5 Risk Factors for Colorectal Cancer
There are a number of traits and conditions known as risk factors that can increase your risk for developing colorectal cancer. Having a risk factor does not guarantee you will develop cancer of the colon and the absence of any risk factors does not ensure that you will not develop cancer of the colon. However, knowledge of these risk factors and discussing them with your doctor or health care provider can lead to the prevention or early diagnosis of colorectal cancer.
Too Soon to Protect Against Cervical Cancer?
“Eighteen months after licensure [of the HPV vaccine], the vast majority of pediatricians and family physicians reported offering HPV vaccine. Fewer physicians strongly recommended the vaccine for younger adolescents than for older adolescents, and physicians reported financial obstacles to vaccination.”
Why Immunize?
“What are vaccines? How do they work? Why is it important that children get vaccinated?” These are all key questions answered by this video produced by the CDC. This PSA also explains the measure taken to determine their safety and effectiveness.
Looking Ahead to Flu Season
It may be difficult to think about the winter and how to avoid a bout with the flu as the thermometer continues to register triple-digit temperatures. Nevertheless, preparations are well under way.
Menin-what? What You Don’t Know about Meningitis Could Be Deadly
First Fridays in First Person. National Immunization Month is a good time to bring attention to Meningococcal Disease, which includes meningitis and blood infection. “Menin-what?” you say. Meningitis is the swelling of tissue that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. Meningitis caused by the meningococcal bacteria though rare, can be especially dangerous. Amy Purdy (pictured at left) a survivor of meningococcal disease bears witness to this fact. “I lost both of my legs, my kidneys, my spleen, part of my hearing, and almost my life to meningitis. And I’m one of the lucky ones,” she says
National Immunization Awareness Month
As a result of systematic immunization in the U.S., the number of cases of measles, diphtheria, rubella, and other diseases that once resulted in death has been significantly reduced. Yet despite these efforts, today tens of thousands of people in the U.S. still die from these and other vaccine-preventable diseases because they fail to keep up with booster immunizations or they belong to a high-risk group that could benefit from immunization protection but failed to do so.
7 Pertinent Posts on Swine Flu
After listening to a news story discuss the current flurry of digital discussion on the Swine flu, I decided to consult Technorati to get some concrete numbers on the phenomenon. In four short days, we’ve surpassed 10,000 blog posts. This of course is just the latest example of the power of health 2.0. This chart … Read more
Do Ethnic Minorities Have Less Access to Cancer Screening
The most commonly occurring cancers vary greatly according to race and ethnicity. For example:
While the gap (as compared to non-Hispanic whites has narrowed since 1991) African Americans are more likely to develop and die from cancer than any other racial or ethnic group. The most common cancers among men in 2009 are projected to be prostate (34%), lung (16%), and colorectal (10%) cancer, and among women, breast (25%), lung (12%), and colorectal (11%) cancer. For all cancer types, African Americans are far more likely to be diagnosed in advanced stages of disease, when the cancer is less treatable. African Americans are also less likely than whites to survive 5 years after a diagnosis, regardless of cancer type and stage of diagnosis.
Cancers associated with viral infection are the most common caners in Hispanics/Latinos. Women have the second highest number of cases of cervical cancer (which is often caused by humanpapliloma virus) while cases of liver cancer (which is often caused by the hepatitis virus) are twice as high in Hispanic men and women as in non-Hispanic whites.
Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders are more likely to develop and die from both liver and stomach cancers than all other racial or ethnic groups (except in the case of stomach cancer where their prevalence and death rates are second to those of African Americans).
Medical researchers focusing on areas of health care disparities continue investigations to elucidate these figures. The interrelationship between multiple factors continues to yield reasons that are complex.
Do Race & Ethnicity Affect Cancer Risk
Racial and ethnic minority populations continue to grow such that by mid-century, Latino, black and Asian populations are expected to represent the majority of people living in the US, according to the Census Bureau. This is already the case for the nation’s largest metropolitan areas and it is increasingly becoming the case in smaller communities fueled by the growing Latino population. In light of this fact, minority health and health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities is not a issue for special populations but rather an issue that concerns us all especially as we examine the health status of the population as a whole. Nevertheless, the third week in April (19-25) is set aside as National Cancer Minority Awareness Week.
Do race and ethnicity affect cancer risk?
Each year, cancer statistics continue to show that minority groups are more likely than the general population to develop and/or die from certain types of cancer. As researchers continue to unravel the multiple contributing factors to this issue there are things that individuals can do for themselves.
Would You Have a Preventative Mastectomy
In 2004, Karen Aulner lived this tense seen after deciding to have the testing for mutations of the BRCA genes associated with aggressive breast cancers. Since that time, she has undergone preventive double mastectomy, three breast reconstructions, and most recently had her ovaries removed all in the hopes of preventing breast cancer. She was motivated, in part by her older sister’s battle with the disease which has included recurring tumors and ultimately metastatic disease all subsequent to a double mastectomy after diagnosis of the first turmor. While the actions of Auluner to stave off cancer may be considered by many to be drastic, a study led by Dr. Todd Tuttle found that over a five year period (1998-2005) the percentage of women with a tumor in one breast choosing bilateral mastectomy rose from 4.2% to 11% . “Women who have had cancer in one breast and have a BRCA mutation… have a risk of 3 percent per year of developing cancer in the opposite breast…and the risk is cumulative,” Dr. Tuttle explains.
