A new study finds that intrauterine devices (IUD), which are traditionally used as contraceptives, could help treat early stage endometrial cancer in women who wish to preserve their fertility.
Cancer
Study: Cancer Deaths Decline in Europe, but New Cases Rise
As cancer treatment gets more sophisticated, a diagnosis no longer means a death sentence. But while dying of cancer is less likely, a European study finds that the rate of developing cancer is higher than ever.
AHA: Don’t Be Fooled, Smokeless Tobacco Isn’t Exactly Safe
If you think chewing on tobacco is any better for your health than smoking it, the American Heart Association (AHA) respectfully disagrees. The national nonprofit group released a statement Monday discouraging smokers from …
Even More Evidence for the Health Benefits of Drinking
After TIME.com ran my story about how moderate and even heavy drinking are both associated with living longer than average, lots of readers e-mailed me their skepticism.
The Strange World of Drug Origins: Nuns’ Urine, Yew Trees and Rooster Combs
Some people go to infamous extremes to get high — smoking dried toad venom, for example, or in one Northern culture, drinking the urine of reindeer that are tripping on psychedelic mushrooms. And yet, stranger sources than …
Why Can’t Americans Eat Their Fruits and Veggies?
A large and undisputed body of evidence suggests that eating fruits and vegetables is a preventive measure against cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently found that only 32.5% of American adults ate two daily servings of fruit in 2009, a slight decline from …
Declines in U.S. Smoking Rates Remain Stalled at 20%
For the fifth year in a row, the decline in smoking rates among adult Americans remains stalled. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 20% of adults still smoke, a figure that hasn’t changed since 2005.
Can Eating Vegetables Prevent Lung Cancer?
If you smoke, you know you’re putting yourself at increased risk of lung cancer. But if you boost the variety of fruits and vegetables that you eat, you may be able to lower those odds a bit.
Scientists in Europe report in the American Association for Cancer Research’s journal that smokers who consumed the greatest variety of fruits …
Can Zapping Potatoes Make Them More Nutritious?
Giving potatoes a good soak in a salt water solution doesn’t seem that unusual. But dunking them in such a bath and then zapping them with a jolt of electricity is hardly a conventional culinary trick—even in the name of …
Widely used cancer drug may cause kidney damage
A new analysis published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology finds that a drug commonly used for cancer treatment may cause kidney damage in some patients. The drug, bevacizumab, is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating glioblastoma brain tumors, metastasized breast cancer and other forms of
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A Blood Test for Cancer?
Any cancer doctor will tell you that the earlier you pick up a tumor, the better your chances are of treating it and getting it under control.
So researchers at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago are announcing some welcome news on that front. Scientists at the biotechnology company Chronix …
CDC confirms effectiveness of HPV vaccine in men
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed its provisional recommendation from 2009 that the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) against human papillomavirus infection is both safe and effective in males in preventing genital warts.
The HPV vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2006 for use in …
Shark cartilage no help against cancer
Despite the fact that sharks do not tend to get cancer, it turns out that their cartilage does not contain any magical cancer-fighting agent that could help patients battling the disease.
That’s the conclusion of the latest research from a government-funded study on the subject. Reporting in the Journal of the National Cancer …