HOW TO PREVENT CANCERS

There was a very nice piece this morning on NPR's Morning Edition building on a study released earlier this month that found that being persistently overweight from young adulthood on can have a profoundly negative social and economic impact on individuals - this in addition to the already well-documented health effects of overweight and obesity...

Results from an exciting new analysis were released today and highlight the important advances that are being made in understanding how energy expenditure relates to cancer. The results, from the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study show that individuals who report...

This week, the New York Times reported (story) on the status of our nation's efforts to control hepatitis C infections, which look grim in some ways, as rates of infection, and associated liver transplants continue to rise.  Some experts are excited about a new screening test which can detect hepatitis C infection immediately without waiting for...

Yesterday in the New York Times, Jane Brody reminded us of the importance of cancer prevention when focusing on tobacco, the leading cause of cancer in the US and the world. This preventable cause of cancer continues to be marketed, but how do we quantify the prevention efforts that...

While awareness continues to grow that screening for breast cancer, like other screening tests, aims to detect cancer earlier, when it is more successfully treated, it is clear that screening tests are not perfect and those who test positive require additional follow-up to confirm the diagnosis and chose an appropriate therapy. Equally important, but...

Previously, it was estimated that 70% of cervical cancer is caused by just two strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) – strains 16 and 18. Those are the same two strains that the HPV vaccine (sold under the name Gardasil in the US) protects against. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease and the vaccine protects women and girls against it if they...

Dr. Charles recently posted over at KevinMD on the top 10 cost effective preventive medicine services.1) Aspirin2) Childhood Immunization3) Smoking cessation4) Moderating alcohol intake5) Colorectal cancer screening6) Hypertension screening7) Flu immunization8) Vision screening9) Cervical cancer screening10) Cholesterol screeningThe exciting thing...

A British media story today points to later age at first birth as a major cause of increasing breast cancer rates in the UK (see story). This is not news, though increasing knowledge about causes of breast cancer is useful. We have known for decades that the later a women ahs her...

In the June issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, University of Minnesota researcher DeAnn Lazovich and colleagues published a study further confirming the dangers of indoor tanning, finding significant increases in the risk of melanoma linked to regular tanning bed use (link).  She summarizes her findings and...

As national trends have shown us all too clearly, keeping weight in check can be a difficult journey for many of us, and a lonely one at that. Success or failure when it comes to our weight is often pinned to us as individuals. Yet, individual actions are just the culmination...

“…the prevalence of smoking in the United States hovers at 20%, more than 8 million people are sick or disabled as a result of tobacco use, and smoking kills 450,000 Americans annually.”In a new Perspective on the New England Journal of Medicine's site (link), Stephen Schroeder, MD and Kenneth Warner, PhD  make the strong case for...

KevinMD has had some great guest posts recently including one by Kenneth Lin (http://commonsensemd.blogspot.com/) on the need (or not) for cancer awareness. Dr. Lin references the recent Facebook campaign that had women posting their bra color to raise breast cancer awareness – which had me wondering whether anyone is really not “aware” of breast...

Last week we commented on the data from the Nurses’ Health Study II showing that bike riding could reduce weight gain in premenopausal women. This is just one of many strategies available to women to increase exercise or physical activity, control their weight, and reduce their risk of breast cancer. Why do we focus on physical activity and weigh...

As we turn to summer, cookouts, and more time in the sun, a burning question is whether sunscreen prevents skin cancer. Much media attention has focused on the slow progress made by the FDA to bring US regulations into line with other countries to gain up to date benefits of sunscreen...