A little off topic...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060731/hl_nm/cervicalcancer_vaccine_dc_2Doctors urge HPV vaccine for men and women
By Deena Beasley Mon Jul 31, 12:52 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A new vaccine aimed at halting the spread of a common sexually transmitted virus that can lead to cervical cancer should eventually be given to both sexes, doctors said on Monday.
The vaccine, Merck & Co. Inc.'s Gardasil, was licensed in June by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration for use in women and girls 9 to 26 years of age.
It protects against four types of the human papillomavirus, also known as HPV or human wart virus.
A government advisory committee agreed a month ago to recommend the vaccine for girls aged 11 and 12, girls and women aged 13 to 26 who have not yet received the vaccine and women who have had abnormal pap smears, genital warts or certain other conditions.
Dr. Bradley Monk, associate professor in gynecologic oncology at the University of California at Irvine, said the best use of the vaccine would include giving it to girls and boys and all women and men, regardless of their individual risk factors.
"We need to move toward a paradigm where this is a universal vaccine," he said in a commentary published in the latest issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
But some groups oppose requiring the shots for school attendance, saying parents should decide whether to immunize their children against a sexually transmitted virus.
Men can pass on the virus to their sexual partners, so it makes sense to vaccinate boys against HPV, and it would also protect them from genital warts, Monk said.
He dismissed the argument that vaccinating people against a sexually transmitted disease would encourage promiscuity.
"Just because you wear a seat belt, does that mean you drive recklessly? Or just because you give your son a tetanus shot, does that mean he is going to go out and step on a rusty nail? Of course not," Monk said.
GlaxoSmithKline Plc is also developing a vaccine against HPV strains, which infect about half of sexually active adults sometime during their life.
The virus is usually harmless, but can lead to abnormal cells in the cervix lining that can turn cancerous. It can also cause cancer of the penis.
"To have a vaccine that prevents cancer and not use it would be one of the greatest tragedies," Monk said.
How to Prevent CANCER
http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20060717/hl_hsn/simpleprecautionsprotectagainstmanycancersSimple Precautions Protect Against Many Cancers
By Meryl Hyman HarrisHealthDay Reporter 21 minutes ago
MONDAY, July 17 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly half of all cancer deaths are preventable.
That remarkable news comes with an equally stunning corollary -- the key to success doesn't rest with some undiscovered therapies or treatments. Much of cancer's toll can be reduced with simple precautions, such as lifestyle changes and routine screenings.
But somehow that message isn't getting through to enough people.
"We can't beg people to change their behavior, to make the lifestyle changes that we know will reduce cancer risk," said Carolyn "Bo" Aldige, president of the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, in Alexandria, Va.
The biggest threat, of course, is smoking. "You'd have to live on another planet not to know smoking causes cancer," Aldige said.
Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death in U.S. society. Tobacco causes nearly one in five deaths in the United States, killing about 438,000 Americans each year, according to the
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American Cancer Society.
Yet, about 45 million adults still smoke -- about 23 percent of men and 19 percent of women.
Need more proof that much of cancer's misery is self-inflicted?
Experts estimate that about one in three of the 564,830 deaths from all forms of cancer this year will be related to poor nutrition, inactivity, overweight and obesity.
Research has shown that "excess calories cause the mutations that start genes going down the pathways that cause cells to divide out of control, and that's what cancer is," Aldige said. "If everybody today magically had the appropriate body mass index, we'd start seeing a lot less colorectal, breast, and prostate cancer," she said.
But there's a highly effective second line of defense against each of these cancers and many others -- screenings. Doctors can test for these cancers, as well as testicular, cervical and other kinds of malignancies, and often catch them before they've gone too far. And taking the tests usually requires little time and causes only minimal discomfort.
Eventually, there will even be screenings for lung cancer, probably in the form of "spiral CT" scanning, using special equipment to obtain multiple cross-sectional images of the organs and tissues of the chest, Aldige said.
Then there's melanoma, the deadly skin cancer that's on the rise. An estimated 62,190 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed in the United States this year, and 7,910 people will die of it, according to the American Cancer Society.
But melanoma is highly curable if it's caught in its early stages. The best way to do that: Check your own skin about once a month and become familiar with the pattern of moles, freckles, and other marks so you'll spot any changes. And a skin exam should be part of a routine cancer checkup by a doctor or qualified health professional.
Many people know that too much sun causes skin cancer, and they use sun block to protect themselves. But not many know that you need some sun every day -- about 15 to 20 minutes' worth, especially younger people, for vitamin D. The trick is to go out before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m. during warm weather months, Aldige said.
Vitamins play an important role in cancer prevention as well, she said, and eating properly and taking recommended supplements can help.
Yet, the overall problem isn't just one of people refusing to do what's good for them, said Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, program director of cancer occurrence at the American Cancer Society.
"It is access to care," he said. "Recently, the federal government has made access to breast and cervical cancer screenings available to women. But a large percentage of the population is uninsured, and it is a question of access and care," he said.
"We cannot completely prevent cancer," Jemal added, "but we can substantially improve by doing the right thing."
More information
To learn more, visit the
American Cancer Society.
Other benefits of a healthy lifestyle:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060707/hl_nm/impotence_risk_dc_1Obesity, smoking raises impotence risk
By Amy Norton Fri Jul 7, 12:57 PM ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many of the same things that are good for a man's heart may also be good for his sex life, new research confirms.
Maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking and getting regular exercise may all reduce the risk of developing erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a study that followed more than 22,000 U.S. men for 14 years.
The findings, published in the Journal of Urology, help solidify evidence tying lifestyle choices to ED risk. They may also give men added incentive to make some changes for the better, said study co-author Dr. Eric B. Rimm of the Harvard University School of Public Health in Boston.
Among the men Rimm and his colleagues followed, those who were obese at the study's start were 90 percent more likely to develop ED than normal-weight men were. Similarly, smokers had a 50 percent greater risk than non-smokers.
On the other hand, regular exercise appeared to protect against erectile problems. Men who reported the highest exercise levels at the study's start were 30 percent less likely than their inactive peers to develop ED over the next 14 years.
At one time, Rimm noted in an interview, erectile problems were thought to be largely psychological. But it has become clear that heart disease and ED share many of the same risk factors, he said.
Anything that impairs blood vessel function and blood flow could affect erectile function, and it's known that certain medical conditions that raise the risk of heart disease -- like high blood pressure and diabetes - can also lead to ED.
Similarly, the lifestyle choices that affect cardiovascular health, like smoking and exercise habits, influence ED risk.
This knowledge may nudge more men to make lifestyle changes, Rimm said, since heart disease can seem a distant risk, but erectile problems may be more immediate. In addition, he said, with obesity rates climbing among young people, the ED risk associated with obesity may increasingly become apparent at relatively young ages.
SOURCE: Journal of Urology, July 2006.
