WOMEN

Fantasy becomes fact in Digital Age of Healthcare

Young girls who watched the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman perform superhuman feats 40 years ago are experiencing improved quality of life because science fiction fantasy has become medical science reality.

And it’s happening right here in our backyard. Robotic arms are handling delicate procedures with precision, heartbeats are being stabilized by pacemakers slightly larger than a penny that are essentially tiny computers, titanium-encased magnets are working like sealants, and bodies are being tricked into reducing symptoms by new therapies.

Advances in science and technology have translated beautifully to the field of medicine. And countless women are reaping the benefits. Women have so many more options now.

Quality of life takes on a completely different meaning because we are demanding it. We expect it. And medicine is answering the call.

Things women once viewed as unavoidable are no longer absolutes. Case in point: advanced breast cancer.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved Pfi zer Inc.’s Ibrance, a potential new standard of care for advanced breast cancer. The drug was approved for previously untreated postmenopausal women whose cancer cells have receptors to estrogen and who do not have mutations in the HER2 gene that contribute to uncontrolled growth of breast cells.

Such patients represent the largest proportion of breast cancer cases and typically are treated with chemotherapy.

The new medication defi nitely is a game-changer for thousands of women like Dale Mathis, a resident