cancer

21 March 2014

Headache Patients: Stop getting your Head Scanned!

You have a horrible headache. Maybe it’s the worst ever. Or maybe it’s accompanied by strange symptoms. Is it serious? Deadly? Better get a scan to check it out…

Wait! Not so fast. Getting a CT scan (computed tomography scan) or an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging scan) might sound like a good idea – “better safe than sorry” – but it could do more harm than good.

Thankfully, doctors are being educated about when to use and not use scans. But there are still doctors who are quick to use them – and even patients that demand a scan when it’s really not needed.

The guideline is simple, really. Scans should only be done when there is a good reason to suspect that something will show up – something related to the headache symptoms the patient is experiencing. That includes very few headache patients.

So what’s the problem? Here are some reasons why scans should usually not be done.

CT Scans: Radiation. This is the easy one. Recent studies have once again raised concerns about the link between CT scans and cancer. Don’t expose your body to radiation unless you’re sure it’s necessary, and the benefits outweigh the risks.
CT/MRI: There’s often a better way. The doctor can often use a better, more accurate method to find out what’s wrong. Just because these are well known methods, doesn’t mean they’re the best. And just because they find nothing doesn’t mean there’s no physical problem.
CT/MRI: Time and expense. Admittedly, the expense is often what drives concerns here. As patients, we’re in favour of methods that accurately diagnose the problem – no matter what the expense. On the other hand, when time and money is being wasted on a method that won’t help, there’s a problem. Yes, it is an issue for all of us when money is being wasted on unnecessary scans. Besides, your time is valuable, right?
CT/MRI: The last issue is the danger of unnecessary treatment. Here’s how it works. You have one of these amazingly accurate scans, and your doctor finds “something wrong”. We all have “something wrong” with us, but many of those things never lead to any symptoms. This “something wrong” your doctor finds leads to treatments, maybe even surgery. All of this does harm to your body. But does it solve the problem?
This is a huge issue right now, because so many tests are available. Statistically, many people are receiving unnecessary treatments and surgery, leading to more complications – when the “something wrong” wasn’t the thing causing the symptoms in the first place.

In short, even “safe” scans like MRIs (although even there accidents happen), and other tests such as EEGs, can lead to more problems for you when they’re used “just because”.

What should I do?

If your doctor recommends a scan, ask why. If she can’t give you a very specific answer, but just wants to “cover all the bases”, get a second opinion.

If a friend or family member is pressuring you to have a scan, send them to this post. 🙂

I’ve been there – it’s tempting to get every test possible, especially when you’ve spent months or years trying to find a solution. But for most of us, these types of scans just mean spending more time on the wrong thing.

MRI and CT scans are wonderful tools that have saved many lives. And yes, in a few headache cases they are a big help. We should be very thankful that they’re available. But let’s use the tools wisely.

“Just Migraine” (trust me). Or – Brain Tumour?

James News 2

Here we go again. Another patient diagnosed with “migraine” – but let’s not check too carefully.

Kian Jones was a school boy who started experiencing symptoms familiar to many migraineurs – vomiting, vision problems, and headache.

Three times Kian was taken to the hospital. It’s just a “stomach infection” was the first diagnosis. But when symptoms didn’t go away, the new diagnosis was “migraine”.

How carefully was Kian checked out? Not very.

Kian’s mother Sabina wasn’t convinced. She started searching online – and discovered that patients were often checked out a lot more carefully at the onset of new symptoms like her son’s. For example, a CT scan was often called for.

She urged doctors to call for the scan.

And it was discovered that Kian had a brain tumour.

Thankfully, and thanks to Mom, Kian is now getting proper treatment. He is now recovering and back in school.

Now before we’re too hard on the doctors, we do need to remember that brain tumours are rare, and migraine disease is far more common. We don’t know all the details of his symptoms. A CT scan is not always called for – it does depend on the symptoms a patient has.

However, there is a continuing concern that doctors in general seem to be far too quick to “write off” symptoms as migraine. They won’t bother to diagnose the type of migraine (treatments vary depending on the type), and they won’t bother to rule out other conditions that are increasingly likely as symptoms progress.

Symptoms of brain tumour (if there are any symptoms) can be exactly the same as migraine (especially certain types of migraine). Seizures are more common with brain tumour than with migraine. But symptoms such as headaches, changes in behaviour, nausea, changes in vision/smell, problems with coordination – these are all common in both.

One possible difference is that with tumour symptoms may develop more gradually. Symptoms will increase over time, instead of coming powerfully and then disappearing as they sometimes do with migraine.

This video from the Cancer Council in Australia will help you think through some of the symptoms of brain tumour.

via: Mother saves son’s life after Googling revealed he could have a BRAIN TUMOUR not simply ‘migraines’

15 November 2010

A Letter from a Cancer Patient

James Misc 0

Although it’s a letter from a cancer patient, and not a chronic headache patient, I have a feeling a lot of people with chronic illness can relate.

David Darlington is an editor with the American Historical Association for their magazine Perspectives on History. He’s also one of the authors at In the Agora. Dealing with cancer, he wrote a post entitled Dear Friend – a letter to that kind person who keeps emailing him about “new” cancer “cures” that they discover on the internet.

See? I told you that other people would be able to relate! 🙂

Now I don’t exactly feel the same as he does – I’m a little more interested in the treatments I hear about from people. Then again, I have an extra reason – I’m constantly evaluating those treatments and writing about them here. And there’s another difference – as serious as migraine is (sometimes even deadly), cancer is on a whole different level when it comes to killing-power. So if I were in his shoes, I suspect my response would be a little more like his…

Greetings! I hope this letter finds you well. I’m dropping you a quick note today to express my appreciation for all you’ve done for me during my cancer trial this past year. Your love and support means more than I can express in words, and your actions have lifted me up in my time of need.

But if I may be so bold, there is has been one area where your assistance has been more of a distraction than an aid. I am speaking of your passing along of miracle cures and alternative therapies you’ve heard about or read on the internet. While I appreciate the intent behind you sending me these things…

Read the rest here. And share your thoughts in the comments – how do you feel when people send you the latest headache “cure”? Plus, be sure to take our current poll on the topic!

via JollyBlogger

9 February 2010

Cancer, Antidepressants and CT Scans

James Discoveries & Stats, Medications 0

Is the cure worse than the disease? A couple of recent studies have raised questions about the antidepressant paroxetine, and about CT scans (particularly for children).

Taking Paxil or Seroxat with tamoxifen

The first study investigated those who were taking tamoxifen (ie Nolvadex, Istubal, Valodex) for breast cancer, along with various antidepressants. Many antidepressants are taken for migraine, and one of these is paroxetine (Paxil,Seroxat), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant.

In most cases, there was no problem (although the study may have been too small to detect problems in all antidepressants that were tested). However, paroxetine did interfere with the breast cancer treatment tamoxifen. At least, that’s what it looks like.

What the study actually told us was that taking the two together increased the chances of the women dying from breast cancer. If you’re taking tamoxifen with any SSRI, this may be a study to talk to your doctor about. Read more in Antidepressants may block breast cancer drug.

CT Scans – are they worth it?

Another one in the cure-worse-than-the-disease category. Researchers in Canada have noted that CT scans are becoming increasingly common for children with minor head injuries. However, there is also concern about the risk of cancer related to these scans.

Many people don’t realize that a single CT scan emits between 300 and 600 times the radiation of a common chest x-ray! So the decision should not be taken lightly.

The Canadian Assessment of Tomography for Childhood Injury organization is suggesting new rules, based on the study of 4000 children who had head injuries between 2000 and 2005.

So how do you know if a CT scan is needed? Some of the rules include: there’s an open or depressed skull fracture, there’s a headache that continues to get worse, irritability, or failure to reach score of 15 on the Glasgow coma scale within 2 hours. Other factors (medium-risk) included the injury comes from a dangerous source (ie falling off a bicycle with no helmet), signs of basal skull fracture, and major swelling of the scalp (due to bleeding). If none of these are present, it’s likely safer to forgo the CT scan.

Remember, it’s not always a clear-cut decision when it comes to taking medication, or even having a test done. It goes beyond factors of time and money, to factors such as the ones above. Know the facts, weigh the risk with your doctor.

6 June 2005

Cancer, aspirin and ibuprofen

James Discoveries & Stats, Medications 0

So what’s the story with aspirin and ibuprofen? First they were telling us that they may have cancer-fighting properties. But a new study tells a different tale.

The research at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, USA involved 114,460 women. The study followed the women from 1995 to 2001, and some interesting discoveries were made:
* Women who took ibuprofen every day for 5 years or more were 50% more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer.
* Women who took aspirin every day for 5 years or more were slightly less likely to be diagnosed with the common breast cancer, but 80% more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancers that were not sensitive to the hormones estrogen or progesterone.

These findings are at odds with other papers that have been done on the subject. It’s a long way from showing us what is actually making the difference, and it in no way proves that ibuprofen or aspirin cause cancer. American Cancer Society scientist Michael Thun even suggested that the findings were simply a fluke.

However, it does indicate that further study is needed on the long term effects of these medications. It also casts serious doubt on the belief that these are cancer-fighting drugs. For more on the study, read "Study links pain relievers and breast cancer" in USA Today.