July 2008 Blog Archive
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Breast MRI Can Differentiate Breast Tumor Subtypes
Women who have never had to deal with the serious - and common - disease of breast cancer may not realize that not all breast cancer tumors are the same. Those women who have gone through breast cancer treatment know that there are tumor subtypes and that treatment can greatly depend upon what type of tumor it is that you have.
New reports indicate that the breast MRI may be useful in determining the subtypes of a breast cancer tumor.
The breast MRI can be supplemented with computer software that can allow for contrasting that provides additional medical information to the doctor and patient including the subtype of the tumor. This is more in-depth than just determining if a tumor is benign or malignant; it can also tell what type of tumor it is. This helps guide treatment and make it more effective so that patients have a better chance of beating the cancer.
Question of the Day: Should the breast MRI be used to determine what type of tumor a breast cancer patient has?photo link
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
PET Scans Can Be Used In Chemo Treatment
There are many different uses of PET scans. These uses are commonly considered to be preventive uses. However, it may also be possible to use the PET scan in the treatment of disease in order to increase the effectiveness of that treatment. For example, it has been found that PET scans may be useful in determining whether or not chemo is working as a treatment for some leukemia patients.
New studies indicate that the PET scan can actually tell whether or not chemotherapy is effective as soon as one day after treatment. This is important because leukemia patients often undergo a lengthy process of chemo only to find out that it wasn't successful. Being able to tell early on whether or not the chemo is working can help to guide the treatment and make the chances of success much more likely.
Learn more about this
here.
Question of the Day: Are PET scans a reliable indicator of how well chemotherapy is working in leukemia patients?photo link
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Medical Imaging "Downtime"
We love the phrase 'downtime' in society today. We think that it refers to good things about taking a moment to relax. But a patient doesn't want his doctor relaxing on the job. And in the world of medical imaging, 'downtime' refers to the very negative situation of having medical imaging equipment become non-functioning for a period of time.
The problem for many medical imaging centers is that computers won't go down completely. They will remain somewhat functioning but will slow down considerably. But it's not considered a "broken" machine and therefore may not be covered by service contracts. This decreases the productivity in the doctor's office and causes harm to patients.
Luckily there are several things that medical imaging centers can do to make sure that they don't suffer from this kind of downtime. Three methods of defeating downtime can be found
here for doctors and care providers interested in this problems. Ideally, patients will never have to concern themselves with this issue because it will be taken care of by the medical imaging team before it impacts them.
Question of the Day: What can be done about downtime of medical imaging equipment?photo link
Monday, July 28, 2008
MRI Useful in Diagnosing Alzheimer's
Several new studies seem to point to the potential for using
conventional MRI technology to detect and diagnose Alzheimer's. This disease is a widespread problem and one that we currently don't have sufficient means to test for and treat. We do know that catching the problem earlier on can assist the patient in finding ways to delay the problems associated with the disease and to plan for a higher quality of life into the later years. These new studies provide hope that we will indeed be able to detect Alzheimer's at earlier stages using technology that already exists.
"Three studies, one on successful use of conventional MRI to image brain plaques in animals, and two on using computers to analyze MRI images, are being presented at the Alzheimer's Association's 2008 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD 2008), which is taking place in Chicago from 26th to 31st July." (source)
Should additional studies like these prove to be successful, the conventional MRI could be an important tool for detecting Alzheimer's. This is important because of the fact that this technology is relatively low cost as well as low-risk to the patient.
Question of the Day: Will the MRI be the tool used to detect Alzheimer's?photo link
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Time To Get Colon Cancer Screening
Most people now realize that colon cancer screening is an important thing to get starting at a certain age. What most people don't know is what age that is. Although the recommended age for regular colon cancer screening is 50, there are times when it is recommended that people start getting screened at an earlier age.
A recent report on the importance of colon cancer screening suggests that colon cancer screening for people with a family history of the disease differs from the recommendations for the average person. The individual should get screening as early as one decade prior to the age of diagnosis of the family member who had the disease. For example, if your father was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 50 then you should start regular colon cancer screening by age 40.
Colon cancer screening is intended to detect signs of this devastating disease as early as possible. As such, it makes sense for people with a higher risk of the disease to begin testing at an earlier age.
Question of the Day: At what age should you begin getting regular colon cancer screening?photo link
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Developing Standards for Breast MRI Use
In recent months, doctors have come to realize that the breast MRI can be incredibly useful in screening for breast cancer. The
breast MRI is even starting to become a recommended screening exam for certain types of women who are at high risk for the disease.
However, standards have not yet been determined regarding the use of the breast MRI. A
new study exploring how doctors are using the breast MRI - and how patients are benefitting from it - aims to start the discussion of setting those standards.
The study found that doctors across the nation are indeed using the breast MRI. At the current time, it is primarily being used to further assess the extent of the disease once a mammogram has indicated that there could be breast cancer. The procedure may be used immediately following an abnormal mammogram or may be used later in the treatment process for this additional information to be determined.
Question of the Day: How should the medical community go about setting up standards for the use of the breast MRI?photo link
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
New Imaging May Help Us Understand Cancer Better
Research engineers at MIT have been able to work with a new type of imaging machine that could give the medical community tremendous insights into the nature and onset of cancer. The new imaging machine is capable of identifying the number and location of mutant cells inside of tissue - something that we have never been able to see before.
Cancer is a mutation of the cells. By learning more about the way that mutant cells form and work, medical experts may be able to figure out specifically what causes different types of cancer and how the disease develops. This could lead to prevention, treatment and perhaps even a cure for one or more kinds of cancer.
One of the things found in the study was that a majority of mutated cells were formed in clusters which indicates that the cells cause damage to one another once they begin to mutate. This and other indications will require further research using the advanced imaging now available for this purpose.
Question of the Day: What will medical experts do with the information once they learn how cells mutate?photo link
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Blood Test Could Aid Colon Cancer Screening
The majority of people are aware of the fact that colon cancer is a serious disease and that colon cancer screening is recommended for both men and women after a certain age. However, many of these people fail to get colon cancer screening because of the fact that they are concerned about the tests required to do this screening.
Colon cancer screening is not as painful or uncomfortable as many people assume it to be. The virtual colonoscopy has made colon cancer screening much less invasive than it was in the past. Nevertheless many people are hesitant to get this screening done.
A new blood test may be one method of improving colon cancer screening rates. The first-ever women's blood test for colon cancer screening has
been announced. This screening tests women for their risk of colon cancer. Patients with very little risk showing from this test could potentially postpone more invasive colon cancer screening whereas those showing risk would have motivation to do the screening that they may otherwise avoid doing.
Question of the Day: Would a blood test for colon cancer risk screening improve screening rates?photo link
Monday, July 21, 2008
Heart Scan Radiation Dosage Can Be Lowered
One of the most important preventive screening tools that is available for use today is the
heart scan. Many people die from heart disease that could have been prevented if it had been caught in the early stages. The heart scan allows for this prevention and saves many lives each year.
However, there have historically been some concerns about the radiation dosage experienced by the patient during this type of scan. Although it is believed to be a safe scan with low doses of radiation, it is always better to lower the dose if at all possible.
"A new study reveals that, with dual-source computed tomography (DSCT), the effective dosage for a heart examination can be significantly lowered, in comparison to conventional computed tomography (CT)." (source)
This means that there appear to be methods and technologies available to lower the radiation dosage of the heart scan without compromising the quality of preventive care available from this important diagnostic tool.
Question of the Day: Should we continue working to lower radiation dosages in the heart scan?photo link
Friday, July 18, 2008
Global Study Explores Cancer Survival Rates Between Countries
A comprehensive study has been completed which shows that cancer survival rates vary significantly between different countries throughout the globe. Over thirty countries were studied for information about the rate of survival for various types of cancer.
Countries that are leading the way in high survival rates for specific cancers include:
- Japan has the highest rate of survival for men suffering from both colon cancer and rectal cancer.
- France has the highest rate of survival for women suffering from both colon cancer and rectal cancer.
- The U.S. has the highest rate of survival for male prostate cancer and female breast cancer. However, there was some disparity in the rates of survival between blacks and whites in the U.S.
These statistics indicate that medically advanced countries continue to have the highest rates of survival for various types of cancer. This could be due in large part to the fact that preventive imaging is widespread in these countries and therefore diseases are detected in early stages when they can still be treated.
Question of the Day: What causes the disparity in cancer survival rates between different countries?photo link
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Why Preventive Imaging is Important
We talk a lot about the different types of
preventive imaging that are available and emerging in the medical field today. We also talk about the importance of getting screened for specific frightening diseases like
colon cancer. However, sometimes it's important to just get back to the basics and to take a look at why the entire field of preventive imaging medicine is so important to society.
The main reason, of course, is that preventive imaging allows for the early detection of disease. What this means is that people are able to find out early on if they have a disease that is developing in the body. The reason that this is important is because almost all diseases are easier to treat and cure when they are just starting out. As they grow, they become increasingly deadly, a problem which can be avoided with early detection of disease through preventive imaging.
There are other reasons that preventive imaging is important, though. For example, the treatment of diseases - and sometimes their cure - depends heavily on the information that is provided to doctors through medical imaging. This isn't just useful to the individual patient but can also be used in research and in the development of better medical treatments and tools.
Question of the Day: What is the biggest reason that preventive imaging is important to society?photo link
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Breast Self-Exams are Ineffective
Almost all women know that they are supposed to go in for their Pap smear once a year. When they do, they are reminded that they should be doing monthly self-exams in search of lumps for breast cancer. However,
new studies indicate that doing these exams has little to no effect on reducing the number of deaths caused by breast cancer.
In addition to being ineffective in preventing death by breast cancer, the breast self-exams may actually be a problem in society today. That's because women who falsely identify lumps in their breasts frequently get biopsies that weren't necessary.
This doesn't mean, of course, that breast cancer screening should not be done. It remains highly important that women get regularly screened in order to have early detection of the disease in order to prevent death. This just means that the screening should be done by professionals who are trained to do so. The mammogram - and increasingly often, the breast MRI - are more effective methods of screening for breast cancer.
Question of the Day: Should doctors stop recommending the use of monthly self-exams for breast cancer since they appear to be ineffective and possibly even harmful?photo link
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Less-Invasive Alternative to Echocardiogram
People who have a reason to be concerned about the health of their heart should not wait to get testing as it is obviously better to find out sooner (as opposed to later) if there is indeed a medical issues in this part of the body. Preventive imaging may include tests as comprehensive as the
heart scan or as simple as a basic check-up focused on the heart.
One of the most important things to check in a heart health exam is how well the heart is pumping blood. Failure to pump to full potential could indicate dangerous blockages in the heart. The most common test for this is the echocardiogram with cardiac catheterization. However, this is an invasive test which some people are not physical capable of undergoing.
A
new study indicates that a less invasive nuclear stress test may be able to provide accurate results for those people who can't undergo the more invasive echocardiogram. It can check specifically for blockages as well as more generally for the heart's ability to properly pump blood.
Question of the Day: What is the most effective preventive method of identifying heart disease?photo link
Monday, July 14, 2008
Screening Rates for Colon Cancer Remain Too Low
Reports are regularly issued which warn that the rates for colon cancer screening are too low. These reports are issued in part with the hope that additional warnings and education will increase the number of people who are getting this important screening done on a regular basis. Despite the education, a
new report indicates that colon cancer screening rates continue to be lower than they ought to be.
Colorectal cancer creening is recommended for both men and women over the age of fifty. This study shows that only about fifty percent of the patients who fall into this category are getting screening done. This does indicate a rise in the number of patients getting screening in comparison to prior years but is still considered to be too low considering the fact that colon cancer is the second leading cancer killer in the United States.
If a lack of education and awareness isn't what's keeping people from getting their
colon cancer screening, then what is? The new report indicates that poor health care coverage could be a leading factor in the resistance of many patients to get this important screening. This could indicate a need to push for better colon cancer screening coverage by health insurance.
Question of the Day: What is causing colon cancer screening rates to remain lower than they should be?photo link
Friday, July 11, 2008
Are Mammograms Necessary for Women Over 80?
There have been more studies related to mammograms than could possibly be summarized in one body of work. The risk of
breast cancer has compelled extensive review of the different methods of prevention and treatment than can be used to reduce this problem for society's women.
Unfortunately, nearly all of these studies have focused on the use of preventive exams in younger and middle-aged women; elderly women have often been left out of the conversation. Now people are starting to talk about what should be the proper course of action when it comes to mammograms for women over the age of eighty.
There is no clear answer to whether or not this population requires continued breast cancer testing and if so, how often that testing should take place. Some people continue to recommend annual exams even at this age. Others say that the likelihood of death from breast cancer at this age is so low that annual exams - or perhaps even any exams - are pointless.
The debate can be explored
here.
Question of the Day: Should women over the age of eighty still be getting preventive breast health exams?photo link
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Medicare Bill May Reduce Imaging Overuse
People who are concerned about medical news probably all know by now that this week was an important week for physicians. A Medicare bill that postpones a ten percent pay cut for physicians for the next eighteen months finally passed after a long process of debate that had it stalled for some time. Although the pay issue is the issue that is of most concern to the people who paid attention to the bill, there was also an important change made to medical imaging which was included in this bill.
"Also part of the legislation is a mandate that providers of advanced diagnostic imaging services such as MR, CT, PET, and nuclear medicine be accredited by 2012 to be reimbursed by Medicare for the technical component of these exams. It also establishes a two-year voluntary demonstration program for appropriateness criteria for the use of medical imaging, following guidelines developed by the ACR and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) of Washington, DC." (source)
There are some people who would argue that this is a negative thing because it means that it will make it more difficult for some medical imaging to take place and to be paid for. However, the bill is actually more likely to be a positive thing because it will mean that the medical imaging which does take place will be that which is warranted and that it will be done by people who are highly accredited to perform these procedures.
Question of the Day: How will the Medicare Bill just passed by Senate impact the world of medical imaging?photo link
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Contrast Agents In Echocardiogram May Not Increase Risks
There have long been concerns about the contrast agents used in echocardiogram imaging. An expert medical panel
recently urged that studies be undertaken to reduce the risks associated with using these agents for this type of imaging. However, one
new study says that there is no difference in the risk to echocardiogram patients who are tested with these contrasting agents as compared to those who are not.
"The researchers evaluated the adverse events of patients who had undergone stress echocardiography with contrast versus events in a noncontrast cohort."
The results of this study showed that there were no additional adverse effects when the contrasting agents were used in comparison to with the test subjects where the echocardiogram was completed without the use of these contrasting agents. This is one indication that the seriousness of the risk of contrasting agents that was presumed to be true in the past may actually be false.
Question of the Day: Does the use of contrasting agents in echocardiogram imaging increase the risks of the procedure in any way?photo link
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
New MDCT Scanners More Varied Than Old CT Scanners
There once was a time when all CT scanners were basically the same in regards to the types of images and information that they were able to provide to the doctors who were using them. As technology in this area of medicine has grown more advanced, there has emerged more diversity in the types of scanners that are coming out. This means that scanners vary in terms of the approach taken to imaging of difficult-to-scan areas of the body (like the heart scan) and that the results of the scan may therefore vary depending on the MDCT scanner used for the procedure.
"Slice wars notwithstanding, there is more to cardiac CT than the number of detector rows. Manufacturers must consider spatial resolution, image noise, artifacts, and temporal resolution when designing their newest CT scanners. Scan speed, coverage area, radiation dose, and cardiac triggering schemes must also be scrutinized -- and corresponding technical trade-offs made." (source)
Because there are so many different things to be taken into consideration, the fourth-generation MDCT scanners that are now being released to medical professionals are not all the same as was more close to the case in the past. It isn't true that some are better than others necessarily but instead the truth is that machines will vary in what they are good for.
Question of the Day: What should doctors do to make sure that they are using the right MDCT scanner for the information that they are seeking since these CT machines have now become varied in their approaches and imaging results?photo link
Monday, July 07, 2008
Advanced CAD Tool Could Change the Face of Imaging
There is a group of Japanese researchers who have been working for years on an advanced CAD tool that coulod significantly change the face of medical imaging. Their tool, called "navigation-based intelligent computer-aided diagnosis" or NavI-CAD, is designed to be able to navigate the entire inside of the body for the purpose of offering high-quality 3D imaging. This will provide more thorough examination of the body and will offer more answers to doctors seeking information about their patients.
The tool is not yet ready to be released to the market. This is a highly complex multi-purpose imaging tool which has already taken a significant amount of time to be developed and which requires more time to be complete. However, it's well on its way to becoming a reality for the medical world. When it does, it may significantly improve imaging results for everything from lung cancer detection to colon cancer screening.
Learn all of the details about this
here.
Question of the Day: How long will it be before this advanced CAD imaging tool is available for use by doctors in the U.S.?photo link
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Clinicians Encouraged to Care about Screening Costs
A new
research report makes the bold suggestion that clinicians should be actively involved in discussing the economic impact that new screening methods have on their patients and the surrounding community. While it is certainly important that patients are offered the most up-to-date methods of screening, it is also important that patients are placed in undue financial restraints as a result of the testing. Clinicians can give a credible voice to the problem that could reduce the cost of some screening and make preventive health care more accessible to a wider population.
Several examples of expensive testing are mentioned in the research article as areas of economic concern. Those examples include:
- Breast MRI for breast cancer screening which is a highly valuable test but also costs ten times more than a standard mammogram.
- Use of PET scan technology for cancer staging.
- Treatment costs for cancer treatment that includes screening as a part of the process for determining the development and changes of the disease.
There are three major reasons that are stated in the report as to why clinicians should care about these issues:
- Patients have to pay for a percentage of their medical care so prohibitive costs limit important screening.
- Health care funds need to be divvied up appropriately so the most expensive testing may not be the best in some cases.
- Clinicians should be capable of informing patients fully about the costs, pros and cons of different screening options.
Question of the Day: Will clinicians play a greater role in concern for the economics of screening?photo link
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Colon Cancer Screening Frighteningly Low In Germany
A
new report by the Bavarian Colonoscopy Database reveals that patients in Germany who should be getting colon cancer screening as part of their regular medical check-ups are failing to do so despite the fact that the screening is covered by insurance and is safe for the patient. This is of great concern considering the damage that the disease does to so many people and the fact that this damage can typically be prevented when caught in the early stages through the use of appropriate screening.
The report revealed that only one fifth of patients over the age of 55 are getting regularly colonoscopy screening for colon cancer. Only two percent of patients are getting annual colon cancer screening. The report indicated that the screening rates are particularly bad for aging women who seem to reduce their interest in screening as time goes on. This means that a large percentage of people who could prevent the colon cancer from being fatal are refusing to do so.
Question of the Day: What should be done to increase the rates of colon cancer screening?photo link
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Preventive Health Care Varies Around Nation
MSNBC recently did a really
interesting report about the way that health care options and treatment may vary from one part of the nation to another. They broke down the nation into regions and looked at different health care issues and quality in each of those regions as compared to the others.
In regards to preventive imaging and other preventive health measures, here's what they found:
- Western States have significantly lower rates than other regions in regards to women's preventive health. This means that there is an increase in breast cancer and cervical cancer for women in these areas as a result of the fact that these diseases are not being caught early on.
- Southern States are faced with a number of treatable conditions that become emergencies as the result of a lack of funding for preventive health care. This means that individuals are getting sicker than they should because they don't catch diseases early with preventive imaging. It also means that there is a strain on the emergency room services in this area.
- Northeast States seem to be the best at providing preventive imaging and preventive health care particulary in regards to women's health.
Question of the Day: Do the generalities regarding regional preventive health care influence where you might want to live?photo link
