Movie Director John Woo Has Throat Cancer?

Famed movie director John Woo apparently is being treated for throat cancer. The director of such movies including Mission: Impossible II is apparently undergoing treatment in the United States.

Details are sparse.

However, he apparently "has been admitted into a hospital for 4 months" which leads me to think that his throat cancer is late-stage which usually requires both radiation and chemotherapy for definitive treatment. Surgery may or may not be required, though hard to say without more information.

Source:
Woo reportedly suffers from throat cancer. China.org.cn 5/26/12

The Four Types of Patients Seen in a Surgeon's Clinic

Over the years, I have found that patients can be loosely grouped into 4 different types. Nothing particularly wrong with any type, but it does help me to approach patients appropriately if I can get a sense of what type they are.

The four types are:

Type A:  If a surgery can "fix" or "cure" me such that I won't have to take medications every day of my life, than let's do it.

Type B: I will never consider surgery unless it is a life-threatening situation. If a medicine can help, why do it???

Type C: I will consider surgery only as a last resort when all else fails.

Type D: They thought they were Type B or C, but over time, they realize they are Type A.

Why is this important?

Because if a patient is Type B and surgery is recommended, the patient often develops an automatic distrust of the surgeon. The patient may see the surgeon as a "gun-slinger" who likes to cut people.

If a patient is Type A and the surgeon approaches them like Type B or C, such patients may come out of a visit quite disappointed and at worst, upset that the surgeon will not do what they want.

Ultimately, for a happy clinic encounter, a mutual understanding needs to quickly happen otherwise a mutual discord may snowball ultimately leading to a second opinion with another surgeon.

Of course, there is a more complex dynamic going on, but it's a good over-simplification.

There are FOUR Different Types of Botox Available in the Market

Not many people know that there are FOUR different types of botox available and FDA approved for use in the United States.

The four botox products are as follows:

1) Botox by Allergan
2) Myobloc by Solstice Neurosciences
3) Dysport by Ipsen, Ltd
4) Xeomin by Merz

Obviously, Botox by Allergan was the first and most popular to the point where its product name "botox" is being used interchangeably to mean any botulinum toxin product; much like "Kleenex" is used to mean any tissue product to blow the nose with or "Google" to mean "to search for" even if you use Bing.

Although all four products are made from the Clostridium botulinum bacteria, the four products are isolated from different strains of bacteria, have different molecular structures, and attach to different parts of the nerve. What does this mean for the end-user? It means that dosages are not equivalent across product lines. In other words, 1 unit of botox is NOT the same as 1 unit of myobloc. Furthermore, duration of effect may be different as well as immune response.

Also as an FYI, Botox, Xeomin, and Dysport are Botulinum toxin type A whereas Myobloc is type B.

Dr. Chang performs botox injections for a variety of problems using Botox by Allergan.