Some invasive surgeries overdone

Angioplasty and coronary bypass pay well. And many patients are convinced these are the answers when they're having clogged-arteries issues. But recent news says angioplasty is no more effective than medication in a very large percentage of heart patients. And in a recent editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine, Cardiologist David Hillis, MD. says neither of these procedures really fixes anything.

Unnecessary surgeries cost Americans in the billions, and many cause needless deaths. Today the Rand Corporation estimates that 30 percent of all surgeries are unnecessary. Hmmm. Small wonder our health care costs are out of control.

The hit list for questionable surgical procedures is long: many angioplasties and bypasses, a huge proportion of knee surgeries, prostate surgery (even the testing for which is painful, invasive, and expensive), more. Too many tests (blood, MRI, PSA, etc.) reveal things that look scary to a patient but are really just part of normal bodily deterioration and would would heal by themselves with rest and/or medication.

The bottom line is, don't let yourself be railroaded or intimidated (some surgeons literally use scare tactics to get patients to agree to operations). Educate yourself, be skeptical, make up your own mind. Read the whole story at Men's Health.

More on non-invasive cancer treatments

Scientists are getting more creative in finding ways to treat cancer cells without destroying surrounding tissue. A Chicago-based company NEOPHARM is working on a protein with one part that targets tumors (IL13) and the other that kills the cancer cell (PE38). Here's how it works:

The two-part recombinant protein is CINTREDEKIN BESUDOTOX (IL13-PE38QQR). Malignant glioma cells carry IL13 receptors , but healthy brain cells almost never do. The protein is designed to bind to IL13 receptors on the tumor like a key fits in a lock. The cancer cell latches onto and absorbs the IL13 and the attached PE38. As a result, the cancer cell dies. Healthy brain cells are expected to be unharmed because they do not have the IL13 receptors, and thus do not ingest the PE38.

This drug has already been in a Phase 3 clinical trial. And the best part is the FDA is so excited about this work that it has designated it an Orphan Drug (meaning it won't require prescription drug user fees) both in Europe and the US. They've also included it in their new Continuous Marketing Application pilot program--and THAT means the FDA is all over helping develop the drug. Congratulations to NEOPHARM investigators.

I've heard some horror stories about how the FDA has been known to stand in the way of certain developments. So it's nice to see them out there finding ways to get good stuff released.

A enlightening function of nitric oxide

It's St. Patrick's day, and though I haven't been out partaking of the early-am parties, I do feel like sharing a light-hearted notation about good old nitric oxide.

Seems some company has invented a fake lightning bug--or at least come up with a way to imitate the effect they produce in our temperate-zone backyards on warm spring nights. These fake fireflies use electronic energy to light up, but the secret of the glow of real lightning bugs is nitric oxide in their abdomens.

Interesting how science provides its own enchantment. Doesn't spoil my enjoyment of lightning bugs one bit to know where their magic comes from.