Breast Cancer Insight: Promoting Breast Cancer Awareness With Expert Knowledge

Breast cancer awareness is a crucial issue for women’s health today. Few other serious diseases are so prevalent among women, and few of them are so preventable. Breast Cancer Insight, an informational website and seller of informational e-books, contains a wealth of information on breast cancer: from its causes, to its prevention, to its treatment.

Breast Cancer Insight was created by Dr. Jerry Lang, a medical professional with expert knowledge of breast cancer. Dr. Lang and his colleagues at Breast Cancer Insight started their website because of a shared determination to raise breast cancer awareness among the general populace.

Breast cancer awareness is generally lacking in the broader culture, and this is a major public health issue for women. Though the disease is frequently treatable if detected early, many women still delay needed mammograms, despite decades of persistent urging to the contrary by the media and various federal, state, and local breast cancer awareness organizations. Breast Cancer Insight adds a valuable dose of expert knowledge to the ongoing discussion of breast cancer awareness, breast cancer detection, and breast cancer treatment.

Breast Cancer Insight provides a wide range of breast cancer research materials, all of them vetted by experts in the field. Visitors to the site can read about symptoms of the disease, which include lumps in the breast, and swelling. They can also learn about the disease’s treatment, which generally includes some form of chemotherapy, combined with surgery. Breast Cancer Insight also sells an e-book, entitled “Breast Cancer Surgery – An Overview,” which contains a comprehensive discussion of what patients can expect from typical breast cancer surgery.

Breast Cancer Insight also tackles the problem of breast cancer awareness from the angle of research. Every day, researchers make important new discoveries that relate to breast cancer, but since ordinary people usually find it difficult to keep up with cutting-edge scientific literature, they often remain unaware of these important developments. Breast Cancer Insight keeps abreast of these research developments and summarizes them in easy to read language, to ensure total breast cancer awareness even among those without expert medical knowledge.

Another very important aspect of breast cancer awareness is knowledge of prevention strategies, and here, too, Breast Cancer Insight is active. The site contains a section devoted to explaining, in plain language the many ways of preventing the onset of breast cancer through knowledge of risk factors, proper diet, and so on.

Breast Cancer Insight also offers information on breast cancer support groups, which are a critical component of breast cancer awareness. Anyone who has received a breast cancer diagnosis is bound to be confused and overwhelmed, and the support of a likeminded group can positively affect treatment outcomes.

Tags: Awareness, Breast, Cancer, Promoting
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Male Breast Reduction: Lowering Confidence Two at a Time

Beach season is upon us, which can only mean one thing for men suffering with gynecomastia- swimming with your shirt on.  Gynecomastia, more commonly referred to as “man-boobs”, is not uncommon, as it is estimated to affect somewhere between 40%-60% of the male population.  So take a second gents, lift up your shirts and have a long, hard look.  If you see something sagging, male breast reduction could be for you!

What is it?

But what exactly does gynecomastia correction surgery entail?  First and foremost, it is wise to get a mammogram or breast x-ray prior to surgery, which can rule out any serious, albeit unlikely, causes of gynecomastia such as breast cancer or tumors.  Generally, male breast enlargement is due to either excess glandular tissue in the chest or excess fatty tissue in the chest.

In cases where glandular tissue is the primary cause, a small incision will be made around the edge of the areola or somewhere under the arm.  From there, the surgeon will extract not only unnecessary tissue, but also excess fat and skin from around the nipple, as well as the bottom and sides of the breast in question.  In cases where fatty tissue is the culprit, liposuction may be the only procedure needed.  In which case, a small incision is made around the areola or somewhere in the armpit so that a cannula (a tube that drains fluids) can be inserted to suck out the fat.

Who needs it?

If you are feeling self-conscious about your gynecomastia, which in Greek roughly translates to the not-so-subtle “woman- like breasts”, then maybe male breast reduction will work for you.  However, if you are feeling self-conscious because you are a 13-year old boy going through puberty, the best idea is to wait it out.  Though gynecomastia is common during puberty, it is generally a passing phase that will correct itself over the course of a few months.  So hang in there young men, don’t let those Greek jerks get you down by comparing you to women.

Gynecomastia can stem from several different factors, the most obvious being obesity.  However, other causes include genetic disorders, side effects from medication, chronic liver disease, aging, and steroid use.  Drugs or medication that enhance estrogen or inhibit testosterone synthesis are generally the ones that produce gynecomastia, although drugs as common as alcohol, marijuana, and valium may also contribute to your “woman- like breasts” physique.

Tags: Breast
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National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Sandwiched Boomers

By Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D. and Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D.

For the past 25 years, October has been designated National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You’ll find races to run that raise funds for research. Stores will be selling everything from mixmasters to ipods in pink. In fact, pink ribbons will be virtually everywhere. What does this focus on early detection and recovery mean to you?

If you are over 40, have regular screening mammograms and perform monthly breast self-exams. And see your physician for an annual breast exam and consultation about risk factors and additional diagnostic steps to take, such as MRI. With early detection, most breast cancers now can be successfully treated. There are between 2 and 3 million American women living today who have survived breast cancer and are thriving. Yet, as many survivors have learned, the process of coping with any serious illness can take its toll – emotionally and physically. These 7 tips will help you manage your recovery so you can move forward with your life:

1. Accept your changing emotions as normal and give yourself permission to express them. After a brush with cancer, it’s normal to experience many different feelings, such as anger, fear, anxiety, depression or stress. Talk openly with those you trust and acknowledge these feelings to yourself. Only then can you begin to cope with them.

2. Recognize the changes in your body. You may feel that your body has betrayed you, leaving you vulnerable and with a loss of innocence about your own invincibility. Take time to grieve this loss. You may also experience side effects of the treatments – fatigue, weight change, hair loss, or menopausal symptoms. Once you determine how your body is reacting, you can address each of the symptoms in efforts to alleviate them.

3. Enjoy the support you receive from others. Your family and friends can provide a caring network. You may also want to join a breast cancer support group, either in person or on-line. Support is helpful in many ways – it gives you someone to listen to you when you need to talk, someone to give you information and feedback, someone to help you with practical matters such as meals and errands. Support will be there for you if you look for it. It may feel awkward at first to ask, but you’ll find friends want to do what they can to help you out.

Tags: Awareness, Breast, Cancer
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Health and Wellness Recommendations

There are many controversies regarding the subject of health and wellness, everyone having of course a different opinion. As parents, it is only natural that we are concerned with the well-being of our children, wanting them to grow up and develop into fine adults. Natural parenting is not an impossible objective and it can certainly be reached if we turn to help now and then. Where are we to find advice?

You might not think as the Internet to be the perfect place to learn how to be a better parent but it really is. There are several resources available on health and wellness, recommended for the entire family and they probably represent the first step you need to take. Once you discover a website that offers all important tips on natural parenting, stick with it. You will find the information to be highly useful and quite practical. After all, you do not want someone to show you how to be a parent. A few tips should do the trick.

Children are pretty amazing beings. However, they need our guidance and often times, they rely on our maturity. Health and wellness are two important subjects to treat, requiring now only experience but also common sense. Parents can benefit from various articles written either by other parents or specialists in natural parenting. These teach them about the importance of being a good parent, raising your children the right way. Is there a wrong way? Not really, but there are many things we have to learn. Kids go through different development stages, they get sick and probably hurt. We need to know how to respond to such situations properly.

If you have a newborn, then perhaps you are more than scared when it comes to being a parent. What are you to do if the baby catches a cold? And what if he/she gets sick for no apparent reason? Listen to what other people who have gone through similar situations have to say. Go online, read all about child disease and different phases the little ones have go through. When you find the time, compile all the information you have obtained from the Internet into a notebook. The moment you need answers, open your notes on health and wellness, natural parenting and so on. And make sure that you pay a visit on the Internet to discover the latest.

Tags: Wellness
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Are We All Internet Doctors Now?

It used to be that when we were sick – or something was bothering us physically – we went to the doctor. However, for many today, the doctor’s opinion takes second place to the Internet…Welcome Dr. Google!!!

Using the Internet to look into medical conditions comes with its pros and cons, which can benefit or harm us depending on how much we depending on the information that we find.

On the pro side of the discussion, anytime we want to search for information, so that we can be more informed, that is a positive thing. When it comes to your health, especially with heart disease, cancer, or chronic health issues, the more informed you are, the better able you are to do things to better your health. In addition to being more informed, looking for medical information on the Internet is a positive thing because:

You can decide whether you condition is one that requires immediate medical attention or whether it is okay to wait a couple of days to see the doctor
You can learn important information – or questions to ask – when and if you need to see the doctor
You can find information on unusual conditions at a time that is convenient to you
Information that is up-to-date and
You may be able to find organizations or support groups, which can help you connect with others who can understand you because they are fighting the same disease
Although these pros are quite encouraging, there are also some cons associated with getting medical information in this way. They include the following:
You can learn information that can upset you, making you even more paranoid about the symptoms you are having
There are many physical symptoms that can be indicative of a variety of medical conditions. For example: joint pain can be a symptom of lupus or rheumatoid arthritis or the flu… or just from a weekend of doing too many home repair projects. Just because you have one or two symptoms connected to a particular disorder, that does not mean you have that specific problem – it could be something else entirely;
When self-diagnosing using information found on the Internet, we may misdiagnose ourselves. It really requires a doctor to look at your symptoms as a whole, to determine which disease or disorder you might have – if any at all;
You can’t believe everything you read, as anyone can create a website – even those trying to sell a “miracle cure” of some sort; and
You might come across images or stories that disturb you while researching your symptoms, something that may upset you. Sometimes these images or stories do not have anything to do with the condition in which you are researching.

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Mammography Breast Cancer Detection Is Not a Good Method

Deaths from breast cancer usually appear between ages 30 to 50 years. Fortunately, today you have more choice in detecting breast cancer than a few decades ago.

Unfortunately, education and socialization will these options and their effectiveness in detecting breast cancer in different levels is less.

Better than Mammography

At the beginning of his article, Beyond Mammography, Dr. Len Saputo told me that he followed the development of all detection methods used by the medical community, including mammography, clinical breast test, ultrasound, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and PET scans.

In the next section, Dr. Len explained about a method of detection is better than mammography, explains in detail how the latest and great this one method, namely termografi breast (breast Thermography).

Termografi breast is a breast cancer detection methods that have been there since around the 1960s, using a scanner monitors the heat to heat variation detecting breast in the body. However, the infrared scanner in these years was less sensitive. Today, more termografi modern breast has undergone a very rapid progress than ever before.

Breast cancer is the second most violent to women in the United States. Based on the latest reports Cancer.org, 2007-2008 Breast Cancer Data, in the year 2007 there have been 178,000 new cases of breast cancer and more than 40,000 women die of it.

But to watch a man not immune to breast cancer. Has found more than 2,000 men diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and approximately 450 men died because of it. Because detection of breast cancer for men is almost never done, this seems to make a man diagnosed with a more severe stage, and thus a small survival rate.

Unfortunately, in this case the conventional medical still use the old method of detecting and treating cancer, no matter how much less effective method.

The use of mammography as a standard is one example of conventional medical errors in detecting cancer.

The Case Against Mammography

Health institutions in the United States recommends all women over 40 years to get a mammogram every 1 or 2 years, but there is no strong evidence that mammogram tests could save lives and the benefits were too controversial. It is precisely the danger to the health of mammography has been clearly known.

John Gofman, M.D., Ph.D. – A nuclear physicist and a medical doctor, and one of the world-class experts in the field of radiation hazards, presenting the evidence irrefutable in his book “Radiation from Medical Procedures in the Pathogenesis of Cancer and Ischemic Heart Disease”, which explains that the more 50% rate of cancer deaths was triggered by the use of x-ray.

Tags: Breast, Cancer, Cause, Detection, Mammography
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Breast Reduction Surgery and Information

Women with very large, pendulous breasts may experience a variety of medical problems caused by the excessive weight-from back and neck pain and skin irritation to skeletal deformities and breathing problems. Bra straps may leave indentations in their shoulders. And unusually large breasts can make a woman-or a teenage girl-feel extremely self-conscious.

Women with very large, pendulous breasts may experience a variety of medical problems caused by the excessive weight-from back and neck pain and skin irritation to skeletal deformities and breathing problems. Bra straps may leave indentations in their shoulders. And unusually large breasts can make a woman-or a teenage girl-feel extremely self-conscious.

Breast reduction, technically known as reduction mammaplasty, is designed for such women. The procedure removes fat, glandular tissue, and skin from the breasts, making them smaller, lighter, and firmer. It can also reduce the size of the areola, the darker skin surrounding the nipple. The goal is to give the woman smaller, better-shaped breasts in proportion with the rest of her body.

If you’re considering breast reduction, this will give you a basic understanding of the procedure- when it can help, how it’s performed, and what results you can expect. It can’t answer all of your questions, since a lot depends on your individual circumstances. Please be sure to ask your doctor if there is anything about the procedure you don’t understand.

The best candidates for breast reduction

Breast reduction is usually performed for physical relief rather than simply cosmetic improvement. Most women who have the surgery are troubled by very large, sagging breasts that restrict their activities and cause them physical discomfort.

In most cases, breast reduction isn’t performed until a woman’s breasts are fully developed; however, it can be done earlier if large breasts are causing serious physical discomfort. The best candidates are those who are mature enough to fully understand the procedure and have realistic expectations about the results. Breast reduction is not recommended for women who intend to breast-feed.

All surgery carries some uncertainty and risk

Breast reduction is not a simple operation, but it’s normally safe when performed by a qualified plastic surgeon. Nevertheless, as with any surgery, there is always a possibility of complications, including bleeding, infection, or reaction to the anesthesia. Some patients develop small sores around their nipples after surgery; these can be treated with antibiotic creams. You can reduce your risks by closely following your physician’s advice both before and after surgery.

Tags: Breast, Surgery
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Take central selective informations just about health insurance

Then medical price points started to rise, people began to live longer and the medical profession became adept at curing various diseases and saving and prolonging the lives of shoppers with serious injuries and life-threatening illnesses. Health care and coverage expense began rising that much a good amount quickly than annual incomes and premiums began taxing both employers, who were bringing in the lion’s share of premiums, and for employees, to whom organizations often passed on costs through perfect deductibles, greater out of pocket expenses and higher premiums.

Corresponding to a recent study by the MSNBC News Service, 41 per cent of Americans whose profit ranges from moderate to middle had no health insurance for at least side of 2005. In 2001, that rate was still lower—28 percent. Additionally, a good deal more as opposed to 50 per cent of uninsured Americans in 2005 found it difficult to pay their medical bills. Another alarming statistic—28 per cent of Americans in 2005 had no health insurance, additonally 24 percent had none in 2001.

So, what should a individual do if they don’t have any quality of life protection or if they hold a selection between a cheap mark down plan that performs not payback core rates and an affordable initiative that may cost a bit more but also provides much better coverage? Corresponding to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the majority of persons who are not covered for important screening tests, the as a mammogram, colon cancer screening or a PSA test, will not have those exams. Also, close to 60 percent of persons without vitality insurance missed treatment or did not buy medicine needed for a chronic condition.

All of these figures point to one thing—people who miss health coverage for primary services are frequently incapable to pay for those services, putting them at greater risk for developing new or exacerbating existing health conditions.

What should you give the impression for in a health insurance plan, especially when cost is an issue? It’s important that you get the best coverage you can afford. Skimping on premiums can save you money upfront, but the result can prove to be penny-wise and pound-foolish. Sometimes people can’t afford coverage and sometimes they think because they are sharp that they simply don’t need it. However, excellent people get ill or are faced in serious accidents all the time. You never know when you’ll need coverage.

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Osteoporosis Symptoms, Treatment, Information, Risk Factors

The warning signs of osteoporosis

Unfortunately, there aren’t any.

The fact is, if you’re 60 or older, there’s a nearly 1 in: 2 chance you have osteoporosis. But early on, osteoporosis is a silent disease, so you may not see any signs. However, eventually it can lead to broken bones or the disfiguring dowager’s hump. The good news is, if osteoporosis is detected early enough, its effects may be prevented.

A simple, painless exam called a Bone Density Test can measure the health of your bones. Ask your healthcare professional if this test should be part of your health evaluation, like your mammogram and Pap smear. Because if your bones are thinning, there are treatment options that can help strengthen them, and let you continue to lead an active, independent life.

Osteoporosis makes your bones weak and more likely to break. Anyone can develop osteoporosis, but it is common in older women. As many as half of all women and a quarter of men older than 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis.

What are risk factors for developing and causes of osteoporosis?

Getting older Being small and thin Having a family history of osteoporosis Taking certain medicines Being a white or Asian woman Having osteopenia, which is low bone mass

Osteoporosis is a silent disease. You might not know you have it until you break a bone. A bone mineral density test is the best way to check your bone health. To keep bones strong, eat a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D, exercise and do not smoke. If needed, osteoporosis treatment medicines can also help.

Tags: Risk, Symptoms, Treatment
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Patient information database could help reduce waste, provide best care

Care for heart failure is relatively cheap in Madison, but treatment for severe arthritis is expensive.

Doctors in Dane County give more women mammograms than elsewhere in the state but test fewer heart patients for cholesterol.

Those are among the findings from a major new database of patient information formed by insurers, employers and health-care providers in Wisconsin.

The database, which reveals how the cost of care, adherence to proper screening and other factors vary by region and doctor group, will encourage physicians to reduce waste and give patients the best care, organizers say.

“We’ll be able to find out who is performing most efficiently,” said Julie Bartels, executive director of the Wisconsin Health Information Organization, or WHIO, which announced the first version of its massive database Thursday.

The project, under development for four years, will allow employers and eventually consumers to choose doctors with the best scores, Bartels said. It should also help Wisconsin prepare for federal health-care reform legislation, expected to include incentives for physicians who follow certain measures.

“Improving the value of health care is the only way we’re going to be able to reform the health-care system,” Bartels said.

Most of the information isn’t available to the public, but more of it might be in coming years.

Whether doctors prescribe certain drugs or keep patients in the hospital another day can be influenced by many factors, including how they were trained, what drug company representatives they encounter and how many nurses they work with, said Dr. Tim Bartholow, a senior vice president of the Wisconsin Medical Society, which is part of WHIO.

The “pressure of transparency” from the database will force doctors to standardize their care, Bartholow said.

The effort focuses on “episodes” of care. Those include all doctor and hospital care, drugs, therapy visits, lab tests and other expenses stemming from a single medical event or for a year.

Information from 1.6 million patients in Wisconsin is in the database. The number is expected to double next year, largely from the addition of patients on Medicaid, the state-federal health plan for the poor. Patient identities are withheld, Bartels said.

Organizers have only begun to study why medical costs vary by region and doctor group.

Patients with heart failure — a heart that doesn’t pump properly — cost $2,782 a year in Madison. That is 44 percent less than the expected cost of $4,238, which is based on how ill the patients are.

In Milwaukee, heart failure patients cost $5,860 a year, compared to an expected cost of $5,489.

Madison doctors might treat the patients more in their offices instead of in the hospital, though that remains unproven, Bartholow said.

Tags: Care, waste
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