Today is Thanksgiving in the US. It’s my favorite holiday, as all my relatives will gather in my mother’s house and feast for hours. It truly is a nice way to think about the previous 12 months and realize what indeed you are thankful for.… Read the rest
It’s been a very, very interesting few weeks in the US regarding cancer screening. As I mentioned before, there were revisions from the highest-level agency Task Force that mammograms should be done less often for certain groups. I also mentioned how PSA tests are under a lot of scrutiny as well.… Read the rest
By now, everyone in Beijing is either: 1. recovered from having H1N1; 2. tired of hearing about H1N1; or 3. recovered and tired of hearing about it. But one common theme in discussions remains the uncertainty around the vaccine. Well, finally, there is a lot of real data last week that I wanted to share with you: hard numbers on safety that hopefully will raise up future debates with more facts.… Read the rest
The New York Times has an excellent series of articles, called “Forty Years’ War”, reviewing medicine’s efforts to fight cancer over the last forty years. This weekend’s article reviews the important issue of prevention of breast and prostate cancer. For both diseases, there are well documented studies that show a decrease in new cases of those cancers with specific medicines taken over many years.… Read the rest
It’s impossible for me to ignore the health care debate raging in my home country. One constant theme in the U.S. regarding improving health care is the need for better monitoring of what hospitals and doctors actually do, and which treatments actually work.… Read the rest
Yes, we are definitely in flu season. And yes, most of it is probably H1N1. But most everyone is doing fine. I still recommend the vaccine for high risk groups that can get it, but it’s a personal decision, and I can’t even convince my wife to get it!… Read the rest