June 7, 2002 

In This Issue: 
Reading Medical News, Keeping Statistics in Perspective, Cancer Prevalence, Treating Pain Without Addictions,  Prostate Cancer Insights, Online Support Groups and Ask Our RN

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THE LATEST NEWS
Medical Editors: Heal Thy Publications

Be Wary of Early Study Results With Small Numbers of People


Reduced Addiction With New Pain Control Combination

Rich Nations Have Higher Cancer Prevalence

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EASY-TO-READ CHARTS PUT CANCER RISKS IN PERSPECTIVE
How does the chance of dying from any cancer compare with the chance of dying from another cause? 
What is an individual 's chance of dying from any cause? Without some context, it is almost impossible to fully understand from most media coverage the context surrounding the risk of getting or dying of cancer. A new explanation of relative risks of various diseases appears in the Journal of The National Cancer Institute. See our news story.
Journal of National Cancer Institute Article: http://www.dartmouth.edu/dms/news/2002_h1/4jun2002_woloshin.pdf

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CURRENT STATE OF THERAPIES FOR PROSTATE CANCER
Almost 200,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year and begin treatments that range from no particular treatment to radical surgeries, chemo, and hormonal therapies. Prevention of the side effects of therapy has become a significant issue and led to the development of alternative schedules and therapeutics. A new report written for professionals may be helpful to patients doing their own research because it is comprehensive and offers a risk-and-benefit review of various therapies and combinations. See American Cancer Society's Cancer Journal for Clinicians, The Current State of Therapy for Prostate Cancer.
State of Therapies. 
http://www.cancer.org/eprise/main/docroot/PUB/content/PUB_3_8x_The_Current_State_of_Hormonal_Therapy_for_Prostate_Cancer

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PUBLIC CITIZEN LISTS QUESTIONABLE DOCTORS 
Questionable Doctors is a publicly available databank that lists information on doctors who have been disciplined by state medical boards and federal agencies in the past ten years. It contains data on disciplinary actions taken for medical incompetence, mis-prescribing drugs, sexual misconduct, criminal convictions, ethical lapses and other offenses. QuestionableDoctors.org was just published online by the Public Citizen consumer advocacy group and allows a search of all the doctors' names before incurring a charge of $10 for a subscription and access to an individual's report. If the name is on the list, you can decide whether to pay to see the brief report. The list includes information on 12 states at this time, which they plan to expand. 
http://www.questionabledoctors.org/index.cfm?SRC=1