HOW TO PREVENT CANCERS

Despite some pretty timid headlines, like “Sigmoidoscopy May Reduce Deaths From Colorectal Cancer,” the results of a UK-based randomized controlled trial seemed pretty resounding and further confirm the importance of regular colon cancer screening tests between ages 50 – 75 (USPSTF recommendations). The studied appeared early-online this Wednesday...

Last week, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) called on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to mandate a maximum level of sodium in food (IOM report). They did this because high sodium intake contributes to high blood pressure, which is a contributor to heart disease and stroke....

At the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), I presented a review of evidence relating childhood and adolescent exposures to lifetime cancer risk (see slides from presentation here http://bit.ly/d2SY2s). One of many “meet the expert” sessions, this...

It seems like everywhere you turn these days products are touting how much soy protein they have. In some ways this is understandable as more and more evidence shows that soy can have important health benefits, like lowering the risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer, and heart disease...

A new study in this month's Archives of Dermatology suggests that indoor tanning can be addicting in young adults (study) (1).  While the study was relatively small, with just over 400 participants surveyed, the results seem to bolster the need for moves toward greater regulation of the indoor tanning industry, especially through policies that...

Lately, with health care reform being the health topic de rigueur, much of the talk about technology in health has been related to electronic medical records. But, as the presentations at the 2010 Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) Annual Meeting demonstrate, there is a lot more...

In results widely reported this week, a new study has found strong links between the drinking behavior of young women and adolescent girls and their later risk of developing benign breast disease, a marker of future risk for breast cancer (study link) (1).The study, published early online in the journal Pediatrics, surveyed close to 7,000 girls and...

The headlines this week about fruits and vegetables doing little, if anything, to lower cancer risk may entice you to reach for a candy bar rather than a carrot (study), but there's still plenty of good reasons to keep working on your 5 or more each day.Most importantly, there's...

In Sunday's New York Times (story), Robert Pear wrote about the many disease prevention initiatives contained in the new health care law recently passed by congress and signed by the president. It's important to stop and consider the full implications of this. Importantly, Medicaid will now cover drugs and counseling to help pregnant women stop...

A new study published online last week in the British Medical Journal on tanning bed use by youth in the United Kingdom has raised concerns well beyond its shores (full study) (1).  The study surveyed over 9,000 children aged 11 -17 in England, Wales, and Scotland and found...