Mapping the Human Genome Leads Where? There have been exciting findings since the mapping of the human genome. For example, mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome DNA have been used to determine where humans originated and how we populated the earth. The research has found that your close friends are as genetically similar as if they shared a great- great-...
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How do you share information with your doctor? This is a tough question. If you have had a bad experience or if you have been afraid to even broach something new with your doctor, this is the post for you. We asked two patient activists how they talk to their physicians and they provided us with tips that can help when sharing information. From Patient...
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It’s time to add another tick in the pro column for exercise and weight loss. SHAPE-2 Two studies provide support to the importance of physical activity and weight loss. In a study called SHAPE-2, researchers wanted to find out if there was a reason to lose weight and become physically active. Guess what? The answer is a definite yes! Investigators in the...
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Breast Cancer Research When Dr. Susan Love, author of The Breast Book, writes about recent research she’s learned, breast cancer bloggers take notice. Dr. Love’s recent report on research at the American Association of Cancer Research 2014 is one example. In her post she notes that research is moving toward finding ways to add to the...
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Please Don’t Say This Facing mastectomy many breast cancer patients still hear something like this: “well at least you get a free boob job out of this.” Let’s straighten this out right now. Breast reconstruction following breast cancer surgery is not a boob job. A boob job, commonly done to augment or at times reduce the size of breasts, is a...
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Being Informed For Vilma Aleida, neuropathy was a surprise. “Neuropathy appeared in 2011 during my 7th chemo….That 7th chemo was the infusion of two treatments (taxotere and trastuzumab). The result send me to the ER, the pain was only relieved with morphine. After that, I have been living with neuropathy in my legs, from my knees down. I...
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Fatigue and Cancer Treatment You’ve finished treatment but you still feel fatigue. Fatigue is one of the most common side effects of chemotherapy and cancer treatment that can continue after treatment. It doesn’t seem logical but research indicates that physical activity can help. Physical Activity and Cancer Survivorship The Centers for...
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“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” ~ Mahatma Ghandi Two recent articles in the Washington Post provide a disturbing portrait of hospice care in the US. Hospices that take payments from Medicare must be able to provide “crisis care” –continuous nursing care in the home or inpatient...
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New eBook: Top 2013 Breast Cancer Research Papers Medivizor experts selected some of the most important breast cancer research papers published in 2013 and compiled the service’s summaries and interpretations of them into an eBook. This eBook is now available to be downloaded free. Examples of research included in the eBook: Using MRI to detect...
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Why do patients blog? Why do they reveal personal information and medical experiences on the Internet? 1) To Share Information Annette McKinnon, author of ‘Here’s Your Gold Watch, Rheutired,’ started her blog “to inform people about things I learned that seem obvious to me now, but were hard to learn.” Carolyn Thomas, author of “My Heart...
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Roll Out Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer Researchers, especially epidemiologists, look for patterns. And they found patterns when they looked at the places where people are most likely to get cancer. They found that there is more cancer in people living in higher latitudes, that is, closer to the arctic. So they started thinking and figuring out this...
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Help us help others! Please spread the word: Autumn Harvest Celebrations of autumn, the harvest, and the blessings of the passing year are found in many cultures. In China, there’s the celebration of the harvest moon. In the Jewish culture, a festival called Sukkot celebrates the wandering in the desert and the harvest. The ancient Greeks celebrated a...
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