HOW TO PREVENT CANCERS

It may not fall into the "shocking" category, but a new Harvard study by our colleagues at the Nurses' Health Study has provided further insight into the links between smoking and breast cancer (study).  To date, many studies have had waffling results on the subject.  Some showing smoking raising risk; some showing it not affecting risk at...

It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young.-Konrad Lorenz This week's news brought a story that remind me that sometimes, the best science involves letting go of previously held hypotheses.Access to quality, health food, particularly fruits and vegetables, is something...

A new report released by Statistics Canada yesterday shows that the level of physical activity in the Canadian population is far lower than previously estimated (see report).While Canada has used self-report to monitor the level of activity in the adult population and seen high levels of reported physical activity – in the new report barely one third...

There is an impressive density of research on the role of diet in cancer prevention, leading to numerous reports, such as that from the American Cancer Society or the World Cancer Research Fund, but only relatively recently has the research community turned to study the role of lifestyle, including diet, in cancer survivors.  Despite this, there...

More data have come to light reinforcing messages we have summarized in previous posts on lifestyle changes for cancer survivors. Following more than 4,400 women with breast cancer and assessing dietary intake after diagnosis, Beasley and colleagues report that higher saturated and trans fat intake are both associated with higher total morality  ADDIN...

Several new studies published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology provide strong evidence for poor outcomes among women with breast cancer who are obese. In the largest study to date, Ewertz and colleagues followed 18,967 women who were treated for early stage breast cancer between 1977 and 2006. Evaluating recurrence and mortality, the investigators...

Full disclosure: I haven't read "The 4-Hour Workweek" or "The 4-Hour Body." I tend to hear about the latest "best selling" health book and let it zip in one ear and out the other. My take on making healthy choices is that they take a little time (though not a lot as Mark Bittman admirabily reminds us about cooking) and a little work, but they are...

If you needed another reason to lace up your sneakers and keep your New Years' resolution to be active, this week offered 2:1) Our team published, in collaboration with colleagues at the American Cancer Society, research on the role of physical activity in colon cancer and colon cancer mortality. There is a strong and consistent body of evidence showing...

We're not big gamers here at CNiC, but there was a fascinating episode of WNCY's radio program On the Media last week devoted solely to the topic, which had some very interesting, if also unsettling, things to say about the ways gaming culture may eventually impact the real-life choices we all make.In one segment (embedded below), Carnegie Mellon professor,...