Task Force Calls Routine Prostate Cancer Tests Unnecessary

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When it comes to middle age, routine prostate cancer screening tests are to men what mammograms are to women. However, a federal task force believes administering the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test on a routine basis to healthy middle-aged men is a waste of time.

According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the PSA test might cause more harm than good. The task force is an independent group authorized by Congress in 1984 and supported by the U.S. Department of Human Services. Its 16 volunteer members represent various medical fields. Its job: improving the health of Americans by making recommendations about clinical preventive services like screenings, medications, and counseling.

The task force says that prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed non-skin cancer in U.S. men. The lifetime risk of a diagnosis is an estimated 15.9 percent. The likelihood of actually dying of this type of cancer is less than 3 percent, and the disease is rare before age 50. Around 70 percent of the deaths attributed to it occur in men older than 75.

The USPSTF findings suggest that routine PSA testing would help save the life of just one man out of 1,000. According to the Washington Post, the recommendation concludes that for every patient saved by a PSA test, one will develop a serious blood clot, and two will experience heart attacks. Another 40 will experience impotence or incontinence after unnecessary treatment. However, patients with urinary symptoms such as pain or trouble urinating might benefit from the screening, the USPSTF concluded. Urologists expressed a very negative reaction to the recommendations.

A PSA test doesn't actually detect cancer. It finds a protein manufactured by the prostate. A number of benign prostate problems can cause elevated numbers of protein. This might mean a false positive leading to biopsies and other testing.

Most doctors don't rely solely on a PSA test when a patient has symptoms that might point to prostate cancer. A man who has reached his forties might also experience a digital rectal exam, ultrasound, and/or a transrectal biopsy of the prostate, says the Mayo Clinic.

Results of a PSA test with elevated numbers struck home last year. A family member with a history of low numbers went in for another routine screening. The PSA numbers had increased significantly but were still within normal range. Told to return in six months, he showed up, non-symptomatic, for the second blood test on schedule. The numbers were a bit higher but still within normal range.

Two weeks later, he underwent outpatient biopsies. He likened the procedure to a dozen cookie cutters powered by a pneumatic drill. He bled for days and experienced pain for weeks. There was no cancer. He has no plans to undergo additional routine prostate cancer screening.

Vonda J. Sines has published thousands of print and online articles. She specializes in health and medical topics, with a particular interest in diseases and other conditions that affect quality of life.

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Anti Wrinkle Cream and Your Skincare Routine

May 19, 2012 by admin

Incorporating an anti wrinkle cream into your skincare routine is a very important thing to do. Anti aging products can help you look your best. And we all want to look our best and there is nothing wrong with that. Taking care of ourselves both inside and out is essential. We all get wrinkles eventually, but you can age gracefully. Finding a good routine can be difficult though, with all of the products out there. Read on to find out a few tips for a good anti aging wrinkle cream and routine.

When do you start using anti aging products? You can start using gentle anti aging products when you are in your mid twenties, which will help prevent wrinkles from forming. Start slowly with the more gentle products though, and then as you age you can move on to stronger skincare products. Even if you did not start early does not mean that you cannot help to smooth those lines now.

It is all about having the right anti wrinkle cream and a good anti aging skincare routine overall.

The first thing you should think about when you are starting a new anti aging routine is sunscreen. Sunscreen is actually the best anti aging wrinkle product. The sun’s rays are very harsh on the skin and you need protection. Make sure you buy a broad spectrum UVB/UVA sunscreen. Read the active ingredients for high UVA protection. The UVA rays are the rays that causes the wrinkles. UVB is for the sunburn, which is what the SPF number protects you against. Be sure to apply it everyday, rain or shine, in order to protect your skin from wrinkles and age spots.

Make sure you have a gentle cleanser. The skin becomes drier as it ages, so you may need to try a new cleanser. You do not really need a toner, but if you want one, then make sure it is a gentle alcohol free one. You may need an additional regular moisturizer as well. The anti wrinkle cream may not be as moisturizing as you need. A simple inexpensive moisturizer will work just fine, since all you need is moisture. The fancy ingredients that take away the wrinkles belong in the anti aging wrinkle cream treatment.

You have to read the ingredients. The ingredients are the only thing that will tell you whether an anti wrinkle cream will work or not. Make sure all of the good ingredients are high up on the list, because the higher the more effective the ingredients will be. Read reviews and start testing out the products.

Anti Aging

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Doctors Urge Routine Skin Screenings

HealthDay – 1 hr 55 mins ago SUNDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- Adults and children should be screened routinely for changes in the appearance of their skin, experts advise.

Mount Sinai Medical Center researchers point out that regular visits to the dermatologist are just as important as trips to the dentist because they can provide clues as to what's going on outside as well as inside the body.

One in five Americans will develop some form of skin cancer during their lifetime, the Mount Sinai doctors cautioned. Although skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancer, it's also one of the most preventable, they noted in a center news release.

In honor of Skin Cancer Awareness Month and Melanoma Day on Monday, May 7, the experts offered the following advice on skin cancer prevention:

Wear sunblock. Almost half of all UV exposure occurs between the ages of 19 and 40 years. Sunblock should be applied to the body, around the eyes, lips, ears and feet everyday year-round. Dermatologists can recommend sunscreen for infants and sensitive areas, such as the eyelids or face. Do not sunbathe. It may take between 10 and 20 years for the damage to show up, but the sun's rays dissolve the collagen and elastin in your skin. Perform monthly self-checks. Monitor your brown spots, such as moles and freckles. If you have many of these spots, consult your dermatologist about total body photography. This preventative measure can help closely track the appearance of your spots to determine if they've changed over time. Follow the ABCDEs. Consult a dermatologist if a mole has any of the following: Asymmetry (one side is different from the other); Border irregularity; Color variation (one area is a different shade or color than another); Diameter equal to or larger than a pencil eraser; Elevation (it is raised or has an uneven surface)

Sunscreens will have new U.S. Food and Drug Administration-mandated labels beginning June 18, the experts noted. So, when looking for sunscreen, be sure its label has the following:

Provides "broad-spectrum protection," or UVA as well as UVB coverage measured by the given sun-protection factor (SPF) value. "SPF 30" (or higher). Being protected by SPF 30 means it will take 30 minutes of sun exposure to get the same amount of UV light penetration as you would get in just one minute with unprotected skin. The Mount Sinai specialists noted anything lower than SPF 30 will have the following label warning: "Spending time in the sun increases your risk of skin cancer and early skin aging. This product has been shown only to prevent sunburn, not skin cancer or early skin aging." "Water-resistant." The new FDA rules prohibit any sunscreen from being labeled as "waterproof." Those marked "water-resistant" have been shown to pass a standard 40- or 80-minute test of water exposure followed by UV testing.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about skin cancer.

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Are Routine MRI and Ultrasound Breast Cancer Screenings Necessary?

This story comes from the Yahoo! Contributor Network, where individuals publish their unique perspectives on some of the world’s most popular websites.Do you have a story to tell? Become a Yahoo! contributor COMMENTARY

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Sensitive Skin Care Routine

April 9, 2012 by admin

Sensitive skin can be a very annoying condition to have to live with. Even the smallest things can lead to severe irritation of the skin. Even basic skin care products like moisturizers cause a severe sting and can leave behind nasty rashes. Shaving or otherwise removing is pretty much impossible without causing major side effects. Even just being outdoors at the wrong time or without the proper protection can lead to severe problems. People suffering form sensitive skin must come up with an effective routine to ensure that their skin stays healthy.

The first step in building a good skin care routine is to switch out the products that you use. There are various soaps and other skin care products that are formulated specially for people with this type of skin. The fewer ingredients that a product has the better it will be for your skin. If there are few ingredients, then there’s a lower chance of harsh chemicals that will inflame the skin.

Soaps and other products that are fragrant or have deodorizing properties will often cause irritation.

If you check the labels of the products you buy, you may see some that specifically state that they are made for skin type. These products are usually a good bet, but you should check the ingredient label as well just to be sure.

If you use makeup and have sensitive skin, you must also take precautions. Using any sort waterproof cosmetics is bad because they’ll require a solvent that will be harsh on your skin to remove. Also, earth-toned make up, especially eye shadow, is generally less irritating to the skin than bright colored make up. The “less ingredients” rule also applies here.

It’s important for those with this skin type to regularly use moisturizers.

Sensitive skin is naturally vulnerable to abrasion; a good moisturizer provides a safeguard against that. There are many natural moisturizers designed with this type of skin in mind. Remember to stay away from moisturizers with a strong fragrance or a lot of strange ingredients.

If you can find a moisturizer with natural exfoliating properties, that can also be beneficial for people with sensitive skin. Just be sure to avoid products that exfoliate via small grains in the product.

If you have sensitive skin, then you want to completely avoid using toners in your skin care regimen. For the most part, toner can simply be replaced by the liberal use of water. Since the actual value of toner is somewhat debated in general skin care, there’s no reason to risk using it if you have sensitive skin. The detriments far outweigh the benefits.

There’s another part of a that actually has nothing to do with what you put on your skin. It is believed that a lack of certain B-complex vitamins, including B-6, B-12, niacin and riboflavin can cause sensitive skin. Eating more foods such as whole grains, fish, eggs, and low-fat dairy products can help boost your B-complex levels and help relieve sensitive skin. Try adding some more of those foods to your diet and see if you get any relief.

Skin Care

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The Perfect Abs Workout Routine to Fit A Person

Easy Abs Workout And Dieting Programs for Better Results If you have been looking for different ways on how to lose weight and have a nicer stomach, your wait is over. There are a lot of ways that people take these days. However, the people who have made it to a success made sure that they make certain changes… By: Charles4 in  Health and Fitness  >  Exercise   Apr 04, 2012   0   Likes: 0

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Routine Mammography May Lead to Overdiagnosis: Study

HealthDay – 21 mins ago MONDAY, April 2 (HealthDay News) -- As many as one-quarter of breast cancers identified through routine mammography are "overdiagnosed," according to a new study that could reignite the debate about screening guidelines.

Overdiagnosis refers to cancers that are too small to be detected by means other than a mammogram and would not become lethal in a woman's lifetime.

"Overdiagnosis and unnecessary treatment of nonfatal cancer creates a substantial ethical and clinical dilemma and may cast doubt on whether mammography screening programs should exist," said lead author Dr. Mette Kalager, a researcher at the Telemark Hospital in Norway and a visiting scientist at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. "This dilemma can be reduced only when potentially fatal cancer that requires early detection and treatment can be reliably identified."

Until then, Kalager said, "women eligible for screening need to be comprehensively informed about the risk for overdiagnosis."

But other experts familiar with the study, which is published in the April 3 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, said no one can accurately determine which tumors will and will not progress.

When and how often a woman should have mammography -- an X-ray of the breast -- was widely debated after the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued new recommendations in 2009. The task force suggests that women aged 50 to 74 at average risk have a mammogram every two years. It recommends that women 40 to 49 at average risk discuss the pros and cons of screening with their doctors and decide on an individual basis when and if to start in their 40s.

Other organizations, including the American Cancer Society, recommend women begin mammogram screenings at 40 and repeat them annually.

The task force reasoned that between ages 40 and 50, the risk of anxiety-provoking false positive results outweighed the benefits gained from routine screening.

In the current study, Kalager analyzed data from nearly 40,000 Norwegian women with invasive breast cancer, about 8,000 of whom were diagnosed after mammography screening was introduced county by county starting in 1996. The information was gathered through the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program and included women aged 50 through 69. The researchers compared the number of breast cancers in women in counties offering the screening with those in counties not offering it.

The study authors theorized that if mammogram screening helps, it would lead to a decrease in late-stage breast cancers.

But that was not found. Instead, the investigators found that from 1996 to 2005, the incidence of invasive breast cancer increased 18 to 25 percent among the age groups invited to screenings.

The researchers estimated that from 15 to 25 percent of the women were overdiagnosed. The estimates varied depending on the length of follow-up.

The study didn't include ductal carcinoma in situ, an early form of breast cancer. Kalager said that would have boosted the percent of overdiagnosed women higher, as she said the lifetime risk of progressing from this early stage to invasive cancer is unknown, but probably is less than 50 percent.

Overdiagnosis probably occurs more often in the United States than in Norway because U.S. women generally start screening at 40, whereas 50 is the standard start time for Norwegian women, according to an accompanying journal editorial.

"For every life you prevent from breast cancer death, you are harming six to 10 women with overdiagnosis," Kalager said. Women who decide to go for screening, she said, have to accept these possible harms.

However, Kalager conceded that some guesswork is involved. "We cannot distinguish the lethal cancers from the slow or non-progressive cancers, so we do not know for sure," she noted.

Once a woman is diagnosed, she said, she would recommend treatment unless the woman is part of a clinical study.

Two experts not involved in the study took issue with the findings.

"It's too early to discuss the concept of overdiagnosis because science can't accurately predict which tumors are harmless from the ones that are more aggressive or deadly," said Dr. Kristin Byrne, chief of breast imaging at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

Byrne's advice to 40-plus women? "Don't stop getting yearly mammograms."

Judith Malmgren, affiliated professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine in Seattle, also objected to the authors' conclusions.

"I don't like the term overdiagnosis," Malmgren said. "A clinician would be hard-pressed to call a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer overdiagnosis."

Malmgren also finds the study methods flawed. For instance, she said, comparing screened and unscreened women would have been better than conducting a county to county comparison.

More information

To learn more about mammograms, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

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