Writers annoy me...not sure if it's their fault though...

I had a call from a patient/customer yesterday who was very worried about an article she read in a magazine. It was a women's magazine like Elle or Cosmo or something like that. I don't remember for sure. ANYWAY, she said there was an article in there that said if she takes ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) she will get breast cancer. I get a fair amount of calls like this where one small study reported in the lay press causes a huge uproar. I advised her that many scientific studies have outcomes that just do not apply in the real world, but I would look into it for her and call her back by Monday.

It turns out it won't even take that long! I was able to obtain a report on the study cited in the magazine and I could not believe how frickin irresponsible the magazine was to report the findings like it did. My patient read the title to me on the phone. It read:

"Regular Ibuprofen use Associated with Breast Cancer"

Just that sentence alone is scary as hell. Especially for someone with a family history of breast cancer like my her. Yes, it is true that in this study there was a statistically significant increase in breast cancer in women who took ibuprofen. However, a blanket statement like the above title is misleading. At least according to me.

The University of Southern California researchers, who published their findings in the June 1 Journal of the National Cancer Institute, concluded that their data provides only slim evidence to support any ibuprofen-breast cancer causal effect. That means who knows if it's actually ibuprofen that added to breast cancer risk. It might be something completely unrelated to the actual medicine. The authors even put up some theories that may explain the findings. People who have conditions that require daily painkillers are more likely to be treated by physicians and thus have better chance for early discovery (hence a higher rate of reported breast cancer). They also theorized that some women took ibuprofen to relieve early symptoms of breast cancer, although this one was less likely because early breast cancer tends to be asymptomatic.
Here is another nail in the panic coffin, the study included zero data on the doses used by the study participants. They just surveyed for daily ibuprofen (and aspirin and tylenol) use. It would be harder to establish a causal relationship without the doses used. Incedently, the aspirin and tylenol group showed no increase in breast cancer incidence, but I will still recommend ibuprofen when appropriate.

Anyway, long story short, don't believe every frickin word you read in Cosmo eh? I wouldn't be HALF as annoyed if the article mentioned just those few extra facts. You know,it just occured to me that I ranted and bitched and complained, but I don't really know what the article in the woman's magazine actually says. I just had the title read to me. Hmmmm. It's possible I could have wasted a LOT of time on nothing because she didn't read the whole fucking article.

God DAMN, customers annoy me.


FYI:
Journal of the National Cancer Institute

Marshall SF, et al. 2005. Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug Use and Breast Cancer Risk by Stage and Hormone Receptor Status. JNCI; 97: 805-812