cancer

The U.S. health care reform effort has centered on how to increase access and contain costs. What gets less attention is the quality of treatment American’s receive. Is it “the best care in the world” or is there work to be done?

“Fresh new scent!” is a frequent product pitch, and supermarket shelves groan with seemingly endless varieties of soaps, moisturizers, cleaners, air fresheners and more that vaunt their alleged nose-pleasing qualities.

For decades, women with early diagnoses of breast cancer have been encouraged to have the lymph nodes beneath their arm pits surgically removed. Draining the lymph nodes often precedes the surgery, which is then followed by radiation treatment. While painful and fraught with potential complications, removal of the lymph nodes has been standard practice in the medical community.

In March 2011 a series of cascading disasters hit the northeast coast of Japan — earthquake and tsunami, then a nuclear emergency. While the first two created widespread devastation and untold suffering, the third is likely to have the longest-felt effects. After the debris has been removed, towns rebuilt and the economy stabilized, evidence from Chernobyl indicates that health concerns will persist for nearby residents for decades to come.

Despite international efforts to safeguard nuclear materials, the possibility of nuclear terrorism continues to be a concern for both policymakers and the public at large. In recent years, the threat has seemed acute enough to prompt contingency planning in the United States for the immediate aftermath of such an event should it occur.

On April 26, 1986, an explosion in reactor four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the former Ukrainian SSR caused what was then the worst nuclear power-related accident in history. On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami seriously damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Okumu, Japan. In both cases, radiation escaped into the environment, prompting widespread public health concerns.

The costs of health care directly related to smoking in the United States are estimated to be in the range of $97 billion. This figure typically takes into account treatment for ailments such as lung cancer and emphysema, with the combined costs representing more than 10% of all U.S. medical expenses. New research is adding to this total estimated health cost by also assessing secondary effects, such as how smoking affects recovery time from other medical procedures.

Since cell phones were first popularized in the 1980s, questions have been raised over their potential health risks. In the past 10 years, numerous observational studies have been released suggesting harmful links to brain function and sleep patterns, and to heart palpitations and various forms of cancer. Often, however, other studies have arrived at opposing conclusions.