Is eating eggs bad for your heart due to their high cholesterol content? You may make mistake, please think again. A large research has now shown that people who eat an egg every day could significantly reduce their risk of cardiovascular diseases. What an interesting thing. “The present study finds that there is an association between…
Author: GDPoster
‘Oncology Done Right Is About Balance’: Weighing Immunotherapy Side Effects
Author: Mark G. Kris, MD Hello. This is Mark Kris from Memorial Sloan Kettering. I am speaking to you today about three papers that appeared in JAMA Oncology on January 11, 2018, dealing with the adverse effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors. There was a commentary and two papers. My issue with these presentations is the lack of discussion of benefits…
Risk of Methotrexate Dosing Errors Prompts EMA Review
Reporter: Megan Brook The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is reviewing the risk of dosing errors with medicines containing methotrexate. The review is based on “continued reports of overdose,” the agency announced today. Methotrexate is used to treat various inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis, psoriasis, and some cancers, such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Methotrexate can be taken…
Colorectal cancer: What are the causes, symptoms and treatment
Colorectal cancer refers to cancer that starts in the colon or rectum. It is the most common type of cancer that affects people over the age of 60 years. The three main symptoms of colorectal cancer are: Persistent blood in the stools – occurs for no obvious reasons and associated with a change in the…
Rucaparib for Ovarian Cancer OK’d for Approval in Europe
Reporter: Zosia Chustecka A new option for the treatment of ovarian cancer could soon be available in Europe: the PARP (poly [adenosine diphosphate-ribose] polymerase) inhibitor rucaparib (Rubraca, Clovis). At its latest meeting the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), the scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended a conditional marketing authorization for rucaparib…
Clinicians as Communication Coaches – Preparing Patients for Difficult Conversations
Author: Betty R. Ferrell, PhD, RN Tired of Treatment Paulo is a 49-year-old man with a recurrent brain tumor; he is now hospitalized after experiencing seizures. The tumor was diagnosed when Paulo was 44 years of age, and he has had extensive surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Three months ago, the brain tumor team advised Paulo…
How smoking ruins your lungs
Smoking is one of the main causes of preventable deaths throughout the world. When smoke enters the human body it affects nearly each and every organ leading to many life-threatening diseases. The poisons from the cigarette, which are basically tar and other chemicals when entering the bloodstream, are responsible for narrowing the arteries as well as…
Overlooked Biomarker May Predict Cancer Immunotherapy Response
Author: David J. Kerr, CBE, MD, DSc, FRCP, FMedSci Hi. I’m David Kerr, professor of cancer medicine from the University of Oxford. As you know, I’ve believed for some time that ploidy (the number of sets of chromosomes in a cell) measurements have been largely overlooked in terms of the relative importance of prognostic markers for…
Sickle Cell Disease: When to Transfuse
Author: Mary Hulihan, DrPH Hello. I am Dr Mary Hulihan, a health scientist in the Division of Blood Disorders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today I would like to talk about the indications for blood transfusion in patients with sickle cell disease, the complications associated with these transfusions, and how you can help…
FDA Again Urges Caution and Advises Against Using Morcellators for Uterine Fibroids
Maurie Markman, MD Hello. I am Dr Maurie Markman from Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I wanted to briefly highlight the recently updated US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) assessment on the use of laparoscopic power morcellators to treat uterine fibroids. This is clearly a complex and controversial topic, and one that…
Nevertheless, She Persisted: Women Face Unique Obstacles When Pursuing Surgery as a Specialty
Anya Romanowski, MS, RD The Role of Gender and Perception in Surgical Specialty Choice In the United States and abroad, there is a growing public reckoning over the routine discrimination and harassment that many women have faced in the workplace. The field of surgery has not been immune to these larger upheavals. Although surgery remains…
Vitamin and Mineral Supplements: Which Patients Will Benefit?
JoAnn E. Manson, MD, DrPH Dr JoAnn Manson, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. I’d like to talk with you today about vitamin and mineral supplements. Is there a rational approach? Most of our patients are taking dietary supplements, usually vitamin or mineral supplements, and we…
