Tag Archives: Prostate Cancer
Prostate Cancer and the Federal Reserve
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 15th March 2023The two subjects of the above title seem to have little in common. But they are both examples of action unmoored from knowledge. If the scientific foundation of medicine is compared to that of economics, specifically the actions of the world’s central banks, the practitioners of the former are certainly closer to the dictates of…
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Prostate Cancer Screening Recommendations Change Yet Again
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th October 2019The US Preventive Services Task Force is as fickle an organization as can be found in medicine. Consider their position about prostate cancer it seems to change more often than an infant’s diaper. Their latest pronunciamento on the subject is summarized below. Their full statement is at the end of this piece. Part of the…
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Materia Medica
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 26th May 2018Two new studies that reinforce old points. The first is from the JAMA (Effect of a Low-Intensity PSA-Based Screening Intervention on Prostate Cancer Mortality ): Question What is the effect of an invitation to a single prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening on prostate cancer detection and median 10-year prostate cancer mortality? Findings In this randomized clinical trial comparing men aged…
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Warren Buffett’s Prostate Cancer
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th May 2012Warren Buffett was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. The 81 year old investor released the following statement about his disease: To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway: This is to let you know that I have been diagnosed with stage I prostate cancer. The good news is that I’ve been told by my doctors that my condition is not…
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Prostate Cancer Redux – Again
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 17th March 2012Even Scientific American has gotten into the act. An article by Harvard oncologist Marc B Garnick says, “Evidence shows that screening [for prostate cancer] does more harm than good.” Go here for an interview with Dr Garnick. Why this great awakening about the unsatisfactory effects of PSA screening? It’s the result of reality seepage and the…
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Treatment of Prostate Cancer
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th May 2011The treatment of prostate cancer has been uncertain for some time. A paper in the May 5th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine examines two approaches to the disease – watchful waiting versus radical prostatectomy. A Scandinavian group observed 695 men with early prostate cancer for 15 years. They conclude that Radical prostatectomy was…
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Cancer Society Stops Urging Doctors to Offer PSA Test
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 4th March 2010The American Cancer Society has finally joined just about every other organization that makes screening recommendations. It now warns about the limitations of the PSA test for prostate cancer. This subject has been covered repeatedly here so I won’t repeat myself. The problem is that PSA testing yields many false positives and identifies “cancers” that…
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PSA Screening
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 9th October 2009Below is an excerpt from an email sent out a few days ago by the American College of Physicians. It tells doctors that they should discuss the implications of PSA screening before offering the test to their patients. Why they are so far behind the curve is hard to understand. Here’s what I said on…
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Screening for Prostate Cancer – Yet Again
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 20th March 2009It seems to be impossible to drive a stake through the heart of this issue. The current New England Journal of Medicine has two more studies and an editorial on the subject. One (Mortality Results from a Randomized Prostate-Cancer Screening Trial) concludes “that prostate-cancer screening provided no reduction in death rates at 7 years and…
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Prostate Cancer Screening
Written by Neil Kurtzman | 29th December 2007A few weeks ago the local NBC affiliate promoted an area wide program of free prostate cancer screening. PSA (prostate specific antigen) testing was offered by the city’s two largest medical centers at no charge to all comers. So great was the zeal displayed by the commentators that I’m sure women would have been tested…
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