Prostate Cancer: Watchful Waiting Versus Surgery (Prostatectomy)
May 7, 2011 by admin
Filed under Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Prostatectomy, Watchful Waiting, Weekly Health Update, death, health, prostate cancer
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Saturated Fat, Trans-Fats, and Premature Death in Breast Cancer Survivors
January 30, 2011 by admin
Filed under Breast Cancer, Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Nutrition, Saturated Fat, Trans-Fats, cooking oil, death, diet, exercise, health, heart disease, mortality
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Mammograms Save Lives in Women with Family History of Breast Cancer
November 28, 2010 by admin
Filed under Breast Cancer, Cancer, Cancer Prevention, Family History of Breast Cancer, Mammograms, Weekly Health Update, health
Welcome to Weekly Health Update“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers”
MAMMOGRAMS SAVE LIVES IN WOMEN WITH FAMILY HISTORY OF BREAST CANCER
While the debate about whether or not routine screening mammograms can save lives continues in some circles, the clinical research evidence supporting mammograms as a lifesaving cancer screening exam continues to accumulate. Now, a newly published public health study, which appears in The Lancet Oncology, examines the survival benefit associated with routine screening mammograms in women who have a family history of breast cancer. In this large multicenter prospective clinical research study, which was performed in the UK, 6,710 women between the ages of 40 and 42 were enrolled in this study, and were followed for an average of about 4 years. These women, who had at least some family history of breast cancer, underwent annual screening mammograms as part of this clinical research study. This study used two important control groups to assess the impact of regular annual screening mammograms on the risk of mortality in these young women. The first control group consisted of women who were at average risk for breast cancer (these women, themselves, served as the control group for the enormous UK Age Trial, which included more than 106,000 patient volunteers, and which recently reported a 10-year follow-up of its results). The second control group, against which these 6,710 women with an intermediate familial risk of breast cancer were compared, included young women from another large public health study that was performed in the Netherlands. Among the 136 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer during the relatively brief course of this ongoing study, 77 percent were diagnosed by screening mammography, while 21 percent were diagnosed when they presented with a new breast lump (or with other clinical signs or symptoms of breast cancer). (Another 2 percent of patients failed to attend their scheduled screening mammograms, and subsequently developed clinical signs or symptoms of breast cancer.) In this study (and as other studies have shown, even among women who are at average risk of developing breast cancer), breast cancers that were detected by annual screening mammograms were significantly smaller in size, and significantly less likely to be associated with the spread of cancer to the lymph nodes. In addition to these very important breast cancer prognostic factors, women who were diagnosed with breast cancer as a result of annual screening mammograms had much less aggressive appearing tumors under the microscope when compared to women who were diagnosed with breast cancer only after a lump, or other signs of breast cancer, appeared. Based upon the findings of this newly published study, young women with even an intermediate risk of breast cancer, based upon having one or more relatives with breast cancer, were 20 percent less likely to die within 10 years when compared with a poorly screened, or unscreened, average-risk population of young women. Moreover, this survival advantage appeared to be directly related to annual screening mammograms, once all other breast cancer risk factors among these three populations of women had been considered.
For a complete discussion of the compelling scientific evidence linking routine screening mammograms with a decreased risk of death due to breast cancer, please see the extended clinical section on breast cancer in my new book, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race.
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GIVE THE GIFT OF HEALTH THIS HOLIDAY SEASON! For a groundbreaking overview of cancer risks, and evidence-based strategies to reduce your risk of developing cancer, order your copy of my new book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Vroman’s Bookstore, and other fine bookstores! On Thanksgiving Day, A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race was ranked #6 among all cancer-related books on the Amazon.com Top 100 Bestseller’s List for Kindle e-books! Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity
Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a cancer researcher, an oncology consultant, and a widely published author
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I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would again like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 100,000 health-conscious people, from around the world, who visit this premier global health information website every month. (As of 9/16/2010, more than 1,000,000 health-conscious people have logged onto Weekly Health Update so far this year!) As always, I enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can. |
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Aspirin & Breast Cancer Survival
March 28, 2010 by admin
Filed under Weekly Health Update
Welcome to Weekly Health Update“A critical weekly review of important new research findings for health-conscious readers”
ASPIRIN & BREAST CANCER SURVIVAL
Breast cancer tumors, like many other types of cancer, produce increased amounts of chemicals called prostaglandins. As with many other types of cancer, prostaglandins are thought to play an important role in the growth and spread of breast cancer. Aspirin belongs to a class of drugs known as NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Like other NSAIDs, aspirin is able to block the activity of the prostaglandin-producing enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX). Moreover, previous research has indicated that, in addition to decreasing prostaglandin production in the body, aspirin also reduces the levels of estrogen in the body (approximately 90 percent of breast cancers are stimulated to grow in the presence of estrogen). Previous research on aspirin as a breast cancer prevention drug has resulted in contradictory findings (although aspirin and other NSAIDs have clearly been shown to reduce the incidence of colorectal polyps and colorectal cancer, and other cancers as well). However, a newly published study, in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, adds weight to prior evidence that the regular intake of aspirin may significantly decrease the risk of breast cancer recurrence, and the risk of death due to recurrent breast cancer. The enormous Nurses’ Health Study is a prospective public health research study that began in 1976 with more than 120,000 female nurses in the United States. Every 2 years, this huge cohort of women completes detailed personal questionnaires regarding diet and lifestyle factors related to cardiovascular disease and cancer. Between 1976 and 2002, more than 4,000 nurses participating in this study were newly diagnosed with breast cancer. The researchers conducting this landmark study then analyzed the incidence of breast cancer recurrence, and the risk of death, among these 4,164 breast cancer patients as a function of their aspirin intake. (Other cancer-associated diet and lifestyle risk factors were also analyzed, as well.) In this huge prospective public health trial, regular aspirin intake was found to significantly reduce the risk of death due to breast cancer. Taking aspirin 2 to 5 times per week was associated with a 71 percent reduction in the relative risk of death due to breast cancer, while 6 to 7 days of aspirin use per week was associated with a 64 percent reduction in the relative risk of cancer-associated death. Importantly, this apparent aspirin-associated reduction in the risk of death due to breast cancer recurrence was observed in women with both early-stage and more advanced breast cancers, in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women, in both obese and non-obese women, and in women with estrogen-sensitive and estrogen-resistant tumors. While this study’s primary weakness is that (like most epidemiological studies) the collected data was primarily based upon patient questionnaires, the Nurses’ Health Study continues to be a carefully conducted prospective study with very stringent data quality controls in place. To summarize the important findings of this study: Among women previously diagnosed with breast cancer, taking aspirin for 2 or more days per week was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of both breast cancer recurrence and death due to breast cancer. (As always, I recommend that you discuss the potential risks and benefits of regularly taking aspirin, or any other new medication, with your doctor before making such changes.)
To learn more about the potential role of NSAIDs in cancer risk reduction, look for the publication of my new landmark book, “A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race,” in the spring/summer of this year. Disclaimer: As always, my advice to readers is to seek the advice of your physician before making any significant changes in medications, diet, or level of physical activity Dr. Wascher is an oncologic surgeon, a professor of surgery, a cancer researcher, an oncology consultant, and a widely published author For a different perspective on Dr. Wascher, please click on the following YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Tdv7XW0qg I and the staff of Weekly Health Update would like to take this opportunity to thank the nearly 120,000 new and returning readers who visited our premier global health information website last month. As always, we enjoy receiving your stimulating feedback and questions, and I will continue to try and personally answer as many of your inquiries as I possibly can. In view of the extreme devastation and human misery brought about in Haiti and Chile by the recent earthquakes, Weekly Health Update asks our tens of thousands of caring readers to give generously to established charities that are currently working in those countries to assist the injured, the ill, and the homeless. There are many such legitimate charities, including the following two:
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