Dr. Erika | Bioidentical Hormone Expert

New Guidelines for Mammography : A Reason For Celebration

Last week the US Preventive Services Task Force came out with new guidelines for mammography. Simply stated, the new guidelines recommend that:

1.    Routine mammography screening start at age 50 instead of 40  (guidelines provided in 2002).

2.    Frequency of screening to be reduced to every two years rather than the previously recommended
       every year.

3.    Breast self-examinations are no longer recommended.

4.    Clinical breast exams (performed by physicians) only minimally improve outcome in patients who
       have mammograms.

These guidelines encountered a furious backlash in the media immediately after its publication in the Annals of Internal Medicine from special interest groups, patient groups and politicians with special agendas.

As a practicing physician, women’s health advocate and opinion leader in the prevention movement and a healthier America, I welcome the guidelines and would like to share with you my personal and clinical understanding of their meaning.

Guidelines represent recommendations to be used by the medical community, researchers and public health officials to analyze outcome. Guidelines do not necessarily apply to the individual and should be used to guide the physicians and the patient to a well informed position from which individualized decisions should be made.

For those of us who are in primary care, who see patients every day with various questions about choices and options in health care, guidelines serve as resources to provide better patient care.
Guidelines are developed as a result of years of extensive research by intelligent, physicians and researchers who are assigned the task of reviewing the entire scientific literature on a particular topic and to provide unbiased data on a particular subject matter.

To better clarify the situation with mammography:   

1.    The members of the US Preventive Services Task Force are all doctors, MDs and PhDs who work at academic institutions around the country. They are not government employees.  They are not oncologists or radiologists or breast cancer surgeons who may have a biased perception of the realities of breast cancer. The US Preventive Services Task Force spent almost 2 years reviewing all the studies on mammograms, biopsies, treatment, risks and benefits and prevention since the last guidelines were issued in 2002.

2.    Dangers of mammography and biopsy are generally overlooked and minimized in our present healthcare system. Marketing of the business of medicine does not include the downside of too much testing and treating associated with millions of yearly mammograms, biopsies, chemotherapies and radiation therapies. Rarely if ever does a woman get informed of the risks of mammograms and biopsies in the mainstream media, from cancer groups, radiology clinics or academic center physician groups which specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. 

    - The potential dangers of mammograms occur from too much radiation to the most radiosensitive tissue of the body which does increase breast cancer risk as more mammograms are given to women over extended periods of time 

   - False positive mammograms prompt unnecessary procedures, fears and treatments which include biopsies, chemotherapy and radiation for often precancerous lesions or slow growing cancers which do not warrant treatment. These procedures carry risks of their own rarely addressed.

   - Biopsies disturb breast architecture and body immunity preventing the body from healing itself which scientific data support as a safe and previously unaddressed option.

   - Emotional stress caused by all of the above and the fear of cancer increases risk of cancer.

Women are scared to death by the prospect of being diagnosed with breast cancer. In our society women have been taught to believe that the sooner they are diagnosed and the cancer is removed, the better their chances for survival. That is not always true. Deciding to delay treatment or not have mammograms is met with disapproval by conventional physicians even if there is no scientific basis for pushing the patient into mammograms and biopsies.

The Task Force has taken the first significant step toward cutting down cost of healthcare and helping the economy. This is a major step forward in prevention and the change of the health care paradigm.  It cannot and should not be perceived as a personal attack on women. Politics cannot be allowed to taint this immense positive step forward.

I am not against mammograms or biopsies. Women at high risk by virtue of genetic factors, environmental exposure and other factors must be addressed under a different category which only serves to reinforce the importance of the connection between the doctor and the patient and the need for women to take responsibility for their own health.

Self-examinations are important since women need to know how their breasts feel and they are most likely to find the breast mass first. Physician examinations are important but caution has to be exerted that the doctor represents the patient’s best interest and is not afraid of malpractice suits. When the physician and the patient are aligned philosophically, women will benefit the most.

Dr. Erika speaking at NYC 92nd St. Y

While everyone is worrying about swine flu, let's make sure you know the difference between Common Cold or Fall Allergies? Learn the Difference to Feel Better Faster

It's that time of year again when ragweed pollen and mold spores fill the air leaving millions of Americans suffering from fall allergies. Allergy symptoms present in a similar fashion to the common cold: runny nose, itchy eyes, sneezing, wheezing, sore throat, coughing and nasal congestion. Similarly to a cold, often only 1 or 2 of these symptoms appear, making it even more difficult to decipher between the two. And not to mention the fact that this year, every time you get a sore throat or feel a little bit under the weather, the media hype makes you think you have the swine flu. In fact, most people don’t have the swine flu but rather suffer with either the common cold or fall allergies or a combination of the two.

 

To protect yourself best is to understand how to differentiate between colds and allergies and then treat them without delay.

 

Keep in mind the main points of differentiation are that the common cold lasts about 1 week while seasonal allergies linger for several weeks to months and that most allergies symptoms are not associated with muscle aches, pains and fever while colds can be without being diagnosed as flu.

 

If you think your symptoms are fall allergies here are several tips to keep allergies at bay as much as possible.

• Keep your windows closed and use air conditioning.
• Don’t mow your lawn or rake the leaves in the yard.
• Keep outdoor activity to a minimum; especially during morning hours when allergens peak.
• Take a shower after spending time outside.
• Drink lots of water and green tea
• Exercise regularly
• Avoid food allergens
• See an allergist to determine what you are most allergic to and follow the recommendations of staying away from allergy causing foods
• Change detergents and soaps if allergies commence or are worsened by introduction of new products
• Do not leave clothes you used outside in the closets or laying around your home. Shake them out outside first.
• Make sure ventilation in your house is good
• Eliminate dust from your home. Keep it clean with natural cleaning products
• Change air conditioning and heating filters regularly at least twice a year.

 

 

Should your allergies continue to be a nuisance try using a mild decongestant or Benadryl at night. And don’t forget fall allergy season ends with the first frost or by the end of November/December.

Stay away from decongestant nasal sprays as they can often aggravate your other symptoms, leaving you feeling worse and even increasing the chance of respiratory infections. Decongestants decrease your immune system’s ability to fight infections so avoid them. Your body actually does get rid of allergens by giving you a runny nose and runny eyes. Stopping that reaction stops your body from fighting the allergen and you may not want that.

A cold is usually associated with sore throat, feeling sick (malaise), runny nose, headaches, muscle aches and even a low grade fever.

 

If you think your symptoms are caused by a cold here are some tips for nipping the cold in the bud:

·       Start taking Lactoferrin 3 capsules twice a day for five days at the first sign of the cold. Lactoferrin is a natural immune booster that supports and enhances your body’s own immune function. ( for more information go to www.drerika.com)

·       Take EmergenC- 1 packet in a glass of water 5 times a day for the first three days of the cold (You can always buy EmergenC at the drugstore, gas station, deli, etc.)

·       Vitamin C 5000-10,000 mg a day for five days)

·       If you have a sore throat take a tip of a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper and mix it with a tablespoon of water and drink it fast.

·       Take a tip of a teaspoonful of powdered ginger and mix it with a tablespoon of water and swallow it in one gulp.

·       Soak your feet in hot water for 15 minutes the first evening you feel crummy. Put on a pair of socks and go to bed early. Do not watch TV.

·       Increase your intake of protein (chicken soup, Detoxification Powder, tofu)

·       Drink 5 cups of green tea or Throat soothing teas

·       4 Glasses of room temperature water ( avoid iced drinks)

·       Spend 10 minutes in the shower in the morning and breathe in that great healing steam!

·       Stay away from junk food, alcohol, soda or caffeine. They will only delay your body’s healing powers

·       Stay home from work or school so you do not infect your colleagues.

·       Unless you have a fever, do not take medications like ibuprofen or acetaminophen.

There is no such thing as medication without side-effects.

Give your body a chance to heal itself, it usually does a really good job with minimal support from us in the health care system.