that heart scans may save more than lives? They may also save a significant amount of money spent annually on healthcare in the United States.
DOTmed News takes a look at a cost model established by Milwaukee-based cardiologist Dr. William Davis. This cost model shows the vast amount of savings that would occur if heart scans were a part of regular preventative medicine that could be adopted across the nation. According to Dr. Davis, the widespread adoption of preventative CT heart scans in men aged 40 - 49 could be combined with basic heart health care to save Americans approximately $20 billion per year in health spending. That's just for that one age group and gender.
That sounds like an absurd amount of money, too much to be true perhaps, but it makes sense when you look at the costs of preventative heart scans as compared with repairs to heart damage. The cost of heart surgery far exceeds the cost of a simple scan. In fact, heart care is a huge area of medical concern and there are predictions that its cost is going to grow to over $4 trillion annually in the next decade. If we can lower those costs by implementing heart scans, shouldn't we do so?
Thursday, September 27, 2007
New Use for PET Scans
A recent study indicates that PET imaging may be useful in determining treatment for people suffering from cancer in the upper stomach and lower esophagus. It has been believed (due to research) that chemotherapy used both before and after surgery for this kind of cancer may help improve the outcome of the surgery. However, this hasn't been the case for all patients, meaning that some people have undergone the negative effects of chemotherapy without any positive results.
PET scans may be able to assist in determining the effectiveness of pre-surgical chemotherapy to avoid extended unnecessary chemo treatment. This would not only prevent all of the sickness and discomfort associated with chemotherapy but would also allow patients and doctors to work together early on in treatment to determine the best options for the patient. Studies of this use of PET imaging are not complete but they're looking good for people suffering from this type of cancer.
Learn more from
Cancer News.
Photo source
here.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Is Lung Cancer Screening Necessary?
Lung cancer is an ugly disease. More importantly, it's a disease that isn't seeing much progress in terms of treatments and cures in comparison with other kinds of cancer. A
new article by eMax Health says that part of the reason for this is that doctors are failing to take advantage of the new lung cancer screening technology that is out on the market. The example that they share is the new 64-slice CT scanner which uses a combination of computer technology and X-ray technology to look at super-thin digital images of the lungs.
The 64-slice CT scanner is out there and is being used by some medical offices (such as Sacramento HeartScan) but it isn't yet seeing widespread use. There is concern in the medical industry that if this lung cancer screening technology doesn't start to spread, the rates for lung cancer improvement will fail to improve. Unfortunately, there is also continued controversy about the need for such screening. Although research has proven that lung cancer is best cured when caught very early on through a screening process, many still say that screening before you've been diagnosed as high-risk for lung cancer is an unnecessary procedure.
Photo from
Newport Body Scan.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The Preventative Bone Density Scan
A
recent article by OnMedica urges that people pay more attention to the importance of bone density scans. Referencing a study by the British Orthopaedic Association, they say that hip fractures are set to double in the next forty years and that people may not realize is since so few are getting bone density scans. According to their numbers, less than 5% of women who have had a hip fracture had bone density scans done.
These numbers are for people in Europe but they are important to note in the United States as well. The point to the importance of including bone density scans in the basic primary care repertoire so that they can act as a form of preventative care. How often to get a DXA bone density scan is a controversial issue (see
Medicine.net for additional information) but it is generally recommended that adults get the scan once every year or two.
Photo from
PennHealth.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Which Medical Screening Tests Do You Really Need?
It's difficult to know which medical screening tests you actually need and which you can probably get away with not getting. It's usually best to err on the side of caution since you'd rather know that there's a problem early on than late into the game. But then again, you don't want to put yourself through a bunch of unnecessary medical testing on a regular basis if you can avoid it.
CNN News took a look recently at what experts in the medical industry say you should put on the "must get" list for medical screening.
According to the report, screening should be done for prostate, cervical and colorectal cancer. Breast exams and mammograms should be done, of course. And screening for osteoporosis is important as you get older. As a general rule of thumb, if you're under 30, you don't need most screening. As you get closer to 40 and definitely as you hit 50, you need to start looking at doing these tests to catch problems before they get out of control. This is particular true of screening for cancers. Bone mineral density scans should be done as you get older so that you can be aware of your risks of osteoporosis.
