Researchers See Promise in New Imaging Studies for Breast Tumors

A radioactive tracer that “lights up” cancer hiding inside dense breasts showed promise in its first big test against mammograms, revealing more tumors and giving fewer false alarms, doctors reported. The experimental method, molecular breast imaging, or M.B.I., would not replace mammograms for women at average risk for cancer. But it might become an additional tool for higher-risk women with a lot of dense tissue that makes tumors hard to spot on mammograms, and at a lower cost than magnetic resonance imaging, or M.R.I. About one-fourth of women 40 and older have dense breasts. “M.B.I. is a promising technology” that is already in advanced testing, said Carrie Hruska, a biomedical engineer at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., which has been working on it for six years.

Please click on the link below to read the New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/health/04breast.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin

For more information on defending medical malpractice and nursing home matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at The Citron Law Firm, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Hazards: Toxic Metals Found in Health Products

People who buy ayurvedic medicines, commonly used around the world by Indians and other people from South Asia, may be getting more than they bargained for. Researchers who looked at almost 200 ayurvedic products bought in the United States found that about a fifth contained lead, mercury or arsenic, sometimes at dangerously high levels. Writing in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, the researchers said government regulators should establish daily dose limits for toxic metals in dietary supplements and require manufacturers to have their products tested for compliance. The researchers, led by Dr. Robert B. Saper of the Boston Medical Center, bought the medicines over the Internet in 2005. Some of the products were made in India and others in the United States, but the prevalence of the metals was about the same for both countries, the study said.

Please click on the link below to read the New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/02/health/02haza.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=health&adxnnlx=1220882924-SKb9jfuuWfqMdHigIO9TVQ

For more information on defending medical malpractice and nursing home matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at The Citron Law Firm, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.