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Eye Color is Linked to Health, Personality Traits
There is a saying, most often attributed to Shakespeare, that "the eyes are the window to the soul," and research now finds that eye color also provides clues about our health and personality traits. According to WebMD, here are some examples: Macular degeneration....
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Colonoscopy Beats Blood Tests at Spotting Cancer
Middle-aged folks facing a colon cancer screening now have a blood test they can choose over a standard colonoscopy. However, the blood test isn't as effective as colonoscopy at detecting and preventing colon cancer, a new review finds. About two and a half times more colon...
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1 in 5 Americans' Water Contains PFAS Chemicals
More than 20% of people in the continental United States might have drinking water contaminated with "forever chemicals," a new study suggests. Between 75 and 95 million Americans rely on groundwater that contains detectible concentrations of these chemicals, known as PFAS...
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Harvey Weinstein Has Chronic Myeloid Leukemia
Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), NBC News reported Monday, citing sources.
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Healthy Diet May Stop Prostate Cancer Progression
A healthy diet can help keep prostate cancer in check, a new study finds. The better a man eats, the less likely his low-grade prostate cancer will progress to a more dangerous state, researchers reported Oct. 17 in the journal JAMA Oncology. For every increase of 12.5 points...
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Breast Cancer Rising in Younger Women
A recent study found that breast cancer cases in women younger than 50 are rising twice as fast as cases in older women. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and experts encourage younger women to be proactive in cancer prevention.According to Health, this means being...
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Some IUDs May Raise The Odds for Breast Cancer
Intrauterine devices (IUDs) may raise the chances of a breast cancer diagnosis for women who use the hormonal birth control method, but that risk remains low, new research finds. In the study of 150,000 Danish women, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical...
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PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' Common in Tap, Bottled Water
PFAS "forever chemicals" can be found in drinking water around the world, whether it comes from a tap or a bottle, a new study warns. Ten specific PFAS chemicals were found in samples of bottled and tap water sourced from 15 countries around the world, researchers report. For...
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US High School Students' Vaping Rates Hit Record Lows
Is vaping finally losing its coolness for American teens? The latest tally of federal data finds that 550,000 school kids, mostly high schoolers, quit using e-cigarettes in 2024.Vaping rates fell from 10% of high school students in 2023 to 7.8% this year, "reaching the...
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New Drug Regimen Extends Cervical Cancer Survival
In some good news for women battling locally advanced cervical cancer, new research shows that adding six weeks of chemotherapy to standard treatment cuts the risk of death by 40 percent. "This is the biggest improvement in outcome in this disease in over 20 years," lead...
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Obesity Linked to Hormone-Positive Breast Cancers
Obesity is a more powerful driver of breast cancer than previously thought, a new study suggests. About 40% of hormone-positive breast cancers in postmenopausal women might be linked to excess body fat, researchers reported Oct. 15 in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community...
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Seasonal Scented Candles May be Toxic
The aroma of pumpkin, apple or cinnamon-scented candles wafting through our homes is comforting, reminding us that the festive fall season has arrived. However, certain types of candles emit toxic chemicals called volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. These include...
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Women Who May Need Mammograms Before Age 40
Women typically are urged to start receiving regular mammograms at age 40, but some might need to start even sooner, experts say. Specific risk factors that increase risk of early breast cancer might prompt young women to consider getting screened earlier, said Dr. Michele...
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Pfizer Drug Combo Improves Prostate Cancer Survival
Pfizer said on Thursday a combination of its drugs, Talzenna and Xtandi, helped prolong the lives of patients with a type of advanced prostate cancer in a late-stage study. The drug combination showed a significant improvement in the overall survival in patients with...
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What to Eat, and Avoid, to Lower Colon Cancer Risk
Colon cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death in men younger than age 50, according to TODAY. It's the second most frequent cause of cancer death, after breast cancer, among women of the same age group. In recent years, the incidence of colon cancer has been rising...
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Breast Cancer Treatments Might Speed Aging
Any form of breast cancer treatment appears to speed the aging of the recipient's cells, a new study finds. "For the first time, we're showing that the [aging] signals we once thought were driven by chemotherapy are also present in women undergoing radiation and surgery,"...
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US Duo Win Nobel Prize for MicroRNA Discovery
The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded Monday to Americans Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun for their discovery of microRNA, tiny pieces of genetic material that alter how genes work at the cellular level and could lead to new ways of treating cancer. The Nobel...
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Even Low Radon Levels Raise Children's Leukemia Risk
Growing up in a city with pockets of high radon levels, Matthew Bozigar wondered whether the radioactive gas might have anything to do with the high rates of cancer he saw around him, especially in young people. "As an epidemiologist, I started considering possible...
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Jimmy Carter, 100, Boosted a Life-Saving Cancer Drug
Former President Jimmy Carter, who turns 100 today, may have had a mixed legacy of political achievements, but in the field of cancer treatments, he helped put immunotherapy on the map. Carter's remarkable recovery in 2015 from advanced melanoma - previously a certain death...
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Breast Cancer Deaths Declining, Disparities Remain
While women overall are less likely to die of breast cancer now, some alarming disparities remain, a new American Cancer Society (ACS) analysis warns. Death rates for American Indian and Alaska Native women haven't changed for the past 30 years, according to the new report....
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Outpatient CAR-T Cancer Therapy Safe, Effective
Patients with a fast-spreading blood cancer respond well to outpatient treatment with CAR-T therapy, the largest study examining its use in a community setting has found. CAR-T is shorthand for chimeric antigen receptor therapy. In this treatment, doctors remove the...
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Halving Breast Cancer Radiation OK for Reconstruction
A shorter course of post-mastectomy radiation doesn't jeopardize a patient's chances of successful breast reconstruction, a new study finds.About 40 percent of people with breast cancer have mastectomies, followed by five to six weeks of radiation therapy to kill any cancer...
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Gum Disease Bacteria Linked to Head and Neck Cancers
Bacteria that causes gum disease can also raise a person's risk of head and neck cancers, a new study says. More than a dozen bacterial species have been linked to a collective 50% increased risk of head and neck cancer, researchers found."Our results offer yet another...
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200 Chemicals Tied to Breast Cancer in Food Packaging
Food sold in shrink wrap, on cardboard trays or in paper containers might contain any of nearly 200 chemicals linked to breast cancer, a new study warns.Commonly used food packaging materials contain 189 chemicals that can potentially cause breast cancer, researchers...
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Drug Makers to Stop Producing Fentanyl 'Lollipops'
Controversial fentanyl lollipops and similar products will no longer be made by drug makers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced. Known as TIRF medications, these products contain fentanyl and are used to manage breakthrough pain in cancer patients who have...