I think that this post should be a warning to all that not all medical information available on the web is true. I constantly have patients bringing me the latest information that they have downloaded from the web about their particular condition. 90% of the time, it is rootin tootin junk. It requires great diplomacy to explain that to them, since these web pages usually gives them false hope about the treatments that they may need (or may be able to avoid).
CLAIM: According to a university study, oral sex may significantly decrease the risk of breast cancer in women.
No, this wasn't a real CNN page (or Associated Press article), nor did North Carolina State University perform a study on the connection between fellatio and breast cancer. (If nothing else, the names of the doctors cited in the article — "Dr. B.J. Sooner," "Dr. Inserta Shafteer," "Dr. Len Lictepeen" — should have given it away as a hoax.)
WHEN GOOD RESEARCH HAPPENS TO BAD DISEASES A THREE POINTER AGAINST LEUKEMIA
How can people live a long life if they have leukemia? Recently "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar announced that he has been diagnosed with leukemia. Specifically, he has chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Abdul-Jabbar went on to say that his disease can be managed by taking daily oral medication and he expects to live a long healthy life. With leukemia? How is that possible?"
Why Are People Living Longer With Leukemia?
According to the part time blogger and full time pediatric cancer specialist Dr. David, "Abdul-Jabbar has benefited from one of the first and most exciting applications of the translational research I have blogged about in the past.... The answer lies in the molecular biology of CML. It shows how basic research, undertaken for no reason other than to understand the biology of cancer, can lead to unexpected therapeutic breakthroughs. Such research can transform a disease like CML from one that kills without a bone marrow transplant into one that is managed just like high blood pressure".
"Here’s how it happened: Working in Chicago in the 1970’s, Janet Rowley discovered that the “Philadelphia Chromosome,” an abnormal chromosome seen only in the leukemia cells of patients with CML....."
