Posted on 01/21/2016 7:05:31 PM PST by BenLurkin
To assess how often older patients get unnecessary screenings, researchers reviewed survey data collected in 2012 for almost 150,000 people 65 and older.
Some older patients may receive screening for breast or prostate cancer even though the tests aren't recommended because they aren't expected to live long enough to benefit from treatment, a U.S. study suggests.
Screening isn't advised for patients with a life expectancy of less than 10 years because even if tests find cancer, it probably won't grow fast enough to kill them before something else like heart disease or diabetes does.
...
About 51 percent of these individuals reported having either a blood test to detect prostate cancer or a mammogram to look for breast tumors in the past year, the study found.
Roughly 31 percent of those screened had a life expectancy of less than 10 years, which corresponds to an estimated overall rate of non-recommended screening of 15.7 percent.
...
A woman who feels a lump in her breast, for example, or a man who has difficulty with urination or ejaculation, might benefit from screening because these symptoms can point to cancer, Bevers added. These cases are considered necessary diagnostic tests, as opposed to preventive screenings.
Often, though, the challenge with patients who don’t have symptoms is determining life expectancy, said Dr. Eric Klein, chairman of the Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
"It is simply an educated guess and nobody wants to be treated as a statistic," Klein, who wasn't involved in the study, said by email. "Some docs may not be aware of the guidelines, but most patients think they are going to live forever and want to do everything they can to make that happen."
(Excerpt) Read more at in.reuters.com ...
I questioned him and accused him of giving up.
Not so, he said.
Each day he had left gave him that much more opportunity to thank God for what he had given him and he did not ask for more, trusting in God to make that decision for him.
I thought it was a pretty good policy and he lived to be 89 years old...every day enjoyed, as a celebration of the one before.
I try to emulate that at my age, which is now beyond 65...and it serves to comfort me and I thank God for each day well lived and...I humbly (and perhaps, just a little selfishly) ask him for a few more, so that I can continue to thank Him for the ones I've had.
A pretty good cycle, I think, and when he does decide I've had enough days, years, whatever, he'll let me know.
But I'm not going to worry about it to the point of affecting my life and my relationships with everyone else.
I've already made it way beyond what I thought I would...so, it's all good.
So if you are older than 80 it would be statistically likely that you will not live more than ten years
If you want a test ask for it
You may live to 100. Statistics be damned.
Depends on family history and current condition.
Truth is most don’t.
That is not the point. If you want a test ask for it
I have no trouble imagining how much better life would be without five particular 15 year olds and with a particular 85 year old. But then of course the bureaucrat finds moral certitude in whatever can be measured.
Same here. Many doctors don’t do PSA screening. Thank goodness mine does, else I would be gone. Same for colon screening; an uncomfortable procedure. But necessary.
The Government? Because the Government has sent out ‘guidelines’ that the health insurance companies are required to follow. Happened with pap smears and mammograms, too. Right now, no authorized (covered by insurance) paps after age 65, unless a woman has ‘symptoms’. Trust me, if a woman over 65 has symptoms, she isn’t going to survive her uterine cancer for very long. The Government doesn’t want the elderly to survive very long as we are a drain on the money that goes into Medicare. Remember when Nancy Pelosi said ‘Americans over age 55 (yes, 55!) use up entirely too much of our health care resources’? The Democrats mean that. I’m really sorry that you have advanced prostate cancer. I WISH we could get a new Government in so that we could (hopefully) return to a healthcare system where CARE is the most important word.
I used to be in cancer detection. We used to say ‘if a man lives long enough, he WILL get prostate cancer’. Very high chance of most men getting it.......the age just depends on the particular man.
The problem is, you cannot get a medical test without a requisition from your doctor. And under the new ‘guidelines’, your doctor will be punished for ordering a test that doesn’t fall within the Government’s guidelines. So, here’s what to do, when you want the test that won’t be authorized, tell the doctor you are having symptoms so he can list an ICD-9 code that will authorize your test. I know several women who say (about not getting paps or mammograms due to the guidelines) ‘that’s ok, I’ll just pay for it myself’. Doesn’t work that way. You need an authorization form from a doctor (or NP) to get EVERY medical test. So be vigilant, and lie if you have to, so you can keep on getting those screening tests. Remember when Obama promised that Obamacare would allow for more ‘preventative medicine”? Yep, he was lying about that, too.
Don’t know where you live. I know of NO doc who would refuse a patient demand for a test. Patients have always needed to be proactive in their own care
I was in the medical community for 40 years. It used to be that patients were in control of their own care. Now the Government ‘directs’ the health insurance companies and, if they want to stay in business with the Obamacare regulations, they have to toe the Government lines. No worries. Just tell your doctor you have some problem and he can authorize the test you want. What was previously covered under preventative medicine is not always covered now.
Then you also know that docs used to use common sense. No point in ordering a test when the course of treatment will not be effected
My paternal grandfather died at age 100.
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