Therapist Unlimited Blog

Cancer patients better avoid getting depressed since doing so could reduce their chances of survival.
A recent medical study has found out that there is a need for systematic screening of psychological distress and subsequent treatments to ensure proper treatment for cancer patients.
To get the data they are looking for, graduate student Jillian Satin, MA, of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and her colleagues analyzed a total of 9417 patients and examined the effects of depression on patients’ cancer progression and survival.
Based on the study they made they discovered that an increased risk of death in patients who report more depressive symptoms than others and also in patients who have been diagnosed with a depressive disorder compared to patients who have not.
 

Cancer patients need to avoid getting depressed if they wish to be treated of their medical condition.

Satin revealed in the combined studies, the death rates were up to 25 percent higher in patients xperiencing depressive symptoms and 39 percent higher in patients diagnosed with major or minor depression.
Satin added the increased risks remained even after considering patients’ other clinical characteristics that might affect survival, indicating that depression may actually play a part in shortening survival.
Despite their findings, the researchers admitted additional research needs to be conducted before any conclusions can be reached.
The researchers explained their analysis combined results across different tumor types, so future studies should look at the effects of depression on different kinds of cancer.
Moreover, the researchers noted that the actual risk of death associated with depression in cancer patients is still small, so patients should not feel that they must maintain a positive attitude to beat their disease.
The researchers said their study indicates that it is important for physicians to regularly screen cancer patients for depression and to provide appropriate treatments.

A recent study has shown that those who drink heavily are at higher risk of getting inflicted with prostate cancer.
Based on the research heavy drinking consist of four glasses of liquor a day on five days a week.
The researchers in their study also found out that heavy drinking made finasteride ineffective for reducing prostate cancer risk.

Heavy drinkers better stop their habit or limit their liquor intake if they wish to avoid suffering from prostate cancer.

The research has shown that that finasteride’s ability to lower prostate cancer risk was blocked in men drinking 50g alcohol per day.
To avoid chances of suffering from prostate cancer, medical experts hope heavy drinkers will stop their habit or limit their liquor intake for the sake of their health.Prostate cancer, a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system is a deadly disease that should not be overlooked.
The cancer cells may metastasize (spread) from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly the bones and lymph nodes.
Prostate cancer may cause pain, difficulty in urinating, problems during sexual intercourse, or erectile dysfunction. Other symptoms can potentially develop during later stages of the disease.

A recent study has shown that people over the age of 60 are the most vulnerable to heat waves, with 82% to 92% more deaths than average occurring in this age group.
Based on the research, risks for heat-related illness or injury such as heat stroke, heat exhaustion and heat cramps are also
heightened in people with obesity, heart disease, diabetes and respiratory conditions as these decrease the body’s ability to adapt to temperature changes.
The researchers said physicians and their patients must be aware of the risk factors for older people and people with chronic disease in excessive heat conditions and counsel and manage accordingly.
According to the researchers, laboratory-based physiologic studies show that the ability to detect heat is reduced, and the physiological response to heat with adequate blood distribution and sweating to cool the body is slower, in otherwise healthy older individuals compared to younger people.
The research team explained their ability to respond to thirst is also delayed and they take longer to recover from dehydration.
Moreover, the study has also shown that people of lower socio-economic groups, lower levels of education and those who are socially isolated have a greater risk of mortality.

The elderly need to be careful since they are at higher risk from suffering from heat stress.

The researchers said air conditioning is associated with a risk reduction of 80% and working fans with a 30% reduction.
The researchers added housing may be a factor as lower income people often live in crowded or poor-quality housing, with inadequate ventilation and cooling systems.
They revealed homeless people are at risk because of lack of shelter from extreme heat and often also by underlying physical or psychiatric issues.
Dr. Glen Kenny from the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa and his co-authors said the new research should focus not only on filling these gaps in the science-based information but also on developing clinical guidelines for health professionals to facilitate the giving of advice to patients.

Pregnant women should eat nutritious foods during their pregnancy to ensure their baby will be healthy and have the right weight upon birth.
A recent study has shown that those babies who are born with low birth weight are at higher risk of suffering from kidney disease in the future.
According to the study, parents of newborns who tip the scales at less than 5 ½ pounds should put some heavy thought to a possible future consequence: kidney disease.
Based on the same study it was also discovered that low birth weight babies have a 70% greater risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD) in later life.
The latest statistics taken from the National Kidney Foundation have shown that 26 six million American adults have CKD and millions of others are at increased risk.
Dr. Kerry Willis, National Kidney Foundation Senior VP for Scientific Activities said High risk groups include those with diabetes, hypertension or a family history of kidney disease.
Lead researcher, Sarah L. White, MPH of the George Institute and the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia for her part revealed experimental studies suggest that restricted growth of a fetus in the womb can interfere with normal kidney development
and result in fewer and smaller filtering units, or nephrons, at birth.
White added those with low birth weight may therefore be vulnerable to accelerated loss of kidney function later on as a result of any additional injuries to the kidney caused, for example, by accidents, infections or the presence of other risk factors such as diabetes.

Pregnant women should strive hard to keep their babies healthy upon birth to protect them from possible kidney disease in the future.

 

In their study, researchers also found a connection between low birth weight and subsequent development of end-stage kidney disease, or kidney failure.
Additionally, in comparing data from two large twin studies, investigators found significant differences in kidney function between members of the same set of twins where one twin was smaller, but not among different sets of twins.
The researchers said this suggests that the association between birth weight and kidney function is more closely connected with fetoplacental factors affecting intrauterine growth than with maternal or genetic factors.
White explained despite the association between low birth weight and risk of chronic kidney disease in later life, early detection and management of chronic kidney disease and its risk factors are highly effective in preventing adverse outcomes.
She added people who were very small at birth should avoid obesity that could lead to diabetes, maintain regular physical activity, avoid medications that could be toxic for the kidneys and see their doctors for simple assessment of chronic kidney disease including blood pressure measurement, a dipstick test for urinary protein and a blood test of serum creatinine level.

According to a recent medical study the Hispanic population groups have higher incidence rates of certain cancers and worse cancer outcomes if they live in the United States, than they do if they live in their homelands.
Paulo S. Pinheiro, M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc., researcher in the Department of Epidemiology at the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine said Hispanics are not all the same with regard to their cancer experience.
Pinheiro, who is also the study’s lead researcher, added targeted interventions for cancer prevention and control should take into account the specificity of each Hispanic
subgroup: Cubans, Puerto Ricans or Mexicans.
Amelie G. Ramirez, Dr.P.H. director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research, and co-associate director of the Cancer Prevention and Population Studies research program at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio for her part said Hispanics are really heterogeneous from cultural and socioeconomic perspectives and represent several population groups.
Ramirez said the Hispanic population in the United States is increasing nearly one in every three people will be Hispanic by 2050.
She said it is important to conduct studies like this to better understand these differences and learn what predisposes different population groups to certain types of cancer, in order to improve health outcomes.
To get the data they are searching for, Pinheiro and colleagues evaluated the kinds of cancers occurring in each Hispanic population group and compared their risk after moving to the United States.

Studies have shown that Hispanics are probe to suffer from cancer in the United States.

They conducted the study in Florida, which has a diverse Hispanic community composed of Cubans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Central and South Americans.
The results indicated that these population groups showed different patterns of cancer once they moved to the United States; Mexicans had the lowest rates of cancer overall and Puerto Ricans had the highest rates of cancer. Cubans’ risk of cancer most closely resembles that of non-Hispanic whites. Similar to the U.S. non-Hispanic white population, Cubans and Puerto Ricans seemed to acquire higher risk for diet-related cancers relatively quickly.
Furthermore, Cuban males had higher incidence of tobacco-related cancers; Puerto Rican men had high incidence of liver cancer; and Mexican women had a higher incidence of cervical cancer. For all cancers combined, risk for most cancers was higher (at least 40 percent) among Hispanics living in the United States compared with those who live in their countries of origin.
The researchers also discovered that colorectal cancer risk among Cubans and Mexicans who moved to the United States was more than double that in Cuba and Mexico.
The same was said for lung cancer among Mexican and Puerto Rican Floridian women compared to those in Mexico or Puerto Rico.
Pinheiro explained this suggests that changes in their environment and lifestyles make them more prone to develop cancer.
He said it is puzzling that the groups, for which integration in mainstream American society is easier, including access to health care, are also those with higher cancer rates even after accounting for the increased detection of certain cancers in the United States.
Furthermore, the researchers said the results present important opportunities for United States and international collaborations in the prevention, treatment and research of cancer.
Ramirez said while physicians may not have to change the care they provide they should be more aware of the diversity and differences in cancer prevalence among this population.
She said physicians should probe Hispanic patients more on their background and family history to identify any problematic behaviors that could contribute to health problems.
The researchers said patients should become better informed of some of the positive aspects of their original lifestyles and should be strongly discouraged from adopting unfavorable lifestyles that may be more common in the United States, such as unhealthy diets, smoking and alcohol use.

The financial crisis happening around the world is not affecting the global economy but the health of the people as well.
A recent research has shown that levels of debt have been associated with an increased risk of being fat.
According to the research the high price of healthy food and a tendency for people worried by debt to comfort eat.
To get the data, Eva Munster, from the University of Mainz, Germany, worked with a team of researchers to study more than 9000 people.
Based on the study they found out that 25% of the 949 people in debt were medically obese, compared to only 11% of the remaining 8318 participants.
Munster explained the recent credit crunch will have health implications for private households.
Munster added while income, education and occupational status are frequently used in definitions of socioeconomic status, levels of debt are not usually considered.
She said their study has shown that debt can be associated with the probability of being overweight or obese, independent of these factors.

Aside from the hardships it offers, the financial crisis can also make people fat.
 

She revealed a person’s ability to pick and choose the food they eat often depends on the financial resources they have available.
Munster said energy-dense foods such as sweets or fatty snacks are often less expensive compared to food with lower energy density such as fruit or vegetables.
Moreover, the researchers explain that debt can affect a series of risk factors for chronic diseases, for example by limiting leisure time activities and participation in social events.
The researchers said the quality of an individual’s diet can also be negatively affected.

According to a latest medical study those who are poor with low intelligence quotient are at higher chances of suffering from cardiovascular disease.
Dr. David Batty, a Welcome Trust Research Fellow at the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow, and colleagues discovered that people on low incomes, in jobs with low prestige and with limited education had a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and other causes than people of a higher
socioeconomic status.
Batty said based on their study they also found out that IQ accounted for 23 per cent of the difference between the death rates among people from poorer and more advantage socioeconomic backgrounds, once age and classic known risk factors for heart disease such as smoking and obesity were taken into account.
He said previous studies have shown that people from poor socioeconomic backgrounds have worse health and tend to die earlier from conditions such as heart disease, cancer and accidents.
He added environmental exposure and health-related behaviors, such as smoking, diet and physical activity, can explain some of this difference, but not all of it.

Those poor people who have low IQ have strong chances of suffering from a cardiovascular disease.

The medical expert revealed this raises the possibility that, as yet, unmeasured psychological factors need to be considered and one of these is intelligence or cognitive function: a person’s ability to reason and problem-solve.
The medical expert added IQ is strongly related to socioeconomic status.
Furthermore, Batty said IQ alone explained 23 per cent of the differences in mortality between the higher and lower ends of the socioeconomic spectrum, in addition to the other, known risk factors.
Batty and his team, speculate that this might be because intelligence leads to better knowledge about how to pursue healthy behaviors, or owing to the link between intelligence and socioeconomic position (more intelligence leads to more education, income, and more prestigious jobs).
He said it also provides further evidence that efforts to tackle socioeconomic inequalities could have far-reaching benefits on health.
Batty explained initiatives aimed at raising living standards and education of the most disadvantaged families with children could potentially make a difference to those children’s health and wellbeing in later life.

Those women, who survived cancer during their childhood, need to closely monitored since recent medical studies has shown that they are at higher risk of birth complications.
Dr. Sharon Lie Fong, of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands and her colleagues get the data after studying the pregnancies of 40 women who had been treated for cancer during their childhood, the majority of them for leukaemia, but also for solid tumours.
Fong said from their subjects, six had had radiation treatment directly to the abdomen.
She said the data they gathered were compared with those from a control group of more than 9,000 women who had not had cancer treatment.
She added all data were obtained from The Netherlands Prenatal Register, a nationwide database of pregnancy outcomes.
The medical expert said data were matched for age at pregnancy, year and month of delivery, and the number of times the woman had given birth.
The medical expert added the team did not investigate overall fertility and miscarriage rates, but they believe that it is possible that the fertility of all the cancer survivors will be compromised.
Fong said the ovarian reserve or capacity of the ovary to provide eggs capable of fertilisation, is established in the foetus and decreases during a woman’s reproductive lifetime.

Women who survived cancer during their childhood need to be careful since they are at higher risk of birth complications.

Fong added women with a poor ovarian reserve are less likely to conceive, even with assisted reproduction therapies, than those with a normal number of eggs.
She said women might also have an earlier menopause, as their stock of eggs is exhausted at a younger age.
She revealed long-term, multi-disciplinary follow-up for female child cancer survivors is mandatory.
Furthermore, the researchers said although at the start of treatment, future fertility may not be of great concern to care providers; it is to the patient’s parents.
The researchers added during follow-up, survivors should be made aware of the possible late effects of their treatment.
They said in addition to the deleterious effects of abdominal radiotherapy on reproductive function, radiotherapy to the head can also cause problems by causing the hypothalamus to reduce the production of follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, both important in promoting ovulation.
The team believe that it is particularly important for all female children who are treated for cancer, and their parents, to be made aware of this risk.
They said their research has also shown how important it is that, if they do become pregnant, childhood cancer survivors should be closely monitored throughout their pregnancy and that they are delivered in a clinical setting, rather than at home.
The researchers concluded that even if at first fertility seems normal for childhood cancer survivors, there may be problems later in life.
 

Medical experts revealed older adults are at higher risk of health problems if they do not take the proper precautions to protect themselves from the sweltering heat.

Based on a latest medical study it was discovered that some 200 Americans die of health problems caused by high heat and humidity every year, most of them are 50 or older.
The experts explained due to some of the physical changes that happen as we age, that older adults cannot cool down as easily as others can.
To avoid medical complications for senior citizens when temperatures are high here are safety tips they can follow.

A. Use air conditioning in the home or go where it’s air-conditioned — a shopping mall, grocery store, senior center, movie theatre, museum or library, for example. (Fans are not effective enough to adequately cool down the body during intense heat waves.)

B. Drink a lot of water and other clear beverages that do not contain alcohol or caffeine. A good way to measure if enough fluids are being ingested is to check urine color. If urine is a light yellow color, enough water is being taken into the body. If it is darker yellow, the body needs more water.

C. Take cool showers, baths, or sponge baths.

D.  Wear lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing and hats.

E. Avoid extended periods of sun exposure.

F. Avoid walking long distances, lifting heavy objects, or other strenuous activities.

G. Avoid below are the most common health problems caused by heat:

H.  Avoid dehydration: Weakness, headache, muscle cramps, dizziness, confusion and passing out.

I.  Avoid heat stroke: A body temperature of or above 103 degrees; red, hot and dry skin; a fast pulse; headache, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, confusion and passing out.

J.  Avoid heat exhaustion: Heavy sweating or no sweating, muscle cramps, tiredness, weakness, paleness, cold or clammy skin, dizziness, headache, nausea or vomiting and fainting.

Older adults need to cool down during the hot days to avoid any form of health concerns.

Pregnant women around the world better be careful since their babies would most likely suffer autism if they experience some complications during pregnancy.
Based on the study conducted by trusted researchers they discovered six pregnancy-related factors that could lead to autism on their children.
The researchers found that the factors most strongly associated with an increased autism risk are:
- Being born to an older mother or father.
- Having a mother who was born abroad.
- Having a mother who experienced bleeding during pregnancy.
- Having a mother who experienced gestational diabetes.
- Having a mother who used medication during pregnancy.
- Being the first born - or later born in families where there are three or more children.
The researchers explained increased maternal age might be associated with autism because of a higher risk of chromosomal abnormalities in eggs.
On the other hand, mothers who are born in another country may not have natural resistance to infections in the country where they give birth, which may increase the risk for autism.

Pregnant women should take precautions to avoid complications during pregnancy to avoid chances that their babies will suffer from autism.

Moving to another country may also put women under stress, which could increase their chances of having a child who develops autism.
Bleeding during pregnancy, gestational diabetes and medication use are also associated with increased autism risk. Bleeding can cause foetal hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain of an unborn child). Women who develop diabetes during pregnancy experience hormonal and metabolic changes, which may affect their baby’s health and development. Foetal development may also be affected by some medications, which can cross the placenta during pregnancy.
Furthermore, the researchers said the association between birth order and autism risk is unclear.
However, children with autism are more likely to be the first-born in families with only two children. In larger families with three or more children, they are more likely to be born later.
 It is possible that parents decide not to have more children after one has developed autism.
The researchers said there was "insufficient evidence" to point to any one prenatal factor as being particularly significant.
However, they said there is some evidence to suggest that exposure to pregnancy complications in general may increase the risk of autism.