Medicare to Cover Lung Cancer Screenings, Eye Infections Increase, Smartphones Linked to Toddler Accidents & Other News

Medicare to Cover Lung Cancer Screenings for Those at High-Risk

Medicare will soon start paying for annual lung cancer screenings for people at high risk, age 55-74 years, in a decision that could save thousands of lives through early detection of the disease.

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed paying for low-dose CT scans to detect lung tumors for people at highest risk.

The screenings would cover people ages 55-74, who have smoked at least a pack a day for 30 years, or the equivalent. Current smokers or those who have quit smoking within the last 15 years would qualify. The proposal is now open for a 30-day comment period, after which the coverage will be implemented.

Using low-dose spiral CT (computed tomography) screenings for cancer delivers about the same radiation as a mammogram. Sometimes, CT scan images aren’t very clear. A blur on a CT scan might be a tumor, but it could also be an infection or even nothing. This uncertainty sometimes requires that people get a second scan.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men and women in the United States.

“There is now evidence-based scientific data that has shown that screening with low-dose CT scans in those at high risk can detect more early operable cancers and reduce deaths by 20 percent,” said Paul Kaywin, M.D., assistant chairman of Miami Cancer Institute thoracic tumor site team

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                                                                                              –John Fernandez

Eye Infections Increase

The eyes can see clearly – as long as they’re healthy and not infected, that is. If you are one of the 25-million-plus people in the U.S. who wear contact lenses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has some important information to share.

The agency Thursday released its study of visits to outpatient and emergency centers in 2010 that found nearly 1 million of them a year result in a diagnosis of keratitis –an eye infection. The most common culprit – unclean contact lenses.

In an earlier blog posted here, William Trattler, M.D., an ophthalmologist affiliated with Baptist Health, warned about the dangers of sleeping in contact lenses. “Sleeping in contacts is associated with a higher risk of infection,” he said. “And an infection in the center of the cornea can lead to permanent vision loss.”

Indeed, the consequences can be serious. If an eye infection isn’t treated with antibiotics in a timely manner, the contamination can cause serious complications, including inflammation, pain and even blindness, he said.

In addition to maintaining proper contact lense hygiene, read about other eye conditions and how to treat them in this post:

                                                                                            –Sharon Harvey Rosenberg