Tag Archives: health

Cigarette smoking after cancer diagnosis increases risk of death

Compared with men who did not smoke after a cancer diagnosis, those who smoked after diagnosis had a 59 percent increase in risk of death from all causes, after adjusting for factors including age, cancer site, and treatment type. When limited to men who were smokers at diagnosis, those who continued smoking after diagnosis had a 76 percent increase in risk of death from all causes compared with those who quit smoking after a diagnosis…

Decreased diversity of bacteria microbiome in gut associated colorectal cancer

Previous studies suggest a role for the gut microbiota in colorectal cancer (CRC), but comprehensive epidemiological studies comparing samples from case and control subjects that also consider potential confounders and adjust for multiple comparisons inherently involved in microbiome analysis have not been reported. Jiyoung Ahn, Ph.D., from Department of Population Health at New York University School of Medicine in New York, NY, and colleagues compared samples and data from participants enrolled in a case-control study…

Researchers turn to machines to identify breast cancer type

Since each cell in the body contains 23,000 genes, identifying the specific genes involved in cancer growth is an exceedingly complex task. Researchers used a form of artificial intelligence called machine learning to identify three genes that allowed them to determine whether a tumour was fed by estrogen. "People can’t possibly sort through all this information and find the important patterns," said senior author Russ Greiner, a professor in the Department of Computing Science and investigator with the Alberta Innovates Centre for Machine Learning. …

Hysterectomized women may benefit from testosterone

New research from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) has found that testosterone administration in women with low testosterone levels, whom previously had undergone hysterectomy with or without oophorectomy, was associated with improvements in sexual function, muscle mass and physical function. This research appears in the November 27, 2013 online issue of Menopause…

Surviving survival

In the largest study of its kind, researchers led by the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing have investigated the caregivers of 186 mothers to childhood brain tumor survivors aged 14-40 whose care needs last long into adulthood. They based their research on a model containing factors central to nursing practice, namely the caregiver, the survivor, and the family. They discovered that a complex interaction among components of the model, the health of the caregivers, the demands experienced by the caregiver, the caregiver’s perceptions about the health of the survivor, and the family’s support interact to explain how the caregiver assesses herself in her role. …

Supporting others brings healing to cancer survivors

The process includes first writing for oneself in emotionally expressive ways about the trauma of the cancer and transplant experience, followed by peer helping, which includes writing as if speaking to a person ready to undergo the transplant procedure about the survivor’s experience while offering advice and encouragement. …