Stand Up To Cancer

I always enjoy stories of cancer treatments that come from unexpected places, so I thought I'd start this week's round-up off with this article from American Scientist in which scientists discuss using bacterial extracts to fight cancer. Their theory is that fever-inducing infections get the immune system working harder than it normally would - and in the process of fighting off infection, it can also fight off cancer.
http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/id.5439,y.2009,no.1,content.true,page.2,css.print/issue.aspx

This article from CNN.com offers a dose of pragmatism in the face of President Obama's strong stance on cancer research. While it's great to finally get support from high places, the article points out that the President's goal to "cure" cancer may not be realistic. Instead, some experts say we should be focused on making cancer a manageable chronic illness, like diabetes or heart disease.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/03/03/cure.cancer.obama/index.html

The medical community has always enjoyed a conflicted relationship with America's drug of choice, alcohol. One day they're telling us that a glass of red wine every day can stave off heart disease; the next they're telling us to avoid the stuff like it's poison. This week brings another black mark for alcohol's record: new research suggests that two alcoholic drinks a day boost your risk of developing dangerous pancreatic cancer by 22%.
http://www.webmd.com/cancer/pancreatic-cancer/news/20090303/drink-up-boost-pancreatic-cancer-risk

And elsewhere, alcohol gets a fresh gold star, with a new study indicating that wine drinkers have a lower risk for esophageal cancer - another deadly, fast-growing variation of the disease.
http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20090302/wine-may-cut-risk-of-esophageal-cancer

Here's a useful resource for folks battling cancer, as well as their friends and families: 1-800-ACS-2345. It's the American Cancer Society's National Cancer Information Center hotline; the call center takes around a million calls a year, answering questions on everything from issues with paying for treatment to finding cheap transportation to chemo appointments.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1883161,00.html

Prostate cancer is slow to spread and, in this day and age, often treatable. Sounds like good news all around, but these unique characteristics of the disease open up a world of questions. This week, the NYT's Well Blog gets some of those tough questions answered by an expert. Check it out.
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/more-answers-about-prostate-health/

There's currently a lot of controversy in the medical world about advanced imaging, like MRI and CT. The procedures are expensive and, in some cases, difficult to justify. But now researchers have shown that using MRI and PET/CT when planning cervical cancer treatment is a definitely plus, sparing some women with the disease long-term morbidity and unpleasant complications from surgery.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090304091233.htm

Finally, I loved this article on the healing power of one's home environment. As a person who's pretty finicky about her apartment, it intuitively makes sense to me that the right d�cor, to use a fussy word, can help revitalize the spirit. In this piece, patients turn to music, artwork and even lighting around the home to make a healing retreat out of their homes. "We have an innate awareness of our environment, and we seek out certain qualities that make us feel safe and physically comfortable as well as psychologically comfortable," said one proponent of the philosophy.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/genevasun/lifestyles/1460041,2_5_AU05_HEALING_S1.article

That's all for this week, but check in next Thursday for a fresh round of news you can use!

--Cat