New radiation therapies keep advanced prostate cancer in check
Treatments for prostate cancer are always evolving, and now research is pointing to new ways of treating a cancer that has just begun to spread, or metastasize, after initial surgery or radiation. Doctors usually give hormonal therapies in these cases to block testosterone, which is a hormone that makes the cancer grow faster. But newer evidence shows that treating the metastatic tumors directly with radiation can produce better results.
In March, researchers published the latest study that supports this approach. Based at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, the team used a method for delivering power...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 28, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Living With Prostate Cancer Prostate Knowledge Treatments HPK Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, March 9th 2020
In this study, we intravenously administrated the young mitochondria into aged mice to evaluate whether energy production increase in aged tissues or age-related behaviors improved after the mitochondrial transplantation. The results showed that heterozygous mitochondrial DNA of both aged and young mouse coexisted in tissues of aged mice after mitochondrial administration, and meanwhile, ATP content in tissues increased while reactive oxygen species (ROS) level reduced. Besides, the mitotherapy significantly improved cognitive and motor performance of aged mice. Our study, at the first report in aged animals, not only prov...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 8, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Targeting cancers ’ surroundings
Can targeting a tumours' surroundings, rather than the tumour itself, be a way of preventing metastasis? Related items fromOnMedica Breast cancer deaths down due to screening and new therapies UK cancer survival improved, but lags behind similar nations Genetic risk model could guide prostate cancer screening Blood test for breast cancer may be a step closer Doctors urge government to act on rising alcohol impact (Source: OnMedica Blogs)
Source: OnMedica Blogs - March 2, 2020 Category: General Medicine Source Type: blogs
An Update from the Methuselah Foundation on Progress at Methuselah Fund Portfolio Companies
The Methuselah Foundation is one of the oldest of the present generation of organizations focused on advancing human rejuvenation, founded more than 15 years ago. At that time there was none of the present enthusiasm for treating aging as a medical condition, and indeed the concept was mocked outside the scientific community and actively discouraged within research circles by leading scientists in the field of gerontology. The Methuselah Foundation and its network of allies are a large part of the reason why things have changed: it took a great deal of work to change this dismissive culture into one that saw and embraced t...
Source: Fight Aging! - March 2, 2020 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Investment Source Type: blogs
New study compares long-term side effects from different prostate cancer treatments
Prostate cancer therapies are improving over time. But how do the long-term side effects from the various options available today compare? Results from a newly published study are providing some valuable insights.
Investigators at Vanderbilt University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center spent five years tracking the sexual, bowel, urinary, and hormonal status of nearly 2,000 men after they had been treated for prostate cancer, or monitored with active surveillance (which entails checking the tumor periodically and treating it only if it begins to grow). Cancers in all the men were still confined to the p...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - February 27, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Health Prostate Knowledge Treatments HPK Source Type: blogs
The sexual side effects after prostate cancer treatment
I first met JB* when the receptionist at the clinic called to tell me that a patient was asking to see me. His name did not ring a bell, and on a quick review of my patient schedule for the week, his name did not appear. I went to the waiting room to see if […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - February 14, 2020 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/anne-katz" rel="tag" > Anne Katz, RN, PhD < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions Oncology/Hematology Source Type: blogs
African American and white men who receive comparable treatments for prostate cancer have similar survival
Last year, we reported on two studies showing that African American men respond at least as well as white men to prostate cancer treatments given in clinical trials. Nationally, African Americans with prostate cancer are more than twice as likely to die of the disease as their white counterparts, and that has fueled speculation that genetic or biological factors put them at greater risk. But according to this new research, the survival difference disappears when men of either race get the same cutting-edge treatments.
Now scientists are reporting that African American and white men with prostate cancer live equally as long...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - February 13, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Health Living With Prostate Cancer Prostate Knowledge Treatments HPK Source Type: blogs
With a little planning, vegan diets can be a healthful choice
Recently there has been much discussion and many questions about vegan diets. Are vegan diets — which exclude meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy — healthful? Do they provide complete nutrition? Should I try one? Will it help me lose weight?
Many people around the world eat plant-based diets for a variety of reasons, some because meat is not readily available or affordable, others because of religious convictions or concerns about animal welfare. Health has become another reason people are moving to plant-based diets. And research supports the idea that plant-based diets, including vegan diets, provide health benef...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - February 6, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Katherine D. McManus, MS, RD, LDN Tags: Healthy Eating Source Type: blogs
Escaping From an Energy Canyon
Over the years, I’ve observed many different patient focus groups on everything from backpain to breast or prostate cancer, or kidney disease. They’re always interesting, sometimes riveting. Given the challenges of making treatment decisions or coping with a chronic condition, the moderator usually asks them: Would you be interested to join any kind of in-person […] (Source: EMR and HIPAA)
Source: EMR and HIPAA - January 31, 2020 Category: Information Technology Authors: Geri Lynn Baumblatt Tags: Ambulatory Clinical Communication and Patient Experience Healthcare IT Hospital - Health System LTPAC Healthcare Social Media Patient Behavior Patient Focus Groups Patient Peer Groups Shared Medical Appointments Source Type: blogs
How to manage the side effects of prostate cancer treatment
Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer diagnosed in men in the U.S. According to statistics gathered by the American Cancer Society, approximately 191,930 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in this country in 2020, with one in nine men at risk of being diagnosed with this cancer during his […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 21, 2020 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/miles-j-varn" rel="tag" > Miles J. Varn, MD < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions Oncology/Hematology Urology Source Type: blogs
The Growing Importance of Medical Intervention
For most of the years while I was coming up in the world of public health and social policy, it was accepted truth that medical intervention made only a small contribution to population health. Quantifying " population health " as a single entity is obviously highly problematic. There are many components that people will value differently. There is mean life expectancy at birth, which is a common measure that is not terribly difficult to calculate; although as I have explained here before and won ' t bother to do again right now it ' s a fictitious construct that does not predict how long you actually have to live. Rather ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - January 9, 2020 Category: American Health Source Type: blogs
A physician ’s inaccurate cancer prognosis
Mr. G* was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer two years ago and has been on a succession of medications to control a progressive cancer. His PSA never nadired after surgery, and adjuvant radiation only increased his urinary problems. Androgen deprivation therapy added to his symptoms, and he is now considering taking a second-generation androgen-receptor antagonist. […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 3, 2020 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/anne-katz" rel="tag" > Anne Katz, RN, PhD < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions Oncology/Hematology Urology Source Type: blogs
Researchers urge prostate cancer screening for men with BRCA gene defects
Prostate cancer screening with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test has been criticized for flagging too many slow-growing tumors that might never be life-threatening.
But some men have inherited gene defects that boost their risk of developing prostate cancers that can be quite aggressive. Is PSA screening particularly well-suited for these genetically defined groups? New research suggests the answer is yes.
In November, a team of British scientists released highly anticipated findings from a study of PSA screening in men with defects in a pair of important genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2. Better known for increasing the...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - December 20, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Health Prostate Knowledge Screening HPK Source Type: blogs
Most men can hold off on radiation after prostate cancer surgery
Decisions about follow-up care after prostate cancer surgery sometimes involve a basic choice. If the cancer had features that predict it could return, doctors will likely recommend radiation therapy. But when should a man get that treatment? Should he get the radiation right away, even if there’s no evidence of cancer in the body (this is called adjuvant radiation)? Or should he opt for “salvage” radiation, which is given only if his blood levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) begin to climb? Since prostate cancer cells release PSA, the levels should be nondetectable after surgery. If they increase, that means t...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - December 2, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Health Living With Prostate Cancer Treatments HPK Source Type: blogs
Darolutamide approved for nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer
Sometimes after finishing prostate cancer treatment, men get an unwelcome surprise: their prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels creep higher, suggesting tumors too small to be seen lurk somewhere in the body. This leads to several options. Doctors can continue to monitor a man’s condition with imaging scans. Or, given the anxiety associated with rising PSA, they might try to lower the levels with chemically “castrating” drugs that inhibit testosterone, a hormone that makes prostate tumors grow faster.
Following that treatment, called androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), PSA generally declines and may become undetecta...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - November 22, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Health Living With Prostate Cancer Treatments HPK Source Type: blogs
