Rabbit Season

[Guest guest]

" HSI - Jenny Thompson " <HSIResearch

 

HSI e-Alert - Rabbit Season

Wed, 13 Apr 2005 08:33:30 -0400

HSI e-Alert - Rabbit Season

 

Health Sciences Institute e-Alert

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April 13, 2005

 

Dear Reader,

 

If you use a shotgun to keep rabbits out of your vegetable garden,

you'll probably take care of the rabbit problem if you don't mind

riddling your vegetables with buckshot.

 

Sound absurd? It is. But it's even more absurd when a shotgun solution

is applied to health problems.

 

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Risky business

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Radiation treatment is a common form of prostate cancer therapy. But

those who undergo external-beam radiation may be creating more health

problems than they solve.

 

In the April 2005 issue of the journal Gastroenterology, researchers

from the University of Minnesota (UM) report on a study examining the

secondary effects of external-beam radiation for localized prostate

cancer. The UM team used data from the medical records of more than

85,000 men with prostate cancer who participated in the SEER

(Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results) Program, an ongoing data

collection project maintained by the National Cancer Institute.

 

About 30,500 of the men received radiation treatment between 1973 and

1994. When researchers compared the rates of subsequent colorectal

cancer cases to the two groups (men who received radiation and men who

did not), risk of developing colorectal cancer was 70 percent higher

for men in the radiation group.

 

The UM researchers noted that although today's radiology methods are

more advanced than they were in 1994, parts of the rectum are still

exposed when external beam radiation is used. Their recommendation:

When prostate cancer is treated with radiation, patients should be

closely monitored for colorectal cancer.

 

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Now the good news

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In previous e-Alerts I've noted these two key prostate cancer facts:

1) Most prostate cancer patients are diagnosed after the age of 60,

and 2) In most cases, prostate cancer grows so slowly that men who

develop the cancer are more likely to die of other causes.

 

That second point is confirmed by a new study that appeared in the

January 2005 issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

 

Two researchers at the German Center for Research on Aging used the

SEER database to assess the five- and 10-year survival rates for more

than 183,000 men with prostate cancer. They found that 99 percent of

the men survived for at least five years, and 95 percent survived for

at least 10 years. Furthermore, when these rates were compared to

all-cause-mortality in men of the same age in the general population,

the survival rates were nearly the same.

 

So treatment is a dilemma. Should radiation be used, increasing the

risk of colorectal cancer? Should the prostate be removed, increasing

the risk of incontinence and impotence?

 

These questions can only be answered on a case-by-case basis, but it

underlines the importance of proceeding with caution or getting a

second opinion when a doctor recommends a therapy that may have dire

consequences.

 

As the University of Minnesota researchers noted in their study,

prostate cancer is common and survivorship is likely, so understanding

the long-term effects of any treatment is particularly important.

 

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....and another thing

 

When we heard the sad news last week that ABC News anchor Peter

Jennings has begun a battle with lung cancer, it reminded me of this

recent announcement from the American Cancer Society (ACS): More than

60 percent of all cancer deaths could be avoided if everyone would do

these four things:

 

1) Stop smoking

2) Exercise more

3) Eat healthier

4) Get screened for cancer

 

Easier said than done, right?

 

Fortunately, smoking is on the decline in the U.S. And according to

Michael Thun, M.D., the head of epidemiology for ACS, the complete

elimination of tobacco use would cut the national cancer death rate in

half.

 

This is not a surprising statistic, considering all we've learned

about smoking hazards in the decades since advertisements claimed that

smoking was soothing to the throat.

 

Dr. Thun notes that educating the public about the health effects of

smoking has resulted in a national smoking rate of less than 25

percent. But that means that nearly one in four Americans are still

heading outside on their work breaks to catch a quick smoke. And

neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night will keep these intrepid

smokers from lighting up whenever they can.

 

I know. I used to be one of them. But I've been a non-smoker now for

well over a decade, and without question it's one of the best things

I've ever done for myself.

 

If you're a smoker, of if someone you care about is part of that 25

percent, I know where you can find some great ideas on how to quit. In

the e-Alert " Burning Desire " (2/18/04), several HSI members shared the

techniques they used to successfully quit smoking. Just go to our web

site, hsibaltimore.com, and look for " Search the e-Alert archives " on

the home page.

 

Whatever method a smoker uses to quit, they might be helped along by

an insight from Dr. Thun. He told Reuters Health that smoking is not

necessarily voluntary; our choices " are made in a social context. " In

other words, smokers will improve their odds of quitting if they can

identify the various aspects of their lives that support the urge to

smoke.

 

To Your Good Health,

 

Jenny Thompson

Health Sciences Institute

 

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Sources:

 

" Prostate Cancer Radiation Increases Rectal Cancer Risk " Neil

Osterweil, MedPage Today, 4/1/05, medpagetoday.com

" Mortality Not Higher For Most With Prostate Cancer " Reuters Health,

2/11/05, reutershealth.com

" Long-Term Survival Rates of Patients With Prostate Cancer in the

Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening Era: Population-Based Estimates

for the Year 2000 by Period Analysis " Journal of Clinical Oncology,

Vol. 23, No. 3, 1/20/05, jco.org

 

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