Filed under: Childhood Cancers How are children surviving cancer today? Better than ever before. Some childhood cancer patients, now in their young adult years, are expecting to reach milestones in their lives others before them never would have reached. Today, 1 in 1,000 young adults in the United States is a childhood cancer survivor. In the 1970s, the chance a child would outlive leukemia or lymphoma was 25 percent. Today, it's 80 percent. That's better than most adult recovery rates. As recovery rates rise, a new frontier is on the horizon -- follow-up for these young people as they age. You see, the very treatments that saved these individuals may cause them complications later in life. It's not yet clear what happens when kids live 20 to 30 years beyond diagnosis. But teams at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, plan to find out as they launch one of the most ambitious follow-up programs to date. Contacting 5,000 patients who have survived for more than 10 years, doctors hope they will recruit a group to receive free check-ups for life. They'll also receive blood tests, MRI scans, even fertility counseling. Their medical histories will serve as rich textbooks for medical professionals and future patients -- so the war on childhood cancer can continue. Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Research As soon as I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I started reading, researching, and investigating. I hunted down every bit of information I could find about the disease that had somehow tunneled through my breast tissue. What I found kept me in the know. I felt informed and in control -- and a bit skittish too. My doctor once told me to stop reading. It was causing me too much worry, too much unnecessary stress. And while I didn't stop reading altogether, I did cut down on my Internet research. Since anyone can post anything on the Internet, it can be an iffy source of information. So iffy that some doctors -- like mine -- have expressed concern. Doctors may be able to breathe a sigh of relief, though. According to a study published in the April issue of the International Journal of Medical Informatics, using the internet generally convinces patients that their doctors are right on track with their medical opinions. Source: MAMM magazine, May/June 2007 Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: All Cancers , Daily news Health care is expensive, even for those with insurance. My treatment with the breast cancer drug Herceptin cost $5,000 every three weeks for 52 weeks. Insurance paid 80 percent; I was responsible for 20. That's $1,000 every three weeks. Not exactly affordable. What many of us don't know is that we can play an active role in cutting our health care bills. We can shop around for everything, for example. Before filling a prescription, consider comparing prices offered at mail-order and online pharmacies with those of larger retailers. You may even find that mom and pop shops offer competitive rates since they can set their own pricing. Don't forget about generic drugs too. Ask your doctor if a generic version of your medication is just as good as a brand name drug. If so, go for the price break. Did you know that lab work is more expensive if you get it at a hospital? Ask your doctor for other trustworthy locations and save a few bucks. Always ask for itemized medical bills. Read them carefully. Eight out of 10 hospital bills contain errors, so you're likely to find some. If you find something isn't right, be aggressive in your pursuit of the mistake. Go to the billing department -- in person if you can -- and keep at your complaint until it's appropriately addressed. Keep talking to supervisors until you are satisfied. Document everything. It pays to ask for discounts. Next time you see your doctor, ask if he or she can charge you a less expensive rate or at least help you negotiate one. You might be surprised when your doctor agrees. You might also ask to receive a discount in exchange for paying cash up front. In a world of skyrocketing medical costs, try these tips for taking matters into your own hands.

Filed under: Research , Thought for the Day Until the 1990s, most medical studies used only men. Women are included now, but more research is needed on how diseases, like cancer, affect each sex. Women have unique needs, after all, and it's critical that all angles are represented in important research findings. Think you might want to volunteer and help advance research on this female front? Just visit womancando.org and find out how you can do your part. "The power of one can make a difference," reads this website. "You can make a powerful contribution to improving women's health by participating in medical research and becoming part of the effort to understand health and treat disease. Today, it is easy to take health advances for granted. We know a lot about how to treat and prevent disease, but much remains to be learned." Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: Prevention , Diets , Exercise , Nutrition , Vitamins and nutrients , Smoking , Sunday Seven

Filed under: Pancreatic Cancer , Research , Daily news New research may one one day help in the diagnosis and prognosis of the nation's number four cancer killer of men and number five cancer killer of women. The killer: pancreatic cancer. Findings from an Ohio State University study show pancreatic cancer cells may leave signs in gene-related molecules called microRNAs. Published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, this study examined pancreatic tissue from 65 people with the disease and 42 people with chronic inflammation of the pancreas, called chronic pancreatitis. Scientists found 15 microRNAs more common to the cancer patients than those with chronic pancreatitis. Eight microRNAs were less common in the cancer patients, and a microRNA subgroup was linked to increased pancreatic cancer survival, making it possible to identify long-term survivors from those who would live for only about two years. Scientists must now determine what significance these microRNAs play in the pancreatic cancer process.

Filed under: Breast Cancer , Events , Thought for the Day We cannot be silent is one slogan printed on specialty clothing offered by a company called Privacy. Other slogans include United We Cure and Mission. Purpose. Cure. The slogans say a lot -- but the accomplishments of Carolyn Jones, Founder and President/CEO of Privacy, say a whole lot more. Think about this: Jones lost her mother to breast cancer on November 16, 2000 during a time when too many questions about the disease were left unanswered and not enough options were available for women fighting for their lives. Times have changed, in part due to outspoken pioneers like Jones, who are spreading the word and funding the cause. Part of the Privacy corporate goal is to support medical research and to educate women about early detection and treatment. "It is very clear that more information and research is needed due to the yearly increase in new cases nationally," says Jones who cites statistics such as this: every 12 minutes a woman in America will die from complications associated with breast cancer. And this: more than 1,500 new cases of male breast cancer will be diagnosed this year. Privacy, a California-based company with a social conscious, offers for both women and men an assortment of t-shirts, sweatshirts, jeans, hats, recommended books, accessories, breast cancer facts , and even a contest or two. A portion of all profits are donated to breast cancer initiatives with an emphasis on low-income and uninsured populations. Check it all out right here . Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: All Cancers , Research , Environment , Daily news In 2003, 29 percent of the American population had only basic prose literacy skills and 14 percent had below-basic skills. Prose literacy measures the skills needed to understand texts such as new stories, brochures, and instruction manuals. People with basic skills can perform simple, everyday literacy activities. Those with below-basic skills are proficient in only the most simple and concrete literacy. How is it that these individuals, when they are diagnosed with a disease such as cancer, are able to understand the medical jargon thrown their way, the literature that piles up in front them, the complicated process we call the medical system? They aren't. And this leads to increased chances that people will be hurt, even killed, in the course of their medical treatment. There are many barriers that lead to miscommunication -- cultural differences, language problems, and overall poor literacy skills -- and experts in this area are recommending some changes. They urge more education and training for health care professionals who may not ever imagine someone might not understand their words. They suggest health teams use medical interpreters. And they seek to embrace a culture of easy-to-understand communication in all aspects of medical care. Toni Cordell, a nationally-known health literacy advocate, says humiliation and shame washed over her three decades ago when her gynecologist told her she needed a simple repair and she woke from surgery to learn she'd had a hysterectomy. Struggling at the time with dyslexia and a poor education, Cordell never asked any questions of her doctor. She just accepted the course of action, without knowing anything about it. "Ignorance is not bliss," she says. "It's not a good place to be." Read     Permalink     Email this     Linking Blogs     Comments

Filed under: All Cancers , Research , Diets , Vitamins and nutrients , Daily news , Thought for the Day I'm never quite sure what to do about vitamin supplements. Should I take them? Or should I leave them? Sometimes I think supplements could surely help me with whatever I'm lacking in my diet. Other times I don't want to mess with what might be working just fine in my body. Now if a doctor tells me my iron is low, I'll take a supplement to boost my levels. But if there is nothing apparently off kilter in my system, I tend to just leave things alone.

Filed under: All Cancers , Research , Daily news When Dr. Jian-Wei Gu went to Mississippi to study the cardiovascular system and the process of blood vessel growth, he had no idea he'd make national headlines about his research into the world of cancer. Gu, assistant professor of physiology and biophysics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, says his discovery of the mechanism by which alcohol consumption causes tumor growth was purely accidental.