The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good:  The United States Navy reached a decision that will likely get little press attention last Thursday when it lifted the longstanding ban on women serving on submarines. A step being heralded by woman’s rights groups, as helping to further bridge the gender gap in America.

The Bad: In the worst oil spill since the 1989 Exxon-Valdez accident, an offshore drilling site in the Gulf of Mexico this week has been leaking 5,000 barrels and creating an environmental catastrophe.  It is expected to come ashore on the Louisiana coast in the next few days.

The Ugly: Following the passage of a controversial immigration law in Arizona, demonstrators on both sides of the issue took to the streets.  Mexico placed a travel advisory on Arizona and warned that their citizens should use caution if traveling to the state. 

The Exciting:  The media was abuzz this past week on news from researchers reporting in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute that when three specific biomarkers – p16, COX-2 and Ki67 – "were present, or positive, a woman had a 20 percent individual risk of developing invasive cancer over eight years."  But, if all the markers were negative, the risk of invasive cancer dropped to only 4 percent.  This is great news for all women and shows the power of combining technology and personal medicine for the benefit of people. 

Kevin Fickenscher, MD

The views and opinions expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Dell Services or its affiliates.