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Screensize: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 UserName: Password: Format Mode: Basic  Help  Prompt  Format: Font Andale Mono Arial Arial Black Book Antiqua Century Gothic Comic Sans MS Courier New Georgia Impact Lucida Console Script MT Bold Stencil Tahoma Times New Roman Trebuchet MS Verdana   Size 1 2 3 4 5 6   Color Black Red Yellow Pink Green Orange Purple Blue Beige Brown Teal Navy Maroon LimeGreen Message: * HTML is OFF * Forum Code is ON Smilies [quote][i]Originally posted by shawnsmith[/i] [br]from: "Fred Amir" <fredamir2000@yahoo.com> Hi all, I hope all is well in your corner of the world. There were three recent medical studies of great importance. Unfortunately it can take years before results of such studies change the way doctors diagnose and treat their patients. First two are about angioplasty and the third one is about back surgery. 1- Imagine waking up in a hospital and being told you need to have an emergency angioplasty. What do you do? Two studies that ware recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine (I will cite them later in this email) revealed that the angioplasty routinely done after a heart attack is worthless and treatment with medications is just as good. Dr. Howard Wayne author of Do You Really Need Bypass Surgery, in which he cites more than 300 studies, concludes the following: 1. A number of studies have shown people as young as 19 years old having blocked arteries. This means there are many of us with blocked arteries, not knowing it, and living normal lives. How can this be? Heart forms a natural bypass around those arteries (known as angiogenesis) and people live well because their hearts function well. 2. Angiogram is a picture in time. One angiogram may show a blockage that may have been there for many years harmlessly. Blockage may not necessarily the cause of heart problems. Important is the heart muscle function. Even a 90% blockage may not mean that it is about to get 100% blocked. In fact, that might be an old stable blockage and more stable than a newer smaller blockage. 3. Angiograms can only show arteries and veins as small as 0.5mm and not smaller. And there are many smaller veins that are providing blood to heart muscles that are not seen, and as long as the heart function based on a- treadmill stress test, b- echocardiogram c- Thallium tests are ok, that is what is most important. NOTE: Dr. Wayne argues that the routine physical where the doctor listens to your heart and does and EKG, is not sufficient to detect a problem. I know of cases where the patient did great during a checkup, only to have a heart attack shortly after. If you are at risk for heart attack, due to high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, family history, etc, insist to have the above three more accurate tests done. 4. Dr. Wayne quotes many studies that show, indeed, bypass surgery and angioplasty are not necessary or not effective, and in fact they can cause many side effects, including heart attacks and memory loss for the patient. 5. Many population studies have shown in the US and outside the US, that medical treatment is equal or far superior than invasive angioplasty and bypass surgery. 6. The financial incentive is great for many cardiologists who have now become technicians and do angioplasty on routine basis, when there is really no need for it. He recommends find a cardiologist that does not do angiogram or angioplasty. 7. Dr. Howard Wayne points out that there is really no case where a patient has to have emergency bypass surgery or angioplasty. 8- He also does not give his patients cholesterol- lowering drugs or blood thinners, as he believes the current theory of how a heart attack happens has not been proven yet. In fact, six out of seven heart attacks does not happen at the site of blockage! You can find out more at Dr.Wayne�s website: http://www.heartpro tect.com. I highly recommend his book, Do You Really Need Bypass Surgery, for the many studies he cites and his alternate view of cause and treatment of heart disease. The only issue I have with his book is that for the first four chapters he talks about his research and how he came to his present conclusions but does not give much scientific references. However, starting from Chapter Five it is well documented. I suggest reading the book and consulting your doctor. Also, regarding cholesterol- lowering drugs, I highly recommend The Cholesterol Myths By Dr. Uffe Ravnskov. It is extremely well written and researched. Did you know that higher cholesterol levels are actually protective for women�s hearts? Did you know after the age of 47 cholesterol- lowering medications have no effect on mortality and heart attack rate? Did you doctor ever tell you these facts? http://www.amazon. com/Cholesterol- Myths-Exposing- Fallacy-Saturate d/dp/0967089700/ ref=pd_bbs_ sr_1/103- 7897926-0172604? ie=UTF8&s= books&qid= 1175876663& sr=1-1 2- Another recent study revealed that surgery for back and leg pain is not much more effective than non-invasive treatments. In fact, for the past 50 years several studies have shown that there is no correlation between spinal abnormalities and back pain. By age 20 most people have a herniated or degenerated disc in the L4-L5 and L5-S1 Of the lower back vertebrae, and C5-C6 and C6-C7 in the neck, due to normal activity. So what is diagnosed as the source of problem is actually a normal occurrence. That�s why surgery is not the solution. And all of you in this group know the reason for back pain and its solution. Cheers! Fred www.rapidrecovery. net PS. Now here are the two studies that showed there is no benefit on having an angioplasty, vs just taking medications. 1- Coronary revascularization with stenting or balloon angioplasty combined with optimal medical therapy is no more effective in preventing a heart attack, other major cardiovascular events or death in patients with stable heart disease, than optimal medical therapy alone, results of a new study conducted in 50 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada has shown. The new findings, which are expected to change the way stable heart disease is treated in the future, will be presented March 27, 2007 at the American College of Cardiology's 56th-annual scientific session by William E. Boden, M.D., professor of medicine and public health in the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Read the full article at http://www.news- medical.net/ ?id=22698 - Angioplasty no better than drugs for heart attack victims who delay treatment Medical Studies/Trials Published: Wednesday, 15-Nov-2006 In what will come as a surprise to many doctors, researchers in the United States how found that contrary to current belief, heart attack survivors with mild or no symptoms who wait three days or more to seek medical help, will achieve little benefit from the procedures used to open clogged arteries. Read the full article at http://www.news- medical.net/ ?id=21015 2- Here�s the study regarding back surgery: http://jama. ama-assn. org/cgi/content/ abstract/ 296/20/2441 Surgical vs Nonoperative Treatment for Lumbar Disk Herniation The Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial (SPORT): A Randomized Trial James N. Weinstein, DO, MSc; Tor D. Tosteson, ScD; Jon D. Lurie, MD, MS; Anna N. A. Tosteson, ScD; Brett Hanscom, MS; Jonathan S. Skinner, PhD; William A. Abdu, MD, MS; Alan S. Hilibrand, MD; Scott D. Boden, MD; Richard A. Deyo, MD, MPH JAMA. 2006;296:2441- 2450. Context Lumbar diskectomy is the most common surgical procedure performed for back and leg symptoms in US patients, but the efficacy of the procedure relative to nonoperative care remains controversial. Objective To assess the efficacy of surgery for lumbar intervertebral disk herniation. Design, Setting, and Patients The Spine Patient Outcomes Research Trial, a randomized clinical trial enrolling patients between March 2000 and November 2004 from 13 multidisciplinary spine clinics in 11 US states. Patients were 501 surgical candidates (mean age, 42 years; 42% women) with imaging-confirmed lumbar intervertebral disk herniation and persistent signs and symptoms of radiculopathy for at least 6 weeks. Interventions Standard open diskectomy vs nonoperative treatment individualized to the patient. Main Outcome Measures Primary outcomes were changes from baseline for the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item Short-Form Health Survey bodily pain and physical function scales and the modified Oswestry Disability Index (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons MODEMS version) at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 and 2 years from enrollment. Secondary outcomes included sciatica severity as measured by the Sciatica Bothersomeness Index, satisfaction with symptoms, self-reported improvement, and employment status. Results Adherence to assigned treatment was limited: 50% of patients assigned to surgery received surgery within 3 months of enrollment, while 30% of those assigned to nonoperative treatment received surgery in the same period. Intent-to-treat analyses demonstrated substantial improvements for all primary and secondary outcomes in both treatment groups. Between-group differences in improvements were consistently in favor of surgery for all periods but were small and not statistically significant for the primary outcomes. Conclusions Patients in both the surgery and the nonoperative treatment groups improved substantially over a 2-year period. Because of the large numbers of patients who crossed over in both directions, conclusions about the superiority or equivalence of the treatments are not warranted based on the intent-to-treat analysis. ************* Sarno-ize it! ************* [/quote]   Check here to include your profile signature.