Prostate Cancer Symptoms Tips What is prostate cancer symptoms? We have tips about prostate cancer symptoms

A few clicks of the mouse tell visitors to the "Your Disease Risk" Web site their risk for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke and osteoporosis. The Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis recently launched this easy-to-use tool, which offers a wealth of information about risk factors and prevention strategies for five prominent diseases affecting millions of...

Moderate drinkers are more likely to report above-average health than lifetime abstainers, light drinkers and heavy drinkers, a new study reveals.“Our results suggest that a moderate amount of drinking is not necessarily dangerous for most people and may actually be health-enhancing,” said study coauthor Michael French, Ph.D.However, it is unclear whether moderate drinking leads to better health or whether moderate drinkers simply...

New research on secondhand smoke discovers nonsmoking workers immediately absorb potent carcinogenOffering alarming new evidence on the dangers of permitting smoking in the workplace, scientists have found that nonsmoking restaurant and bar employees absorb a potent carcinogen—not considered safe at any level—while working in places where they had to breathe tobacco smoke from customers and co-workers. The carcinogen, NNK, is...

Exercise has a similar effect to antidepressants on depression. This has been shown by previous research. Now Astrid Bjørnebekk at Karolinska Institutet has explained how this can happen: exercise stimulates the production of new brain cells.In a series of scientific reports, she has searched for the underlying biological mechanisms that explain why exercise can be a form of therapy for depression and has also compared it with...

Therapeutic value of meditation unproven, says studyWhile it's not likely to do you any harm, there is also no compelling evidence that meditation has therapeutic value“There is an enormous amount of interest in using meditation as a form of therapy to cope with a variety of modern-day health problems, especially hypertension, stress and chronic pain, but the majority of evidence that seems to support this notion is anecdotal,...

A patient's emotional state plays a significant role in his or her recovery from hip surgery, suggests Saint Louis University research published this month.Orthopaedic surgeons typically use two tests to determine if a patient has recovered from hip surgery: one is a clinical measure of hip function given by the doctor, and the second is a questionnaire patients answer that considers a wide variety of factors in determining the...

Frequent brain stimulation in old age reduces risk of Alzheimer's diseaseHow often old people read a newspaper, play chess, or engage in other mentally stimulating activities is related to risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study published June 27, 2007, in the online edition of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.For the study, more than 700 people in Chicago, IL, with an average...

A new study shows that aspirin therapy for coronary artery disease is four times more likely to be ineffective in women compared to men with the same medical history.Historically, studies have shown that aspirin therapy is less effective in women than in men, but it has remained unclear how much less effective and whether this affects patient outcomes, said Michael Dorsch, clinical pharmacist and adjunct clinical instructor at...

More than 60% of women don’t regularly get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night. As sleep debt mounts, health consequences increase. It may take some work, but you can repay even a chronic, longstanding sleep debt, reports the July 2007 issue of Harvard Women’s Health Watch.Sleep loss exacts a toll on the mind as well as the body, research has shown. In one study, scientists assigned groups of healthy men and...

Physician says published findings 'raise some concern about people taking SSRIs'Two new studies suggest older men and women taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, a class of antidepressants that includes Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft, are prone to increased bone loss.The jointly released studies by scientists at Oregon Health & Science University, and in San Francisco, Minneapolis, San Diego and Pittsburgh, found that...

A unique study by researchers at the University of York and Hull York Medical School has confirmed a link between depression and low levels of folate, a vitamin which comes from vegetables.In research published in the July edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the York team led by Dr Simon Gilbody, concluded that there was a link between depression and low folate levels, following a review of 11 previous...

Research in mice suggests that a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil and certain types of fish could potentially improve the prognosis of men who are genetically prone to develop prostate cancer.“This study clearly shows that diet can tip the balance toward a good or a bad outcome,” said senior researcher Yong Q. Chen, Ph.D., from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. “It’s possible that a change in diet could...

It may not seem so at the time, but women who suffer through morning sickness during their pregnancies actually may be fortunate.Those women may have a 30 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer later in life than mothers-to-be who experience nine nausea-free months, a new study by epidemiologists at the University at Buffalo suggests."Although the exact mechanism responsible for causing nausea and vomiting during pregnancy...

Dietary calcium is better than supplements at protecting bone healthWomen who get most of their daily calcium from food have healthier bones than women whose calcium comes mainly from supplemental tablets, say researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Surprisingly, this is true even though the supplement takers have higher average calcium intake.Adequate calcium is important to prevent osteoporosis,...

More women than men appear to be having a stroke in middle age, according to a study published June 20, 2007, in the online edition of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers say heart disease and increased waist size may be contributing to this apparent mid-life stroke surge among women.For the study, researchers analyzed data from 17,000 people over the age of 18 who participated in...

Estrogen Use Lowered One Risk Factor for Heart Disease among Some Younger Postmenopausal Women, Stanford Researcher SaysHowever, risks for blood clots, stroke must be considered before starting estrogen therapy, Stefanick notesA follow-up study to the federally funded Women's Health Initiative should help allay one concern in a subset of women in their 50s who are considering taking estrogen to relieve hot flashes. The study shows...

Keeping cool on hot, humid summer days is good advice for more reasons than sheer comfort. It's vital for good health - even staying alive. That's the message from the Pennsylvania Medical Society, warning young and old alike that heat stroke is a deadly illness to be avoided at all costs - even if it means sacrificing a day at the beach."Heat stroke is not an accident," says Marilyn J. Heine, M.D., an emergency physician in Bucks...

From working late the night before you leave for the beach to dealing with fighting kids and tight finances—vacations can often cause as much stress as they are supposed to relieve.Experts from The Menninger Clinic provide the following tips to help you relax and get the benefits from your much-deserved time off.• Allow time for departure and your return. Nothing is worse than feeling rushed when leaving for or returning from...

Non-invasive screening of pregnant women with ultrasound early in pregnancy, combined with maternal blood analysis, has reduced the number of children born in Denmark with Down Syndrome by 50%. In September 2004, the National Board of Health in Denmark recommended new guidelines for prenatal diagnosis. “Previously this was restricted to pregnant women over 35 years of age, but since the implementation of the new guidelines it...

Substance in Soy Products Increased Bone Density Compared to Placebo• In a randomized placebo-controlled trial involving 389 women with osteopenia, those who took 54 mg/d of genistein, a phytoestrogen derived from soy products, had greater bone mineral density and improved markers of bone metabolism after two years than women who took a pill containing only calcium and vitamin D (Article, p.839).• Osteopenia (diminished amount...

New research suggests that playing with candy cigarettes may favorably set the minds of some children towards becoming future cigarette smokers. The study, reported in the July issue of Preventive Medicine, shows that in a nationally representative sample of 25,887 US adults, the percentages who had never consumed candy cigarettes were 12% in current and former smokers vs. 22% in never smokers, and the corresponding percentages...

University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine professor and researcher Alan Solomon, M.D., director of the Human Immunology and Cancer/Alzheimer’s Disease and Amyloid-Related Disorders Research Program, led a team that discovered a link between foie gras prepared from goose or duck liver and the type of amyloid found in rheumatoid arthritis or tuberculosis.Their experimental data, appearing in this week's edition of the...

Longer term breast feeding protects mother from risk of developing rheumatoid arthritisBreast feeding for a period of thirteen months or more has been shown to reduce the mother’s the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to new data presented today at EULAR 2007, the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Barcelona, Spain. In the study, the longer the breast feeding period, the lower the mother’s risk of...

But smoking reduces alcohol's benefitsAlcohol may protect against rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with three units a week exhibiting protective effects and ten units a week being more protective still. An alcohol consumption of three units per week or more also reduced the risk by smoking or by a genetic predisposition to RA.An increased alcohol (ethanol) consumption of three or more units per week was associated with a decreased risk...

Many people are drinking too much water, including sports drinks, when exercising, a practice that could put some individuals engaging in prolonged types of endurance exercise at risk of potentially lethal water intoxication, say international experts who study disorders of water metabolism. Such exercise includes marathons, triathlons, and long distance cycling. This serious condition, known as exercise-induced hyponatremia (EAH),...

Obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and inactivity: they’re not just your father’s problems any more, University of New Hampshire research finds. New data on the widely unstudied demographic of college students indicates that this group of 18 – 24-year-olds are on the path toward chronic health diseases. Although limited, national data suggest the trend is not unique to UNH.The UNH data, collected from more than 800...

When consumers are diagnosed with a health condition such as obesity, they don’t immediately trade fries for carrot sticks or start taking brisk walks after dinner. In a forthcoming paper in the Journal of Consumer Research, Lisa Bolton and Americus Reed, both marketing professors at Wharton School of Business, and Kevin G. Volpp and Katrina Armstrong, both professors at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, found...

Athletes who get an extra amount of sleep are more likely to improve their performance in a game, according to a research abstract that will be presented Wednesday at SLEEP 2007, the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).The study, authored by Cheri Mah of Stanford University, was conducted on six healthy students on the Stanford men's basketball team, who maintained their typical sleep-wake...

The first and only over-the-counter product for weight loss approved by the Food and Drug Administration will be available Friday, June 15.Orlistat, known by the brand name Alli, works by decreasing the amount of fat absorbed by the body. It is the OTC version of Xenical, a prescription weight loss pill. The good news: Orlistat has been tested and the prescription version has been used since 1999.Last fall Dr. James Anderson,...

Are all healthy eating plans the same when it comes to cancer prevention?Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center are beginning a study to look at whether diet can impact a person’s risk of developing colon cancer. Specifically, the researchers will compare a Mediterranean diet – high in olive oil, nuts and fish – with a standard healthy eating plan.“Overall eating patterns appear to be more important...

Anyone who’s ever been struck by food poisoning does not soon forget it. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 76 million cases of food-borne disease occur annually in the United States, though this number could be much higher due to underreporting.“Raw or undercooked meat, fish and produce are the most common culprits of food poisoning, however, even canned or packaged foods can have bacteria present and need...