USA Primary Car - It's Up to YOU!

Here at MDINFO, self-awareness of health issues has always been a primary focus. That means getting the answers you need.

In the U.S., as its population ages, the medical specialty of Primary Care is becoming more and more in critical demand.

And yet, it is becoming more and more an issue of personal responsibility.

Why? Because Americans, at least, increasingly can no longer depend upon physicians for their primary care needs.

This obviously varies from nation to nation. In other parts of the globe, China for instance, primary care may have much more effective impact on its citizens, as local medicine is emphasized.

However, in the US, a new study, from Johns Hopkins, points out a dangerous decline--- internal medicine residents no longer receive the training required to become effective primary care doctors.

This means that a growing wave of patients with ongoing health problems as diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, could swamp the system.

Doctors are focusing on treating someone who is hospitalized, instead of keeping their patients out of the hospital to begin with.

"When I graduated from residency here, I knew much more about how to ventilate a patient on a machine than how to control somebody's blood sugar -- and that's a problem," said one general internist and associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. "The average resident doesn't know what the goal for normal fasting blood sugar should be. If you don't know what it has to be, how are you going to guide your diabetes management with patients?"

U.S. Medical school curriculums teach much more inpatient care, than outpatient care. But the John Hopkins study shows that outpatient visits account for fully 90 percent of all visits with doctors.

Another very revealing fact--- bigger isn't better. American physicians, who completed internal medicine residency programs at community hospitals, were better prepared for outpatient needs than physicians trained at academic medical centers!

Personalized treatment is the answer, obviously.

And who cares more about your health than YOU do?

American medical schools need to change the way they teach residents. And, if the mission of internal medicine residency programs is to meet society's health-care needs, then these results reveal that medical training programs are failing.

Preventive medicine--- meaning eating healthy food in healthy amounts, and getting at least an hour of exercise daily--- is fast becoming the best, and in many cases, the only form of primary care a person can achieve.

The old saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", has never been more relevant.

Use MDINFO to find answers, and use that knowledge to back up your own common sense.

Always be pro-active in your diet and exercise routines, for with knowledge, they are the front line of your own primary care--- prevention!

Your Pancreas and Early Warnings

Cancer can be seen as a failure of the immune system, which fights a war throughout our lifetimes, killing cancers before they can grow or even as they begin to form.

We are all hostage to our pancreas. Many people are never even aware they
have one. But when pancreatic cancer strikes, it's often too late to stop it.

Even a person with the resources of Steve Jobs must battle for his life,
when his pancreas turns deadly. The widely-admired genius, who created
Apple, underwent surgery in 2004.

Your pancreas looks something like a pear, and is a crucial part of your digestive system. It secretes important hormones, including insulin, to process sugars, and digestive juices to process your food intake.

How does pancreatic cancer form? Cells in your pancreas can develop
genetic mutations.

The mutating cells grow like wildfire, and spread, and to continue living after normal cells would die. These accumulating cells can form a mass, or tumor.

Pancreatic cancer typically spreads rapidly. It's rarely detected in its early stages. That's why it's a leading cause of cancer death.

Here are some of the key signs, early warnings you should watch out for----

Upper abdominal pain, that may radiate to your back
Yellowing of your skin, and the whites of your eyes (jaundice)
Loss of appetite
Weight loss
Depression
Blood clots

Of course, any of these signs could be symptoms of some other problem, maybe something much less serious.

It's always a good thing for your doctor to check for other conditions, as well as for pancreatic cancer.

Steve Jobs has announced another hiatus from Apple. We are pulling hard
for him to win his battle--- a fight for his life against a very rare form of pancreatic cancer - reportedly, an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor.

His is a cancer that can possibly be cured, but only if diagnosed early, (unlike the deadlier and more common adenocarcinoma).

Remember... signs and symptoms may not appear, until pancreatic cancer is
too advanced for surgical removal.

Nevertheless, your best chance against all cancers, always, is boosting your immune system through nutrition and exercise, and by maintaining your own self-vigilance.=

"Liquid Biopsy" Fights Cancer!

Cancer detection included, in your next routine blood panel tests?

Can it be possible? No more invasive tests? No cutting, no flushing, no probing, no imaging?

Well, it's no dream or wishful thinking. A blood test for cancer is not only possible, but it may become a widespread reality for patients everywhere, very soon.

Scientists in Boston have developed the new test, and the war on cancer may never be the same.

The giant corporation Johnson & Johnson is going to fund the development of the non-invasive test for the mass market--- a blood test that can detect one cancer cell among a billion healthy cells!

This year, studies involving the test will be conducted at 4 top cancer centers.

Here is how it works. When cancer spreads--- especially breast, prostate, colon and lung cancer--- cancer cells travel in the blood pathways and pioneer new cancer sites. That's when they can be detected in the new test.

Many cancer victims are diagnosed by biopsies, cutting, imaging, etc. Such samples are relatively poor indicators of the cancer genes and pathways. Critical time elapses while specialists are chosen and treatments decided upon.

So, it's a race with the growth of the cancer, to fight it back and help the patient survive. Its a test involving critical time. Tragically, many patients die waiting to find out how their treatment is working, or not working.

CellSearch, a test by J&J's Veridex unit, does give a tumor cell count in the blood, but only the number, and no analysis of the cells type.

With the new test, not only can the cancer cells be found, but their presence can be monitored as cancer treatment is given, to determine which treatment works best for each patient.

Daniel Haber, (chief of Massachusetts General Hospital's cancer center), is one of the test's inventors, who labeled the test "a liquid biopsy".

This is no hypothetical possibility. It represents real hope for cancer treatment, and has caught fire in the medical community.

Mass General, Sloan-Kettering, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, will all initiate the test this year.