Posts Tagged ‘Decisions’

Myeloma for beginners – Treatment and treatment decisions

Dr Graham Jackson, Consultant Haematologist and Senior Lecturer, Royal Victoria Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne describes the treatment options available for myeloma patients. According to Myeloma UK, around 10 people are diagnosed with multiple myeloma in the UK every day. Myeloma is the second most common form of bone marrow cancer in the UK and is currently incurable, but treatable. Myeloma UK is the only organisation in the UK dealing exclusively with myeloma and its related disorders. For more information, visit: www.myeloma.org.uk

Decisions for Daniels as he weighs White House bid

Decisions for Daniels as he weighs White House bid
INDIANAPOLIS – As Gov. Mitch Daniels approaches his deadline for deciding whether to run for president, state lawmakers have put on his desk a pair of showcase conservative ideas.

Read more on Fort Wayne Journal Gazette

Cancer Protection is About Making Smart Decisions

People taking action towards cancer protection by changing their diets and going to the doctor regularly have resulted in the latest statistics released by the American Cancer Society in January 2007 reporting that cancer deaths have gone down in the United States. Medical technology also offers state-of-the-art testing and screenings for various cancers, allowing patients to detect tumors in their earliest stages.

There are several ways you can protect yourself from cancer. One way is to maintain a healthy diet. Diets including plenty of fruits and vegetables allow a person to receive the necessary vitamins linked with cancer protection. It is also important to include healthy fats found in olive, canola and sunflower oils.

These are high in Omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked to keep the heart healthy and prevent other deadly diseases. Limiting your intake of red meats is very important when it comes to a healthy diet. Instead, you should focus on including more lean proteins, such as chicken and fish.

Other ways to improve your diet are to eat hearty whole grains found in certain breads, pastas and rice dishes. Make sure to always avoid fried foods that are high in trans-fats.

Aside from a healthy diet, you can practice cancer prevention by taking certain supplements and vitamins. Vitamin E, selenium and lycopene have been connected with lowering a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer.

Fish oils have also been linked with preventing cancer of the prostate. There has even been research suggesting calcium supplements could help a person prevent colorectal cancer.

Going to the doctor is important even if you are trying to lower your risk of cancer. Doctors can perform certain screenings to help protect you from a life-threatening disease. Women are recommended to start having yearly mammograms sometime after age forty.

Younger women should have regular clinical breast exams performed by a physician or do breast exams at home to watch for abnormalities. Men and women should have a colonoscopy, beginning in their fifties, every ten years to watch for colorectal cancers. Men can protect themselves from prostate cancer by using certain chemoprevention drugs.

These are man-made drugs or vitamins used specifically to suppress or prevent cancer. PSA tests or digital rectal exams are other methods available to men who are at high risk for prostate cancer. Discuss all the treatments and screenings available with your doctor to determine what you should do based on your personal and family medical history.

Lifestyle is a major factor in your efforts at cancer protection. Smoking has been linked with several cancers, such as lung, prostate, bladder and breast cancer. It is imperative for smokers to quit this unhealthy habit because it will greatly reduce their risks of developing cancer.

Doctors recommend women watch their alcohol consumption as part of breast and cervical cancer control. Other ways to improve your lifestyle is to work plenty of physical activity into your daily schedule. Whether you join a gym, buy a treadmill or play outside with your children, exercising is an important factor in cancer protection.

Cancer protection could mean small changes or complete overhauls to daily routines, depending on your current lifestyle. Lowering your risk of cancer may include joining a gym or buying vitamins and dietary supplements.

It could mean you have to quit smoking or using other tobacco products. Whatever change you make to your current situation will put you closer to living a healthy and cancer-free life.

Cancer Protection Is All About Making Smart Decisions

When you think of cancer protection, a physician’s office probably comes to mind. But protection is more than just going to the doctor. It involves making the right decisions with aspects of your life to help prevent a life-threatening disease. Even if you think you’re a healthy individual, it could be beneficial to step back and see what needs to be changed in your habits to make you healthier.

There are several ways you can protect yourself from cancer. One way is to maintain a healthy diet. Diets including plenty of fruits and vegetables allow a person to receive the necessary vitamins linked with cancer protection.

It is also important to include healthy fats found in olive, canola and sunflower oils. These are high in Omega-3 fatty acids, which have been linked to keep the heart healthy and prevent other deadly diseases.

Limiting your intake of red meats is very important when it comes to a healthy diet. Instead, you should focus on including more lean proteins, such as chicken and fish. Other ways to improve your diet are to eat hearty whole grains found in certain breads, pastas and rice dishes. Make sure to always avoid fried foods that are high in trans-fats.

Aside from a healthy diet, you can practice cancer prevention by taking certain supplements and vitamins. Vitamin E, selenium and lycopene have been connected with lowering a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer. Fish oils have also been linked with preventing cancer of the prostate. There has even been research suggesting calcium supplements could help a person prevent colorectal cancer.

Going to the doctor is important even if you are trying to lower your risk of cancer. Doctors can perform certain screenings to help protect you from a life-threatening disease. Women are recommended to start having yearly mammograms sometime after age forty. Younger women should have regular clinical breast exams performed by a physician or do breast exams at home to watch for abnormalities.

Men and women should have a colonoscopy, beginning in their fifties, every ten years to watch for colorectal cancers. Men can protect themselves from prostate cancer by using certain chemoprevention drugs. These are man-made drugs or vitamins used specifically to suppress or prevent cancer.

PSA tests or digital rectal exams are other methods available to men who are at high risk for prostate cancer. Discuss all the treatments and screenings available with your doctor to determine what you should do based on your personal and family medical history.

Lifestyle is a major factor in your efforts at cancer protection. Smoking has been linked with several cancers, such as lung, prostate, bladder and breast cancer. It is imperative for smokers to quit this unhealthy habit because it will greatly reduce their risks of developing cancer.

Doctors recommend women watch their alcohol consumption as part of breast and cervical cancer control. Other ways to improve your lifestyle is to work plenty of physical activity into your daily schedule. Whether you join a gym, buy a treadmill or play outside with your children, exercising is an important factor in cancer protection.

Cancer protection could mean small changes or complete overhauls to daily routines, depending on your current lifestyle. Lowering your risk of cancer may include joining a gym or buying vitamins and dietary supplements. It could mean you have to quit smoking or using other tobacco products. Whatever change you make to your current situation will put you closer to living a healthy and cancer-free life.

How Making Breast Cancer Decisions A Reality

Widely hailed as the next frontier in medical advances, the promise of individualized medicine is becoming a reality thanks to progress in understanding the molecular basis of diseases such as breast cancer. Scientists can now develop treatments that are tailored to individual genetic profiles, as well as tests to predict how a patient will respond to existing therapies.

Today, some women with early-stage breast cancer and their physicians can make more informed treatment decisions with the Oncotype DX Breast Cancer Assay. This service provides quantitative information about genes from a woman’s individual tumor to generate a Recurrence Score between zero and 100, indicating whether she is at high, intermediate or low risk for her cancer returning after treatment.

Oncotype DX is intended for patients with node-negative, estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer who are likely to be treated with hormonal therapy. Approximately half of the 230,000 patients diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States each year fall into this category, and are frequently offered treatment with chemotherapy, a widely used treatment with considerable side effects. Clinical studies show that chemotherapy improved patient survival rates in only 4 out of 100 patients, yet thousands of women continue to elect this costly and toxic treatment with only limited information about whether they might respond to it.

A recent study demonstrated that women with high Recurrence Scores are more likely to benefit from chemotherapy, whereas women with lower scores derive only minimal benefit. Further, only 25% of women fell into the high-risk group, compared to 50% in the low-risk group, indicating that this common treatment is not appropriate for every patient.

Elizabeth Sloan of New York City is one of the many breast cancer patients not likely to respond to chemotherapy. An active mother with two young boys, Elizabeth was considering having another child when she was diagnosed at just 40 years old. She wanted to avoid chemotherapy, with its disruptive, short-term side effects and potentially serious long-term implications, but also wanted to be absolutely certain that it wouldn’t help her.

Working with her doctor, Ruth Oratz, M.D., at NYU Medical Center, Elizabeth decided to have the Oncotype DX assay, and was delighted when her Recurrence Score turned out to be low-indicating that she may not benefit significantly from chemotherapy.

“No two women with breast cancer are exactly alike. Oncotype DX provides information that goes beyond standard measures, like age, tumor size and tumor grade, in determining the likelihood of disease recurrence,” says Dr. Oratz. “Oncotype DX gave Elizabeth and me added confidence and peace of mind in selecting the most fitting treatment for her.”

For Susan Bakken of Denver, Colorado, Oncotype DX provided a different kind of peace of mind. Susan’s Recurrence Score indicated that she was at high risk of cancer recurrence, and would likely benefit significantly from chemotherapy-to both her surprise and her doctor’s.

“Based on the other tests I had, my doctor said he wouldn’t have otherwise recommended chemotherapy. I was shocked to find out my result, but I was so glad I did because I believe this test basically saved my life,” explained Susan.

Elizabeth Sloan is also grateful for the information she gained from Oncotype DX. “Not all cancers are the same, so why treat everyone the same way with something so toxic?” she said. “It’s so remarkable that finally, doctors can distinguish one person’s cancer from another-I’m just so thankful.”

Oncotype DX is a simple test that can only be ordered by a physician. It is performed on a small amount of breast tumor tissue removed during a standard lumpectomy, mastectomy or biopsy, meaning no additional procedure is required.

Decisions Day

Decisions Day
Friday is National Healthcare Decisions Day, an initiative to focus attention on the importance of advance health-care directives.

Read more on The Indianapolis Star