• Touch me !
  • Bio
    • About...
  • Crazy stuff
  • College Crap
  • Testosterone
    • Testosterone for Geezers
    • Testosterone for twits
    • Trump Teeny T hands
    • T questions & answers
  • Old Old Newspaper articles !
    • Nishga news
    • Hijacked
    • Whiplash and Train-Neck
    • ARTICLE STUFF
  • A Tale of Two Speeches
  • A Tale of Two Goats
  • Farewell to Flatass
  • Flu Vaccines
    • Flu shots
  • Napoleon's Penis
  • Benefits of alcohol
  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea
  • Acupuncture
  • Sex before hockey ?
  • To Statin or not to Statin
    • Cardiac risk stratification
    • Coronary Artery Calcium
    • Non Fasting Cholesterol Testing
  • MEN & DEPRESSION
    • Depression & Exercise
    • Depression in men is different
    • Depression & Exercise
    • Cognitive Therapy
    • St. Johns Wort for Depression
    • Depression, Exercise, and the Internet
    • Stress
  • Amazing ASA
  • Strep Throat,Mozart &Darwin
  • Diabetes / Pissing Evil
    • Treatment of Prediabetes
    • Sugar bad for your seahorse
    • Diabetic Eating
    • Type 2 Diabetes Slideshow
    • Diabetic Neuropathy
  • Dear Penis
  • Love and Armpits
  • Internet Addiction
  • Columbus & Syphilis
  • Sunburned Vikings
  • New Patient Form
  • Vaccines & Cows
  • Coffee and stupidity
  • How Low is Low Enough ?
  • If you are male and fifty ....
  • Winter Blues
  • The SkepDoc
  • Up To Date
  • New stuff
  • Poop transplants
  • Cancer Prevention
  • BRAINY STUFF
    • Brain Attacks
    • Autism
    • Tourette's
    • Prevent Alzheimer's
    • Exercise boosts old brains
  • Weight loss - truths and myths
  • Fat Facts
  • FOODY STUFF
    • Food Allergies
    • Vitamins - Men
    • Heart & chocolate
    • Vitamins - Women
    • Chocolate for Heart Failure
    • Brain & chocolate
    • Chocolate
    • Fruity Heart Health
    • Healthy Cholesterol Eating
    • Tumeric
    • Evil Grapeffruit
    • Orphan Vitamin
    • Calcium hates men
  • Prostate Puzzles
    • If I were Tom
    • Prostate Ca Overview
    • Prostate Ca Overdiagnosis
    • Prostate Ca treatment works
    • PSA Testing
    • Prostates 101
    • Prostate Cancer
    • Prostate biopsy
    • PSA Staging
    • Balding and PSA
    • Finasteride cuts Prostate Cancer Risk
  • SEXY STUFF
    • Contraception
    • Sexy Infections
    • Infidelity #2
    • Penis practices
    • Senior Sex ?
    • Sex Drive Killers
    • How Men Love
  • ACHEY STUFF
    • Osteoarthritis 2012
    • Achey Stuff
    • ITB Stretches
    • Patellofemorol Syndrome
    • Rotator Cuff Stuff
    • Nocturnal Calf Cramps
    • Organic Steroids
    • Poppy Medicine
  • MAN STUFF
    • Prostate watching increases mets but not death
    • Best bang for your buck
    • Premature ejaculation
    • Top Ten Men's Health Risks
    • Erectile Dysfunction Slideshow
    • Ken & Barbie
    • The "Slut" Gene
  • QUIRKY STUFF
    • Jargon for Dummies
    • e-medicine
    • Cosmetic surgery
    • Medical Privacy
    • Halloween medicine
    • Healthy Honey
  • Sleep
    • Video game sleeps
    • Causes of fatigue slideshow
    • Sleep Disorders Sideshow
    • Sleep Apnea
  • Secrets of Fire and Ice
  • HYPNOSIS STUFF
    • What is Hypnosis ?
    • Hypnosis for Weight Loss
    • Questions and Answers About Hypnosis
    • Talking to the Almond - Hypnosis
    • Hypnosis and Pain Reduction
    • Hypnosis & Healing
    • Hypnosis to Stop Smoking
  • Blog
  • Mind-Body Links
  • PREVENTION STUFF
    • Flu Shots
    • Wart Virus Vaccine
    • Stopping Smoking
    • Cell-phone brain
    • The "Checkup"
    • Cancer prevents Altzheimer's
    • Avoiding Old Age
  • Breast Boats
    • Thermography extinguished
  • Blog
  • Secrets of the Placebo Effect
  • Germs Triumphant
  • FEVER STUFF
  • wo yang
  • Puberty
  • The hearts electrical system
  • Exercise for your mind
  • Yang Daxue
  • Old Fart Fitness
  • Alternative Medicine
  • In progress
  • Guidelines vs. Reality
  • Vasectomy
  • Canada Ranks Last
  • Schedules
  • Cannibis
  • Depression & Anxiety
  • Underconstruction
  • Good videos
  • Kidney stones
  • Clear fluids diet
  • Chronic pain
  • Physical Debate
  • Chronic Pain
  • Deadpool talks balls
  • Porn
  • Whiplashes & Car Crashes
  • Medical Marijuana
  • Physician Assisted Death
  • Scoping knees
  • Alcoholism
  • Balding
  • Light for Prostate
  • Homocysteine
  • Erectile Dysfunction
  • Therapeutic needling
  • Trigger Point Injections
    • Trigger point injections
  • Questions
  • Shoulder exercises
  • Sick Dick Pics
  • Chiropractic
  • Quack stuff
  • Atrial Fibrillation
  • Tired all the time
  • Antibiotic apocalypse
  • Malaria
  • Lung testing
  • Expired Drugs
  • Acupuncture
  • Science of depression
  • TMJ
Dr. Patrick Nesbitt M.D. Family Physician, Vancouver B.C. Medicine and Fun drpat@ live. . ca

Abreast in a boat - breast cancer survivor dragon boat team

Picture
Breast Cancer survivors dragon boat team
Dragon boat racing is one of the unique sports we are fortunate enough to have in British Columbia.  It can also teach us a lot about breast cancer.

  “A woman has a one in eight lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. “ This statistic is often quoted, and is part of the reason that the threat of breast cancer holds such terror for women.  But the truth is not quite that grim.  

What this really means is that by age 80 one in eight women would have had breast cancer had some time.  To put this perspective, women are still many times more likely to die of a heart attack than of breast cancer.  (Incidentally, one in eight is also the chances of males dying of prostate cancer by age 80.  Although nearly 80% of men of this age have prostate cancer - they just are not all dying of it.)  


Breast Cancer

Picture
Advanced breast cancer !
But nothing strikes fear into the heart of women like the thought of breast cancer.  Possibly this is because it is so unpredictable and affects a woman’s self image so directly.  Yet there are risk factors that can be modified to increase the odds that all women will live to a ripe old age in robust good health.  

One of the most important risk factors is the family you are born into. A woman’s risk is increased if people related to her have had breast cancer.  The more of these she has, and the more closely related they are , then the higher the chances of breast cancer.  

We have even discovered two genes that seem to cause hereditary breast cancer.  The genes are called the Breast Cancer 1 (BRCA1) and the Breast Cancer 2 (BRCA2) gene.  We can now test some women for the presence of this gene.  If it is present, the woman is almost certain to develop breast cancer. Coincidentally, the BRCA1 gene also increases the risk of prostate cancer.  (But only in men!)   


Mammograms

Picture
Mammograms (code word for 'breasts in a vice' ) are a great help to diagnose breast cancers, but are not foolproof.  Out of every eighty breast cancers diagnosed through a mammogram, another 20 are missed.  Some stats say that mammograms cost about $400,ooo for every breast cancer they pick up !

British Columbia is one of the most aggressive places in the world for advocating mammograms.  But lately the official guidelines here have been relaxed.  Because too many mammograms can cause too many "false positive" results, with all the resultant anxiety and trauma.  


Picture
Picture

Computerized mammograms

Picture
About half of these missed cancers may be due to human error in interpreting the mammograms.  But soon there may be a computerized system that double checks a woman's mammogram -- providing a backup in case the X-ray doctor misses a suspicious spot.  There is a new computerized scanner called the Imagechecker. 

 Mammograms are converted to a digital computer signal, which then allows specialized computer software to inspect the images for the most common signs of cancer.  Since machines are very good at doing repetitive tasks, once they become widespread Imagechecker's will be a great help to doctors and patients alike.  M. R. I. ( Magnetic Resonance Imaging ) is also becoming a helpful way of diagnosing breast lumps.  It has the advantage that it does not use radiation with, and it is not affected by women who have very dense breasts, which are currently difficult to interpret on a mammogram.  

Yet another new technique can help distinguish between benign and malignant lumps prior to doing a biopsy.  Britain's Imperial Cancer Research Fund has been studying a device similar to an electrocardiogram, but for diagnosing breast cancers. Electrical disturbances caused by cancerous cells can be measured at the skin surface.  Eighty percent of biopsies can be avoided by the use of this gadget.  Removing the ovaries can decrease breast-cancer risk by removing estrogen, a hormone that stimulates breast-cancer growth.  

The anti-estrogen drug Tamoxifen can also do the same thing hormonally. Currently most women in BC receive five years of Tamoxifen after their cancer surgeries to try and prevent recurrences.  Tamoxifen also can prevent the initial breast cancer if taken prophylacticly. Unfortunately it has many side effects, including doubling the chances of cancer of the uterus, and tripling a woman’s chances of having a blood clot to her lungs.  For this reason it is not suitable for all people, but only those women at significantly increased risk for breast cancer. 

A new drug just on the horizon is Raloxifene, and it may get around some of these side effects.   Diet and exercise seem to be of benefit for most medical conditions.  We're hoping this is also the case for breast cancer. The current evidence is still controversial, but a group of women who have decided to think positively call themselves  “Abreast in a Boat”.  They are a dragon boat racing team with a difference - they are all breast cancer survivors.  Yet in spite of this they train aggressively and compete internationally. Their example of courage, healthy living, and a positive attitude should be an inspiration to us all !


​Dr. Patrick  Nesbitt, Vancouver, Canada ....www.doctorpat.org........ drpat@live.ca