Weekly Blood Monitoring Unnecessary Throughout Radiation Therapy For Prostate Cancer

Discontinuing the apply of drawing blood every week from patients undergoing radiation therapy for prostate cancer can save money and time with out jeopardizing the patients care, a new study has found. Researchers reviewed the charts of 89 patients handled for nonmetastatic prostate cancer at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Philadelphia. The patients had been handled with external-beam radiation therapy; some also had undergone hormonal remedies. Radiation therapy reduces the bodys potential to produce blood cells, mentioned Kenneth Blank, MD, of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center. “Because of that, it has been frequent practice for patients undergoing therapy to have common blood assessments to see if their white blood cell, hemoglobin, and platelet ranges are applicable. Blood counts in these patients stayed within an applicable degree all through remedy,” stated Dr. Blank. “This strongly means that weekly blood depend monitoring may not be obligatory. In actual fact, based mostly on the outcomes of this study, the Veterans Administration Hospital no longer recommends weekly blood rely monitoring, saving about $30,000 per a hundred treated patients,” he said. “We advocate that patients have a blood count taken when treatment begins.



The Apple Watch Series 6 feels prefer it has perfected many of the features I preferred about its predecessor. It has a brighter at all times-on display, a more powerful processor, quicker charging and two new colorful options to select from. But the characteristic I was most excited to try out was its new sensor that measures oxygen saturation in the blood (aka SpO2) with the faucet of a display screen. As somebody who panic-bought a pulse oximeter at first of the coronavirus pandemic and nonetheless checks her levels at the primary signal of a cough, the thought of having one strapped to my wrist at all times was sufficient to pique my interest. But in contrast to the ECG characteristic on the Apple Watch, which has been tried, tested and BloodVitals device cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration, along with the irregular coronary heart rhythm notifications, SpO2 on the Apple Watch still seems to be in its early stages. Navigating all this new data might be daunting for anybody who's not a medical professional.



I purchased an FDA-cleared pulse oximeter, the gadget docs use to measure BloodVitals SPO2 in your fingertip, as a precaution when coronavirus cases in the US began to climb. Having low blood oxygen levels does not guarantee you may have COVID-19, however it is one in every of the foremost symptoms of the illness. I had read horror stories of people that waited too long to go to the hospital and had died in their sleep because they didn't notice their ranges had dipped overnight. You must always examine with a physician if you are experiencing shortness of breath (one other symptom of COVID-19), even when a pulse oximeter says you're in a wholesome vary, however I found consolation in realizing that I could at least use it as a reference if I ever experienced shortness of breath. That's not one thing you are able to do with the Apple Watch -- Apple says it should be used for wellness functions only and not as a medical machine, which means you will must take the outcomes with a grain of salt and should not use it to display for any kind of illness, which is what I had been hoping to get out of it.



But there may be other advantages of having it strapped in your wrist always. Very like a pulse oximeter, the Series 6 makes use of purple and infrared mild from its new sensor to determine the share of oxygen in the blood. But as an alternative of shining the sunshine by way of your fingertip, it uses the sunshine that is reflected again from the blood vessels in your wrist to find out your oxygen levels based on the shade of your blood. In the course of the setup course of you are requested whether or not you want to activate SpO2 tracking, which I did, however you can at all times return and disable it within the settings after the very fact. The first thing I did after strapping on the Watch was open the Blood Oxygen app. It offers you a couple of tips about easy methods to get the most effective end result and it is advisable rest your arm on a table or flat surface while the Watch is taking a studying.



Then the 15-second countdown begins and you are finished -- straightforward and painless. I obtained a 95% on my first learn, which was lower than what I'm used to from my pulse oximeter. Anything above 90% is generally considered by clinicians to be inside a wholesome range, however in most cases, increased is best. I examined it a number of extra instances and BloodVitals device got barely different outcomes inside a number of percentage factors relying on whether I was completely nonetheless and silent during the take a look at, the place I had the watch positioned on my wrist and the way tight the strap was. There are many components that can affect a reading, akin to skin temperature or the place of the sensors on the physique. Side-by-side with my pulse oximeter, the Apple Watch was usually off by about one or two factors, however sometimes spot on. What was more fascinating to me was the BloodVitals SPO2 knowledge that collected over time within the Health app .