Cancer Archive

Good news on health –– which seems hard to come by right now –– includes declines in the rates of six out of 10 major causes of death in the United States.

Approaches to using laxative solutions for colon cleansing have changed since your last colonoscopy.

Preparing for a colonoscopy isn't fun. Indeed, many people dread the colonoscopy prep more than the colonoscopy itself. Traditionally, you have had to change your diet for a few days, drink quarts of laxative solutions — and then spend hours in the bathroom enduring diarrhea and discomfort as your colon empties. In the past few years, though, the approach to taking laxative solutions has evolved to become a little less unpleasant.

Lower-volume preps

Instead of downing 4 liters of medicated liquid, which was once the standard, most people now need to drink about 2 liters (a bit more than 64 ounces). The reduced volume of laxative fluid is often combined with laxative pills, to help you clear your bowels.

The question of what age a woman can stop having mammograms does not have a definite answer, but is one each woman must answer based on her circumstances and her feelings about the risks of the procedure versus its benefits.

A study of older adults found that those who had had more sexual partners were more likely to have developed cancer, but that does not mean there is a causal connection, and there are many ways that sexual behavior can affect cancer risk.

One of the possible side effects of chemotherapy that is not as well-known is hearing loss. If you are going to undergo chemotherapy, you should have your hearing tested before and after the course of treatment.

Are your personal care products putting your health at risk?

The average woman uses 12 different beauty products every day — cleansers, conditioners, hair dyes, fragrances, skin care products, scented lotions, nail polish, and makeup, to name a few. Take a quick glance at the labels, and you'll see a cocktail of chemical components.

You might assume that all these ingredients have been tested to ensure that they're safe for long-term use. That's not the case.

In the journals

People with heart disease also have a higher risk of developing cancer, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in November 2019.

Researchers evaluated data from 12,712 people from the Framingham Heart Study who did not have heart disease or cancer at the study's launch. They used a risk estimator that predicts a person's chance for getting heart disease within 10 years.