Dealing with cancer involves more than diagnosis and treatment of the physical effects of the disease.
A diverse group of health professionals met in Halifax last week to discuss how best to support the social and emotional needs of cancer patients and their families and make those supports readily accessible.
Those kinds of services aren’t always available, particularly to people in rural areas, said Mary Jane Esplen, a Toronto nurse and president of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology.
But even when they are, a stigma around seeking support and a societal pressure to “keep a positive attitude” can prevent people from using it, she said.
To overcome those barriers, cancer-care providers need to ensure things like distress screening are a standard part of what’s offered to every patient.
Continue reading “Cancer is serious, but what about your feelings?”
Maybe you were sunburned as a kid, or haven’t been diligent about wearing sunscreen, but you probably thought that, should a suspicious spot appear, your doctor would catch it and keep you healthy. Well, that isn’t always the case.
More than 90 percent of dermatologic surgeons have seen at least one patient in the past year with skin cancer that was overlooked or misdiagnosed by a nondermatologist, finds a survey of 271 docs by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery in Rolling Meadows, Ill.
Horrifying, especially as melanoma is the most common cancer among women ages 25 to 29, and skin cancer is the cancer most frequently diagnosed in women. Don’t be the case that’s missed
Physically active women are 25 per cent less likely to get breast cancer, but certain groups are more likely to see these benefits than others, finds a review of research published online ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
The type of activity undertaken, at what time in life and the woman’s body mass index (BMI) will determine how protective the activity is against the disease.
Lean women who play sport or undertake other physically active things in their spare time, especially if they have been through the menopause, have the lowest risk of breast cancer.
The researchers reviewed the literature and analysed 62 studies looking at the impact of physical activity on breast cancer risk. They then examined the findings to find out how breast cancer risk appeared to be affected by type of activity, intensity of activity, when in life the activity was performed and other factors.
It is important to understand Prostate Cancer.
Each year, about 179,000 are diagnosed with prostate cancer, and it will claim about 37,000 lives. If prostate cancer is detected early it can be treated effectively, but early prostate cancer has no symptoms.
Prostate cancer occurs mainly in men over 50 years and is the most common male cancer after skin cancer. Many men are aware of others at the same age who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer. This raises the questions: what is my risk? Should I be tested?
The symptoms of both benign enlargement of the prostate gland and malignant tumours (cancer) are similar and can include any of the following:
difficulty in passing urinepassing urine more frequently than usual, especially at nightpain when passing urineblood in the urine (this is not common).
People with higher levels of vitamin D in their bodies are 72 percent less likely to die from colon cancer , according to a new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Colon cancer kills approximately 50,000 people in the United States per year.
Prior research has indicated that in addition to acting as an essential nutrient, vitamin D may inhibit the growth of tumors or even kill cancerous cells.
So where can you find vitamin D ?
Well, Vitamin D can only be made by the body when sunlight falls on skin unprotected by sunscreen. This raises some big questions for Australians who have been living with the sun safe message for the last 20 years.
The latest Cancer Research has been released today and it shows an alarming link between alcohol consumption and particular types of cancer.
Hey guys, I find the following news that I find pretty scary:
“The Cancer Institute New South Wales has conducted an international audit of cancer and alcohol research and has found that even two drinks a day can significantly increase the risk of the disease.
Its report recommends that lowering alcohol consumption must be part of any cancer prevention strategies”
It is important to remember that: Clearly for cardiac disease it may well be that red wine is helpful, but for cancer we can’t see any benefit at all from alcohol. In fact, all the literature would suggest that as you increase the intake on average basis per day, then the risk will go up.
This is important to keep up, trying to understand cancer prevention .
