I’d love to do a study of column inches of negative trials versus positive ones. This Swedish study in the BMJ, published on the 31st March, found that over 20 years of screening, in almost 1500 men, there was no change in death rate from prostate cancer whether you had prostate cancer screening or not. As […]
Continue Reading →Prostate cancer screening: what do the papers actually say?
Lots of press attention has gathered around the latest research on prostate cancer screening. To be clear: there is no NHS screening programme for prostate cancer screening. Instead, if men want a screening PSA test they can ask for it from their GP. The DoH’s press release in response to the latest research looks like this: […]
Continue Reading →Hard choices on hormone replacement therapy
When I was at medical school, hormone replacement therapy was not just the treatment of choice for the flushes and sweats of menopause. It was also thought to reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes, dementia, colon cancer, bone and even teeth loss. Yet over the past few years new research has made many doctors […]
Continue Reading →Screening may do more harm than good
I am perturbed. The US Preventive Services Task Force, a government health body, has decided that doctors should stop offering prostate-cancer screening to men over 75. It has made a definitive statement: “Do not screen for prostate cancer in men age 75 years or older.” But instead of happy relief at this rare outbreak of […]
Continue Reading →Prostate cancer screening – maybe not, says the USA
Prostate cancer screening via use of a PSA (prostatic specific antigen) testing – a biological marker found in blood – is one of the most contentious things around. There is no such contention over seeking diagnosis and treatment for prostate symptoms. It is screening for problems when no symptoms exist that is the issue. While […]
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