Blogs - WEGO Health

Are we winning the War on Cancer?

As a cancer survivor, I'm surprised at the number of times people ask, "Are we winning the war on Cancer?" Advances made in cancer research and treatments are making a difference, but I still think there's a long way to go. It's not a yes or no question and unfortunately most people immediately assume failure when the answer isn't a definitive "YES." I know we're making great strides in the war on cancer - I'm living proof. In a recent report by US News & World Report, it seem… Continue

Added by Alicia C. Staley on November 15, 2009 at 9:30pm — 1 Comment

Sleep deprivation, hot flashes - linked, but not how we thought

"Private summers" "Mini tropical vacation" "My own personal trip around the sun" Whatever you choose to call them, hot flashes are not just "sweatin'" - - to the oldies. I've known an unlucky few to suffer with them in their early twenties. *raises hand* They're also not reserved just for women. Even men going thru androgen deprivation therapy for cancer, or those with hormonal trouble experience these unwelcome instant trips to the sun and back. Those of us dealing with hot flas… Continue

Added by Ellen S on November 7, 2009 at 9:30pm — 2 Comments

Do Cancer Screenings Help or Hurt Us? What Have You Heard?

Every year, the American Cancer Society (ACS) releases a series of reports. One of these reports was released recently and is causing a slow, resounding buzz in the online cancer community. After reading the NYTimes article, "Cancer Society, in Shift, Has Concerns on Screens" I began to understand why the biggest piece… Continue

Added by amanda on October 22, 2009 at 5:00pm — 1 Comment

Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

In lieu of the 25th annual Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) I wanted to start a post that's full of links to breast cancer sites and other information and ask the community - what are you doing to celebrate this month? Whether you're a survivor or have a loved one that is - October is a month to honor all you've endured and the huge achievement you've made. And while the media sometimes tends to make Breast Cancer… Continue

Added by amanda on October 2, 2009 at 4:30pm — 1 Comment

Pink Ribbon Products: Supporting Breast Cancer or Company Piggy Banks?

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) I would like to first, direct you over to Sarah's blog post - it's a great rundown of breast cancer facts, links, and fun. Now onto my analytic blog post. Every year it seems more organizations and companies come out with Breast Cancer Awareness products. In fact, you can buy almos… Continue

Added by amanda on October 2, 2009 at 3:23pm — 6 Comments

Obesity: Leading Cancer Cause?

In the article Obesity Could become Top Cancer Cause at Forbes.com, experts have found that obesity may become the leading cause of cancer in women in Western countries in the coming years. Experts estimate that obesity accounts for up to 8 percent of cancers in Europe, and this number is expected to rise substantially in the next decade. Cancer experts at the Univers… Continue

Added by Lisa on September 25, 2009 at 1:56pm — 1 Comment

Microchips in pills - when your medicine phones/texts to remind you

I had heard this was coming, but never dreamed it would be so quickly. A groundbreaking new technology is being developed and tested by Novartis, and Pfizer has developed a similar system. Yes, it's true. Soon our pills may be texting or phoning us to remind us it's time to take another, as well as when we should call for our next refill. What do you think of this technology? At first glan… Continue

Added by Ellen S on September 22, 2009 at 4:00pm — 1 Comment

Depression raising cancer death rates

An analysis recently published for the November 15, 2009 issue of Cancer has linked mental health directly to the physical health of people - especially those who deal with cancer and depression comorbidly. While it has been known for years that there is a direction relationship between all aspects of health, more and more well-known studies are being released to support those findings. Science Daily… Continue

Added by Sarah on September 20, 2009 at 2:09pm — No Comments

What You Should Know: Pancreatic Cancer

Did you know nearly 95% of those who have pancreatic cancer will die from it? Most patients die within two years of a diagnosis. In fact, patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer typically have a poor prognosis. This is because pancreatic cancer usually causes no symptoms early on. This means that by the time it is diagnosed, the disease has progressed to locally advanced or metastatic disease. The median survival from diagnosis is around 3 to 6 months and less than 5% of patients survive 5 yea… Continue

Added by amanda on September 18, 2009 at 3:00pm — 2 Comments

New Research: Habits That May Cut Breast Cancer Risk

According to a NYT article Regimens: Habits Help in Avoiding Breast Cancer, Study Finds, a recent report by the American Institute for Cancer Research has found that "women can cut their risk of breast cancer by almost half if they watch their weight, exercise daily, breast-feed their babies and limit alcoholic beverages". According to reports from 81 new studies, women can take preventative mea… Continue

Added by Lisa on September 11, 2009 at 2:23pm — No Comments

Curing Cancer One Mile at a Time... the Pan-Mass Challenge 2009

This weekend (Aug. 1 & 2) marks the 30th year of the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC), a bike ride to benefit the Jimmy Fund. The PMC is an amazing event which raises more money than any other athletic fundraiser. The best part is that 100% of all fundraising monies go directly to the cause (curing cancer!) Last year, the event raised $35,000,000 for cancer research. Unfortunately, due to the economical recession, the goal this year has been established as $30,000,000. Positively, my friends and fam… Continue

Added by juliacantor on August 1, 2009 at 6:17pm — No Comments

Computers of the world unite to cure disease

Stanford University's bold research project called Folding At Home is your chance to sit back, do nothing, and help them discover the keys to disease, and someday maybe even their cures. *Alzheimer's Disease *Parkinson's Disease *Cancer… Continue

Added by Ellen S on June 23, 2009 at 5:00pm — No Comments

Dust Off That Old Bike, Oil Those Chains & Ride For Research!

Spending a lot of my day riding the T (for those of you who don't live in Boston, this is our incredibly unreliable subway transportation system), I tend to read the surplus of advertisements that plaster every wall, door, and ceiling space. Yesterday, one poster caught my eye: "Ride for Research: New England Unites To Fight Brain Tumors May 31st 2009". I visited their site, and found out that Ride For… Continue

Added by Lisa on May 21, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Pink Ribbons Everywhere

Let me help you understand my eagerness to shout to the world my awareness of the dangers of different diseases, medicines, etc. Before my heart attack, my top-priority concern had been breast cancer (as is true of so many women). So when I went to the gym I would wear my New Balance sneakers with the pink ribbon embroidered on the tongue. Underneath my sweat suit would be my Wacoal bra (The Awareness Bra) with yet another embroidered pink ribbon. This bra actually comes with a tiny brochure tha… Continue

Added by lois on April 28, 2009 at 8:05pm — No Comments

Migraine, hot drinks and cancer

When a Migraine strikes, the pain often drives me to seek extreme temperatures for relief. Scalding hot water diverts my attention from my pain for as long as I can stand in the shower. In the case of my right sided Migraines, this is in the form of a scalding hot drink. Even scalding hot water (bleh) gives me as much as 30 seconds of relief per swallow. When in the midst of severe Migraine pain, burning myself accidentally if I overdo seems like a preferable trade-off. New research shows this… Continue

Added by Ellen S on March 30, 2009 at 1:30pm — 4 Comments

Can anti-perspirants harm women’s breasts? A never-ending discussion?

The Daily Mail in Britain recently explored the possible link between breast-cancer and anti-perspirants in an article written by reporter Lois Rogers entitled: ‘Can anti-perspirants harm women’s breasts?’ (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1160744/Can-anti-perspirants-harm-womens-breasts-New-study-links-deodorants-breast-lumps.html). Rogers explains ‘recent research has shown that women who suffer repeated appearance of benign breast lumps might be more likely ultimately to develop canc… Continue

Added by Tim Sander on March 22, 2009 at 10:44am — No Comments

January: Cervical Health Awareness Month

The holidays can be a very overwhelming time for everyone. However, as we begin the New Year, and start to tackle our New Year’s resolutions, why not make cervical cancer prevention a top priority? The Department of Health has declared the month of January, Cervical Health Awareness Month. As holidays begin to wind down, there's no better time for mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and neighbors to join the fight to end cervical cancer. Physicians agree, yearly examinations and pap tests are the… Continue

Added by Lisa on January 9, 2009 at 2:00pm — 2 Comments

Colonoscopy- Preparing for your journey, and the adventure you'll miss!

Yep. Had one. Got thru it. Lived to tell about it. Don't really want to tell about it tho, so will provide this link instead. The colonoscopy itself is a piece of cake. It's the prep that will never be forgotten. Believe me, Dave Barry has a much more expressive way of detailing the entire process than I could ever get the guts up to describe, and he is sooooo funny! If you know anyone about to take their first colonoscopy journ… Continue

Added by Ellen S on November 12, 2008 at 4:30pm — 3 Comments

Treating Opioid side-effects with a new/old drug

The story of a new drug FDA approved to treat constipation resulting from use of opioid pain relievers such as codeine, oxycontin, and morphine, begins with a compassionate University of Chicago pharmacologist who wanted to help a terminally ill friend. Leon Goldberg, MD, PhD was struck by the suffering of his dying friend's struggle with this common and severe side-effect, and in 1979 began his quest to find relief for seriously ill patients who depend on opioids for serious and end of life car… Continue

Added by Ellen S on October 9, 2008 at 10:00am — 3 Comments

Is the HPV vaccine worth it?

For a little over two years now, we've been hearing about the Gardasil vaccination - said to prevent the rare forms of cancer caused by the human papillomavirus. For those two years, we’ve also been hearing “this vaccination saves lives!” and then “this vaccination is unneeded.” Two more New England Journal of Medicine articles take the side of the latter opinion; the Gardasil… Continue

Added by Sarah on August 24, 2008 at 7:06pm — 1 Comment

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All Blog Posts Tagged 'cancer' (27)