Medical Mythys!

NervexProf

Does any of this ring any bells with you?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_a ... 774523.ece

parkaboy

lol Excellent!

How mythical is this article.......fairly, totally with exception of....or very? :-)

deal

how did you manage to break the times website ? you should work your magic on the sun :twisted:

biondino

WOMEN NEED TO EXAMINE THEIR BREASTS

How wrong is this? Very.

What are the facts? Research shows that routine self-examination does no good in terms of breast cancer outcomes because it isn't sensitive enough to detect important lumps. In fact, it can actually cause harm. How? By subjecting self-examiners to increased levels of anxiety.

Any related myths? There is an exact parallel with routine self-examination of testicles in males - another discredited activity that continues to receive publicity because it sounds like a good idea.

Um, so, how do we tell if we've got breast/testicular cancer? Does anyone know a woman who has suffered from the disease (and who doesn't undergo regular, obligatory mammograms) who DIDN'T seek treatment because she found a lump? This sounds like insanity to me but since this guy presents no evidence I have no idea whether it's bull or not.

Any related myths? That sex is a form of exercise. In fact, it equates only to climbing two flights of stairs.

Either this guy has some LONG stairs or he really, really needs to work on his technique!

robmanic1

Hmmmm, wonder what his views on wearing helmets are?

deal

deal wrote:

how did you manage to break the times website ? you should work your magic on the sun :twisted:

yay it appears the times website is now working so i can read the article

ps. i certainly wouldnt like to be the person who adviced a woman not to check for lumps who subsequently developed breast cancer, women can and do find lumps which turn out to be breast cancer.

flattythehurdler

I wonder what he thinks of campag

slimreaper

This guy is a bit scary.
I am a nurse, and reading some of the stuff in this article is misleading.

The blood pressure thing - dizziness is a side effect of treatment for hypertension - He should point out that low BP is what usually causes dizziness, and the treatment for high BP MAY cause dizziness if the BP drops too low subsequently.

Breast and Testicular examination. If this only leads to successful diagnosis and treatment in a small number of cases, this has to be worth it. There is evidence to show self exams do highlight "lumps". Whether they are cancerous or not the complete issue as some lumps still need to be removed even if not cancerous.

After discussion with a Microbiologist, it IS important to finish a course of antibiotics as it is the termination of a course before the end that is part of the problem when talking about bacteria becoming less sensitive and forming resistence to antibiotics. MRSA anyone?

He shows no references to back up his claims, and to me he has written much of this in a misleading, if not inaccurate way. I may be ranting a bit, but it worries me that a GP (I assume still practising) is spouting this nonesense.

Andy

Uzbek

I'm a doc and have no problem with most of that. The statements are simplistic but basically pretty fair. The breast self exam (BSE) needs explanation.

There is little evidence that on a population wide basis BSE reduces mortality ie deaths. Why? Well think of it this way. For it to work it needs to be true that earlier/smaller tumours are more likely to be cured than larger ones, also that BSE is actually effective when done by the ordinary person who does it in a non-obsessional intermittent way. It also must not cause harms.

The truth is that some small tumours are agressive and fast-growing, some larger ones are slow growing and less 'dangerous'. Some of the fast-growing ones respond superbly to tretament, some don't. So early/small may be better but not always. Also on a population basis people in the real world training people to do BSE/TSE is not actually effective. People aren't always good at it or remember to do it. There is also good evidence that screening can cause harm too, by increasing anxiety and in some cases exposing people to potentially harmful tests and even unecesary treatment due to early detection ('false positives'). Self checking is not perfect and may also miss some tumours and then the persdon is falsely reassurred ('false negatives'). Screening tests are often delicate balance between harms and benefits for various conditions despite seeming like 'common sense'. Screening needs to be thought of in terms of the effect on the entire population rather than individuals.

For a given inidividual performing BSE/TSE may be a benefit, but population wide the evidence is poor.

I hope that makes sense.