MOST CANCER SURVIVORS RETURN TO WORK
Only one of five cancer survivors surveyed in a Pennsylvania State University study were disabled or out of work four years after treatment. "People diagnosed early with these cancers usually have a good quality of life four to five years after treatment -- including being fully employed," says study leader Dr. Pamela Farley Short. "However, a minority of cancer survivors have on-going problems." In the study, published in Cancer, one worker out of eight quit work because of cancer within four years of being diagnosed -- the highest rates of quitting were among those with blood, central nervous system and head and neck cancers -- lowest rates of quitting were among survivors of uterine, female breast, prostate and thyroid cancers.
A HEALTHY SCHEDULE KEEPS WEIGHT OFF
An unpredictable schedule resulting in staying up late, skipping meals and snacking can add to weight gain, a U.S. study finds. Researchers at Northwestern University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have identified wide-ranging molecular and behavioral changes in mice that have a faulty circadian system. "Timing is critical to keep the metabolic symphony in tune," says author Joseph Bass of Northwestern University. The study, in Science Express, found circadian-challenged mice developed high cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood sugar, low insulin, bloated fat cells, and lipid-engorged liver cells -- some independent of the weight gain.
PAINLESS BREAST CANCER TEST
A painless, portable device using electrical current instead of X-ray that can examine breasts for cancer is being studied at the Medical College of Georgia. Twenty centers across the world are studying impedance scanning, based on evidence that electrical current passes through cancerous tissue more easily than normal tissue. Preliminary studies have shown Homologous Electrical Difference Analysis takes about 10 minutes and doesn't require often-uncomfortable breast compression. It also can pick up very small tumors, according to its developers, Z-Tech Inc. "For a number of years now, it's been known that when a malignancy happens in the breast, the impedance of electricity through that area decreases," says lead investigator Dr. James H. Craft.
OXYGEN LEVELS DROP DURING FLIGHT
More than half of plane travelers have their oxygen saturation drop to a level at which hospital patients would be prescribed extra oxygen, an Irish study finds. Belfast researchers found oxygen levels fell by an average of 4 percent when people reached cruising altitude. The study also found there is a significant fall in oxygen levels in all age groups during both short and long haul flights. "The oxygen levels of 54 percent of our subjects fell to less than 94 percent at maximum altitude and an earlier study suggests that a third of physicians would put hospital patients with these levels on extra oxygen," says Dr. Susan Humphreys, anesthetic specialist registrar, says in Anesthesia. "We believe that these falling oxygen levels, together with factors such as dehydration, immobility and low humidity, could contribute to illness during and after flights."
(EDITORS: For more information on CANCER contact Barbara Hale at [email protected]. For TEST, Toni Baker 706-721-4421.For OXYGEN LEVELS, Annette Whibley at [email protected].)
