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Rate of cervical cancer screening lower for victims of sexual abuse
Date: 2012-10-02 00:00:00

Traumatic memories of abuse could be preventing some women from undergoing a lab test for cervical cancer, according to a study published in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care.

Researchers from the U.K.'s National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPA) compiled online survey results from 135 women with a history of sexual abuse. Less than 50 percent of the participants, who were between the ages of 24 and 65, said they had received a lab test for the sometimes deadly disease within the past three years, which is the recommended timeframe. In addition, more than 20 percent reported that the procedure was painful, while almost 30 percent said they felt powerless during the examination.

"Self worth, self esteem and self concept....impact on how women access health services or care for and value themselves," wrote Sarah Kelly, the NAPA training and development manager. "Many of the female survivors we hear from talk about their fears and anxieties when accessing services, particularly sexual health."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that early detection leads to a dramatically increased chance of surviving cervical cancer, which ends the lives of about one-third of the almost 12,500 women who are diagnosed annually.

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More evidence suggests alcohol and tobacco affect age of pancreatic cancer onset
Date: 2012-10-03 00:00:00

Boston University Medical Center has released findings that show that habitual consumers of alcohol and cigarettes are increasing their risk of blood testing detecting tumor markers for pancreatic cancer at a younger age.

The researchers note that, while the direct cause of the pancreatic cancer known as adenocarcinoma is unknown, smoking, drinking more alcohol than doctors recommend, consuming too much soda and eating a diet high in fat have been shown to increase the risk. The deadly disease has also been linked to obesity, chronic pancreatitis and diabetes.

This research echoes the results of studies published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology in September, which showed that smoking and drinking decreases the average age of individuals who receive affirmative blood testing for pancreatic cancer from 72 to 60 years old.

According to the National Cancer Institute, more than 40,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer are reported each year in the U.S., with almost 38,000 deaths caused by the disease annually. The organization also notes that about 20 percent of pancreatic cancer patients are between 55 and 64 years old, more than 25 percent are over 65, while almost 30 percent are between 75 and 84 years old.

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Throat cancer patients could get their voices back with new procedure
Date: 2012-10-09 00:00:00

Researchers from the National University of Singapore's Department of Medical Engineering and Raffles Hospital say that, by cutting a small hole in the throat, they can restore the speech of patients whose voice boxes were lost sometime after blood tests showed that they had throat cancer.

The procedure is similar to a tracheostomy, which involves inserting a rubber tube and a prosthesis into a new opening in the throat. After a tracheostomy, two weeks must pass before the ability to talk returns to patients who undergo this procedure. However, researchers say this new innovation for people who received bad results from blood tests for throat cancer gives them their voices back almost instantly.

"Our system ensures an immediate snug fit of the prosthesis in the passageway created between the trachea and the esophagus," said project leader Chui Chee Kiong. "Until now, this can take some trial and error to achieve good sizing of the prosthesis."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells us that more than 30,000 new instances of mouth and throat cancer are reported each year. The five-year survival rate for this type of cancer is only about 50 percent.

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Smoking may decrease life expectancy by 10 years
Date: 2012-10-29 00:00:00

Recently reviewed research from the Life Span Study (LSS), which followed nearly 68,000 Japanese men and women for the last 23 years, revealed that chronic smoking may decrease a person's life expectancy by nearly a decade.

According to the study, which was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), people who were born between 1920 and 1945 started smoking at a younger age and smoked more cigarettes a day, compared to past generations. These men and women who started smoking before they were 20 years old and with an average of 23 cigarettes a day had a twice mortality rate of those who abstained from tobacco use.

The source also noted that people who quit before they were 35 years old were able to avoid many of the health detriments associated with smoking, while quitting before 45 years old allowed one to avoid most smoking-related ailments.

Previous data has shown that Japanese smokers had a higher life expectancy than this study revealed. The researchers predicted that this is because previous research analyzed people from earlier generations who smoked less frequently and started smoking at a later age.

Smoking statistics... Full Story

Smoking bans are beneficial for cardiac wellness
Date: 2012-10-31 00:00:00

According to MedPage Today, a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine revealed that smoking bans can help decrease the risk of cardiac-related deaths in the population.... Full Story

Smoking linked to employee absenteeism
Date: 2012-10-31 00:00:00

A new study published in the journal Addiction found that smokers are more likely to miss work than non-smokers, Reuters reported.

Researchers analyzed data from 29 different studies that were conducted from 1960 to 2011, which looked at 71,000 workers in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Japan. Current employees were also surveyed about their past and present smoking habits, and researchers looked at their average rate of workplace absenteeism over the last two years.

The study revealed that smokers have a 33 percent greater chance of missing work, and they are absent for an average of 2.7 more days each year than non-smokers, amounting to $2.25 billion in lost productivity in the U.K. in 2011.

"Quitting smoking appears to reduce absenteeism and result in substantial cost-savings for employers," wrote research author Jo Leonardi-Bee, Ph.D., of the University of Nottingham.

Smoking-related fatalities and illnesses... Full Story