cat scans & lab reports

Another, more sensitive scan has been developed: infra red imaging of breast tissue which will catch signs of potentially cancerous tissues much earlier on in the disease process.Breast tissue is very dense nowadays apparently (polite way of saying we ladies are getting fatter?) This can only be a good thing created by researchers at addenbrookes hospital, surely?

It will only be offered privately as NIHCE has decided that there are enough effective screening methods already available on the NHS. Only about 25% of breast cancer occurs in the under 50s anyway so it wouldn’t make financial sense to roll out this scan to the general population. People with a family history of breast cancer would be able to ‘go private’ and pay for the more sensitive scan themselves.

This seems eminently fair. But i am coming at this from a slightly different angle to the general population. I have ms and since hearing of CCSVI in August of last year have been trying to get a referral in order to get a scan of the veins leaving my head. Doppler ultrasounds, CaT scans and MRVs are used every day on people with vascular issues – those who’ve had heart attacks those who are at risk of furred up arteries (due to their smoking/eating/exercise choices?) and those members of the population who have ’congenital issues’ relating to the flow of their blood. But apparently, if those members of the population also happen to have ms they're not allowed a look inside their own bodies. We have an immunological disorder and so, therefore have no need to look at our veins.

Discussing the worthiness of this ‘immunological’ conclusion deserves a post of its own so we’ll leave that particular story of mice alone for the moment.