Country Life vs City Life

Ever wonder what the difference between city life and country life is? In some cases it can be huge due in part to the following factors:

·       Nutrition

·       Quality of the environment

·       Level of exercise

Considering these factors it would seem that living in the country is far better than living elsewhere. Perhaps country living is a wonderful option but there is something about rural living that may well prove to be pretty bad for women. The fact is that a study conducted showed that woman that live in rural areas and hail from rural areas are more likely to have a lumpectomy than to be treated by way of radiation.

According to an article in healthimaginghub.com it was stated that "These study results are concerning. All women should receive guideline recommended cancer care, regardless of where they live.” This is really a statement to the fact that in some areas not all guidelines are followed as far as treating certain complex conditions. After a diagnostic imaging procedure shows there is some complex condition, there is a set of rules to follow.

Yes, rules can be bent and in the proper interest broken, but not if they harm the patient. With drivers against breast cancer being what they are, there is no reason why this statistic should exist. It’s clear that there are certain areas to explore in terms of breast cancer. While a lumpectomy avoids immediate mastectomy, there is no guarantee that said procedure will avoid need for further surgery.

Hopefully there will be futures studies conducted that reverse this discovery. Breast cancer is still a leading killer of women throughout the world, the more that’s know and explored on how to combat it properly, the better off everyone is.

If you have any questions about diagnostic imaging procedures please feel free to give us a call. We here at Clermont Radiology look forward to answering any questions you may have.

Charla Hurst

General Operations Manager

Charla@ClermontRadiology.com  
352-241-6100 

www.ClermontRadiology.com  

References:

http://www.healthimaginghub.com/news/womens-imaging/4319-rural-women-less-likely-to-be-treated-with-radiation-therapy-following-lumpectomy.html

Staying Ahead of the Bump in the Head

The thing about having kids is that they always run a sort of risk. Some kids love to explore and as a result they stick the butter knife in the light receptacle. Kids travel to the ER not because they want to, just happens that they end up that way. Ultimately children heal up but sometimes they have some side effects waiting around the corner. Often times parents feel terrified when their little ones have to submit to some sort of diagnostic imaging procedure.

Seeing a minor in a big CT scanner or MRI scanner is scary. What’s scarier is the fear of things that can happen because of the high levels of radiation. While radiation is being controlled for some things it can still be too much. So is there some way that we can keep the little ones from the dangers and perils?

If little Suzie or Johnny decide to fly from a tree house there is a resolution to the fear of the scan. Little Suzie or Johnny has a bump and chances are it’s nothing more than minimal force trauma. You are afraid as a parent because you see blood coupled with a bump and you decide that you want the little one to be at their best. You go to the ER and you have the little one monitored.

A longer stay for monitoring in the ER reduces the chances of needing a scan. According to an article in healthimaginghub.com: "Every hour of observation time in the emergency department was associated with a decrease in CT rates for children whether at low, intermediate or high risk of traumatic brain injury. Furthermore, observation prior to CT decision-making for children with minor blunt head trauma was associated with reduced CT use without an observed delay in the diagnosis of significant traumatic brain injury." It’s a good sign to see that kids can be spared the emotional and possibly physical side effects of a scan.

When you take a little one to get a scan you run the risk of the following:

·       A lot of screaming

·       A major difficulty getting the kid to sit still.

·       Chance that the little one will get claustrophobic

With a longer ER visit there is a lesser chance of any difficult stays or having to engage in a diagnostic imaging procedure.

If you have any questions about diagnostic imaging procedures please feel free to give us a call. We here at Clermont Radiology look forward to answering any questions you may have.

Charla Hurst

General Operations Manager

Charla@ClermontRadiology.com  
352-241-6100 

www.ClermontRadiology.com  

References:

http://www.healthimaginghub.com/news/digital-radiography/4414-children-kept-under-observation-in-er-diminishes-need-for-ct-scans.html

A Faster Way to Diagnose Disease

Complex conditions are reasons for concern and worry among patients. Cancer and many other conditions require imaging for proper diagnosis and treatment. When a diagnosis takes too long to be properly established, it usually means a nearly impossible route to a cure. Diagnostic imaging is called upon to try and help avoiding this issue. MRI scans as well CT scans can really help a person through diagnosis and treatment.

Right now there is a new technology called magnetic resonance fingerprinting that may lead to faster diagnosis. This MRI technology, according to the news, “could lead to the use of full-body MRI scans that could quickly and easily detect heart disease, certain cancers and other diseases before they become difficult to treat.” It’s basically a way to not only create early detection but also detection timely enough that will allow a proper manner of treatment to be explored and used.

A huge and very optimistic outlook has been presented as it was stated, “The technology has the potential of being incorporated into annual physical examinations, with the idea that a patient could undergo a full body scan in minutes that will be able to generate a large amount of diagnostic data that can be easily interpreted.” This is the kind of technology that’s needed in order to help a patient in even greater ways.

This technology along with a quality commitment to helping eradicate disease is something big. The MRI is making huge leaps ahead that not only put cancer in the cross-hairs of the medical community but they also take greater steps against other conditions as well. The magnetic resonance fingerprinting is based on the principle, as state in the article about it, that it “works on the idea that different types of body tissue, as well as different diseases, have unique fingerprints that could help quickly diagnose specific problems.”

A patient suffering from a highly complex form of cancer may have a higher survival rate with this kind of technology in use. Perhaps a patient suffering from a condition that may have gone undiagnosed for years may discover it in time to avoid an early grave. Hopefully this technology will be successfully implemented everywhere.

If you have any questions about MRI scans or any other diagnostic imaging procedures please feel free to give us a call. We here at Clermont Radiology look forward to answering any questions you may have.

Charla Hurst General
Operations Manager
Charla@ClermontRadiology.com  
352-241-6100 

www.ClermontRadiology.com  

References: http://www.healthimaginghub.com/regional-news/americas/articles/4100-new-mri-technology-could-lead-to-faster-disease-diagnoses.html

Watch Your Back!

You ever get a pain in your back? When you get that pain do you go to the doctor? Over a long period there seems to have been an increase in unnecessary diagnostic imaging procedures over the last several years. It’s a sad thing to see but it’s the truth. There was an article published in diagnosticimaging.com which stated that “Using information obtained from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston studied 23,918 outpatient visits for spine problems, representing an estimated 440 million visits total over the 11-year period.” The percentages showed that testing such as MRI and CT scans improved for back pain.

The period covered 1999 to 2010 and it shows that the treatment is not only costly but misused in some occasions. When you think that the nearly 24,000 visits used were only a fraction of 440 million and what they represented as far as patterns, it’s mind-boggling. If all 440 million visits were studied it’s fair to say that the ultimate result would be a major misuse of scans for issues that are non-complex and have a fairly easy resolution.

When it comes to situations like muscle spasms, broken bones, and certain pains, not everyone agrees with using scans to determine a course of action. Dr. James Andrews doesn’t agree with using an MRI in order to determine course of action for sports related injuries. Fractures and injuries can be serious but while a bone may never be the same, an injury won’t return on its own, unlike cancer or another complex condition.

It’s vital that diagnostic imaging not be abused and misused when dealing with the patients. CT Scanners and MRI scanners along with the X-Ray all serve the purpose of helping the patient, not bleeding the patient dry. Hopefully the use of imaging unnecessarily will cease with this type of discovery. It’s unfortunate to see this type of occurrence.

As time passes and there’s an improvement on technology chances are that this practice will all but disappear entirely.

If you have any questions about diagnostic imaging procedures please feel free to give us a call. We at Clermont Radiology look forward to answering any questions you may have.

Charla Hurst General
Operations Manager

Charla@ClermontRadiology.com  
352-241-6100 

www.ClermontRadiology.com  

 References:

http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1722522

http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/ct/unnecessary-imaging-tests-still-ordered-back-pain

Why a Properly Timed Scan Truly Helps

Often times we overlook the usefulness of a CT scan, and MRI, or even the occasional X-Ray. The truth of the matter is that patients don’t really like to think about these things because they are not eager to find out that they may have something worse than a common cold, a headache, or a possibly fractured limb. There is that fear of the complex condition, a cancer, something worse than that, something that will kill us if we don’t treat it.

As we age there is also the worry that a scan will likely reveal something we are not going to be able to deal with on our own, something such as Alzheimer’s disease, or epilepsy. These types of conditions are very difficult for patients to deal with on their own. With epilepsy, being completely cured is never a certainty, and Alzheimer’s disease is a condition with no cure and progressively difficult stages of deterioration.

A new study shows a possible correlation between epilepsy and the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. While it’s not yet a certainty, this development brings about the thought that scanning for early detection may be a good concept to consider, given the serious nature of Alzheimer’s disease. According to what was published about the study itself “epileptic activity associated with Alzheimer's disease deserves increased attention because it has a harmful effect, can easily go unrecognized and untreated, and may reflect pathogenic processes that also contribute to other aspects of the illness.”

These are the kind of things that merit a concentrated effort in order to better understand what this can mean to patients that suffer or may have suffer from some form of epilepsy or another. It’s still really difficult, and in some opinions, nearly impossible to tell what causes epilepsy or why. It will be interesting to see what the correlation is between the very difficult conditions.

The study was conducted in the following way “Dr. Vossel and colleagues studied 54 patients with both cognitive impairment and epileptiform activity, and they assessed clinical and demographic data, electroencephalography (EEG) readings, and treatment responses to anti-epileptic medications.” The way this study was conducted is indicative of an attempt to further discover links between genetics and these two conditions, while this something that has yet to be proven, it is definitely something to be considered.

If you have any questions about diagnostic imaging procedures please feel free to give us a call. We here at Clermont Radiology look forward to answering any questions that you may have.

Charla Hurst General
Operations Manager
Charla@ClermontRadiology.com  
352-241-6100 

www.ClermontRadiology.com 

References: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/808574

How Can Imaging Get Better?

Diagnostic imaging has a set of standards that are in place for the purpose of ensuring quality. X-Rays, MRI scans, and CT scans all have to meet a standard of quality. Standards are not put in place so that patients can be charged they have a real reason for existing. Patient well being is the primary concern of all physicians and accuracy in a diagnosis and treatment program are vital. When standards are not followed or are not high enough, the patient suffers. When a patient suffers there is a chain reaction that creates adverse effects for everyone involved.

It’s fair to ask, how can standards improve? Standards in imaging are handled by separate groups that try to look at issues from the patient’s perspective. Through numerous studies there is a course of action that’s suggested and subsequently implemented. In a recent article about imaging standards being expanded Wayne Forrest wrote “A number of revisions have been suggested. For example, facilities that provide CT, PET, or nuclear medicine services would be required to monitor radiation exposure levels for all staff and licensed independent practitioners who routinely work with those modalities. The commission noted that the precautions are typically addressed with exposure meters, such as personal dosimetry badges.” This is the kind of standard that applies to both patient and practitioner.

Radiation is diagnostic imaging is a concern, considering that repeated exposure can put a person at risk. Setting a standard that monitors radiation and falls in line with the new controlled dosages that rely on size, age, and condition. While this particular standard speaks more to the fact that there is a set of regulations in place for radiation, it’s a clear example of the desire to ultimately improve patient care.

Standards are not just being expanded to make sure that staff is safe. There is a push to ensure that equipment functions are specified. Uniformity and position accuracy are some of the things subject to closer scrutiny. As long as the equipment is working properly, and all regulations are being followed, the patient wins. While commissions are put together to ensure these particular standards, it’s vital for the physician to be able to tell his or her staff what’s expected in terms of quality.

If you have any questions about diagnostic imaging procedures please feel free to give us a call. We here at Clermont Radiology look forward to answering any questions that you may have. We have a great commitment to providing the best quality and highest standards in imaging.

Charla Hurst General
Operations Manager
Charla@ClermontRadiology.com  
352-241-6100 

www.ClermontRadiology.com  

References: http://www.auntminnie.com/index.aspx?sec=sup&sub=cto&pag=dis&ItemID=104227&wf=5563