Recent Blog Articles
How do trees and green spaces enhance our health?
A muscle-building obsession in boys: What to know and do
Harvard Health Ad Watch: New drug, old song, clever tagline
Concussion in children: What to know and do
What color is your tongue? What's healthy, what's not?
Your amazing parathyroid glands
When — and how — should you be screened for colon cancer?
Co-regulation: Helping children and teens navigate big emotions
Dog bites: How to prevent or treat them
Will miscarriage care remain available?
Cancer Archive
Articles
Aspirin linked to fewer digestive tract cancers
In the journals
Scientists continue to explore the health benefits versus risks of aspirin therapy. One new analysis suggests that taking aspirin may protect against several types of digestive tract cancers. The results were published online April 1, 2020, by Annals of Oncology.
Researchers examined 113 observational studies of cancer in the general population. They found that individuals who took aspirin regularly — at least one or two tablets a week — had significantly lower rates of cancers of the bowel, stomach, gallbladder, esophagus, pancreas, and liver, compared with people who did not take aspirin.
Can appealing to teenagers’ vanity improve sun-protective behaviors?
Most people understand the risks of sun exposure, even if they do not regularly wear sunscreen, but getting younger people to pay attention to this concern can be difficult. A study chose a novel approach to this problem by appealing to teenagers’ vanity and focus on their appearance.
Tinted sunscreens: Benefits beyond an attractive glow
Tinted sunscreens offer all the benefits of traditional sun protection products, plus they have added pigments that give them the ability to block visible light, which can also be harmful to the skin.
Cancer death rates continue to decline
Research we're watching
According to a report published March 12 in the journal Cancer, the rate of death from cancer has continued to decline in the United States, dropping on average 1.5% a year from 2001 to 2017. The decline showed up for all ethnic and age groups between 2013 and 2017. The findings were based on cancer incidence data collected by the CDC and the National Cancer Institute.
But not all news was good: the number of new cancer diagnoses in women rose slightly during 2012 to 2016. A more detailed look at cancer deaths among women found a drop in cancer deaths for a majority of the most common cancers, including breast cancer, melanoma, lung cancer, and colorectal cancer. But deaths in women increased when it came to uterine, brain, liver, heart, and pancreatic cancer.
And now for some good news on health
Good news on health –– which seems hard to come by right now –– includes declines in the rates of six out of 10 major causes of death in the United States.
More sexual partners, more cancer?
A study of older adults found that those who had had more sexual partners were more likely to have developed cancer, but that does not mean there is a causal connection, and there are many ways that sexual behavior can affect cancer risk.
Chemotherapy and hearing loss: Monitoring is essential
One of the possible side effects of chemotherapy that is not as well-known is hearing loss. If you are going to undergo chemotherapy, you should have your hearing tested before and after the course of treatment.
Heart disease and cancer risk may be linked
In the journals
People with heart disease also have a higher risk of developing cancer, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in November 2019.
Researchers evaluated data from 12,712 people from the Framingham Heart Study who did not have heart disease or cancer at the study's launch. They used a risk estimator that predicts a person's chance for getting heart disease within 10 years.
Recent Blog Articles
How do trees and green spaces enhance our health?
A muscle-building obsession in boys: What to know and do
Harvard Health Ad Watch: New drug, old song, clever tagline
Concussion in children: What to know and do
What color is your tongue? What's healthy, what's not?
Your amazing parathyroid glands
When — and how — should you be screened for colon cancer?
Co-regulation: Helping children and teens navigate big emotions
Dog bites: How to prevent or treat them
Will miscarriage care remain available?
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