The Relationship Between Root Canals and Cancer

When a person in the United States has a toothache, due to an infection in the tooth, rather than cure the infection with 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide, dentists almost always kill the tooth. They will typically drill out the insides of the tooth and fill the tooth with metal rods. Read more

Doctors' Guide to Cancer Drugs May Need Revising

(HealthDay News) -- Doctors may not always have complete or clear information when they prescribe cancer medications for uses beyond what the drugs have been approved for, a new study finds.

According to the report, published in the Feb. 17 online issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, the online and hard-copy resource used by oncologists and pharmacists, known as the compendia, does not always contain clear or updated information on using medications for "off-label" purposes, such as treating diseases other than those approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Doctors and pharmacists often rely on the compendia for off-label dosage information, making it an authoritative source, in some instances, when a question arises about whether insurance will cover a drug for off-label use.

But the researchers found a lack of systematic methods to ensure the compendia information is regularly reviewed or updated.

"Oncologists and pharmacists use the compendia to guide choice of drugs for cancer patients that are not FDA-approved for use in that patient's disease -- an example would be bevacizumab, or Avastin, for brain cancer," the study's lead investigator, Dr. Amy Abernethy, an oncologist at Duke University, said in a news release issued by the school. "Bevacizumab is approved for use in diseases such as colorectal and lung cancer; it is not FDA-approved for brain tumors. But we have evidence that suggests it could be effective in this population, including peer-reviewed studies."

Abernethy's team, from the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, also found inconsistencies and confusion in how some commonly used compendia presented information and updated it. Some entries, for example, were more detailed than others, and information was presented in different ways for different drugs.

"Our study found that there are some limitations in the way the compendia are currently presented, and there are opportunities to improve the system," Abernethy said. "Determining how to improve it will be the next step for policymakers."

More information
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more about prescription drugs.

Degenerative Diseases Tragedy

Degenerative Diseases Tragedy

Excessive Abdominal Fat Is Not Only Ugly but Hazardous to Your Health

By Mike GearyFounder, TruthAboutAbs.com

In America and many western countries the vast majority of people in this day and age have excess abdominal fat. The bad news is excess belly fat isn't just ugly, but is also a dangerous risk factor to your health. Scientific research has clearly determined that although it's unhealthy in general to have excess body fat throughout your body, it's also particularly dangerous to have excess abdominal fat.

There are two types of fat that you have in your abdominal area. The first type that covers up your abs is called subcutaneous fat and lies directly beneath the skin and on top of the abdominal muscles.

The second type is called visceral fat, and that lies deeper in the abdomen beneath your muscle and surrounding your organs. Visceral fat also plays a role in giving certain men that "beer belly" appearance where their abdomen protrudes excessively but at the same time, also feels sort of hard if you push on it.

Both types of fat in the abdominal area are serious health risk factors, but science has shown that having excessive visceral fat is even more dangerous than subcutaneous fat. Both of them greatly increase your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep apnea, various forms of cancer, and other degenerative diseases.

Why visceral fat is particularly dangerous is because it apparently releases more inflammatory molecules into your system on a consistent basis.

If you care about the quality of your life and your loved ones, reducing your abdominal fat should be one of your TOP priorities! There's just no way around it. Besides, a side effect of finally getting rid of all of that excessive ugly abdominal fat is that your stomach will flatten out, and if you lose enough stomach fat, you will be able to visibly see some nice six pack abs that everyone wants.

So what gets rid of extra abdominal fat? Is there actually a tried and true solution beyond all of the gimmicks and hype that you see in ads and on commercials for "miracle" fat loss junk? Continue Reading >>

5 tips to increase your cell phone safety

The jury is still out on the link between cell phones and cancer.

While scientists are deliberating, here are five tricks for lowering your exposure to the radiation that cell phones emit. full story

Nanoparticle Stops Cancer From Spreading

(HealthDay News) -- California researchers say they have developed molecular "smart bombs" that stop pancreatic and kidney cancer from spreading in mice while causing fewer side effects and damage to healthy surrounding tissues than traditional chemotherapy.

A team from the University of California, San Diego, designed a "nanoparticle" anti-cancer drug delivery system that zooms in on a protein marker called integrin avB3, which is found on the surface of certain tumor blood vessels. The marker is tied to the development of new blood vessels and malignant tumor growth.

While the system had little impact on primary tumors, it halted the metastasis of pancreatic and kidney cancers throughout the bodies of mice. Cancer metastasis normally is much harder to treat than the primary tumor, and it usually leads to the patient's death.

The findings were published in this week's online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

According to the report, the system works with a lower dose of chemotherapy because it attacks the cancer with such precision. In most chemo treatments, the destruction of healthy tissue is a side effect as it floods the body with cancer-killing toxins.

"We were able to establish the desired anti-cancer effect while delivering the drug at levels 15 times below what is needed when the drug is used systemically," study leader David Cheresh, vice chairman of pathology at UCSD, said in a university news release. "Even more interesting is that the metastatic lesions were more sensitive to this therapy than the primary tumor."

UCSD engineers and oncologists together designed the nanoparticle -- a microscopic particle made of lipid-based polymers -- to work with the cancer-killing drug doxorubicin.

"Doxorubicin is known to be an effective anti-cancer drug but has been difficult to give patients an adequate dose without negative side effects," Cheresh said. "This new strategy represents the first time we've seen such an impact on metastatic growth, and it was accomplished without the collateral damage of weight loss or other outward signs of toxicity in the patient."

"Traditional cancer therapies are often limited or non-effective over time, because the toxic side effects limit the dose we can safely deliver to the patient," he said. "This new drug delivery system offers an important advance in treating metastatic disease."

More information
The National Cancer Institute has more about nanotechnology uses in cancer treatment.

Suffering of Heart Failure Similar to Cancer

(HealthDay News) -- Heart failure is as crushing a blow to someone's psychological well-being as cancer, a new study finds.

Indeed, people in the study with the most severe degrees of heart failure, the inability to supply the body with oxygen-carrying blood, had measures of severity of symptoms, depression and loss of spiritual well-being that are seen in people with advanced cancer, Dr. David Bekelman, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center, reported Friday at an American Heart Association meeting in Baltimore.

Palliative care, aimed at improving quality of life as the end of a life approaches, is often offered to people with advanced cancer, Bekelman said. "We should consider offering it to people with heart failure," he noted.

The study compared 60 people with heart failure severe enough to cause symptoms but not hospitalization with 30 people with advanced cancer of the lung or pancreas.

"We looked at physical symptoms, things like fatigue, weakness and pain," Bekelman said. "A second measure was of depression, and a third was of spiritual well-being."

Heart failure and cancer patients reported similar numbers of physical symptoms. The scores for depression on a standard test were slightly higher in heart failure than in cancer -- 3.9 versus 3.2.

"The measure of spiritual well-being we used looked at two domains, a sense of meaning and peace and a sense of faith," Bekelman said. The people with heart failure scored lower than those with cancer.

When the people with the most severe forms of heart failure were singled out, their scores on all three measures were worse than for people with advanced cancer.

Survival in heart failure severe enough to send someone to the hospital is comparable to that in advanced cancer, with death coming an average of 1.6 years after hospitalization.

"We're very good at treating the physical part of heart failure," Bekelman said. "But people suffer in other ways that also should warrant attention. It's important that we offer it to them."

The burden of heart failure is well known to physicians, but "nonprofessionals dont realize it," said Dr. Gerald L. DeVaughn, a clinical associate professor of medicine at Drexel University in Philadelphia.

"People given the option of heart failure or cancer might think that heart failure is the choice," he said. "But heart failure is quite lethal. Many cancers have a better prognosis."

Caretakers for people with heart failure should take its effects into account, DeVaughn said.

Symptoms such as dry mouth, constipation and shortness of breath can be improved with medical management, he said, while depression can be treated with medication and counseling.

"If they mention that spirituality is important in their lives, we should endeavor to have them see someone in that area, such as a chaplain," Bekelman said.

Approaches used to improve spiritual well-being in cancer, such as psychotherapy, should also be considered in heart failure, he said.

"People with cancer get all kinds of supportive services, but people with heart failure don't," Bekelman said.

More information
Symptoms and treatment of heart failure are described by the American Heart Association.

The Reality of Mammograms and Breast Cancer False Alarms

Better technology means more scares, but if you have breasts like mine, you have to believe it's worth it
by Sally Chew

On my way into St. Vincent's Comprehensive Cancer Center recently to get my annual mammogram, I happened to read in the paper that the greater accuracy of the new digital mammograms means more false alarms—more scares, more visits.

I don't know if it was technical improvements that sped me through the masher more quickly than usual that day. More likely, it was the usual exasperation with the dense tissue of my ultra-fibrocystic breasts.

Digital mammograms are intended for women with dense breasts, but mine would defy even Superman’s powerful stare—or so I've been told. Radiologists dutifully study my "films" each year but rarely expect to see what's really going on till I lay back, down the hall, for a cool, sticky ultrasound.

Which is where I was dispatched last week so they could snap these:

The shadowy globes at the top of each image above are cysts, among a dozen or so I carry around from year to year. We track them every spring like so many migrating whales.

I crane my neck to see the screen while a technician punches measurements into her computer with one hand and drags that chilly wand around my breasts with the other.

Actually, she's more interested in those white, wispy "calcifications" and any brand-new dark shapes—like the pebble that prompted an open biopsy a few years back on that very same hall.

At the time, it seemed like pure luck that I emerged from surgery with a benign diagnosis (and a pretty scar). I hadn't yet experienced enough bump-by-bump monitoring to understand the benefits of the false alarm.

I get it now, though. As long as the statistics continue to be in my favor—did you know that 80% of biopsies are benign?—and the folks manning the machines actually seem to be paying attention, count me in for the extra whale-watching.

Talk Therapy Proves Effective for Terminal Cancer Patients

(HealthDay News) -- Talk therapy can help treat depression symptoms in patients with terminal cancer, according to Japanese researchers who reviewed the results of six studies that included a total of 517 patients with incurable cancer and depression.

The primary type of depression treatment for these patients was supportive expressive group therapy, in which they were encouraged to discuss their deepest fears and feelings and to help each other cope with them.

The review authors found that the benefits of this kind of treatment were only slightly less than those found in clinical trials of antidepressant drugs in general patient populations.

"Psychotherapy can be a promising treatment for ameliorating depressive states in advanced cancer patients if they prefer to receive it," said review lead author Tatsuo Akechi, an associate professor of psychiatry and cognitive-behavioral medicine at the Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences.

However, Akechi and his colleagues found that psychotherapy did not significantly improve patient anxiety. This may be because there were too few patients to give enough statistical power to demonstrate an effect, Akechi suggested.

The researchers didn't examine whether psychotherapy could improve survival or response to cancer treatment. The review appears in the current issue of the journal The Cochrane Library.

"The key finding is that psychotherapy for depression for gravely ill cancer patients works," David Spiegel, associate chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine and an expert on therapy in cancer patients, said in a prepared statement. He wasn't involved in the review but was one of the lead investigators on one of the studies included in the review.

Spiegel said that many doctors don't look for depression in patients with advanced cancer, or they consider it a normal and untreatable response among dying patients. Spiegel noted that only about 25 percent of patients with terminal cancer suffer depression due to their situation, which is different than the grief, sadness and anger associated with the thought of dying.

"Depression and existential dread or sadness is not the same thing. Patients with depression feel hopeless, helpless and worthless. They feel like a burden to others," Spiegel said.

More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about depression.

Drinking May Raise Breast Cancer Risk

(HealthDay News) -- Alcohol, consumed even in small amounts, increases the risk of breast cancer and particularly estrogen-receptor and progesterone-receptor positive breast cancer, a new study shows.

The findings, expected to be presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, in San Diego, are followed by a second study that found an association between breast cancer risk and two genes involved in alcohol metabolism.

Previous data has suggested that consuming alcohol ups the risk of breast cancer, although the precise mechanisms have not been clarified.

In some forms of breast cancer, malignant cells have receptors that render them sensitive to hormones such as estrogen. The first study aimed to see if the hormone receptor status of the tumor influenced the relationship between alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk.

In the study, a team led by Dr. Jasmine Lew of the U.S. National Cancer Institute followed more than 184,000 postmenopausal women for an average of seven years.

Those who had less than one drink a day had a 7 percent increased risk of breast cancer compared to teetotalers, the team reported. Women who drank one to two drinks a day had a 32 percent increased risk, and those who had three or more glasses of alcohol a day had up to a 51 percent increased risk.

But the risk was seen mostly in those 70 percent of tumors classified as estrogen receptor- and progesterone receptor-positive. Researchers suspect that alcohol may have an effect on breast cancer via an effect on estrogen.

The risk was similar whether women consumed primarily beer, wine or spirits, the NCI team noted.

The second study dug deeper into other possible mechanism by which alcohol consumption increases breast cancer risk.

"For years, we've known that there's an association between alcohol drinking and breast cancer risk, but nobody knows yet what the underlying biological mechanisms are," said Dr. Catalin Marian, lead author of the study and a research instructor in oncology at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. "The logical step was to begin analyzing the alcohol metabolizing genes."

And indeed, two of these genes -- ADH1B and ADH1C -- were associated with a two-fold increase in breast cancer risk.

But the study does not prove a definite cause-and-effect link. "This is an association," Marian said. "This type of study is good for generating hypotheses. It's not a definite conclusion. It needs to be replicated by other studies to say for sure that what we found is there."

Another researcher urged caution in interpreting the results of both studies.

"These studies are too early for use in a clinical setting or to advance a public health message," said Dr. Peter Shields, co-author of the genetics study and deputy director of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

However, he added that the findings "really do advance science, and, with proper replication in other studies, then they may be highly clinically significant."

More information
There's more on breast cancer at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Environmental Toxins, Radiation May Be Tied to Breast Cancer

(HealthDay News) -- In the decades following World War II, both breast cancer rates and the use of synthetic chemicals soared in the United States -- and a new report contends there's a strong connection between the two.

Produced by the Breast Cancer Fund, a non-profit group whose mission is to identify environmental links to breast cancer, The State of the Evidence: 2008 concludes toxic chemicals in the environment, along with increased radiation exposure, are the main culprits in the sharp rise of breast cancer incidence.

The report cautions that "in-utero" [in the womb] and early childhood exposure to carcinogens through plasticizers, estrogen-mimicking substances and other chemicals may increase the risk of breast cancer in adult life.

"As we looked at the research comprehensively, the themes of interactions of timing and mixtures of chemical exposures and also radiation exposure as risks emerged. In bringing this broad focus to environmental causes of breast cancer, we hope to find ways to lower the future incidence of breast cancer not only for adults but, most importantly, for our children and grandchildren," said Dr. Janet Gray, an endocrinology researcher at Vassar College, who edited the report.

However, some public health experts say there's no scientific proof establishing a link between environmental contaminants and breast cancer.

Based on a review of more than 400 breast cancer studies, The State of the Evidence noted that more than 80,000 synthetic chemicals are currently used in the United States, although complete toxicological screening data are available for only 7 percent of them. Many of these substances are known to remain in the environment for many years and accumulate in body fat and breast tissue.

One group of chemicals -- phthalates, which the Breast Cancer Fund report identifies as a breast cancer risk -- was in the news last week when the U.S. Senate passed legislation strengthening the Consumer Product Safety Commission with an amendment requiring all children's toys and child-care products to be free of these hormone system disruptors. A study by Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia last year found that phthalates accelerated breast development and genetic changes in newborn female lab rats, a condition that might predispose the animals to breast cancer later in life.

Exposure to chemicals that mimic estrogens in the body, called xenoestrogens, is thought to be the reason more girls are entering puberty at younger ages, according to Jeanne Rizzo, executive director of the Breast Cancer Fund.

In addition to phthalates, the new report lists other endocrine-disrupting compounds that the study authors say have been shown to affect the risk for breast cancer in humans, or the risk of mammary cancer in animals. Those compounds, according to the report, include:

• Pesticides such as DDT, dieldrin, aldrin and heptachlor; triazine herbicides
• Bisphenol, a chemical used to make plastics, epoxy resins and dental sealants
• Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (byproducts of combustion)
• Tobacco smoke
• Dioxins
• Alkyphenols (industrial chemicals used in cleaning products)
• Metals including copper, cobalt, nickel and lead
• Parabens (anti-microbials used in personal care products)
• Food additives such as compounds given to cattle and sheep to enhance growth

The report also cites environmental factors that may exert cancer-causing effects without hormone disruption. Those factors include exposure to the petrochemical solvent benzene; organic solvents used in the computer, furniture and textile industries; polyvinyl chloride (PVC) used in a variety of appliances, food packages and medical products; 1,3-butadiene, a byproduct of petroleum refining and vehicle exhaust; ethylene oxide, used in medicine and some cosmetics; and aromatic amines, byproducts of manufacturing plastics and dyes. Both ionizing and non-ionizing radiation are also listed as suspected cancer-causing agents, the report stated.

"The conclusions of the surveyed research show us we need to look earlier and earlier at the impact of chemical exposure in utero and early life and how toxins, radiation, genetic predisposition, diet, exercise and all those things interact together to increase breast cancer risk. The results of this study compel us to look at the need for broad public health policy reform and more federally funded research," Rizzo said.

In response to the report, Tiffany Harrington, public affairs director with the American Chemistry Council, said the chemical industry is seeking to better understand the complex relationship between modern chemistry and human health.

"The chemistry industry has contributed to endocrine research by supporting applied scientific studies focused on developing the datasets needed to evaluate the reliability of endocrine screening methods," she said.

Meanwhile, environmental medicine expert Dr. Jonathan Borak, an associate clinical professor of medicine at Yale University's School of Medicine, said a host of studies have found no clear link between specific toxins and breast cancer.

"So far, I have not seen any compelling evidence of a link between any environmental contaminants and breast cancer," he said.

More information
For more on breast cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

Are Too Many Women Getting Hysterectomies?

Benefits and drawbacks of full and partial hysterectomies.
by Ross Weale

Health magazine contributor Roshini Raj, MD, discusses treatment options for hysterectomies, endometriosis, and fibroids on NBC’s Today March 24.




DR. ROSHINI RAJ
Roshini Raj, MD, a Health magazine contributor and part of the magazine's Health Expert Network, is board-certified in gastroenterology and internal medicine with degrees from the New York University School of Medicine and Harvard University. Currently Dr. Raj is an attending physician at NYU Medical Center's Tisch Hospital in New York City. She also serves as an assistant professor at the NYU School of Medicine, and she has a special interest in women's health and cancer screening. She has also published several research articles on colon-cancer screening.

Dr. Raj has discussed health topics on numerous television outlets, including NBC's Today show, ABC's Good Morning America, CNN, FOX News, and Discovery Health. She has been quoted in publications such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Men's Health, Women's Health, and Fitness on the state of health care and other health news of the day. Dr. Raj is often called upon to explain and demystify complicated health topics.

Heart Risk Can Be Predicted Without Lab Tests

(HealthDay News) -- When it comes to predicting a person's cardiovascular disease risk, cheap, simple and noninvasive methods can be as effective as lab tests, a new study finds.

The U.S. researchers noted these non-lab methods could be especially useful where lab testing is inconvenient or unavailable, such as in developing countries.

Worldwide, about 80 percent of cardiovascular deaths occur in developing nations, Dr. Thomas Gaziano, of the division of cardiovascular medicine at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a prepared statement.

The team analyzed data on 6,186 people who were aged 25 to 74 when they were first examined between 1971-75 for the NHANES I study. At the time, these participants did not report any history of cardiovascular disease -- such as heart attack, heart failure, stroke or angina -- or cancer.

Over a 21-year period, people in this group had 1,529 first-time cardiovascular events, including 578 deaths due to cardiovascular disease.

The researchers compared the lab-based method and the non-lab method in calculating a number called the c-statistic to assess cardiovascular risk prediction. The lab method included age, systolic blood pressure, smoking status, total cholesterol, diabetes status, and current treatment for high blood pressure. The non-lab method substituted body mass index (BMI, a ratio of weight to height) for cholesterol.

The lab and non-lab method gave similar c-statistics, but the non-lab method can provide risk factor information non-invasively and much faster -- just five to 10 minutes, the study authors said. They added that a cholesterol test is too costly for many people in developing countries.

The study was published in the March 15 issue of The Lancet.

"Although this method requires further validation and calibration, use of a simple non-laboratory approach, as suggested by WHO [World Health Organization], could have profound effects on the affordability and availability of an adequate screening program in developing countries," the study authors wrote. "Initial screening without blood testing could lead to the quick initiation of treatment without the added cost or inconvenience of laboratory testing, and would also keep any potential loss to follow-up due to the extra step in testing to a minimum."

However, an accompanying editorial in the journal suggested this approach may not be appropriate for people in developing countries.

"Although tools that use non-laboratory-based variables can help to improve affordability of screening programs for non-communicable diseases, they should not compromise the safety of patients. For equitable care of cardiovascular disease and other major non-communicable diseases, universal access to a set of essential interventions, including laboratory assays, may be required, even in settings with limited resources," wrote Dr. Shanthi Mendis, of the WHO in Geneva, and Dr. V. Mohan, of the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation in India.

More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about heart disease risk factors.

Popular Colonoscopy Prep Solution May Pose Kidney Risks

(HealthDay News) -- One of the most common bowel-cleansing preparations used by people who are about to have a colonoscopy can trigger both acute kidney failure and long-term renal damage in otherwise healthy patients.

New research suggests the risks of oral sodium phosphate solution and some oral sodium phosphate tablets are rare but real, particularly for elderly patients.

"People should be very cautious in the use of these agents because of their potential of causing kidney damage," said study author Dr. Anand Khurana, of the department of nephrology with the Scott & White Clinic at Texas A&M University in Temple, Texas.

The findings were published in the March 24 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Another popular prescription colonoscopy preparation -- polyethylene glycol solutions (PEG) -- was not the subject of the current study and does not appear to be associated with similar risks. Neither was the oral sodium phosphate tablet OsmoPrep, which has a lower sodium phosphate content than other tablets.

In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration put out an alert on oral sodium phosphate products, excluding OsmoPrep, recommending that they be "used with caution" among patients with impaired kidney function due to its high phosphate content.

The latest finding extends the concern to patients with no previous history of kidney trouble.

According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer ranks third in the United States in terms of cancer diagnoses among both men and women. The organization estimates that about 150,000 people will develop the disease this year alone.

Typically, a colonoscopy is recommended for men and women over the age of 50 every 10 years as an effective way to screen for small growths called polyps and other signs of colorectal cancer. Some high-risk groups are encouraged to begin undergoing screenings at an earlier age.

The procedure involves the insertion of a slender and flexible lighted tube, fitted with a video camera, throughout the entire colon. A sigmoidoscopy relies on a similar but shorter tube to examine just the lower colon. Medication ensures that most patients feel no pain, and the screening is usually conducted on an outpatient basis.

However, patients must refrain from eating solid foods the day before the procedure, while also ingesting a bowel-cleansing liquid to clear out the colon.

The phosphate solution and tablets have been the preparations of preference because of convenience, as they are available without a prescription and require less clear liquid consumption than the polyethylene glycol solution.

To examine risks associated with use of the phosphate products, the authors analyzed kidney function among 268 patients at their clinic who had undergone either a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy between 1998 and 2005.

Most were white, with an average age of 68. Two-thirds were women, and none had a history of kidney disease. All the patients followed a standard dietary and phosphate solution prep the day prior to their screening.

Khurana and his team found that its use was associated with a 6 percent drop in kidney function six months later; that figure rose to 8 percent one year later.

"This magnitude of loss of kidney function is significant," said Khurana, who noted that patients undergo numerous colonoscopies over their lifetime, and normal kidney function loss is confined to about 1 percent per year among patients over 40.

Khurana pointed out that the safety risks he observed might ultimately be the result of patients simply not following manufacturer instructions to drink large amounts of clear liquid when consuming the preparation. Undetected chronic kidney disease among older patients undergoing colonoscopies might also play a role in the findings.

Nevertheless, "we believe that PEG preps are a safer option for patients" until further testing is done, he said.

Dr. Hemant K. Roy, an associate professor in the department of medicine at Evanston-Northwestern Healthcare in Illinois, described the findings as "quite alarming" in an accompanying editorial.

However, he stressed that warranted concerns about phosphate solutions should not discourage patients from undergoing colon cancer screening.

"Colonoscopies save lives," he stressed. "We know it works. So this should not dissuade people from doing one. I think we just need to be cautious about the type of preparation we use and who we give it to, so that an extraordinarily rare complication is avoided. And we have options, so there is a way to do that."

More information
For additional information on colonoscopies, visit the American Cancer Society.

Health Tip: Get Screened for Cancer

(HealthDay News) -- Early detection, by way of regular screening, is one of the best ways to beat cancer.

The American Cancer Society offers these guidelines for cancer screenings:

• Women, starting at age 40, should get an annual mammogram to screen for breast cancer.
• Breast exams should start at age 20. An annual exam is recommended at age 40. Before that, women at normal risk should be examined about every three years.
• Beginning at age 50, women and men need regular screening for colorectal cancer. People at an increased risk for colorectal cancer should be tested earlier.
• Women need regular Pap smears to screen for cervical cancer. Pap smears should be given within three years of starting intercourse, or by age 21, whichever is earlier.
• Men 50 and older should get the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test and a digital rectal examination annually. Men at higher risk should begin testing at age 45.

Music as Medicine

(HealthDay News) -- Almost everyone has used music at one time or another to relax or perhaps to get energized. But the discipline of music therapy takes the use of music much further, from battling depression to combating cancer.

"Music therapy is an evidence-based practice that can affect changes in physical, psychological, social and cognitive domains through music experiences and the relationship that develops between the client and the therapist," said Cheryl Dileo, a professor of music therapy and director of the Arts and Quality of Life Research Center at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Just turning up the radio to your favorite tune to erase a blue mood doesn't qualify as music therapy, Dileo explained. "Self-help through music is not music therapy, although many people do use music for themselves, for example for relaxation to improve their moods, or to accompany exercise."

Music therapy, on the other hand, "involves an interpersonal process through which a trained therapist uses his or her knowledge and skills to address the client's assessed needs and issues," she said. "Although many people understand intuitively how to use music for themselves, when it is used within a music-therapy process by a trained therapist, it can be a powerful means to achieving positive physical, psychological, cognitive and social outcomes."

The uses of music therapy are myriad, according to Dileo. Music therapy can be used to reduce the anxiety of hospital patients undergoing difficult medical procedures. It can help lessen pain and improve mood, she said. Music therapy can also help depressed patients express their feelings.

Music therapy has been used to keep Alzheimer's patients calm and help them improve their memories at the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function at the Beth Abraham Family of Health Services in New York City.

At Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, board-certified music therapist Elizabeth Pociask uses music therapy to help new parents calm their infants.

"Music is a natural source of distraction. When a child is visibly upset, the introduction of a novel stimulus (turning on some music) will at least temporarily divert their attention away from what is upsetting them," she explained. "The parent's singing voice accomplishes the same thing and adds the element of familiarity -- the most comforting sound for an infant will nearly always be a parent's voice. When used regularly, music and/or singing can become a calming ritual, and the infant then learns to associate the music with relaxation or sleep."

Dileo said that music therapists should be board-certified, which means they've attended at least a four-year college program, as well as completed a supervised internship and have passed a national exam.

However, less formal music programs can be helpful as well. Katherine Puckett, national director of mind-body medicine at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, said that while they don't have board-certified music therapists on staff, the centers do use music as a means to help their patients.

"Music can activate the relaxation response, which helps promote deep breathing, lower heart rate, lower blood pressure, ease muscle tension and create less stress. That can help cancer patients sleep better, and difficulty sleeping is a common problem for cancer patients," Puckett said.

"Relaxing the body can also help relieve physical pain, and people may need less pain medication," she added.

The Cancer Treatment Centers of America keep a library of music available for patients to use, and they have special events, such as drumming circles, that help provide an emotional release for their patients, Puckett said. "Some people can release their emotions through talking, but sometimes people need a non-verbal release. We've had people moved to tears in our special events," she said.

"People respond to music -- you don't have to be sick to respond to music. It's relaxing, comforting and soothing," Puckett added.

More information
To learn more about music therapy, visit the American Music Therapy Association.

Estrogen Levels in Blood Predict Breast Cancer's Return

(HealthDay News) -- New research shows that women who experienced a recurrence of their breast cancer had almost twice as much estrogen in their blood as women who remained cancer-free after treatment.

This indicates that circulating estrogen levels contribute to a recurrence as much as the initial malignancy does.

That information is not entirely new, said Dr. Jennifer Wu, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "That's the reason we use drugs that help to lower estrogen levels. Estrogen causes increased cell division; we think it can perhaps start breast cancer," she said. "But this is a good study in that it has a lot of patients and proves that they have a demonstrable increase in estrogen levels over patients who don't have a recurrence."

Where there's a problem, there's also often a solution.

"Anti-estrogen drugs can only have so much impact," said study author Cheryl Rock, a professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. "There are two things apart from these drugs that can help to lower estrogen, or we believe it can, because it can in the general population. One is moderate to vigorous exercise, and the other is healthy weight management, achieving an ideal weight."

The hormone estrogen is produced not only by the ovaries, but also by fat tissue.
Previous research has shown that estrogen contributes to the risk of primary breast cancer in postmenopausal women, but there has been less evidence of the role of estrogen in cancer recurrence.

"The relationship between circulating estrogen and risk for primary breast cancer is very well-established, but there were surprisingly few studies in which estrogen levels have been measured in breast cancer survivors," Rock explained.

This study, published in the March issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, followed 153 pairs of women who had had breast cancer (one in each pair experienced a recurrence, while one did not) for more than seven years.

Two-thirds of the participants were using tamoxifen, a drug which interferes with estrogen's activity in the body.

In the end, women with more circulating estrogen were more likely to have a recurrence.
There may be other factors at play also, Rock said. For instance, sex hormone-binding globulin basically makes estrogen available to get into tissue. "If estrogen is bound to that protein, it's not going to float right over to the cell," Rock said. "When people are overweight, they have higher blood levels of insulin, which suppresses synthesis of that protein, so exercise not only is related to actually helping weight management but, because it lowers insulin, it might make the hormonal situation look better."

And don't rule out existing anti-estrogen drugs, experts added.

"This study justifies the use of drugs that help decrease estrogen levels like tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors," Wu said. "[In the future], we may want to titrate different levels of anti-estrogen medications. Right now, we have a standard dosage for everyone, whereas women who are heavier or other women who may have higher estrogen levels for one reason or another may need larger doses."

More information
Visit the National Cancer Institute for more on breast cancer.

Vitamin E Supplements May Raise Lung Cancer Risk

(HealthDay News) -- Vitamin supplements won't protect people against lung cancer and taking vitamin E may even heighten the risk, a new study finds.

The survey covered the supplement-taking habits and lung cancer incidence of almost 78,000 adults in the state of Washington over a four-year period.

"Our study of supplemental multivitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E and folate did not show any evidence for a decreased risk of lung cancer," study author Dr. Christopher G. Slatore, a fellow in the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Washington, said in a statement. "Indeed, increasing intake of supplemental vitamin E was associated with a slightly increased risk of lung cancer."

As reported in the March issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, the research focused on men and women aged 50 to 76 taking part in the four-year VITAmins and Lifestyle (VITAL) study. Lung cancer was diagnosed in 521 participants surveyed.

In addition to the expected association with smoking, family history and other lung cancer risk factors, there was a slight but statistically significant association with vitamin E supplementation and incidence of the disease, the researchers found.

Every increase in vitamin E of 100 milligrams per day was associated with a 7 percent rise in lung cancer risk -- translating into a 28 percent increase in risk over 10 years for someone taking 400 milligrams of vitamin E daily.

"This provides additional evidence that taking vitamin supplements does not help prevent lung cancer," said Eric Jacobs, strategic director of pharmacoepidemiology at the American Cancer Society.

The society does not currently recommend use of any vitamin supplement to prevent malignancy, Jacobs said. However, "our dietary guidelines do recommend eating five or more servings of a variety of vegetables each day," he noted.

A representative of the supplements industry called the study results "not all that surprising."
"Vitamins are essential nutrients that act to maintain health and prevent vitamin deficiency," Pamela Mason, spokeswoman for the London-based Health Supplements Information Service, said in a statement. "They were never intended to be used to prevent chronic disease such as cancer. Indeed, it would be asking a lot of a vitamin pill to expect it to prevent cancer."

Since the primary cause of lung cancer is smoking, the best preventive measure is simply not to smoke, Jacobs said. Nutrients can play an auxiliary role, he noted. Anyone who cannot quit should avoid taking beta-carotene supplements, because studies have linked them to an increased risk of lung cancer, Jacobs said.

On the other hand, "for former smokers, there is some evidence that vegetables high in carotinoids, such as carrots and sweet peas, decrease the risk," he said.

Some vitamins have been linked to a reduced risk of other cancers, added Edward Gorham, an associate professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of California at San Diego.

"We have worked with vitamin D, and we found a protective effect of vitamin D on colon cancer, breast cancer and ovarian cancer, and recently a modest effect on lung cancer," Gorham said.
But that effect came not from supplements but from sunlight, which causes vitamin D to be formed in the human body, he said.

"These results with multivitamins dont surprise me because there is so little vitamin D in multi-supplements, 100 or 200 International Units," Gorham said. "To achieve the effect, it takes 2,000 IU. If youre in the tropics, that amounts to 10 or 15 minutes in the sun. In southern California, it takes 10 or 15 minutes in the summer and longer in the winter because the sun angle is so low."

One study has also associated vitamin D supplements with a decreased risk of colon and breast cancer in women, Gorham said.

More information
There's more on nutrition and cancer prevention at the American Cancer Society.