Posts Tagged ‘Working’

Working Together for a Cure-Susan G Komen-Indianapolis

Dr. George Sledge specializes in clinical research and the treatment of breast cancer. Learn how working together we can move even closer to a cure for breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Patient: “I Had a Group of Doctors Working to Save My Life.” – Teresa’s Story

www.uchospitals.edu In this video, Teressa McKinney shares her experiences as a Breast Center patient. She speaks about the patient-centered care and team approach that helped her through her bout with breast cancer. Dr. Nora Jaskowiak performed Teresa’s lumpectomy. She expresses her appreciation for the compassion and caring shown by the clinical staff. She would recommend the University of Chicago Medical Center to anyone seeking treatment for breast cancer.

Options for breast cancer treatment – working with your doctor

Dr. Michael Siena of Berkshire Medical Center discusses the importance of making an informed medical decision when undergoing treatment for breast cancer

Will working the graveyard shift put you in one sooner?

Will working the graveyard shift put you in one sooner?
A woman working a night shift worries for her health by Cecil Adams I’ve been working third shift for approximately four years now. On my days off, despite my three children, I try to maintain somewhat the same schedule (easier since they reached school age). I’ve heard all kinds of horror stories about people working third shift living shorter lives, women being more prone to breast cancer, and …

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Team of local doctors working on drug to prevent, treat ovarian cancer

Team of local doctors working on drug to prevent, treat ovarian cancer
Linda Johnson doesn’t want to lose her fight against ovarian cancer, and Everardo Cobos, her doctor, doesn’t want to tell her he’s running out of tools.

Read more on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

When chemotherapy isn’t working on Breast Cancer, what are some of the other options out there?

Body has built up emzymes that are making the chemotherapy not as acitve as it needs to be. What are some of the options available when this happens? Any advice or information or places to find information would be helpful. Thanks.

Increased Cancer Risks Associated With Working The Graveyard Shift

You may have heard some alarming health news recently, about how working the ‘graveyard shift’ may increase your odds for developing breast or prostate cancer. This story is based on recent research, over the last 20 years, that does, indeed, find an increased rate of breast cancer among women who work at night. But, please keep in mind that high cancer rates, that have been newly discovered in night workers, does not prove that nighttime work, alone, causes one to get cancer.

It is estimated that about 20 percent of the work force in technologically developed countries work the night shift. One of the first people to spot the night shift-cancer connection was Richard Stevens, a cancer epidemiologist and professor at the University of Connecticut Health Center. In 1987 he published a paper suggesting that there may be a a direct correlation to light at night and breast cancer.

Stevens says, “suspiciously, the incidence of breast cancer rates shot up, starting in the 1930′s, where industrialized cultures considered it advantageous to progressively increase one’s income”.

At the time of Steven’s first observations, most medical research scientists considered the link, between light at night to increased breast cancer rates, to be pretty weird and wacky. However, over the last 20 years, ongoing research on this disturbing news has continued. There is some compelling evidence that indicates that men working the night shift may also have an increased risk of developing prostate cancer.

It is also interesting to note, that in laboratory research studies with test animals, evidence of the light at night theory, supported Steven’s original idea. When light/dark schedules were purposely disrupted, the animals developed more cancerous tumors and died prematurely.

Since the 1980′s, the cancer connection to artificial light at night has received quite a bit of attention. There seems to be enough evidence to support the notion that there is a questionable pattern of increased cancer rates in night, and rotational, shift workers.

If you are a night worker do not panic, and determine that you simply must abandon your current job for personal health safety reasons. Also, consider that these ongoing studies are only one small piece of evidence to a very large puzzle. There are many other risk factors involved in developing cancer. In all fairness, other known cancer risks should also be evaluated into this equation as well, like:

1.Lifestyle choices such as exercise habits, substance abuse problems, or drug addictions

2.Daily dietary food and beverage intakes.

3.Sleep deprivation problems such as insomnia and depression.

4.Amount of exposure time that bare skin has a chance to connect with UV sunlight rays, and vitamin D levels.

5.Amount of emotional stress levels in relation to unresolved personal issues.

All of those key factor risks, and many others, as well as a wider variety of test subjects need to be extensively studied. Most of the current, light at night research studies, so far, have only been performed on the nursing profession and airline crews.

What researchers are suggesting, though, is that there seems to be a rather complicated system, of some sort, to lower levels of melatonin and serotonin in correlation to rotational, and night, shift workers. Melatonin is a endocrine system hormone produced by the pineal gland that helps induce sleep, and is gradually released after dark. The pineal gland is located deep in the center of the brain behind the center point in the forehead between the eyes, and is known to have a reaction to sunlight exposure. It is believed that sunlight exposure coming in through the eyes for approximately 20 minutes a day, without contacts, eyeglasses, or sunglasses appears to play an important role in the releasing of melatonin.

Clearly, when normal sleep/wake (also called circadian rhythm) cycles are interrupted with artificial lighting at night there may be a steep health price to pay, for the sake of earning a living. Long-term supplementation with melatonin is not advisable, either, as it may eventually interfere with your body’s ability to produce it on its own. Use, instead, one of melatonin’s safer precursors like L-tryptophan or 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). Be advised , that L-tryptophan is only obtainable by presription, however, do not let that intimidate you as it is only a simple amino acid.

As an employer you may consider it financially necessary to use night shifts to voluntarily maximize your company’s profits. But, you may also want to consider employee medical health insurance liabilities, and productivity, too. There might just possibly be lower health insurance rate incentives offered for installing healthier, natural spectrum lighting systems in work station areas, This may help you save even more money, by lowering your energy costs as well.

If you are a rotational, or night, shift worker, sleeping in a darkened room is a must. Do whatever it takes to eliminate, or reduce, light from entering your sleeping environment. You can also improve the quality of your sleep by learning how to practice better sleep hygiene habits. Visit the mercola natural health website and type in the search box, ’33 secrets to a good nights sleep’.

Above all, listen to your body, if working after dark is causing you various health problems, pay close attention! Treat your symptoms with care, put in for a shift change, or find another job.

after working for 32 years at the same company my job was downsized. i was the only one that did this job. i

had to train someone for my job as i had breast cancer and would be out for treatment and recovery and radiation. people donated sick time so i would recieve a full pay check. naturally i used alot of sick time. in sept. of last year several people were permentaly laid of due to restructering. i was one of them, i found out today the reason was they looked at time worked vs. sick time taken. i clearly think this is age and disability discrimination, especially since my yearly review had only positive things to say. how even though i was sick i was working full time hours, and training my backup, and nothing derogerty was mentioned.
my boss said at my termination i did mainly one job, when in fact i did every aspect of the job. anyone in a similar situation. or any employment lawyers feel this is discrimination. thank you so much for your time. this is being investigated with the division of human survices in my state.

Working outdoors reduces cancer risk

Working outdoors reduces cancer risk
Research shows vitamin D, produced by skin when exposed to ultraviolet light, associated with reduced rate of renal cancer Men who work outdoors, enabling their bodies to create vitamins through exposure to sunlight, have a reduced risk of kidney cancer, researchers said today. In the largest study of its kind, scientists found that vitamin D – produced by the skin when exposed to ultraviolet …

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Working Towards a Future Without Breast Cancer

Chances are someone close to you such as your friend, mother, wife, sister or even yourself has been touched by breast cancer in one way or another. That’s why it is so important that we never give up fighting for a cure.

Finding a cure is not impossible, but it is definitely a long, hard battle. Raising funds for the technology for early diagnosis, treatments options, and breast cancer research is vital. Education and support to breast cancer patients is also crucial for survival. That’s why the Royal Canadian Mint has produced its second color circulation coin to help support the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

This special 25-cent piece coin entitled “Creating a Future Without Breast Cancer,” displays a colored pink ribbon in its center, with three additional silver ribbons around the border. As the Royal Canadian Mint says, this coin was created as “A tribute to courage [and] a symbol of Hope.” Thirty-million coins began their circulation in Canada on April 1, 2006.

The coins are being circulated across Canada, and Canadian shoppers could receive one as a pleasant surprise in their change at their local Shoppers Drug Mart. They can also be purchased directly from the Royal Canadian Mint’s website.

However, The Breast Site, an information portal on the topic of breast health and breast cancer decided to offer 1000 coins, one to every individual U.S. reader, who didn’t have access to the coins. On June 8, 2006 The Breast Site launched its Pink Ribbon Coin Promotion, offering the breast cancer coin to its U.S. readers for a limited time as a symbol of hope.

Well, I’m happy to announce that The Breast Site has officially sent out its 1000th pink ribbon coin! We’d like to thank every reader who filled out the online form to receive their very own free breast cancer coin. Only 1000 coins were available, so hopefully you were one of the lucky recipients who submitted your form before the 1000th coin was sent today.

Amie Cunningham, a writer for thebreastsite.com who also worked on the team that mailed out the Pink Ribbon coins says, “It was so great to see so many men and women of all ages taking advantage of this special opportunity! It’s too bad that there were only 1000 coins available, because there were many applicants who submitted after the last coin was sent.”

Editors at The Breast Site urge readers to continue to check back for other great promotions that the site plans to introduce in the future. Cunningham notes, “The very first Breast Site newsletter will be launched in the very near future.”