Donna Jackson Nakazawa
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 Ahmet Hoke, a well-known neurologist at Johns Hopkins, who ordered biopsies in which pencil-eraser-deep tissue samples were taken from my thighs. Hoke, a Middle Eastern-born physician who serves as the director of the Division of Neuromuscular Diseases at Johns Hopkins, discussed my test results with me a few days later. My biopsies showed that I had suffered damage to my small-fiber sensory nerves, the tiny nerves that tell us whether what we touch is soft or rough, hot or cold. The disease, known as small-fiber sensory neuropathy, was, he elaborated, "probably the result of a recent virus. |
Benjamin H. Natelson, M.D.
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 So I did minor salivary gland biopsies (also known as lip biopsies) on a group of my patients who complained of severe fatigue and achiness as well as on a group of healthy comparison people. Since the bottom line for diagnosis of Sjogren's Disease is evidence of immune cell destruction of minor salivary glands, I took that as the critical end result.
The results were very important and should bolster the confidence of anyone who's ever been told that the chronic fatigue she feels was all in her head. |
Ann M. Coulston and Carol J. Boushey
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 Before the advent of fiberoptic and chip technology for endoscopes, biopsies of the jejunum were obtained using a Crosby spring-loaded capsule, passed orally under fluoroscopic guidance. Most biopsies are performed today using a flexible endoscope, passed orally under either conscious sedation or general anesthesia. This has the advantages of allowing direct visualization of the mucosa with a camera to look for changes suggestive of small bowel damage, such as notching or scalloping of the small bowel folds or lymphonodular hyperplasia [72]. |
Bill Sardi
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 PSA of 4-10. [Annual Review Medicine 53: 355-68, 2002]
But all this information is ready to be discarded. Here's why.
PSA invalid
Once a person has consented to PSA testing, he enters a diagnosis mill that can drag him into further testing, biopsies and other invasive treatments, most of which are unnecessary.
It is difficult to imagine that the entire care of prostate cancer is misdirected. But that is exactly what doctors at the Department of Urology at Stanford University School of Medicine report. The Stanford doctors explain how PSA testing deceived the medical profession. |
Donna Jackson Nakazawa
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| Ros-well oncologists had performed lung, lymph node, bronchial, and bone-marrow biopsies on LaShekia Chatman and had come up empty-handed. They asked Alan Baer, a well-known local rheuma-tologist, to consult in her case, and gave the Chatmans a referral. Before the Chatmans could call Baer's office to request an appointment, Alan Baer phoned Renita to say that he had heard of LaShekia's struggle and was hoping that he might be able to help her.
Would they like to come in and see him? It was extraordinary for a doctor to reach out into this economically sidelined community. |
| My biopsies showed that I had suffered damage to my small-fiber sensory nerves, the tiny nerves that tell us whether what we touch is soft or rough, hot or cold. The disease, known as small-fiber sensory neuropathy, was, he elaborated, "probably the result of a recent virus."
"How does a virus attack my nerves?" I wanted to know.
"An autoimmune reaction," he said. "Most likely a protein on the surface of a molecule of the virus you had looks like a protein on the surface of the molecules of your nerve tissue. |
| Hoke reassured me that, in my case, my biopsies showed that something quite hopeful had occurred. In some patients with small-fiber sensory neuropathy, the nerves, after degenerating, regenerate to some degree. My sense that my skin had fallen asleep and only partially reawakened was more accurate than I could have known.
Small-fiber sensory neuropathy would turn out to be the least distressing of the three autoimmune reactions I would experience over the next six years—each of which Ahmet Hoke would tie back to infections I'd had a month or so prior to the episode. |
Andreas Moritz
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 Recent evidence suggests that a large number of these biopsies are completely unnecessary. In fact, they may be life-endangering. Each year, 98,000 people die in the U.S. because of medical testing errors, PSA tests included.
Another serious problem with PSA tests is that they are notoriously unreliable. In a 2003 study undertaken by the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, researchers found that half of the men found to have PSA levels high enough to be recommended for a biopsy had follow-up tests with normal PSA levels. |
| The women undergo many unnecessary biopsies and an unknown number of mastectomies (breast amputations). Many of the women suffer unnecessarily from depression, desperation, and fear of dying as a result of the diagnosis. In the United States, mastectomies have skyrocketed since mammography became the most popular "preventive" method for diagnosing breast cancer.
The medical establishment is very nervous that the truth about the mammogram technology is finally beginning to surface. After all, it is a huge moneymaker. Peter Gotzsche, M.D. |
Devra Davis
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 What about the terror that women go through as they wait for further testing and biopsies of suspicious growths, most of which turn out to be nothing? What are the chances of mistakes being made? These questions were not easily asked at the time. If they had been, the world might look rather different.
Strax understood that a revolution in public attitudes was needed for mammography screening to work. A book he published in 1974 sent a welcome message—Early Detection: Breast Cancer Is Curable. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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 Decreased substance P levels in rectal biopsies from patients with slow transit constipation. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 1996 Dec;8(12): 1207-1211.
Tzeng SH, Ko WC, Ko FN, Teng CM, Inhibition of platelet aggregation by some flavonoids. In: Thromobosis Res 64:91. 1991.
Vazquez B, Avila G, Segura D, Escalante B, Anti-inflammatory activity of extracts from Aloe vera gel. J Ethnopharmacol Dec;55(l):69-75. 1996
Vinson JA, Kharrat H, Andreoli L. Effect of Aloe vera preparations on the human bioavailability of vitamins C and E. Phytomedicine 12(10):760, 765. 2005. |
Mehmet C. Oz., M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.
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 They may also use an ultrasound, as well as biopsies to diagnose inflammation and /or cancer. Urologists may also do tests that measure such things as urinary flow rates and other urinary symptoms associated with prostate conditions.
Now, the primary way to measure prostate health (along with the digital rectal exam) is through a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. This test measures inflammation in the prostate. |
Bill Sardi
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| PSA invalid
Once a person has consented to PSA testing, he enters a diagnosis mill that can drag him into further testing, biopsies and other invasive treatments, most of which are unnecessary.
It is difficult to imagine that the entire care of prostate cancer is misdirected. But that is exactly what doctors at the Department of Urology at Stanford University School of Medicine report. The Stanford doctors explain how PSA testing deceived the medical profession. |
| Journal Urology 151: 1571-74, 1994]
As convincing as they are alleged to be, there are some serious drawbacks to biopsies. The chance of finding a "minimal" prostate tumor in a man with no other symptoms is substantial. [Canadian Journal Urology 12: 16-20S, 2005] Even after an initial biopsy finds a high-grade, pre-cancer-
What Happens to Prostate Cancer Mortality Rates in the U.K., where PSA Screening Is Rare?
1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 Year
The second biopsy
Almost invariably, more tumors are found upon second biopsy of the prostate. |
Shannon Brownlee
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 That's because radiologists often can't tell the difference between an incidentaloma and a potentially dangerous tumor just by looking at it, and that means that when a scan finds something positive, the patient has to be worked up, with more tests, biopsies, and sometimes even surgery. One study of twelve hundred whole-body scans found that 87 percent picked up an abnormal finding; 40 percent of those required follow-up tests. Only a tiny, tiny fraction, less than 1 percent, turned out to be a tumor.
In 2002, Dr. |
Ray D. Strand
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 They performed a colonoscopy the next day and took several biopsies of his small bowel and colon.
What his parents saw during the procedure on the video display made them stare in disbelief. Later they described to me how the entire lining of Mark's bowel looked like a cobblestone street. The Loma Linda physicians diagnosed Mark as having an autoimmune disorder called Crohn's disease, as well as a secondary bacterial infection called C. difficile.
Mark was in severe pain and discomfort, as you might imagine—a pretty tough haul for a kid! |
Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea
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 The best designed studies, which combine digital examination and PSA, show that routine testing leads to needle biopsies on about 18% of the screened population.
False positives are not only a frequent result, but also an expensive one as well. A study of managed care followed routine screenings for prostate, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer. Of 1087 patients, 43% had at least one false positive. Of those, 83% received follow-up care—which was quite expensive, averaging $1,024 for women, and $1,171 for men. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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 Results of endometrial biopsies were obtained at baseline, 30 months, and five years after the beginning of the treatment. At the five-year endpoint, 70 percent of the women on the 150 mg of soy isoflavones had atrophic tissue versus 81 percent who received the placebo. After five years, the incidence of endometrial hyperplasia was significantly higher in the isoflavone-treated group, 3.37 percent versus 0 percent. There were five cases of simple hyperplasia and one of complex hyperplasia. No cases of atypical hyperplasia or endometrial cancer occurred during the five years. |
John J. Ratey, MD
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 The researchers compared muscle biopsies from before and after the session, and they also saw that the exercised fibers produced proteins important for fat synthesis. They don't know how long the effect lasts, but the findings underscore how even a minor amount of activity sparks a positive domino effect.
When you place a demand on your body and your muscles sense the need for more fuel, all sorts of good things happen. |
Benjamin H. Natelson, M.D.
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| Because doctors do not often send their patients for these biopsies and because most patients with complaints of dry eyes and dry mouth do not have Sjogren's antibodies, Sjogren's Syndrome is much more commonly diagnosed than Sjogren's Disease.
Over time, I realized that many of my patients with chronic fatigue were also complaining of dry eyes and dry mouth. I wondered whether they might have Sjogren's Disease, even though their blood tests didn't show Sjogren's antibodies. |
Bottom Line Health
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| Papillary lesions, which account for 1% to 3% of all lesions sampled by core needle biopsies, are benign growths in the duct of the breast. Current treatment for these lesions includes radiographic follow-up and surgical removal, depending on each doctor's recommendation.
While these lesions may be diagnosed as benign, they can harbor adjacent atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)—cancerous cells that are confined to the lining of the milk ducts. Left untreated, both of these conditions put a woman at an increased risk for cancer in the future. |
| Of the 43 biopsies that were performed, 36 (84%) of the lesions were surgically removed and seven (16%) received long-term imaging follow-up.
As a result of surgical removal of the lesion and laboratory follow-up, the diagnoses of nine of the 42 patients (21.4%) were changed to ADH or DCIS. That percentage is much higher than what has been reported in previous research.
"This is one of the largest series and shows statistically significant findings. The results of our study revealed a considerable upgrade rate to either ADH or DCIS," Mercado says. |
Steven V. Joyal
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 A study published in 2007 by the Buck Institute of Age Research compared muscle biopsies from healthy older and younger adults before and after a six-month strength-training program. Before training began, the older adults were 59 percent weaker than their younger counterparts, but after training, the difference was only 38 percent. One remarkable finding was that strength training had a direct impact on gene expression by partially reducing its negative impact skeletal muscle weakness and impairment associated with aging. |
Devra Davis
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| Many of them would have gone through biopsies. Nearly all of them would have been just fine.
Susan Love, the famed breast surgeon, and I had written a commentary on all this in the Journal of the American Medical Association. We explained that the breasts of women who are still menstruating regularly contain things that can be hard to interpret. The younger the breast, the more dense it looks on x-ray. But x-rays go right through older, fatty breasts. Fat is radiolucent, showing up as dark black on x-ray images. |
Bottom Line Health
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| Ballentine Carter, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, cautions that the calculator's current design fails to distinguish between slow-growing cancers and more life-threatening varieties, which, he says, could lead to a rash of unnecessary biopsies.
Robert A. Smith, director of cancer screening at the American Cancer Society, says the new model has its pros and cons. "It does not distinguish between significant and not-significant disease. The calculator provides some help but not enough," he says. |
Dr Ron Roberts
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 Iridology is often liked by people who are uneasy with the blood tests, X-rays, swabs and biopsies of conventional medicine.
MACROBIOTICS
A diet of vegetables and whole grains based on using a balance of yin and yang foods to complement the yin and yang in a person's condition (see page 201).
MUSIC AND SOUND THERAPY
Organs and cells in the body are thought by followers of this therapy to have natural resonance, and to respond well to sounds that vibrate in harmony with it. Thus vibrations and rhythmic breathing can alter electrical brain wave patterns. |
Tori Hudson, N.D.
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| Colposcopy (magnification) and cervical biopsies are the specific diagnostic methods for evaluation. Pap smears are not diagnostic; they are screening tests. When your licensed practitioner (naturopathic doctor, medical doctor, osteopathic doctor, nurse-practitioner, or physician's assistant) recommends that you need a colposcopy and biopsy, this is good advice. They are not recommending treatment; they are recommending accurate diagnosis. |
| Endometrial pipelle biopsies can determine the presence of endometrial hyperplasia, uterine cancer, infection (endometritis), a disrupted hormonal effect, a lack of estrogen as is seen in postmenopausal women, or a uterine polyp.
If an endometrial biopsy is done at the right time, it can also be used to verify ovulation. If the biopsy shows that the endometrium has proliferated, when the woman's next bleeding episode occurs within 10 to 12 days, it generally indicates a lack of ovulation. |
| The results showed significant improvement or normalization of Pap smears and biopsies at the end of the treatment period.56
In patients with folic acid deficiency, changes in the cells of the cervix (called megaloblastic abnormalities) and low blood levels of folic acid have been associated with a moderately increased risk of invasive cervical cancer.57,58 Deficiency has been observed more often in women who are taking oral contraceptives. |
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