A Landmark Study on Palliation of Bone Mets PainWhen a primary cancer such as cancer of the breast, prostate or lung spreads to the bone (bone mets), treatment strategies become complex. In today’s world of oncology, better systemic chemotherapies can add months and even years to a patient’s life; in addition, local cancer control of […] KEEP READING
What You Should Know About CartilageOne of the most fascinating components of the human body is cartilage, an incredibly versatile material. Trying to describe cartilage is like the six blind men who try to figure out what an elephant is: “The elephant is like a pillar,” said the man who touched his leg. “Oh no! […] KEEP READING
How Stress Makes Essential Tremor WorseEssential tremor (ET) is the most common form of uncontrollable rhythmic shaking, though it is sometimes misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease. The involuntary trembling results from abnormal communication between certain areas of the brain (cerebellum, thalamus, and brain stem). It is estimated that 10 million Americans suffer from ET, though many […] KEEP READING
Lower back pain can become a chronic (ongoing) problem, affecting all aspects of a person’s day. In fact, it’s one of the leading causes of missing work. It is estimated that 5-15% of cases are due to worn out cartilage of the small spinal joints called facet joints. When cartilage becomes thin, or altogether worn […] CONTINUE
As if a diagnosis of breast cancer (BCa) wasn’t hard enough, learning that the disease had spread to the bone (BCa bone mets) is especially scary. About 15-20% of BCa patients will have bone mets, which have to occur in order to be identified. By that time, there are many effective approaches for lesion control […] CONTINUE
Bone basics Most of us don’t think very often about our bones until something goes wrong. Instead, we pay attention to daily maintenance of outer aspects that are changeable. For example, we care about how nice our hair looks, we want our skin to glow with health, and we worry if our overall appearance is […] CONTINUE
“De novo” Stage IV breast cancer diagnosis Roughly 6-10% of women initially diagnosed with breast cancer (BCa) are found to have Stage IV disease. This means that the cancer has already spread to distant sites, e.g. bone or liver. This is called de novo Stage IV breast cancer. “De novo,” a Latin term, literally means […] CONTINUE
“Even fictional characters sometimes receive unwarranted medical opinions. Doctors have diagnosed Ebenezer Scrooge with OCD, Sherlock Holmes with autism, and Darth Vader with borderline personality disorder.” – Sam Kean Diagnosis means identifying what is behind a person’s symptoms. The word diagnosis goes back to ancient Greece. The prefix dia means “apart” and the root […] CONTINUE
How breast cancer spreads A diagnosis of breast cancer starts a chain of research, further tests, and anxiety. Although mortality rates have gradually been dropping, an understandable worry is the fear of the disease having spread microscopically at the time of diagnosis. Thankfully, screening programs work, and most breast cancer is detected early when it […] CONTINUE
Prostate cancer bone metastasis In the U.S., prostate cancer (PCa) is the third leading cause of cancer death among men. It is estimated that about 1 out of 8 men will be diagnosed with PCa, and nearly one in 40 will die from it. If left untreated, prostate cancer tumors will grow, become more aggressive, […] CONTINUE
What is melanoma? Melanoma is a skin cancer, though it also rarely arises in other locations such as the eyes. Of the three types of skin cancer (basal cell, squamous cell, melanoma), melanoma is the most aggressive and deadly even though it accounts for only 3-5% of skin cancers. It is possible to lower the […] CONTINUE
