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Prostate Size May Be Clue to Severity of Cancer (HealthDay)

Editor - Health News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:37:32 +0000

FRIDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) — The size of a man’s prostate
gland may help doctors predict the severity of his prostate cancer,
according to a new study.

Researchers from the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville,
Tenn., found smaller prostates that produce higher levels of prostate
specific antigen (PSA) in the blood are more often linked to serious forms
of prostate cancer that require aggressive treatment.

“There’s nothing about size that would necessarily predict a bad
outcome. What it’s really about is the ratio of PSA to size, or PSA
density, meaning that a small prostate that is making a lot of PSA is
likely to be due to a bad tumor, whereas a large prostate making a lot of
PSA is likely to be due to benign enlargement of the prostate (BPH),” said
the study’s senior author, Dr. Daniel Barocas, an assistant professor of
urologic surgery, in a university news

Smoking May Up Cancer Risk in Barrett’s Esophagus Patients (HealthDay)

Editor - Health News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:37:14 +0000

FRIDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) — People with the condition
called Barrett’s esophagus who are smokers may have double the risk of
developing esophageal cancer, a new study warns.

These people also have twice the risk of developing advanced
precancerous cells, according to the study in the February issue of
Gastroenterology.

“We found that tobacco smoking emerged as the strongest lifestyle risk
factor for cancer progression. Contrary to popular belief, alcohol
consumption didn’t increase cancer risk in this group of patients with
Barrett’s esophagus,” lead author Helen Coleman, of Queen’s University
Belfast in Northern Ireland, said in a news release from the American
Gastroenterological Association.

In people with Barrett’s esophagus, damage caused by stomach acid
causes the lining of the esophagus to become similar to the lining of the
stomach, according to the U.S. MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia. Most
people with Barrett’s esophagus do not develop esophageal cancer.

For the study, researchers looked at more

For pregnant women with cancer, chemo possible (AP)

Editor - Health News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:36:58 +0000

LONDON – Researchers have encouraging news for women who find themselves in a very frightening situation: having cancer while pregnant. Studies suggest that these women can be treated almost the same as other cancer patients are, with minimal risk to the fetus.

Only about 1 in 1,000 pregnant women face this dilemma, but doctors fear that more will because the risk of cancer rises with age, and more women are delaying having children until they’re older.

Doctors have long worried about how to balance treating a pregnant woman with cancer and the need to protect her fetus from the effects of toxic cancer drugs and radiation treatments, and whether it is safe to continue a pregnancy in certain situations. A series of papers in the journals Lancet and Lancet Oncology published Friday make several key contributions:

• A Belgian-led study of 70 children in Europe exposed to chemotherapy while they were in the

Prostate Size May Be Clue to Severity of Cancer (HealthDay)

Editor - Health News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:36:54 +0000

FRIDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) — The size of a man’s prostate
gland may help doctors predict the severity of his prostate cancer,
according to a new study.

Hungarian home birth advocate looses appeal (AP)

Editor - Health News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:36:38 +0000

BUDAPEST, Hungary – A Hungarian obstetrician known for promoting home births lost an appeal Friday against her two-year prison sentence for malpractice.

Budapest’s Court of Appeals also banned Dr. Agnes Gereb from working in her profession for the next 10 years, increasing last year’s court ruling, which had banned her for five years.

Defense lawyer Andrea Pelle said her client would likely appeal for clemency to President Pal Schmitt.

The court said Gereb must serve at least two-thirds of the sentence before parole, while the original decision allowed parole after one year.

Last year’s verdict was already unusual because the judge’s sentence was much tougher than the suspended prison term sought by prosecutors.

Gereb’s case has become a rallying point for Hungarians seeking to have home births accepted as a regulated method of delivery. About 150 supporters, many with small children in tow, endured freezing temperatures Friday outside the courthouse while awaiting the ruling.

“This is

Nearly 1 in 20 US adults over 50 have fake knees (AP)

Editor - Health News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:36:20 +0000

CHICAGO – Nearly 1 in 20 Americans older than 50 have artificial knees, or more than 4 million people, according to the first national estimate showing how common these replacement joints have become in an aging population.

Doctors know the number of knee replacement operations has surged in the past decade, especially in baby boomers. But until now, there was no good fix on the total number of people living with them.

The estimate is important because it shows that a big segment of the population might need future knee-related care, said Dr. Daniel Berry, president of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and chairman of orthopedic surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He was not involved in the research.

People with knee replacements sometimes develop knee infections or scar tissue that require additional treatment. But also, even artificial knees wear out, so as the operations are increasingly done on younger