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Study probes how to tell elderly patients not to bother with cancer screening
Medical XPress ^ | July 2, 2019 | Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Posted on 07/05/2019 8:20:57 AM PDT by ConservativeMind

Over the past decades, the idea that all adults should get regularly screened for cancer—with mammograms, colonoscopies and prostate specific antigen blood tests—has been conveyed to the public time after time. But current clinical guidelines recommend against screening many older adults, such as those with less than 10 years' life expectancy. For doctors, talking to a patient about the idea that they've "aged out" of cancer screening can be a challenging conversation.

Now, to better inform these conversations, Johns Hopkins researchers have studied the perspectives of both clinicians and older adults on how to communicate about stopping cancer screening. The results of this study were published in the June 2019 issue of The Gerontologist. In a separate study, other Johns Hopkins researchers also show that primary care doctors and specialists are equally likely to continue to order mammograms in women with less than 10 years' life expectancy.

"As we gain more scientific evidence, cancer screening is shifting to be more tailored to an individual, and for the elderly that means don't screen if the patient really won't benefit from it," says Nancy Schoenborn, M.D., associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and lead author of the two new papers. "These new findings help us learn how we can better support clinicians and improve patient care when it comes to personalizing cancer screening."

...the screening methods also come with a cost; the U.S. health care system spends an estimated $7.8 billion on mammograms each year.

Studies have found that cancer screening in adults with limited life expectancy can present unnecessary risks and lead to unnecessary treatments.

(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...


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To: Mercat

I hope you went for ice cream right afterwards. I’m not 7, but that’s what I do! ;)


81 posted on 07/05/2019 1:33:11 PM PDT by GnuThere
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To: hanamizu
Dear friend, God blessed Moses to begin his work of saving his people from bondage at age 80 and we know it took some 40 years of dealing with that “stiffed-neck” people for God to deal through Moses until he, Moses got a glimpse of that promised land that the Lord denied him because of his disobedience, to divide the land to those 12 sons of Jacob (Israel) that Joshua & Caleb led on through.

Accordingly, Moses lived to 120 and that’s what I’m aiming for! You “ go and do likewise!”

82 posted on 07/05/2019 1:35:51 PM PDT by zerosix (Native Sunflower)
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To: zerosix

do understand that the elderly, especially elderly stroke patients have been the lab rat of the medical training community.

Just recently our local Medical center is proud to announce that they would no longer use animals in their training, usually cardiac surgeons.

Do you know what that means? Humans will be used. after practice on dummies.


83 posted on 07/05/2019 2:02:54 PM PDT by Chickensoup (Voter ID for 2020!! Leftists totalitarian fascists appear to be planning to eradicate conservatives)
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To: Chickensoup

Yes I do “understand.” Your point is?


84 posted on 07/05/2019 2:10:10 PM PDT by zerosix (Native Sunflower)
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