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 is one of the most prevalent health conditions worldwide. In industrialized countries, it is estimated that 60-70% of individuals will experience low back pain severe enough to affect their work and quality of life. What causes aches and pains in the lower back? According to the World Health Organization, “Though several risk […] CONTINUE
Marrow is a “metastatic niche” Prostate cancer (PCa) and breast cancer (BCa) have some key features in common: When found early and properly treated, survival rates for each are very high Prostate and breast tumors tend to be hormone dependent (androgens for prostate, estrogen for breast) If treatment of the local tumor fails, both cancers […] CONTINUE
Prostate cancer bone metastasis Roughly 11-12% of men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer (PCa) in their lifetime. Upwards of 20% of treated patients will eventually experience recurrence. One out of 41 PCa patients will die from the disease, since PCa has the ability to metastasize (spread) to distant organs and skeletal sites. In fact, […] CONTINUE
From a business standpoint, lower back pain costs a lot! It is the second most common cause of adult disability in the U.S., and estimates suggest that 149 million days of work per year are lost due to lower back pain.1 Some back-related absenteeism from work stems from on-the-job injuries. This leads to workers comp […] CONTINUE
If you enjoy movies, you probably have a favorite category. You may prefer drama, suspense, action, romance, comedy, or sci-fi. Some people really go for documentaries. However, for pure entertainment, there’s nothing like a 12-minute educational presentation! (Okay, I’m partly joking.) Seriously, though, some lecturers are better at capturing audience attention than others, even when […] CONTINUE
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
