False positive test results

One of the most difficult messages to get across to an average health-conscious person, especially an aging one, is that screening tests are not necessarily always benign.

Or putting that in another fashion: while not dangerous in themselves, lots of screening tests can – and do - result in ultimate harm to the person who had one.

That comes mainly from “false positive” results, which occur much more often than many people realize, and certainly much more often than doctors are generally willing to admit.

The harm from false positive results in screening tests comes from two sources: potential physical harm (biopsies are surgical interventions, and there is no such thing as risk-free surgery) and equally important, from psychological effects, although that side of things is often neglected or rejected as a minor concern., which it decidedly is not for many people.

That came home in a pretty stark fashion this week from a report in the March/April issue of The Annals of Family Medicine in which Danish researchers concluded that a small but substantial number of women who receive false positive reports from a mammogram are adversely affected by psychological problems for up to 3 years following that report.

Now it may only be a small number of women who are affected in that way, but given how common mammograms are and given how often they result in false positives (another report this week estimated that in some young women with dense breasts, the false positive rate for mammography can be as high as a whopping 60 %), the total number of women who suffer these adverse consequences is consequently huge, and we really don’t know that ultimate cost.

Now, it has to be stressed that on the very important other hand, mammograms do save some lives (although the number of lives saved by mammography is a constant topic of debate among the experts), so this should not dissuade anyone from getting a mammogram: it should just be something that every woman adds into the mix of things she has to consider before automatically getting such a test.

And what is true of mammography is also true for many (most?) other screening tests as well. 

Berries are good for you in any form

It may just be me, but I’ve always wondered if the frozen blueberries that I’m eating are as nutritious as the fresh variety that I get whenever I can find locally-grown blueberries.

I know, I know, they do have blueberries from Peru or Chile at my local fresh produce place all winter long, but I really don’t trust that something that comes all that way and was picked God only knows when before being shipped contains much goodness; and even though it probably does, to be honest I’d still rather eat stuff grown locally or at least near to here even if it has to be in a frozen form.

Anyway, if you’ve wondered about the nutrition value of frozen or even dried blueberries, wonder no more.

In an article in the New York Times, Anahad O’connor cites a study published in The Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology that concludes that there is no “significant differences between . . . fresh, dried and frozen berries” in terms of their anti-oxidant content, which is the main reason most health-conscious people eat berries (besides their terrific taste, of course).

One thing I had never considered, though, although it should be obvious from the taste: drying berries increases their sugar content so that according to this report, one “cup of fresh or frozen blueberries has about 85 calories and 14 grams of sugar (while) one half cup of dried blueberries . . . has roughly 270 calories and 25 grams of sugar” which is quite a difference, especially for anyone who needs to or wants to monitor either calorie or glucose intake.

Coffee is a health drink – part 223

I don’t know how many times I’ve written an item about yet another benefit from drinking coffee, but it’s lots of times, for sure.

Well, guess what?

Here’s comes another time, and this time it’s a benefit that comes to you when someone else is drinking lots of coffee.

So, in a study published online in BMJ (used to be known as the British Medical Journal) Australian researchers who looked at over 1000 drivers involved in road crashes concluded that drivers who drink caffeinated coffee are much less likely to be involved in an MVA than uncaffeinated drivers.

Yup, coffee does help keep you awake, not only because of the caffeine, which surely does keep you more alert but also in part, I think, because it makes sure you have to run to the toilet more often.

Coffee is a health drink – especially when you’re on the road and the trucker behind  you has had enough coffee to lower his risk of bumping into you.

Chewing gum to lose weight

You may not want to chew gum if you want to lose weight.

At least that’s the conclusion of a small study – 44 volunteers – published recently in the journal, Eating Behaviors.

In this study, the volunteers who chewed gum did indeed eat less, but they were more likely to end up eating fewer fruits and veggies and more prepared snacks.

The lead researcher thinks it’s something to do with the menthol in many chewing gums in that menthol may impart a “funny” taste to fruits and veggies.

I don’t know.

Seems to me that if you focus on losing weight, and you want to chew gum, there’s no reason to believe it won’t work for you despite this report.

Heart health lowers your risk of cancer

The basic conclusion of a recent study on risk factors for cancer shouldn’t surprise anyone who has paid any attention to any of the health items I keep blogging at you: healthy living lowers the risk of cancer.

What may surprise, though, is just how much lower that risk is.

And how few people meet all the goals.

So, a study published online in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association concluded that people who follow at least 6 of the 7 “healthy heart” guidelines endorsed by the American Heart Association reduce their risk of cancer by a whopping 51 %.

But the interesting thing is that even those who follow only a few of the guidelines still lower their risk of cancer, albeit less than that 51 %.

So what are those guidelines? Same-old, same-old

Not smoking

Maintaining a normal blood sugar levels

Maintaining a normal blood pressure

Being active

Having a normal cholesterol profile

Eating a heart-healthy diet

And maintaining a normal body weight

The sad thing, though, is that according to some other data about to be released, only 1 out of 1000 adults (in the US) manages to achieve those goals.