Why I am not blogging about medical news

Because it mostly nonsense...

Headline: Avian Flu Deaths Linked to Tamiflu Resistance

translation: We're all gonna DIE!

Headline: Drug Survey of Students Finds Picture Very Mixed
The good news: The kids aren't smoking as much..the bad news? They are snorting Oxycontin instead...
Since smoking cigarettes is one of the only two sins known to the NYTimes (the other sin is being a registered Republican) this is supposed to be a "mixed" blessing? Hello... (THIS is what happens when you smoke...snorting Oxycontin merely kills you)

Then there is a new drug for Renal Cancer...LINK
Ah, finally some good news...but since I don't give chemotherapy, I know little about the drug...

Then we read: Large number of unfit teens leaves doctors disheartened
Actually, I worry more about my teens sniffing Oxycontin and getting pregnant or catching HIV than I do that they don't exercize...but not exercizing is probably a third "sin" for the PC...
(and Yes, I do tell my patients to exercize)...

Tap water contains hundreds of chemicals
AGGH we're all gonna die...but since some of the chemicals kill Shigella, salmonella, E Coli, Amoeba etc. we will only die of chronic chemicalitis, not dystentary like in the good old days when tap water only had fecal bacteria in it...

Chest X-Rays Often Wrong About Lung Cancer
Hmmm. I remember that study when I was in medical school in the 1960's...lungs have so many lumps in them, you can't tell if they are cancer or not...and by the time you figure it out, the person will probably die anyway...CNN is more optimistic: That Chest X rays pick up lots of early lung cancer...and discusses that they were merely trying to reconfirm the earlier studies...the big question is will CT scans improve early diagnosis...a chest x ray costs $75 to 150 each, and a CT 600 plus...

The positive predictive value for chest x-rays -- the percentage of positive screens that led to a diagnosis -- was 2.1%, with 1.9 lung cancers detected for every 1,000 radiographs.

So to catch 2 cancers, it would cost $150000...and the real question is if you could catch it early enough to make a difference in the cure rate...

Finally the headline: A chocolate a day keeps the doctor away...

Finally, a health tip that I can follow...

Milton Hershey, call your office, your stock just went up...