FDA Officially Unconcerned that Crestor Causes Diabetes
Imagine a world where everyone is on powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs. Not just sick people. Everyone. Astra Zeneca has imagined it, and now they're going to see their dream come true. On December 16, the FDA announced their approval of Astra Zeneca's cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor for use in people without high cholesterol despite the fact that a new study showed conclusively that the drug causes diabetes. By a vote of 12 to 4, the panel judged that even people at very low risk of heart disease should take the cholesterol medication anyway. "I do think the diabetes problem is real, but…
Can Cancer Go Away Without Treatment?
Who Should Get Vitamin D Testing?
We all know our skin makes vitamin D during sun exposure, so you’d think that most of us here in Hawaii would have plenty of vitamin D, right? Wrong. A study done on prototypical surfer-dudes in Honolulu, titled: Low Vitamin D Status Despite Abundant Sun Exposure (Binkely, 2007) found that, amazingly, more than half (51 percent) had less-than-optimal blood levels of vitamin D and were therefore putting their bodies at risk. At risk for what? Low vitamin D has been associated with overweight and obesity, as well as a variety of serious medical conditions, including cancer, heart failure, mental illness,…
Join Dr. Cate at Borders, Saturday August 8th at 2pm
Thermograms versus Mammograms: Which test is best?
Thermograms detect infrared rays to show patterns of body temperature. What most people I know who have gotten a thermogram don't seem to have been told is that thermograms only detect surface bloodflow, so any cancer growth deeper than a few millimeters may not be detected unless it also happens to be large enough to disturb the surface blood flow patterns. Mammograms use radiation to find calcifications hiding anywhere in the breast tissue, even deep ones. What most people who've gotten mammograms don't often hear is that mammograms are really difficult to interpret. The true power of any diagnostic image…
Breast Cancer: Is Early Detection A Good Thing?
When it comes to breast cancer, not all “cancer” is really cancer, study says. According to the ACS, something like one in seven women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes. That’s scary, not only for women but for the family and friends who love them. But a recent study from the well-respected Cochrane Commission says that there is reason for hope. According this meta-analysis (a meta-analysis is a study of many studies), many growths often presumed to be deadly cancers based on mammogram and biopsy results may not be as life threatening as we once thought. They…