New York Times

The headline for the July 29th New York Times article read “Scientists Seek to Rein in Diagnoses of Cancer.” The accompanying article discusses the fact that many diagnoses of cancer are of conditions that, though pre-malignant or not life-threatening, are labelled as cancer and frighten patients into seeking “what may be unneeded and potentially harmful treatments.”

PAULINE W. CHEN - A friend of mine, a brilliant and accomplished academic in her 70s who once specialized in history and literature, recently phoned to ask for medical advice after being discharged from the hospital for what sounded like a mini-stroke. Ever eager to learn something new, she pressed me on “the latest research” and asked what doctors around the country were doing for her condition...

... “I don’t want him to think I’m questioning his judgment,” she added. “I don’t want to upset him or make him angry at me!”

April 9, 2012 - By the late 1940s we knew a great deal about acute infectious diseases. We understood that these diseases could be identified by the specific microorganisms that caused them and  that they had a definite course. Further, we knew  that they were accompanied by high fever, internal shivering, pain, skin eruptions or some other acute symptoms. It was also understood that these diseases could be reduced or even eliminated if an appropriate vaccine was found that would prepare the body to fend off the microorganism.