Football: Netherlands coach Van Gaal says cancer treatment behind him

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Netherlands football coach Louis van Gaal insisted Monday that he was fit enough to lead his nation to the World Cup finals saying his prostate cancer treatment has been successful.

Van Gaal, 70, said ten days ago he had been receiving treatment since being diagnosed in 2020, but still plans to lead his team at the World Cup in Qatar in seven months' time.

"I had 25 sessions of chemotherapy. Then I had to wait five or six months to see if that had worked. It has," he told the ANP press agency.

The former Ajax, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United coach also underwent surgery. 

The no-nonsense Van Gaal managed the Oranje between 2000-2002 and 2012-2014, when they finished third at the World Cup in Brazil.

He then returned to the Dutch national team after the resignation of Frank de Boer in the aftermath of the country's last-16 exit from Euro 2020.

The Netherlands were placed in Group A with hosts Qatar, Ecuador and Senegal in Friday's draw.

Agence France-Presse

Common blood pressure drug tied to increased risk of skin cancer

People who take a certain water pill prescribed to control fluid retention and treat high blood pressure may be more likely to get skin cancer than other individuals, a Danish study suggests.

While the drug, hydrochlorothiazide, has long been linked to an increased risk of sunburns, the current study offers fresh evidence that this commonly prescribed medication may also make people more likely to develop two types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.

For the study, researchers examined national prescription registry data on hydrochlorothiazide use from 1995 to 2012 as well as cancer registry records on skin malignancies diagnosed from 2004 to 2012.

Overall, people who took hydrochlorothiazide daily for at least six years were 29 percent more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma and almost four times more likely to get squamous cell carcinoma than individuals who didn’t take this medication, the study found.

“We already knew that hydrochlorothiazide makes the skin more vulnerable to damage from UV light of sun or sunbeds,” said senior study author Anton Pottegard of the University of Southern Denmark.

“However, we did not know that hydrochlorothiazide use also appears to translate into an increased risk of non-melanoma skin cancer,” Pottegard said by email.

The study included more than 71,000 people with basal cell carcinoma, 8,600 patients with squamous cell carcinoma, and a control group of more than 313,000 people in the Danish population who didn’t have these malignancies but were otherwise similar to the cancer patients.

About 2.7 percent of patients with basal cell carcinoma and 2.1 percent of the control group were high users of hydrochlorothiazide, with a lifetime cumulative dose of at least 50,000 milligrams, or roughly six years of daily use.

Ten percent of squamous cell carcinoma cases were high users, as were 2.8 percent of people in the control group.

With the highest cumulative hydrochlorothiazide exposure — approximately 24 years of daily use — patients were 54 percent more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma and more than seven times more likely to get squamous cell carcinoma.

The study wasn’t a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how hydrochlorothiazide might cause skin cancer.

Another limitation is that researchers lacked data on two main factors that influence the risk of skin cancer: ultraviolet light exposure and skin type, the study authors note in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

“There may be a relationship between taking hydrochlorothiazide and risk for skin cancer,” said Dr. Aaron Farberg of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

“However, the relationship may not be directly causative,” Farberg, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email.

Even so, the findings add to the evidence suggesting that patients taking hydrochlorothiazide should take extra precautions to protect their skin from damage caused by the sun, said Dr. Elizabeth Martin, president of Pure Dermatology & Aesthetics in Hoover, Alabama.

“Everyone can reduce their skin cancer risk by avoiding unprotected exposure to UV light,” Martin, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email. “Don’t use indoor tanning devices, and protect yourself from the sun by seeking sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher.”

Patients taking hydrochlorothiazide shouldn’t stop without first seeing a doctor, Pottegard cautioned. While there are other safe, affordable options to manage high blood pressure, patients already taking hydrochlorothiazide won’t meaningfully alter their skin cancer risk by staying on the drug for a few months until a physician can advise them, he said.

“If you are at an increased risk of skin cancer, due to high exposure to sunlight, have already experienced skin cancer, or are otherwise predisposed to skin cancer, you should consider consulting your physician regarding a potential therapy shift,” Pottegard said.

source: interaksyon.com

‘Veep’ actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus battling breast cancer

LOS ANGELES | Emmy-winning comedic actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus said on Thursday that she was battling breast cancer and highlighted the case for universal healthcare.

Louis-Dreyfus, 56, who plays foul-mouthed fictitious former U.S. President Selina Meyer on HBO’s “Veep,” said “1 in 8 women get breast cancer. Today, I‘m the one,” in a short post on her social media platforms.

“The good news is that I have the most glorious group of supportive and caring family and friends, and fantastic insurance through my union. The bad news is that not all women are so lucky, so let’s fight all cancers and make universal health care a reality,” the actress wrote.

She did not give any further details of her health status.

Time Warner’s HBO network said Louis-Dreyfus received the diagnosis a day after the Emmy Awards earlier this month, where she won a record sixth consecutive Emmy for comedy actress for her role as Meyer. The Emmys are U.S. television’s highest honor.

HBO added that her diagnosis played no part in its decision to end “Veep” after next season, and that writers would keep working on the final season while production would be adjusted around the actress.

“Our love and support go out to Julia and her family at this time. We have every confidence she will get through this with her usual tenacity and undaunted spirit, and look forward to her return to health and to HBO for the final season of Veep,” HBO said in a statement.

Louis-Dreyfus achieved fame in the 1990s for her role as Elaine Benes on NBC’s “Seinfeld,” which also won her an Emmy.

source: interaksyon.com

12 beyond beauty benefits of collagen

MANILA, Philippines — When it comes to health, the big C’s are usually Vitamin C, cancer and lately, medicinal cannabis.

Often, people forget another important C: collagen.

This summer, increased sun exposure leads to aging and depletion of collagen, the building blocks of protein and the skin’s main structure that is also found in the eyes, heart, kidneys, tendons, ligaments, liver, and even in stomach and hair, said esthetics and rejuvenation expert Dr. Cecilia Catapang.

“At a certain point, the body stops producing collagen,” the doctor warned during the recent launch of food supplement Novuskin Lift, claimed to be the first in the market to have 18 natural ingredients, including marine fish collagen.

Collagen comprises 80 percent of skin, but due to free radicals, when one reaches 20, one loses collagen at the rate of is 1.8 percent per year, and 20 to 25 percent annually by age 30, said Catapang.

If you are feeling sluggish and having many wrinkles by age 40, that is because collagen has rapidly depleted in one's body, she said.

Since collagen is in over 100 parts of the body, 14 of which are the most important. Catapang stressed the value of taking collagen supplements not only for beauty but also for health.

According to her, here are other beyond beauty benefits collagen can give:

    Bone healing
    Anti-aging
    Wound healing
    Increased protein intake
    Antibacterial
    Collagen has aspirin-like properties that can prevent heart attack and stroke
    Marine fish collagen and peptide are widely used as supplements because of their similarity to human collagen. These have a good safety profile and high bioavailability through the gastrointestinal tract, promoting skin repair. The intake of this must be combined with antioxidants.
    Marine fish collagen is absorbed up to 1.5 times more effectively into the body and has superior bioavailability over bovine or porcine collagens, thus, fish collagen is considered the best collagen for medicinal purposes.
    When completely digested, fish collagen stimulates cells in skin, joints and bones, leading to collagen synthesis through cell activation and growth.
    Other fish collagen benefits include anti-aging, bone healing and rejuvenation, wound healing, increased protein intake and antibacterial properties.
    Fish collagen is high in essential and non-essential amino acids.
    Every 10 grams of fish collagen has protein, potassium, sodium and iron

White sugar, said Catapang, weakens collagen, so she suggested using other healthier sweeteners like muscovado or brown sugar.

“To effectively slow down aging, do measures that will have a lasting impact not only to skin but the entire well-being,” she noted.

source: philstar.com

Success with immunotherapy in handling hard to treat cancer

CHICAGO - Results of several clinical trials released Sunday show the revolutionary potential of immunotherapy in treating advanced cases of hard to treat types of cancer, such as bladder and lung cancer.

One has shown that the antibody Tecentriq -- a product of Genentech, a subsidiary of the Swiss pharmaceutical Roche -- reduced advanced bladder tumors in a quarter of 119 patients tested, with a median survival of almost 15 months. These results compare with a nine to 10 month survival rate typical with chemotherapy, the researchers said.

The findings were presented at the annual conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the world's largest cancer congress, held this weekend in Chicago.

Tecentriq, which allows the immune system to attack the cancer cells, was shown to be effective with patients who had advanced bladder cancer and were too weak for chemotherapy.

"Up to half of patients with advanced bladder cancer are too frail to receive the only known survival-prolonging treatment," said lead study author Arjun Vasant Balar, a medical doctor and assistant professor of medicine at New York University.

"We are encouraged to see that atezolizumab immunotherapy may help address this major unmet need," Balar said.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently authorized sales of Tecentriq on an expedited basis based on preliminary results of this clinical trial.

"This and other immunotherapies have brought new momentum to bladder cancer treatment, which until recently had seen practically no treatment advances in more than a decade," said Charles Ryan, a professor of clinical medicine and urology at the University of California at San Francisco who participated in the study.

"The fact that this treatment appears safe for elderly patients, who too often have few good options, is all the more encouraging," Ryan said.

The researchers plan to carry out a more extensive clinical trial with Tecentriq as first treatment for advanced bladder cancer that mainly affects older people, the vast majority of whom are smokers or former smokers.


Promising treatment

A new immunotherapy combined with an agent that kills cancer cells has also shown to be promising in treating patients suffering from the most aggressive form of lung cancer, which amounts to 10 to 15 percent of all lung tumors, according to the results of a separate clinical trial with 74 patients that was presented at ASCO Sunday.

This treatment combines a new immunotherapy, rovalpituzumab tesirine (Rova-T), developed by the start-up Stemcentrx that was recently acquired by the US laboratory AbbVie.

This combination blocked tumor growth in 89 percent of patients with high levels of DLL3 protein, and resulted in a cancer regression in 39 percent of the group being tested, which included some who had been given only one more year to live.

"We've seen too few successes in recent years for small cell lung cancer, which makes these early signs of efficacy all the more encouraging," said lead study author Charles Rudin, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

A European study also presented at the ASCO conference showed encouraging results for an immunotherapy that targets the protein claudine18.2 in cases of advanced gastric cancer.

That immunotherapy, IMAB362 of Germany's Ganymed Pharmaceuticals, is also combined with chemotherapy.

The clinical study with 161 patients who suffered from aggressive gastric tumors showed that this antibody significantly prolonged their survival when combined with chemotherapy, with 13.2 months or 16.7 months against 8.4 or nine months in patients treated with chemotherapy alone.

source: interaksyon.com

One in eight adults obese - global survey

PARIS -- Over one in eight adults are now obese -- a ratio that has more than doubled since 1975 and will swell to one in five by 2025, a major survey reported Friday.

Of about five billion adults alive in 2014, 641 million were obese, the data showed -- and projected the number will balloon past 1.1 billion in just nine years.

The research warned of a looming crisis of "severe obesity" and disease brought on by high-fat, high-sugar diets causing blood pressure and cholesterol to rise.

"There will be health consequences of magnitudes that we do not know," author Majid Ezzati of Imperial College London told AFP.

The survey, published in The Lancet medical journal, claimed to be the most comprehensive of its kind conducted to date.

People are divided into healthy or unhealthy weight categories based on a universally-adopted measure dubbed Body Mass Index -- a ratio of weight-to-height squared.

A healthy BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9.

One is considered underweight below 18.5, overweight from 25 up, and obese from 30 -- when the risk of diabetes, stroke, heart disease and some cancers escalates massively.

With a BMI of 35, one is categorized as severely obese, and from 40 upward as morbidly so.

Among men globally, obesity tripled from 3.2 percent of the population in 1975 to 10.8 percent in 2014 (some 266 million), and among women from 6.4 percent to 14.9 percent (375 million), said the survey -- 12.9 percent combined.

This was equivalent to the average adult, 18 and older, being 1.5 kilos (3.3 pounds) heavier every decade.

"If the rate of obesity continues at this pace, by 2025 roughly a fifth of men (18 percent) and women (21 percent) will be obese," according to a statement by The Lancet.

More than six percent of men and nine percent of women will be severely obese.

Weighty flip-flop

The ratio of underweight people in the world declined at a slower rate than obesity grew, said the authors -- from about 13.8 percent in 1975 to 8.8 percent for men, and 14.6 percent to 9.7 percent for women.

"Over the past 40 years, we have changed from a world in which underweight prevalence was more than double that of obesity, to one in which more people are obese than underweight," said Ezzati.

At current rates, more women will be severely obese (a BMI of 35 or more) than underweight by 2025, and the world will miss its stated target of halting obesity at 2010 levels.

In 2014, the world's fattest people lived in the island nations of Polynesia and Micronesia, where 38 percent of men and more than half of women were obese, said the study.

Nearly a fifth of the world's obese adults (118 million) lived in six high-income countries -- the United States, Britain, Ireland, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

The US was home to one in four severely obese men and almost one in five severely obese women in the world.

Surgery as a solution? 

At the other extreme, the paper said, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia and Eritrea had the lowest BMI numbers in the world, with averages as low as 20.1

More than a fifth of men in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Ethiopia, and a quarter of women in Bangladesh and India, were underweight.

"The global focus on the obesity epidemic has largely overshadowed the persistence of underweight in some countries," the research paper said.

"To address this problem will require social and food policies that enhance food security in poor households, but also avoid overconsumption of processed carbohydrates and other unhealthy foods."

Like being underweight, severe and morbid obesity has many health risks.

"We can deal with some of these, like higher cholesterol or blood pressure, through medicines," said Ezzati.

"But for many others, including diabetes, we don't have effective treatment."

The paper says stomach-shrinking bariatric surgery may become the "most effective intervention for weight loss and disease prevention" as waistlines continue expanding.

The data was compiled from 1,698 studies involving 19.2 million adults from 186 countries which are home to 99 percent of the world's population.

Unlike earlier research, studies were only included if the participants' height and weight had been measured -- not self-reported.

The data did not include statistics on children and teenagers.

source: interaksyon.com

As bisexual alien, David Bowie broke barriers

NEW YORK | When David Bowie sang on British television in 1972, the newly famous rock star stretched out his arm and wrapped it around guitarist Mick Ronson.

Yet this was not a macho display of male bonding of the sort seen among sports teams. Bowie, his hair dyed deep orange and wearing a bright multicolor Lycra jumpsuit, gazed into Ronson’s eyes and for a brief moment oozed sensuality.

Bowie, who died Sunday at age 69 after a secret battle with cancer, had said he was gay. Then he said he was in fact bisexual. In the end, he offered his era’s equivalent of checking “none of the above.”

Bowie’s refusal to conform to neat boxes made Bowie an inspiration for successive generations of LGBTQ people, many of whom only recently have seen society accept more fluid concepts of gender and sexuality.

Bowie was able to chart a new identity because his persona was, literally, alien.

Fascinated by space, Bowie took on the alter ego of Ziggy Stardust, the androgynous rock-and-roll messenger for extraterrestrials.

Bowie was in character as Ziggy Stardust, performing “Starman,” during the 1972 appearance on Britain’s “Top of the Pops.”

Bowie’s death reminded many LGBTQ people of “that moment when we were all younger and alone without a sense of what other worlds were possible out there,” said Karen Tongson, an associate professor of English and gender studies at the University of Southern California.

“It was David Bowie and his chameleonic persona, his shifting identities, who allowed us to imagine being an alien between genders, being a goblin king, or whatever else.”

Bowie contributed to “the sense of being queer — of inhabiting, and moving fluidly, through a range of identities that aren’t necessarily solidified, or even a strict set of desires,” she said.

BOY OR GIRL?

Bowie, a trailblazer in music, film and fashion, also embraced androgyny in his lyricism.

On one of his most famous songs, 1974′s “Rebel, Rebel” which closed his glam rock phase, Bowie sang: “You’ve got your mother in a whirl / ’cause she’s not sure if you’re a boy or a girl.”

Bowie kept up the gender ambiguity later in his career. In the hard-driving “Hallo Spaceboy,” off the 1995 album “Outside,” Bowie sings, “Don’t you want to be free? / Do you girls or boys? / It’s confusing these days.”

On his final album “Blackstar,” released on his 69th birthday on Friday as he was quietly dying, Bowie sings one song in Polari, the slang of the gay underground in late Victorian England.

Yet despite his iconic status for many in the LGBTQ community, Bowie was rarely overtly political in advocating for rights in the fashion of some of the artists he heavily influenced such as Madonna and Lady Gaga.

He was married twice, both times to women, with his relationship with Somali-born supermodel Iman lasting until his death.

While pop stars such as Elton John and George Michael played down their sexuality as they built their careers, Bowie hailed from a very different cultural space.

Bowie enjoyed massive success and influence but was always proudly a figure of the avant-garde rather than a mainstream entertainer.

He launched his career just as the gay liberation movement was picking up steam, with sex between men decriminalized in Britain in 1967.

DEFINED BY IMAGE

Yet for many people who idolized Bowie, his significance lay not in his statements but his aesthetic.

“David Bowie’s importance — at least in my life, and probably in the lives of most people — is, in a way, more important than the entire gay rights movement,” said songwriter Stephin Merritt, who is best known as the frontman of genre-spanning indie rockers The Magnetic Fields.

“Bowie is about the freedom to have any identity you want, not just gendered,” Merritt, who is gay, wrote in Out magazine.

“I didn’t grow up with a father at all; I didn’t have a father figure telling me how to approach gender, so I thought David Bowie was a perfectly good model of how to approach gender. And I still think so.”

Yet Bowie’s androgyny also influenced generations of straight male singers from synthpop to metal who aspired to a less rigid form of masculinity.

Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan, who is straight, has described a dreary working-class home until he saw Bowie on television.

“Bowie gave me a hope that there was something else,” Gahan later told a biographer. “I just thought he wasn’t of this earth.”

source: interaksyon.com

WHO says cancer report not calling for people to give up meat

GENEVA - The World Health Organization stressed Thursday that an explosive report this week linking the consumption of processed meat to cancer was not calling for people to stop eating meat altogether.

The WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) caused shockwaves Monday when it released a report analyzing 800 studies from around the world, concluding that processed meats such as sausages, ham, and hot dogs cause bowel cancer, and red meat "probably" does too.

Meat producers slammed the report, with Australia's agriculture minister calling it "a farce", and the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) saying IARC "tortured the data to ensure a specific outcome".

The United Nations agency cited research attributing about 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide to diets high in processed meat.

The agency acknowledged this was dwarfed by the estimated one million cancer deaths attributed to tobacco smoking, 600,000 to alcohol use, and more than 200,000 to air pollution every year.

But it warned its data did "not permit" the determination of a safe meat quota.

The WHO however stressed Thursday that IARC's review merely confirmed the UN health agency's 2002 diet and nutrition recommendations, urging people "to moderate consumption of preserved meat to reduce the risk of cancer."

"The latest IARC review does not ask people to stop eating processed meats but indicates that reducing consumption of these products can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer," WHO said in a statement.

It pointed out that it has a standing group of experts who regularly evaluate the links between diet and disease.

"Early next year they will meet to begin looking at the public health implications of the latest science and the place of processed meat and red meat within the context of an overall healthy diet," WHO said.

source: interaksyon.com

Treating lung cancer sans large incisions, risks

MANILA, Philippines — Lung cancer is responsible for the most number of malignancy-related deaths in the country, and is showing no signs of relenting, the Department of Health said.

While lung surgery has typically been performed using open procedures, the choice is increasingly becoming video-assisted thoracic surgery or VATS.

VATS is primarily utilized to treat conditions such as cancer, pneumothorax, infection, cysts and other thoracic disorders.

Research has shown that VATS provides patients with significant benefits that includes minimizing surgical and health risks, allowing a speedier recovery with less scarring, less pain, and less complications.

In line with its mission to provide quality health care through state-of-the-art facilities for Filipinos, the Lung Center of the Philippines hosted a symposium to discuss the state of the disease in the country, and the latest treatments available, such as VATS.

Benefits of VATS 

While conventional thoracic surgery makes use of a large incision and requires rib spreading or breastbone splitting, VATS requires only small incisions of normally 2 to 6 centimeters through the guidance of a high-resolution camera.


 Due to the minimal trauma, this procedure has shown to significantly reduce the complication rate during and after surgery, and blood loss volume. VATS-treated patients also showed a markedly reduced recovery time as compared to open thoracotomy—a one to two day hospital stay, where patients of a typical open thoracotomy require stays of 7 to 10 days.

Because VATS avoids the large chest incision and rib- spreading associated with a traditional thoracotomy, patients also rarely suffer from chronic and severe chest pains during and after surgery.

Given these benefits, VATS is finding an ever-increasing role in the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of thoracic disorders, and not just in the field of lung cancer.

Is VATS is right for you?

The best candidates for the VATS procedure are individuals diagnosed with early stages of lung cancer. Patients with non-cancerous ailments of the lung are also considered for the procedure.

"All potential candidates are required to undergo thorough medical history screening and pre-operative tests in order to determine suitability for the VATS treatment," Dr. Jose Luis Danguilan said.

"All surgeries present risks and possibilities for complications. Only the surgeon can determine if a VATS procedure is right for a patient," he said.

Popularity of VATS

Surgery is considered as the only curative treatment for early-stage lung cancer patients today. VATS lobectomy has widely established itself as a viable–if not a more preferred–surgical approach to open lobectomy.

In many countries worldwide, VATS has been routinely performed for the majority of patients with early stage lung cancer since the mid-1990s.

Thr symposium included presentations from doctors Jose Luis Danguilan, Rey Desales, Guillermo Barroa Jr., Camilo Pada, Antonio Ramos, and  Edmund Villaroman, who founding members of the Philippine Association of Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgeons, and Jun Paul Castolo. — Alixandra Caole Vila

source: philstar.com

Actress Shannen Doherty battling breast cancer: report

LOS ANGELES | U.S. television actress Shannen Doherty, best known for her roles in “Beverly Hills, 90210″ and “Charmed,” is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer, celebrity publication People magazine said Wednesday.

Doherty, 44, told People that she is focusing on her recovery. The magazine also cited legal documents from a recent lawsuit filed by the actress that disclosed her illness, saying she was first diagnosed with the cancer in March this year.

A representative for the actress could not be reached by Reuters for comment.

Doherty is best known for playing Brenda Walsh in the early 1990s series “90210,” which followed the lives of Southern California teens, and Prue Halliwell on late 1990s series “Charmed,” which followed three sisters with magical abilities.

source: interaksyon.com

Former US president Jimmy Carter says he has cancer

Former US President Jimmy Carter said on Wednesday that recent liver surgery revealed he had cancer that had spread to other parts of his body.

"I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary so I can undergo treatment by physicians at Emory Healthcare," Carter, 90, said in a statement. "A more complete public statement will be made when facts are known, possibly next week."

Carter, a Democrat, served as the 39th president from 1977 to 1981 after defeating Republican incumbent Gerald Ford. He was defeated for re-election in 1980 by Republican Ronald Reagan.

The Carter family has a history of pancreatic cancer, including his parents, two sisters and younger brother Billy Carter.

Carter told the New York Times in 2007 that he and other relatives had given blood for genetic studies seeking to help doctors diagnose the disease.

Asked why he has escaped cancer for so long while it devastated the rest of his family he blamed smoking. "The only difference between me and my father and my siblings was that I never smoked a cigarette," said Carter, former governor of Georgia and a state senator. "My daddy smoked regularly. All of them smoked."

Jimmy Carter's health became a matter of concern in recent months after he cut short a trip to Guyana in May to observe national elections. At the time, the Carter Center in Atlanta said only that he had returned to his home state of Georgia after "not feeling well."

The Carter Center said last week that he had undergone elective surgery at Emory University Hospital to remove a small mass in his liver and his prognosis was excellent.

The White House issued a statement saying that Democratic President Barack Obama and the first lady sent their "best wishes to President Carter for a fast and full recovery."

It added: "Jimmy, you're as resilient as they come, and along with the rest of America, we are rooting for you."

Republican Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and his wife issued a statement saying Carter was "in their prayers as he goes through treatment."

Carter also received words of sympathy via Twitter from Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr, who said the former president "raised the moral chin bar for public service."

A Nobel Peace Prize winner and activist on a range of issues from global democracy to women and children's rights, as well as affordable housing, Carter published his latest book last month, titled "A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety."

In July, he gave a wide-ranging interview to Reuters Editor-at-Large Sir Harold Evans on his life from his childhood on a Georgia peanut farm to his presidency.

Carter recalled growing up in a home without running water or electricity, at a time when he said the daily wage was $1 for a man, 75 cents for a woman, and a loaf of bread cost 5 cents.

He said the civil rights movement led to important progress toward racial equality in the United States, but lamented "there’s still a great prejudice in police forces against black people and obviously some remnants of extreme racism.”

source: interaksyon.com

Vice President Biden's son Beau dies of cancer - White House

WASHINGTON DC - Beau Biden, 46, the oldest son of Vice President Joe Biden, has died of cancer, a White House statement said late Saturday.

The vice president, in the statement on behalf of the Biden family, announced "with broken hearts" that Beau had died after a battle with brain cancer.

"The entire Biden family is saddened beyond words. We know that Beau's spirit will live on in all of us -- especially through his brave wife, Hallie, and two remarkable children, Natalie and Hunter," the statement read.

It added that Beau "battled brain cancer with the same integrity, courage, and strength he demonstrated every day of his life."

President Barack Obama, in a separate statement, expressed his condolences late Saturday.

"Michelle and I are grieving tonight," Obama said.

"Beau took after Joe. He studied the law, like his dad, even choosing the same law school. He chased a life of public service, like his dad, serving in Iraq and as Delaware's attorney general," the president said. 

"Like his dad, Beau was a good, big-hearted, devoutly Catholic, and deeply faithful man, who made a difference in the lives of all he touched -- and he lives on in their hearts."

Beau Biden, an attorney, briefly considered running for the US Senate to take the seat vacated when his father became vice president, but ultimately opted instead to practice law after leaving the post as Delaware's attorney general.

source: interaksyon.com

Women with close male kin with prostate cancer more likely to have breast cancer - study

Women with close male relatives with prostate cancer are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, a new study confirms.

These findings, from the large Women's Health Initiative, reinforce the results of a 1994 study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the authors write.

“This is not the first study to examine this relationship, but it is one of the larger to date, if not the largest study,” said lead author Jennifer L. Beebe-Dimmer of Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit.

Cancer is a disease of the DNA, she said, and family clustering indicates that breast and prostate cancers may have genes in common,

Beebe-Dimmer and her colleagues used data for more than 78,000 women in the Women’s Health Initiative who were over age 50 and cancer-free when the study began in 1993. At the start they had comprehensive physical exams and gave detailed personal and family medical histories.

Most women remained in the study for more than 10 years.

By 2009 there had been 3,506 new breast cancers in the original group.

Overall, more than 11,000 women had a first-degree relative – mother, sister or daughter - with breast cancer, and this was more common for those who were eventually diagnosed themselves. Twenty percent of women with breast cancer had first-degree relatives with the disease, compared to nearly 15 percent of those who did not develop breast cancer.

There was a similar, but very slight, association with prostate cancer, the researchers reported in Cancer.

More than 11 percent of women who developed breast cancer reported a first-degree relative with prostate cancer, compared to about 10 percent of women without the disease. Having a father, brother or son with prostate cancer increased the risk of breast cancer by about 14 percent.

Compared to women with no family history of breast or prostate cancer, those with a family history of both were 80 percent more likely to develop breast cancer, the authors found.

“We know that the major breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 are also linked to prostate cancer,” Beebe-Dimmer told Reuters Health by email. That may explain some of the clustering, she said.

Researchers have been reporting on familial links between breast and prostate cancer for 40 years, said Mary-Claire King of the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, in email to Reuters Health.

“It is good to see the link confirmed” in the Women’s Health Initiative, said King, who was not involved in the new research.

“Both of these cancers are relatively common, so that it is possible when cancers are diagnosed in multiple family members it may be due to chance,” she said. “It may also be an exposure to something in the environment.”

The decision to increase breast cancer screening will depend on how many male relatives have been diagnosed with prostate cancer and at what age, she said, with more diagnoses at young ages being particularly telling.

“Knowledge of breast cancer family history is still extremely important,” Beebe-Dimmer said. She would not recommend BRCA1 or 2 genetic testing for women with a family history of prostate cancer but no history of breast or ovarian cancer.

source: interaksyon.com

Have your regular breast self-exams and other breast care must-dos

Early detection is one of the keys to survive breast cancer. Yet, many women need help remembering important things, such as doing a regular self-breast exam.

Yet, despite campaigns set by the health department and other NGOs related to women’s health, lack of awareness still remains the reason for poor compliance. Here are some frequently asked questions on breast care with answers courtesy of experts from the Manila Doctors Hospital.

When is the best time to perform a breast self-exam?
According to the American Cancer Society 2010, it is recommended once each month beginning at the age of twenty.

Breast Self-Exam (BSE) is done once a month so women may be more familiar with the usual appearance and feel of their breasts. Familiarity makes it easier to notice any changes in the breasts from one month to another. Some physicians suggest that women do their BSE every day for a month to make them more aware of how their breasts look and feel. Early discovery of a change from what is normal is the whole idea behind BSE.

The best time to do BSE is two to three days after the end of your period, when the breasts are least likely to be tender or swollen. A woman who no longer has periods may find it helpful to pick a particular day, such as the first day of the month, to remind her that it is time to do BSE.

How does one go about a BSE?
There is no rule of thumb when doing a breast self-exam. There are different techniques depending on what suits you best. Some opt to do it while facing a mirror, others while lying down, or while in the shower.

What’s the next step if you feel a lump in your breast?
If you discover anything unusual, such as a lump, a discharge from the nipple, or dimpling or puckering of the skin, you should see your doctor at once.

Many women have irregular or “lumpy” breast. The term “benign breast condition” refers to those changes in a woman’s breasts that are not cancerous. Many doctors believe that nearly all women have some benign breast changes after the age of thirty. But any of these changes is best consulted with your physician.

How does BSE affect us?
Breasts come in all shapes and sizes, just as women are. Our breast will change through time; hence, it is important for us to learn what is normal. For women, BSE is easy to do as the name implies.

Are there any other modalities?
Adult women should receive regular physician-performed clinical breast exams. It is recommended that women aged 40 years and above should undergo mammogram screening every one to two years. As soon as women reach the age of fifty, mammography should be performed every year.

There is no harm in being aware and getting involved in practicing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Develop a habit and engage your family, friends, and colleagues to do the same.

source: interaksyon.com

‘Homeland’ actor James Rebhorn dies of melanoma: reports

James Rebhorn, the tall, lanky character actor who appeared in dozens of movies and television shows, including the Showtime political thriller “Homeland,” has died at 65, according to media reports on Sunday.

Rebhorn died on Friday of melanoma at his home in New Jersey, the New York Times reported. The newspaper cited his agent, Dianne Busch, who was not immediately available to comment.

The actor worked regularly in film, television and on stage and appeared in more than 50 films, including “Independence Day,” “My Cousin Vinny,” “Basic Instinct” and “Cold Mountain.”

He also was known for his role in “Scent of A Woman” in 1992, according to the Internet Movie Database.

As a stage actor, he appeared in a revival of “Twelve Angry Men” in 2004. He had numerous roles on television, including a memorable part as the assistant district attorney who sent the “Seinfeld” cast to jail in the series’ finale.

He had most recently appeared in “Homeland” as Frank Mathison, the father of Carrie Mathison, the CIA officer played by Claire Danes. The show has featured how both daughter and father have grappled with bipolar disorder.

Rebhorn was born on September 1, 1948, in Philadelphia, the Times said. He leaves two daughters, Hannah and Emma, and his wife, Rebecca Linn.

source: interaksyon.com

Quitting smoking makes you happier, says UK study

PARIS - Moderate or heavy smokers who quit tobacco get a boost in mental wellbeing that, for people who are anxious or stressed, is equivalent to taking anti-depressants, a study said Thursday.

British researchers examined 26 published investigations into the mental health of smokers.

They looked at standardized scorecards for symptoms of anxiety, depression, stress and quality of life, derived from questionnaires completed by volunteers.

The smokers were 44 years old on average and smoked between 10 and 40 cigarettes a day. They were questioned before they tried to give up smoking and again after their attempt -- an average of six months later.

Those who succeeded in quitting reported reduced depression, anxiety and stress and had a more positive outlook on life compared with those who continued smoking.

"The effect sizes are equal or larger than those of anti-depressant treatment for mood and anxiety disorders," said the study, published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Quitters who had been diagnosed with psychiatric disorders enjoyed a similar improvement.

Lead investigator Gemma Taylor of the University of Birmingham's School of Health and Population Sciences said she hoped the findings would dispel a widespread misconception about smoking.

"It's a common myth that smoking actually is good for your mental health -- 'smoking relieves stress,' 'smoking helps you relax,' 'smoking helps you enjoy things' -- and that common myth is really hard to overcome," Taylor told AFP in a phone interview.

But actually, the study showed that "when you stop smoking and you break the nicotine withdrawal cycle, your mental health improves."

Taylor pointed to a mainstream theory in tobacco addiction research: that a smoker's psychological state fluctuates throughout the day as a result of exposure to nicotine.

The sense of calm or wellbeing from a cigarette is followed immediately afterwards by classic withdrawal signs of a depressed mood, anxiety or agitation.

Smokers, though, tend to misattribute these symptoms and blame them on stress or other factors.

And because nicotine has a calming effect, they perceive that cigarettes improve their mental health.

Smoking is already blamed for a wide range of physical diseases and disorders, ranging from cancer, blindness and cardiac problems to diabetes, gum disease and impotence.

The UN's World Health Organization (WHO) estimated last July that tobacco kills almost six million people each year, a toll that will rise to eight million annually in 2030.

About four out of every five deaths will occur in low- and middle-income nations, it said.

Despite a decline in smoking prevalence in some nations, in overall terms the number of people smoking today is greater than in 1980, due to population growth, according to a paper published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

source: interaksyon.com

Queen guitarist Brian May undergoing cancer tests

LONDON - Queen guitarist Brian May underwent a scan on Monday as part of a series of urgent tests sparked by fears he could have cancer, the rock star revealed on his website.

The 66-year-old suffered agonizing back and hip pain earlier in December which left him barely able to stand, and MRI scans revealed "some abnormalities in the bones -- things that the report said needed urgent attention," he wrote.

"So around Christmas I've been having a succession of blood tests, ultrasounds, and various kinds of scans, to see if they could rule out various kinds of cancer," he wrote.

One of the scans was due on Monday, he said in the blog posting on brianmay.com dated December 28.

May said he was trying to be optimistic, as his doctors had told him that any cancer they might find would likely be treatable with success.

"Now, on hearing the 'C' word something happens inside you... of course. I've seen so many of my dear friends fighting it... and my dad lost his battle at age 66, exactly the age I am now," he wrote.

"So over the last few days I've been in various states of unrest."

But in a blog update on Monday, May said he was "overwhelmed by the amazing messages" of support from fans, adding: "I thank you all from the bottom of my heart."

May was a founder member of Queen, the world-famous rock group fronted by Freddie Mercury until the singer died as a result of AIDS in 1991. May penned the hit single "We Will Rock You."

source: interaksyon.com

Actor Hugh Jackman reveals skin cancer scare on Instagram

LOS ANGELES | Australian actor Hugh Jackman said on Thursday that he had a skin cancer scare when doctors diagnosed a mark on his nose as cancerous cells.

Jackman, 45, posted a photo of his face and a bandage on his nose on his Instagram page, saying his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, told him to get his nose checked, and he was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma, cancerous cells that grow on the surface of the skin.

“Please don’t be foolish like me. Get yourself checked. And USE sunscreen!!!” the “Les Miserables” actor said in the Instagram caption.

Representatives for Jackman had no updates on the actor’s condition beyond his Instagram post.

The online medical site WebMD.com said basal cell carcinoma is the most common form of skin cancer and accounts for more than 90 percent of U.S. skin cancer patients. The basal cell carcinomas rarely spread but if not removed can damage and disfigure surrounding tissue.

Jackman is one of Hollywood’s leading action stars, best known as superhero Wolverine in the “X-Men” films.

He was nominated for a best actor Oscar this year for his role as prisoner-turned-businessman Jean Valjean in the film adaptation of “Les Miserables.” He also starred alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in this fall’s gritty drama “Prisoners.”

source: interaksyon.com

FDA approves Roche drug for chronic leukemia based on research that it slows disease

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new drug from Roche to help treat patients with a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow.

The agency cleared Gazyva to fight chronic lymphocytic leukemia in combination with chemotherapy in patients who haven't previously been treated for the disease.

Gazyva works by killing cancer cells and encouraging the immune system to fight against them.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia develops slowly over time and is usually diagnosed in the elderly. More than 15,600 Americans will be diagnosed and 4,580 of them will die from the disease this year, according to estimates from the National Cancer Institute.

The FDA approved the drug based on a study showing Gazyva plus chemotherapy was superior to chemotherapy alone at slowing the progress of the disease. Patients treated with Gazyva had median survival of 23 months before death, relapse or worsening of their disease. That compares with 11.1 months for the chemotherapy patients.

The injectable biotech drug is the first medicine approved under FDA's breakthrough designation, which was authorized by Congress last year. The new designation is designed to speed up the approval of promising drugs by providing companies with extra meetings and earlier communication with FDA scientists to discuss drug development.


Gazyva will be marketed by Roche's Genentech unit, which is based in South San Francisco.

A spokeswoman for Genentech said the drug would cost $41,300 for one course of treatment, which lasts six months.

Common side effects seen in company studies included anemia, fever, muscle and bone pain and lower levels of white blood cells.

source: philstar.com

Post-breast cancer surgery bras: Regaining confidence after mastectomy

A great number of Filipino women battle against breast cancer and this disease, is not only debilitating to the health but can also result to a social and psychological burden to some who have undergone full mastectomy or the complete removal of their breasts.

Catering to this specific need of women battling against cancer, BodyForms Philippines Inc. brought to the Philippines a set of products from Germany that can provide the necessary need and care of women after a breast cancer surgery.

“Its because of the study revealing an increase in breast cancer cases in the Philippines. In Southeast Asia, the Philippines has the most number of incidence of breast cancer so they did a study before and they decided to get the exclusive distributorship of Amoena. That’s what prompted the owner to bring the product. It’s very timely to introduce the product here,” Chie Conlu, Office Manager and resource person from BodyForms Philippines Inc. told InterAksyon.

The said study was cited from the reports by the Department of Health and Philippine Cancer Society which showed that breast cancer is the most common cancer in the country, comprising 16 percent of the 80, 000 new cancer cases in 2010.

BodyForms also cited a 2012 report from the Philippine Society of Medical Oncology stating that an estimated three out of 100 Filipino women will contract the disease before age 75 and that one out of 100 will die before age 75.

With this, most breast cancer patients prefer to undergo full mastectomy. Studies show that more than 90 percent of Filipino women diagnosed with breast cancer prefer complete removal rather than breast conservation as surgical treatment, according to BodyForms.

“Rebuilding a woman’s confidence and facilitating her return to normal activity after mastectomy are becoming priorities for the country’s health and beauty industry,” a press release from BodyForms stated.

BodyForms’ breast prostheses products include special brassieres and breast forms using silicon technology that provides comfort needed after a surgery. Their post-surgery brassieres can also reduce irritation, keeps the operated breast(s) in place and restores the breast’s natural shape.

The shop also offers swimwear products that have a transparent silicone fit for water activities.



Even with this kind of post-surgery solutions, however, it is still believed that early detection is the key to prevent the disease. It is encouraged for every woman to conduct routine breast examination, mammograms and vigilance in observing changes in the physical form of the breasts and nipples.

Avoiding vices like drinking alcohol, cigarette smoking can also help in avoiding said debilitating cancer.

Breastfeeding is also known to lower the risk of having a breast cancer.

source: interaksyon.com