Smoking may raise breast cancer risk

Women who smoke have an increased risk of developing breast cancer, especially if they become smokers early in life, a new study suggests.

But the added risk appears to be small, except among heavy smokers. Compared with women who had never smoked, those who were regular smokers for any amount of time had a 6 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer, the study found. Women who maintained a pack-a-day habit for at least 30 years had a 28 percent higher risk, however.

"I would not put [smoking] on the list of important risk factors, [but] when you look at the subgroup of heavy-duty smokers who start early and smoke for a long time, that's more serious," says the lead author of the study, Karin Michels, Ph.D., an associate professor of cancer epidemiology and ob-gyn at Harvard Medical School, in Boston. "That's when you pay closer attention."

Health.com: 10 crazy ways smokers finally kicked the habit

Previous studies on smoking and breast cancer have had mixed results. Some have found that smoking increases risk, some have found it has no effect, and some have even linked cigarette smoking to a lower risk of breast cancer.

While cigarette smoke is a potent carcinogen, smoking also lowers levels of estrogen -- one of the primary fuels that drive the growth of breast cancer. "The reason why previous studies may not have found strong associations or any association could be because the two effects may cancel each other out," Michels says.

In the study, which appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine, Michels and her colleagues looked at 30 years of data on more than 110,000 women who were part of the government-funded Nurses' Health Study. In all, the study participants reported 8,772 cases of invasive breast cancer during that timeframe.

Health.com: 5 simple things that could cut your breast cancer risk

Although the increase in breast cancer risk associated with smoking was just 6 percent overall, some subcategories of women -- such as those who smoked before their first child was born -- were at slightly higher risk. (Having children at an early age is believed to protect against breast cancer, perhaps because of changes that occur in the breast tissue.)

"It's not surprising that the risk was so low, because breast cancer is driven by hormonal factors," says Joanne Mortimer, M.D., director of the Women's Cancer Program at City of Hope Cancer Center, in Duarte, California. "The risk for breast cancer seems to be in the hormone transition period between premenopause and postmenopause, when there are a lot of changes in hormone functions." (Mortimer was not involved in the new research)

In fact, women who smoked after menopause appeared to have a decreased risk of breast cancer compared with nonsmokers. Given that both menopause and smoking lower estrogen levels, this finding adds to the evidence that estrogen is a risk factor for invasive breast cancer, the authors say.

Health.com: 97 reasons to quit smoking

The findings, of course, don't mean that the considerable health risks associated with smoking should be overlooked, says Debra Monticciolo, M.D., a professor of radiology at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, in Temple.

Although smoking "is not going to be a major player in our assessment of risk for breast cancer," Monticciolo says, "there are lots of reasons not to smoke. I can't think of anything good to come from smoking."

Source: By Amanda Gardner, Health.com

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Evidence Suggests the Need for More Frequent Breast Cancer Screenings

A recent study calls into question a U.S. advisory panel’s latest breast cancer screening guidelines recommending that women to begin having mammograms at a later age and at less frequent intervals. Findings of a recent analysis conducted by researchers from the University of Colorado and University of Michigan suggest more frequent mammograms lead to more lives saved. The results of the new study were published in the February issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

The research team studied the same risk models used by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) prior to their issuance of new and controversial breast screening guidelines in 2009. However, the results of the new study yielded far different results than the analysis performed by the task force. The latest research found that annual mammograms beginning at age 40 save 65,000 more lives than do mammograms performed every other year on women 50 and older. By setting guidelines that recommend no routine mammograms for women in their forties, and also recommend that women in their fifties have mammograms only every other year, the task force ignored scientific evidence that more frequent mammograms save lives.

Dr. Mark Helvie of the University of Michigan Health System, who participated in the research, noted that the number of lives saved by more frequent mammograms “…is not a small difference.” In fact, according to the research team’s calculations, a woman who has a mammogram annually beginning at age 40 decreases her risk of dying from breast cancer by 71 percent. In comparison, if she chooses to follow the recommendations of the task force her risks are diminished by only 23 percent.

The task force guidelines instantly became the subject of much debate when first issued, as they directly contradicted the long-followed standard practice of recommending routine breast cancer screening begin at the age of 40. Although the new guidelines were intended to provide for less worry and expense for the female gender, breast cancer experts and advocates argued the new recommendations would cause confusion among women with the result leading to more breast cancer deaths. According to Helvie and colleague Edward Hendrick from the University of Colorado “the USPSTF chose to ignore the science available to them and overemphasized the potential harms of screening mammography, to the serious detriment of U.S. women who follow their flawed recommendations.”

Breast cancer is a serious killer. After lung cancer, it is the second-leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women and claims 500,000 lives annually worldwide. In addition, the disease is diagnosed in approximately 1.3 million globally each year. Women can protect themselves by participating in Breast Cancer Awareness and by getting active with a Breast Cancer prevention program that includes eating healthy and getting a sufficient amount of exercise.

Source: HealthNews By Drucilla Dyess

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Mind-body: The connections in tears, sweat

Dr. Charles Raison, CNNHealth's Mental Health expert and an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University, writes regularly on the mind-body connection for better health.

My 82-year old-mom should be a poster child for the power of the mind. Wracked with a debilitating and progressive neurological condition that has made her barely able to stand, she nonetheless manages to lean on her walker and shuffle out to her car every Sunday morning, and then drive 30 miles to attend church. Not just any church, but the only New-Age type church within a hundred-mile radius that believes—what else?—that you can change reality through the power of positive thinking.

Those of us who do research in the field of mind-body medicine often seem to be not so different from my mom. Much of our work focuses on ways in which the mind can affect the body for good or ill. While we wouldn’t make claims as outrageously hopeful as my mom’s church, scientific studies increasingly demonstrate that the mind can indeed be very powerful in terms of health outcomes.

I’m as impressed by these findings as anyone, but am also something of a contrarian in the field. Our research group has spent the last decade studying exactly the opposite phenomenon, which is the remarkable power the body has over the mind. In this spirit, I thought I’d share two recent studies that really bring home the degree to which our minds can be influenced by physical factors completely beyond our conscious awareness

Have you ever noticed how many more words we have for visual experiences than for smells, despite the fact that of all the sense, smell can most powerfully remind us of good or bad times and places in our past? The reason for this is because smell is far more ancient and primitive than sight. As such it is especially likely to cause feelings and behaviors that we don’t recognize and don’t understand.

In the first study researchers showed women sad films and collected their tears. They also collected salt water after they’d dripped it down the same women’s faces. In a series of experiments they showed that even though men did not see the women cry, and even though they could not smell a difference between the tears and the salt water, these fellows had powerful unconscious reactions to the tears. When shown pictures of sexy women the men were not as stimulated after sniffing the tears and they produced less testosterone—the primary male sex hormone—after sniffing tears. Finally, studies have identified areas of the male brain that become active when shown sexually arousing images. When they showed these types of images to men in a brain scanner while sniffing the women’s tears, the male subject’s brains became less aroused when compared to the activity observed in the same men after smelling the salt water.

In a second study researchers collected sweat from men just prior to a first-time skydive and during regular exercise. Of course, the men were tremendously stressed out prior to the skydive as compared with a regular exercise period. Researchers then recruited other men and showed pictures to them while monitoring how their brain responded to the images. In one condition these men smelled sweat from the stressed out first time skydivers and in the other they smelled the exercise-induced sweat, while being completely unaware of which sweat came from where. Remarkably when smelling the stressed out sweat, the research subjects showed anxiety-like brain reactions to faces that seemed completely neutral to them while smelling the exercise sweat. This shows that just smelling the sweat of a nervous person can make our brains go on high danger alert.

So what are the take-home points in terms of our health and well-being? Don’t cry if you want to have sex and stay away from stressed-out people if you want to avoid feeling nervous yourself? I suppose so, but my interest in these types of studies goes deeper because they point to a way that mind-body science can help us live more balanced lives.

While most of us who are interested in the field have benefited from the proof it provides regarding how important it is to cultivate positive social relationships and emotional well-being, we can take these insights too far and get down on ourselves if we don’t meet our self-imposed (or sometimes culturally imposed) standards. In fact, the new mind-body also encourages us to accept our limitations with modesty, but without apology. We should have patience with ourselves when we feel nervous for no reason or when we are in a moment when sexual passion is called for but not available. After all, our conscious selves are only one small part of the far larger wholes that we are. Although often unaware of it, we are profoundly affected by all sorts of things registered in our bodies and ancient reptilian brains. But one of the surest ways to enhance conscious control of our lives is to recognize how much of what we are is invisible to us.

So the next time you find yourself anxious for no reason or sexually turned off when you should be turned on, stop for a moment and think of all the remarkable ways your strange behavior can come from parts of ourselves we don’t know. And cut yourself a break!

Source: Dr. Charles Raison - CNNHealth Mental Health expert  

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Eating a Big Breakfast May Add Inches to Your Waistline

Nutritionists have long advised that the key to a successful diet is starting the day off with a big breakfast. The theory holds that eating more at the beginning of the day allows for less food consumption later in the day. However, a new study conducted by German scientists suggests that a big breakfast simply boosts your daily calorie intake because you will likely eat the same amount of lunch and dinner no matter the amount of calories you consume at breakfast. The details of the study were recently published in the Nutrition Journal.

Although a good breakfast functions to jump-start the metabolism and promote calorie burn off, if you are looking to lose weight you will need to cut back on the amount of calories you consume in the morning. This is the conclusion of the team of German researchers led by Dr. Volker Schusdziarra of the Else-Kroner-Fresenius Center of Nutritional Medicine in Munich. The finding was true for both obese people and those being of normal weight.

The study involved 100 normal weight and 280 obese volunteers who wanted to lose weight. All 380 people were asked to keep detailed food diaries that would include all calories consumed over a 10-day period for the obese patients, and 14 days for the normal weight study volunteers.

A broad variation of calorie intake at breakfast was noted for the participants in both groups. An individual might consume a big breakfast on one day and skip breakfast entirely the next. Breakfast calories consumed ranged from 121 to 606 calories for obese patients, while they varied from 134 to 559 calories for participants of normal weight.

Although a big breakfast was shown to reduce the likelihood of late morning snacking for both groups, it had no impact on extra calories consumed by the end of the day. Participants in the study consumed an average of around 500 to 550 calories at lunch and dinner and the calories consumed at breakfast calories simply increased the daily total. Those people who ate a breakfast having about 400 more calories than a typical small breakfast had the tendency to eat around 400 more calories during the rest of the day.

Previous studies on the relationship between breakfast calories consumed and calories eaten throughout the remainder of the day have had mixed results. Some have shown that those who eat breakfast in general weigh less than those who don't, and others have suggested that eating a big breakfast leads to less calorie intake for the balance of the day. Still other studies have found that the higher the calorie intake at breakfast in relation to all meals combined, the lower the overall daily energy intake.

A healthy diet includes eating a nutritious breakfast, not a big one. Skipping breakfast for weight loss is not a healthy choice. Cutting back on the amount of calories consumed during the first meal of the day is the key. Among breakfast items consumed by study participants that boosted their calorie counts were fatty and sugary foods such as bread, eggs, sausages, butter and marmalade. Better choices would include foods with protein and fiber to help you feel full longer. Eat smaller meals totaling 400 to 500 calories and supplement your calorie intake with light snacks to keep hunger at bay.

Source: Healthnews By Drucilla Dyess

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Fast Facts About Malaria

Actor George Clooney announced on Jan. 20 that he had recently beaten his second bout of malaria, which he had contracted during a diplomatic trip to Sudan. His publicist told the Washington Post that he says his experience shows how access to medication can turn "the most lethal condition in Africa" into "a bad 10 days instead of a death sentence." Want to know more about the otherwise pervasive disease that is so uncommon among Americans? Some fast facts:

What is it?

Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites that are carried and spread from human to human by female Anopheles mosquitoes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) explains:

Transmission is more intense in places where the mosquito is relatively long-lived (so that the parasite has time to complete its development inside the mosquito) and where it prefers to bite humans rather than other animals. For example, the long lifespan and strong human-biting habit of the African vector species is the underlying reason why more than 85% of the world's malaria deaths are in Africa.

When transmitted to a new host, Plasmodium sporozoites travel to the liver to mature. Once in the liver, they differentiate and release daughter organisms called merozoites into the blood to infect red blood cells, within which they multiply further.

As the original host cells rupture, the parasites periodically invade fresh red blood cells, causing waves of symptoms like high fever, chills, diarrhea, vomiting, headaches and profuse sweating. The first symptoms typically emerge 10 days to 4 weeks after infection, but have been known to appear as early as 8 days or up to a year later.

With two types of malaria parasites, a dormant stage called hypnozoites can persist in the liver and cause relapses by invading the bloodstream weeks or years after infection. Untreated malaria can be fatal. It kills more than 1 million people each year, 90% in sub-Saharan Africa. The WHO reports that malaria accounts for 20% of all child deaths in Africa, and that one African child dies of the disease every 45 seconds. For more, see the WHO website.

Where is it?

Malaria is endemic to 108 countries. There are high rates of transmission in Southeast Asia, Amazonian regions of South America and many island nations in the South Pacific, including Papua New Guinea, as well as sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria was eradicated in the United States in the 1950s, but about 1,500 cases are reported in the U.S. each year, usually acquired during travel to malarial areas. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a useful map that shows the distribution of malaria infection.

How do you treat it?

Malaria must be treated immediately upon diagnosis. The type of treatment will depend on the species of malaria parasite, whether the patient has an uncomplicated or severe form of the disease, whether the patient is pregnant, and where the patient acquired the disease, which will tell doctors the likelihood of the parasite's drug resistance.

For details on treatment, see this detailed CDC guide.

How do you prevent it?

You can take anti-malarial drugs before and after traveling to areas where malaria is prevalent. Get a prescription well in advance, because treatment may begin up to 2 weeks before you travel, and continue for a month after your return.

Commonly prescribed drugs for people traveling to South America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Asia and the South Pacific include: mefloquine, doxycycline, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and Malarone (a combination of atovaquone and proguanil). The type of medication recommended will depend on the known drug resistance of the parasites in the areas you are planning to travel.

During your travels, you should use insect repellent, wear long sleeves and pants and use insecticide-treated bednets. For more, see the CDC's chart on the pros and cons of various anti-malarial drugs.

Which other bold-faced names had it?

Eight U.S. presidents including George Washington and John F. Kennedy have suffered from malaria. Washington contracted it in Virginia in 1749 and had five recurrent bouts on record. JFK contracted the disease while serving in the Navy during World War II, and Theodore Roosevelt returned from a trip to Brazil with the illness.

As far as modern celebrities go, in addition to George Clooney, the Washington Post reports that actor Jeremy Piven and CNN anchor Anderson Cooper have both suffered from the disease.

Source : Healthland By Meredith Melnick

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New Guidelines Released for Improved Care and Treatment of Stroke Patients

New recommendations for faster diagnosis of stroke and improved care of patients has just been released by The American Heart Association together with its sister organization, The American Stroke Association. The new measures encompass both ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke and were devised with the objective of standardizing the level of care among stroke centers, while improving the quality of care received by stroke patients.

Studies have shown that rapid response in the diagnosis and treament of stroke victims is the key to saving lives. Stroke is a life-threatening condition involving the sudden death of brain cells. Of the two types of stroke, ischemic stroke accounts for 87 percent of all stroke cases and occurs as the result of an obstruction within a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain. Hemorrhagic stroke is caused by bleeding in the brain and occurs when a weakened blood vessel ruptures. There are two types of weakened blood vessels, known as aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) that commonly cause hemorrhagic stroke.

A study headed by Dr. Dana Leifer, associate professor of neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College and neurologist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center suggested new guidelines for achieving improved quality of care at stroke centers. Leifer and his colleagues developed the new measures after performing an extensive review of previously published papers regarding the most effective treatments and their outcomes among patients having suffered severe stroke.

The new recommendations include:

• Tracking the percentage of ischemic stroke patients who are eligible to receive tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and are treated with the drug within an hour of presenting at the hospital. (TPA is the only FDA-approved drug for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke in eligible patients).
• Tracking the time from patient hospitalization to receipt of treatment to repair blood vessels when a ruptured aneurysm in involved.
• Performing a 90-day follow-up to assess the outcomes for ischemic stroke patients having acute interventions, including tPA treatment.

It was noted by Leifer that “using the metrics as part of quality improvement efforts, over time hospitals should be able to improve the quality of the care that they give and improve patient outcomes.” Another life-saving guideline is to take steps for stroke prevention. Although there are some risk factors for stroke that cannot be controlled, such as age, gender, race and family history, there are many risk factors that can be controlled. Among these are physical inactivity, obesity, alcohol use, tobacco use and smoking, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. A good start for stroke prevention is to practice a heart-healthy lifestyle that includes getting a sufficient amount of exercise and eating a healthy diet.

Source: Healthnews.By Drucilla Dyess

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Job Killing You? 8 Types of Work-Related Stress

Job stress can fray nerves, keep you up at night, and contribute to health problems such as heart disease and depression. “Chronic job strain can put both your physical and emotional health at risk,” says Paul J. Rosch, MD, the president of the American Institute of Stress. Finding the source of your stress is the first step to fighting it, but that’s easier said than done. Fortunately, experts have identified specific work situations that are likely to make your blood boil. Which one of these stressed-out workers do you resemble?

Overworked underling

The profile: You're busy from the time you get to work until the time you leave, but you have little freedom while you're there. You don't have much say over how you do your job or the types of projects you work on, and you're always on someone else's schedule.

The solution: These types of jobs—known as "high-demand, low-control"—tend to cause a great deal of psychological strain, says Peter L. Schnall, MD, an occupational stress expert at the University of California at Irvine.

Even if you can't make your job less demanding, finding ways to get more involved in decision-making will help ease the stress, research suggests.

Frustrated go-getter

The profile: You work your tail off, but you feel you don’t receive enough credit—or compensation. With lots of sweat (and maybe a few tears), you’ve made your bosses look good. Still, you haven’t received a raise, a promotion, or sufficient recognition.

The solution: These so-called "effort-reward imbalances" are a recipe for stress, especially among very driven people who are eager for approval.

Try discussing your career goals with your boss. You may not get the rewards you want right away, but you could gain some insight about how to improve your situation—and outlook.

Castaway

The profile: You feel like you’re all alone, and not in a good way. If you require help or guidance, your boss won’t give it to you, and when you need to vent, you don’t have a trusted ally to turn to.

The solution: A good support system at work includes both practical support from your bosses (the resources and help you need to do your job well) and emotional support from colleagues. Too little of either could make you feel stranded on irritation island.

Work on communicating your needs, both practical and emotional. If you want your boss’s help, be as specific (and persuasive) as possible, and make connecting with co-workers a priority.

Doormat

The profile: You deal with demanding and verbally abusive customers, but through it all you’re expected—no, required—to swallow your resentment and maintain a facade of professionalism, calm, and courtesy.

The solution: "When there’s a discrepancy between your internal state and the roles you’re expected to play at work, you experience what researchers call ‘emotional labor,’" says Dr. Schnall.

Ask your boss for advice or additional training on how to handle difficult customers without feeling demoralized. Doing your job without taking abuse personally will leave you feeling better about yourself.

Tech prisoner

The profile: Thanks to the Blackberry, cell phone, and laptop your company so generously provided, your boss can now reach you 24/7. You're constantly (if virtually) connected to the office, and your work and personal life are indistinguishable.

The solution: “Technostress is an important and growing issue,” says Dr. Rosch, who is also a clinical professor of medicine and psychiatry at New York Medical College, in Valhalla, N.Y.

To protect yourself from mental and physical strain, learn how to unplug (literally). Set aside blocks of time—between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., say—when you turn your electronics off and focus on clearing your head

Burnout

The profile: You’re terminally exhausted, both physically and emotionally, to the point where it becomes difficult to function. You feel as if you’re on the verge of a breakdown.

The solution: Although the word "burnout" is used loosely, the technical definition is severe exhaustion stemming from prolonged work-related stress. Burnout occurs most often in very charged, high-stakes work environments (such as ERs). But it can occur in just about any stressful job.

If you’re experiencing burnout, discuss it with a supervisor and explore whether you can take time off or even a leave of absence.

Bully target

The profile: Your boss insults you, gives you impossible deadlines, assigns you busywork just because she can, and dresses you down in front of your colleagues. Or you’ve seen her do those things to others—and you’re worried that you’re next.

The solution: Bullying isn't restricted to the playground; it appears to be on the rise in offices too. If you feel you're the victim of a bullying boss, you can try to mollify her. And if your co-workers share in your frustration, you can try confronting your tyrannical boss as a group. (There’s safety in numbers.) If that doesn’t work, document the bullying and raise your concerns with a superior or with human resources (HR).

Wronged victim

The profile: Work just isn’t fair. Your boss plays favorites, management decisions are mystifying and arbitrary, and employees are treated like children.

The solution: Workplaces that aren’t fair, transparent, and respectful lack what’s known as “organizational justice,” and they’re likely to have stressed-out employees. “Pretty much anytime an individual feels they are being dealt with differently or unfairly, it places potentially harmful stress on them,” says Dr. Schnall.

You only have so much control over the atmosphere at work. However, raising your concerns with a trusted superior or HR rep may leave you feeling less burned out—and less stressed.

Source: health.com By Kristin Koch

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