Osteoporosis Drugs May Lower Breast Cancer Risk
Drugs known as bisphosphonates, used to slow bone loss, may also protect against breast cancer, the New York Times reports. Findings from two studies showed that women who took the medications were less likely to develop breast tumors. One group of researchers looked at data on 151,592 postmenopausal women; among the 2,216 women taking bisphosphonates, the team detected 32 percent fewer cases of breast cancer, according to the Times. A separate study conducted in Israel showed that postmenopausal women using bisphosphonates had a 29 percent reduction in risk. Study author Gad Rennert of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology told the Times that the results indicate an association between bisphosphonates and a lowered risk of breast cancer. Some experts were cautious about the findings, noting that neither study proved causation and that the drugs have side effects, the Times said.
[Read 4 Steps to Take Now to Lower Your Breast Cancer Risk and Breast Cancer: 3 Ways to Lower the Risk of Recurrence.]
How to Get the Right Diagnosis: Why Doctors Goof
After returning from a business trip to Malaysia six years ago, Joe Cherry began suffering from a flulike illness, then woke up one day with a crushing pain in his arm and chest. Once a heart attack had been ruled out, an emergency-room doctor diagnosed carpal tunnel syndrome, a painful wrist condition. "I used to work for a company [that] made devices for carpal tunnel surgery," recalls Cherry, 62, "and I knew this wasn't what I had." He saw three more physicians over four weeks before finally getting answers.
Doctors are stumped by symptoms all the time, and by prescribing the wrong medication, they often worsen the problem or even create a new one, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz writes. Worse, misdiagnoses lead to an astounding 40,000 to 80,000 hospital deaths every year, according to a March paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association—plus an uncounted number due to mistakes in the doctor's office. In fact, some 5 percent of autopsies find a condition missed by doctors that, if treated, might have saved the patient's life. Read more.
[Read 6 Secrets to Getting the Right Medical Diagnosis and Practicing Art on Medicine's Front Lines: Tales From the OR and the Bedside.]
New Kids' Health Site Offers Advice From Pediatricians
Seeking advice from pediatricians on your kids' health just got easier. The American Academy of Pediatrics today launched a website, healthychildren.org, in an effort to bring pediatrician-approved health information to the often confusing world of online medical advice, U.S. News contributor Nancy Shute reports.
The group is already online at aap.org, but until now that site has mashed together health information aimed at parents with professional information for its 60,000 members. The new site focuses on parents' questions on frequently encountered issues like finicky eating, toilet training, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It includes a section where you can ask questions of a team of doctors. Another plus: Information on specific topics is arranged chronologically so that the newest thinking on fast-changing health topics like vitamin D supplements for kids comes up first. But the site isn't perfect. Read more.
[Read Getting Medical Advice on the Web From Other Patients and Visiting Your Doctor Online Is a Virtual Reality.]
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