New Breast Imaging machine is making detecting breast cancer easier. This is good news because identifying cancer earlier is essential to increase survival rate. Considering Breast cancer is very common in women and occurs occasionally in men it is important to note that this is great news for our health.

Results which recognized mammography as a successful diagnostic tool for cancer were first published in 1967. Since that time, breast self-examination and a mammography have been considered essential in the identification of breast cancer. The goal of mammograms is the early detection of breast cancer, but this technique has not always been reliable, with false positive and false negative readings occurring in a portion of cases.

Doctors are now using newer breast imaging techniques to diagnose and stage breast cancer. Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) and positron emission mammography (PEM) rely on the use of radiotracers to detect cancer cells instead of the X-rays used in mammograms. The BSGI tracer is positively charged, while cancer cells are negatively charged. The tracer diffuses around cancer cells and highlights them in the process. The PEM tracer uses glucose in this process. Glucose is used by all cells for energy, with cancer cells using more energy and more of the tracer which are highlighted on the image.

Dr. Patrick Borgen, director of the Brooklyn Breast Cancer Program at the Maimonides Cancer Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. said, “I think it’s exciting that we’re moving more to functional imaging, but mammography is the mainstay of breast cancer screening and neither of these tests is in a position to replace mammography as the cornerstone of cancer detection. These tests are adjuncts.” Borgen, who was not involved in studies involving either BSGI of PEM procedures, stated that neither test is widely available and both can be costly.

Studies of both procedures and their results were presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America held November 30th to December 5th in Chicago. In one of the studies PEM was used to assess how the imaging technique was affected by the density of breasts or the hormonal status of the patient in 208 women with breast cancer. Dr. Kathy Schilling, director of breast imagining and intervention at the Center for Breast Care at the Boca Raton Community Hospital in Florida said that the PEM scanner does immobilize the breast, but does not compress it. Schilling was the lead author of the study. Schilling said the results were similar to, or better than, breast MRI tests. She believes that the PEM will probably be used as breast MRI’s have been used, because MRI causes so many false positives and unnecessary biopsies.

The second study, reviewed data from 159 women who had been found to have a suspicious lesion as a result of a mammogram. The women then had BSGI scanning which uses mild compression to capture images. The testing revealed suspicious lesions in 29 percent of the women, a third of these lesions were found to be cancerous. This study was conducted by Rachel F. Brem, M.D., of the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington DC, and colleagues.

Breast cancer in women is second only to skin cancer for incidence in the United States. Experts agree that the best way to decrease mortality from the disease is through early detection.

By: Neomi Heroux - Healthnews.com

One child in 150 in the United States is diagnosed with autism, the majority affected being boys. Autistic children usually are slow in communicating, have difficulty connecting with others, and are prone to repetitive activities. Autistic children can be helped with education and medication, but professionals agree that for intervention to be successful it must start early. Doctors usually diagnose a child with autism based on what their parents observe and by observing the child themselves. The diagnosis usually comes after the child is two years of age.

A recent study involving MEG (magnetoencephalography) as a diagnostic tool has researchers believing that they may have found a way to test children in a relatively simple way. The MEG measures magnetic fields generated by electrical currents in the brain. The research used a helmet that looks like a hair dryer to study the brain waves of 64 children, 30 of which had been diagnosed with autism. The children wore headphones and listened to a series of beeps, vowels, and sentences. Comparison of the results revealed that the autistic children responded one fiftieth of a second slower than children without autism. “We tend to speak at four syllables per second, if an autistic brain is slow in processing a change in a syllable…it could easily get to the point of being overloaded,” according to Timothy Roberts.

Roberts is the study's lead author and vice chairman of research at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where the study was conducted. The children in the study were between 6 and 15 years of age. The study results were released Monday at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago.

The study revealed unique brain waves in autistic children and with the slower response to sounds the researchers believe that autistic children have problems understanding syllables as they are spoken and this prevents them from communicating effectively. The researchers are looking for the findings to be confirmed and the possibility that they may be able to detect autism in children as young as one. This would allow an early start on behavioral therapy necessary to help these children learn to communicate. Roberts said that the findings fit the theory that autism is a “disorder of connectivity of the brain.”

MEG technology has been used to map brain tumors and evaluate epilepsy. One of the drawbacks of the technology at present is the shortage of MEG machines. According to Roberts only about 150 of the MEG units exist at this time and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has the only one dedicated to pediatric care. Brain scans using MRIs and CT scans are not specific enough to give the detailed imagery necessary to detect the microscopic difference in the brain tissue to diagnose autism.

Autism disorders range across a broad range of abilities, and collectively are known as ASDs (Autistic Spectrum Disorders). Roberts said, “Earlier diagnosis of ASDs may allow clinicians to intervene earlier with possible treatments.” He foresees MEG being employed to examine people with attention deficit disorders, and other mental problems. He believes it may also provide more clues to the causes of autism and may help determine what is hereditary and what is environmental in the cause.