Metastatic Breast Cancer: Causes, Symptoms And Treatment
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In women, breast cancer is the common type of cancer and it is affecting one out of eight women. At any time, this cancer may develop and the risk increases with developing of cancer as the women get older. In most of the post-menopausal women, it is common and with the increase in age will increase the risk as well.
When the breast cancer is spread beyond the breast, then it is said to be in metastatic state. This means that cancer has traveled from breast to another part of the body. The cells of cancer will travel through blood vessels or lymphatic system.
Causes
As of today, the breast cancer like any other forms of cancer is considered as one of the final outcomes of multiple hereditary and environmental factors. The risk of breast cancer will be increased by 70% in young people by inhaling the secondhand smoke and primarily menopausal women are affected by this.
Aspirin May Boost Breast Cancer Survival
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A new study of more than 4,000 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer shows that taking aspirin appears to significantly increase survival and reduce the risk of recurrence.
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“Women who took aspirin were 50 percent less likely to die from breast cancer [during the study follow-up period] than those who did not take it,” said study author Dr. Michelle Holmes, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health, in Boston.
The study is published online Feb. 16 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The 50 percent reduction is the overall finding when comparing to users to nonusers, she said. “Statistically, the women who took it more days per week had a higher risk reduction,” Holmes noted. For instance, those who took it six to seven days a week had a 64 percent reduction in risk of death during the follow-up. For some reason, those who took aspirin two to five days a week had an even greater risk reduction, 71 percent, Holmes found.
International Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer Reaches 10 Year Milestone
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2010 marks the 10th anniversary of the only international conference dedicated to the critical issues of young breast cancer survivors and those who care about them. Nearly 1,000 young breast cancer survivors, caregivers and medical professionals from around the world are expected to attend the 10th Annual Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer, to be held Friday, Feb. 26-Sunday, Feb. 28 at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel in Atlanta, Ga.
One in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer is younger than 45 when diagnosed, yet their emotional and medical concerns are different than those of women over age 45, as is the impact of their diagnosis on family, friends, partners, colleagues and children. Fertility concerns and the possibility of treatment-induced early menopause are just two examples of the issues young women face.
A joint effort by Living Beyond Breast Cancer and Young Survival Coalition, this three-day event is a must for premenopausal women diagnosed with breast cancer.
New seasonal flu vaccine to contain H1N1 strain
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The coming year’s seasonal flu vaccine in the northern hemisphere should include protection against three strains of flu, including the pandemic H1N1 virus, the World Health Organization recommended on Thursday.
The composition of the vaccine, announced at the end of a closed-door four-day meeting of influenza experts that is closely followed by the world’s vaccine makers, means governments that have stockpiled doses of H1N1 swine flu vaccine may now use them for part of the seasonal flu vaccine mix.
Some countries, including Germany, France and the United States, cut back their orders of the H1N1 swine flu jab after people were slow to take them up. The fact that people needed only one dose, and not two as originally thought, also contributed to oversupply.
Mayo Clinic Reports its First Lung Transplantation by Donation After Cardiac Death
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Lung transplantation is a well-known therapy for patients with end-stage lung disease, but, as with other patients waiting for organs for transplantation, there are more recipients waiting than donors available. A potential solution for patients with end-stage lung disease is donation after cardiac death (DCD). Mayo Clinic reports its - and Minnesota’s - first lung transplantation from DCD in the February issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
VIDEO ALERT: Additional audio and video resources including excerpts from an interview with Dr. Cassivi describing the research are available on the Mayo Clinic News Blog. Please see the end of the release for details.
While brain death has become the most widely used criteria for organ donation over the past few decades, the earliest organ donations were from deceased donors following cardiac death, says Stephen Cassivi, M.D., Mayo Clinic thoracic surgeon and lead study author.
High-Fat Ketogenic Diet to Control Seizures Is Safe Over Long Term
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Current and former patients treated with the high-fat ketogenic diet to control multiple, daily and severe seizures can be reassured by the news that not only is the diet effective, but it also appears to have no long-lasting side effects, say scientists at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.
A study report supporting their conclusion, and believed to be one of the first analyses of the long-term safety and efficacy of the diet, appears online in the February edition of the journal Epilepsia.
The ketogenic diet, consisting of high-fat foods and very few carbohydrates, is believed to trigger biochemical changes that eliminate seizure-causing short circuits in the brain’s signaling system. Used as first-line therapy for infantile spasms and in children whose seizures cannot be controlled with drugs, the diet is highly effective but complicated and sometimes difficult to maintain. It can temporarily raise cholesterol, impair growth and, in rare cases, lead to kidney stones, among other side effects.
Swine flu outbreak threatens at World Cup
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South Africa faces a possible health crisis if a swine flu outbreak strikes during the soccer World Cup this year, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told parliament on Monday.
“One of our biggest nightmares is the fact that 2010 is going to be held in June when there is a possibility of another bout of H1N1,” Motsoaledi said.
The month-long tournament, hosted in Africa for the first time, is expected to attract 450,000 tourists during the South African winter.
Obesity ‘tipping point before age 2
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The “tipping point” in obesity often occurs before age 2 and sometimes as early as 3 months, U.S. researchers found.
Principal investigator Dr. John Harrington, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters and of Eastern Virginia Medical School, and colleagues examined records from a pediatric practice of 111 children whose body mass index exceeded 85 percent of that of the general population.
Researchers determined that these children had started gaining weight in infancy at an average rate of .08 excess body mass index units per month. On average, the progression began when the children were 3 months old.
Scientists find protein culprit for obesity
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Researchers have discovered a protein that leads to obesity. Previous studies reveal that one protein - p62 - produced obesity in mice when scientists studied how obesity occurs in the absence of p62. Now scientists have discovered a protein that pairs with p62 and is the real culprit that promotes fat cell growth and leads to obesity.
The new findings show that the ERK protein works in conjunction with p62 to make fat cells in the body that in turn leads to obesity, insulin resistance, and eventually diabetes and other obesity related problems.
In earlier research, Jorge Moscat, PhD, chair of UC’s cancer and cell biology department at the University of Cincinnati found that mice who lack p62 became fat and used less energy, becoming insulin resistant in adulthood, compared to mice who ate the same diet and expended the same amount of energy - an important note for individuals who despite exercise and diet cannot lose weight.
New Pain Management Approaches Reduce Pain, Speed Recovery for Knee or Hip Replacement
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Patients undergoing knee or hip replacements recover more quickly when treated with targeted pain-blocking medications that may eliminate the need for general anesthesia during surgery and intravenous narcotics drugs after surgery.
The February issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter explains the newer pain management options and their benefits.
A decade ago, patients undergoing hip or knee replacements were almost exclusively given general anesthesia during surgery and intravenous narcotic pain medications afterward. This approach works for most people and still is commonly practiced. But both general anesthesia and intravenous narcotic drugs can cause nausea, vomiting, grogginess, decreased bowel function and other side effects.
Taiwan’s hospital payment cuts tied to stroke deaths
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Cuts in reimbursement to hospitals made by Taiwan’s universal healthcare system in recent years may have slowed a decade-long decline in stroke deaths, hints a new study.
What the findings could mean for the U.S. and other countries wrestling with the question of how to control healthcare costs is unclear. But Taiwan’s experience might offer some wider lessons, the researchers say.
The study, published in the journal Stroke, found that from 1998 to 2007, the 30-day death rate among Taiwanese patients hospitalized for a stroke gradually declined—from 5.8 percent in 1998 to 3.7 percent by 2007.
If children won’t go to school
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Children and adolescents who refuse to attend school should not be given doctors’ sick notes. In the current issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2010; 107[4]), child and adolescent psychiatrist Martin Knollmann and colleagues explain the causes of school avoidance and describe measures to tackle the problem.
Truancy assumes psychiatric relevance only if it occurs frequently and is accompanied by psychiatric symptoms. Children typically play truant for the first time at the age of about 11 years, whereas anxiety related school avoidance occurs in children as young as 6 years. School avoiders seem to be exposed to more stressful life events, but physical disorders such as asthma or obesity may also play a part.
In contrast to truancy, of which parents are usually unaware, children displaying school avoiding behavior often stay at home. They often express fears and anxieties, especially in the morning, and complain of diffuse physical symptoms.
Facing morbid obesity, two ‘big losers’ tell how they achieved extreme weight loss
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In eight years, more than half of Oklahomans are projected to be overweight. And according to the United Health Foundation, that will make Oklahoma the most obese state in the nation. Oklahoma has fallen to next-to-last on a recently released listing of healthiest states, dropping 17 spots since 1990 to No. 49.
The popularity of weight loss reality shows seems to underscore the determination some people have to shed significant amounts of weight. They may not have done it with cameras rolling, but two area residents each have lost more than 100 pounds. Reversing poor physical health requires a willingness to make, and stick with, difficult lifestyle changes.
Here’s how they did it.
China sets up national food safety commission
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China has set up a national food safety commission, headed by a powerful vice premier, who at the watchdog’s first meeting set his sights on the persistent problem of dangerously tainted milk, state media said on Wednesday.
Li Keqiang, tipped to take Premier Wen Jiabao’s place in three years, ordered inspectors to trace and destroy all milk products tainted with melamine, an industrial compound that killed at least six children in 2008, the People’s Daily said.
A number of cases of milk contaminated with melamine have surfaced in the past few months, some apparently old batches of tainted powder slated for destruction but hoarded away instead by dairy firms and later repackaged.
Association Discovered Between Eczema in Early Childhood and Psychological Problems
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Association Discovered Between Eczema in Early Childhood and Psychological Problems in Children at Age 10 Years
Neuherberg, February 10., 2010. Eczema in early childhood may influence behavior and mental health later in life. This is a key finding of a prospective birth cohort study to which scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München contributed. In cooperation with colleagues of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU), Technische Universität München (TUM) and Marien-Hospital in Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia this study followed 5,991 children who were born between 1995 and 1998. The study has been published in the current issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 125 (2010); 404-410.
Researchers, led by Assistant Professor Jochen Schmitt of Dresden University Hospital, Dr. Christian Apfelbacher (Heidelberg University Hospital) and Dr. Joachim Heinrich of the Institute of Epidemiology of Helmholtz Zentrum München, discovered that children who suffered from eczema during the first two years of life were more likely to demonstrate psychological abnormalities, in particular emotional problems, at age ten years than children of the same age who had not suffered from the disease. “This indicates that eczema can precede and lead to behavioral and psychological problems in children,” Dr. Heinrich explained.
