[CFrance]

Originally Posted by Barefoot

The author of "Death by Colonoscopy" has an interesting bio (obtained on her website).
It sounds like she is quite the media darling herself, kind of like Dr. Oz.

"In March 2005, Dr. Daniel was “media trained” by Joel Roberts, who dubbed her “a natural born entertainer” and a “naughty nutritionist” because of her quirky and naughty sense of humor. She has shared her gifts on the Dr. Oz Show, PBS Healing Quest, NPR’s People’s Pharmacy, ABC’s View from the Bay and Discovery Channel’s Medical Hotseat, and been quoted frequently in the media, including Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, London Observer, London Guardian, Toronto Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun, Bon Appetit, Alternative Medicine, Townsend Letter Mat und Helse (Norway), Men’s Health, E!, Glamour, and other publications.

Sounds like a Suzanne Somers type with a medical degree.

Gracie, there are a lot of us out there who are alive thanks to prescribed medicine, as you and I know. I doubt seriously that most people, faced with a life-threatening illness--due to genetics, the environment (think Love Canal), or other factors--would reject medicine.

And oh... my friend who has the genetic disorder of too much cholesterol... he did not start running until after he was diagnosed. Had a heart attack that doctors said would have killed him had he not been running. So no crazy disorder caused by over exercising, or whatever was stated by another poster, caused his heart attack.

[Bonanza]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

Search: How many lives are saved yearly by taking prescription drugs?

It's really difficult to say how many of these lives are saved
because they're all still walking around.

[Bonanza]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

Many don't even bother to read the waiver. If they do, they try to have a positive outlook, as you would, and imagine that the risk is minor. That's because everyone has been sold on the idea of getting a colonoscopy. The industry sees to it that most everyone becomes convinced.

How do you know that most people don't read the waiver? No, the risk is not minor. It is saying you could die! What's minor about that???

If everyone is "sold" on the "idea" (idea?) of having a colonoscopy, how come it is the most common type of cancer and the most easily cured if discovered early on???


How can you judge whether such books are worthwhile or not. Name one that you've read.

I agree that most of these books are written with the dollar sign in mind. Most of them remind me of when they sold various remedies from the back of a covered wagon. Same kind of thing. Quack Quack. CFrance hit the nail on the head. If it isn't a text book, it ain't a duck!

That's your conclusion without having read the book. What happens when you match up the small percentage of lives saved with the small number of lives lost?

I don't know, I haven't read the book yet. But I think I will as soon as I get a chance.

If there isn't a "real" book that can back up the book (you know -- the money-maker book), don't waste your time. Now if you tell me there is a text book that back up what a book is saying, then I'll read it. Otherwise, one would have to consider it just another form of fiction.
.


That's a good question but not one that has a simple answer. The problem is sometimes one of catching certain cancers too early which leads to unnecessary treatments. There's a book for that too: "Should I Be Tested For Cancer? Maybe Not and Here's Why"

Oh, Gawd -- what? Catching a cancer too early? Are you serious??? That book sounds like just another fairy tale.

In my opinion, he didn't provide enough information on colonoscopies. But colonoscopies would certainly be covered by the other book.

Oh, yeah -- just what everyone needs -- a book on colonoscopies. Maybe they'll name it, "Up From Behind."

[Nightengale212]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Daughter had breast cancer spread into 11 lymph nodes at age 29. She had surgery, industrial strength chemo treatments, and as much radiation as her body could take....and thank you dear loving God, she is here with us. Last week she was 48.

Bless your daughter and wish her many many more years of good health

[graciegirl]

There are tests that are important for men and women as they age, such as bone density, colonoscopy and sometimes endoscopy. This beyond the quarterly monitoring blood tests for sugar and cholesterol, and thyroid function.

Sex specific tests such as mammograms and checking for indications of testicular cancer are important too.

The OP has raised the issue of danger from a colonoscopy before and I have to think that having a colonoscopy has been recommended by his doctor.

There are dangers to everything medical. It is a calculated risk that we have some control over by continuing to be educated by the enormous amount of good and poor information on TELEVISION and by choosing the best physician we can find and following his advice and by choosing the best medical facilities too.

We further educate ourselves by anecdotal information from people we trust and by reading CURRENT medical information from accredited institutions. Of course we are using common sense in all of these matters unless we have some other issue that overrides common sense.

I think that some people have tunnel vision about current issues for a variety of reasons. They are convinced they are right and will not seriously entertain any other way to think. AND you cannot win any argument with a person with a certain type of untreated OCD.

[NotFromAroundHere]

I was just reading an unrelated article about medicine. It made a good point that nothing in medicine is black and white. Everything is gray.

Are doctors and mainstream medicine infallible? No. People make mistakes, illnesses don't respond to the selected treatment, etc.

But does that mean that everyone should become a vegan, and suddenly all illness and disease will disappear? That's just as obviously absurd.

So if somebody wants to be a vegan, and they feel that it helps them - Fine. But for the most part, telling the general population that they should stop depending on medical science won't be too productive.

On the other hand, If somebody wishes to utilize mainstream medicine, and subject themselves to every test and prescription that their doctor recommends - who am I to judge? But, telling all Vegans that they are gullible nutjobs probably won't sway them.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by Nightengale212

I beg to differ!!! I am a 10 year endometrial cancer survivor, and although my doctor thought I was nuts thinking something was seriously wrong with me because I had such minor symptoms, he agreed to do an endometrial biopsy at my insistence. A week after the biopsy was taken I received a call from my doctor informing me I had cancer. Two weeks later I was in the operating room, and by the Grace of God my aggressive grade cancer was caught at an early stage. Had my cancer been caught at a more advanced stage I would likely not be here today as late stage endometrial cancer has a poor prognosis.

Each year when I have my annual appointment with my doctor he tells me everytime he questions whether or not to do a endometrial biopsy on a woman with similar symptoms that I had he goes the biopsy route. Thus far, 5 women who my doctor prior to his experience with me likely would not have done biopsies on came back positive for endometrial cancer and had successful treatment becaue their cancesr was caught early.

You quoted me as saying the following: "The problem is sometimes one of catching certain cancers too early which leads to unnecessary treatments."

Notice I didn't say ALL cancers, I said certain cancers.

Sometimes with early detection it's difficult to be certain if a cell is actually cancerous or not. These bad looking cells sometimes clear up and go away on their own. I wasn't talking about endometrial cancer.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by Villages PL

"The problem is sometimes one of catching certain cancers too early which leads to unnecessary treatments."

You say that you weren't referring to endometrial cancer.
What type of cancer do you mean by "certain cancers"?
Do you have any statistics to back up your statement that "catching certain cancers too early leads to unnecessary treatments"?

[Villages PL]

The Book: "Should I Be Tested For Cancer? Maybe Not And Here's Why"

The author: H. Gilbert Welch is Professor in the Department of Medicine and Community and Family Medicine At Dartmouth Medical School and Co-Director of the VA Outcomes Group in the Department of Veterans affairs. White River Junction, Vermont.

Being a professor in a medical school I think it's safe to assume that he teaches medical students. What could be more mainstream than that?

I highly recommend that everyone read his book and keep it handy as a reference. He doesn't advise anyone not to get tested, he simply explains the risks and rewards of being tested.

Often, the medical community, through associations like ACS, will promote testing by giving misleading statistics. They will say things like getting tested for a certain cancer will lower risk by 20%. But they never say 20% of what? They don't want to give the absolute number because it's small.

For example: It might be said that a certain test, like the fecal occult blood test, will lower the chances of dying by a third. That sounds like a lot, right? Wrong! Actually, in a study, they had to give 1,000 50 year old men fecal occult blood tests for 10 years to avoid one death. About 1/3 of them (333) would get false positives and be sent to get a colonoscopy. If one of them were to die from the colonoscopy, the net result would be: One life saved and one life lost. A draw.

But, normally, we wouldn't get to know that. That's because the one who died wouldn't be included in cancer statistics. That's because he didn't die from cancer he died from the colonoscopy.

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by Barefoot

You say that you weren't referring to endometrial cancer.
What type of cancer do you mean by "certain cancers"?
Do you have any statistics to back up your statement that "catching certain cancers too early leads to unnecessary treatments"?

I just gave the title of the book in the previous post, along with some information about the author.

[Barefoot]

xxx

[graciegirl]

xxx

I agree with Bare. I almost always do.