According to research from Washington University in St. Louis, people with a higher sense of purpose tend to engage in healthier lifestyle choices and are more likely to feel better about their own health status [1].
U.S. News Best Diets of 2014
January 13, 2014 | by
U.S. News & World Report recently evaluated 32 of the most popular diets and, with input from a panel of health experts, identified the best.
Lose It! App Wins Surgeon General’s Healthy Apps Challenge
June 29, 2012 | by
The U.S. Surgeon General recently challenged mobile device application developers to come up with apps that would “provide tailored health information and empower users to engage in and enjoy healthy behavior.” The first place winner in the Fitness/Physical Activity category was Lose It!, an app designed to help users lose weight. According to the Lose It! website, the average user loses 12.3 pounds with the help of the app, with a 99% success rate (defined as losing any amount of weight) over 4 weeks.
The Fat Trap: Why Lost Pounds Return
January 16, 2012 | by
It’s not you. You’re not imagining it. It really, actually, legitimately is harder to keep weight off than it is to lose it in the first place. You really do feel hungrier than you used to, and still the pounds keep creeping back on. This is the conclusion that Dr. Joseph Proietto and his colleagues at the University of Melbourne just published in the New England Journal of Medicine [1].
Lose weight image via ShutterstockCancer Research Blog Carnival #38 – Breast Cancer
October 1, 2010 | by
Welcome to the 38th edition of the Cancer Research Blog Carnival, the monthly blog carnival that discusses what’s new in cancer research. In recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, this edition’s focus is on breast cancer.
There’s a revolution occurring on the Web: those “authoritative” articles written on traditional, static websites are being replaced with blogs, wikis and online social networks. In the sphere of health, medicine and information technology, this “real-time Web” consists of many who are professionals in the field; their posts are listed below.
In the digital age, these are the characteristics of new media: recent, relevant, reachable and reliable.
In the digital age, these are the characteristics of new media: recent, relevant, reachable and reliable.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month — also referred to as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM) — is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and raise funds for research into its cause, prevention and cure. The campaign also offers information and support to those affected by breast cancer.
In 2010, the American Cancer Society estimates that 207,090 women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, approximately 54,010 women will be diagnosed with carcinoma in situ (CIS; the earliest non-invasive form of breast cancer), and approximately 39,840 women will die from breast cancer [1]. Indeed, breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, following lung cancer.
In 1975, a woman had a 1 in 11 chance of developing invasive breast cancer some time in her life — today, the chance is even greater at 1 in 8. Although the risk has increased, deaths due to breast cancer have been declining: from 1990 — 2006, death rates decreased by 3.2% per year among women younger than 50, and by 2.0% per year among women 50 and older [2]. This decline in breast cancer mortality has been attributed to improvements in breast cancer treatment and early detection [3].
Animal research has contributed significantly to advances in breast cancer treatment. Animal studies were essential for the development of two front-line drugs that shrink breast cancer tumors, Herceptin and Tamoxifen. Since their mechanisms of action are different, they are used to treat different types of tumors. The drug Tamoxifen blocks tumor growth by blocking the action of estrogen, a hormone involved in the growth of most breast cancers. Tamoxifen binds to the estrogen receptor and blocks estrogen from docking to it. The drug Herceptin binds to another growth-regulating receptor protein called HER2, blocking it’s action and shrinking the tumor. Indeed, there is great value in animal research for the development of treatments to fight breast cancer.
Let’s find out what’s happening this month with breast cancer research.
