Push to get more Black women genetic screening for cancer
VM-Med Blog » Cancer
by Toula Stake
3w ago
Black women tend to be diagnosed at a younger age, with more aggressive forms of breast cancer. Photo: Pexels (Tashauna Reid, Amina Zafar/ CBC News) — Breast cancer tends to hit Black women at younger ages and be more aggressive, but they’re underrepresented when it comes to genetic screening, say doctors launching a new awareness campaign.  The awareness campaign, announced Wednesday by Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, focuses on genetic screening for changes or mutations in two key genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, as well as others.   Dr. Aisha Lofters, a family ..read more
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The Many Causes of Painful or Tender Breasts
VM-Med Blog » Cancer
by Toula Stake
1M ago
Woman with breast discomfort (Tina Dawn/ VM-Med) — Painful or tender breasts are not uncommon. Throughout their lives and menstrual cycles, most women will experience some form of discomfort and perhaps even occasional pain. People sometimes assume the worst when they experience unusual symptoms or discomfort in their breasts, and they shouldn’t. The reasons vary and are often quite benign and easily treatable.  Why do you experience breast tenderness?  There are many non-serious reasons why your breasts may suddenly hurt. Here are all the far-more-likely reasons your body is behavin ..read more
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Is 30 minutes of exercise a day enough?
VM-Med Blog » Cancer
by Toula Stake
2M ago
Science says you may need less exercise than you think to live a long and healthy life. Photo: Pexels (Joe Stone/ New York Times) — For anyone interested in the relationship between exercise and living longer, one of the most pressing questions is how much we really need to stay healthy. Is 30 minutes a day enough? Can we get by with less? Do we have to exercise all in one session, or can we spread it throughout the day? And when we’re talking about exercise, does it have to be hard to count? For years, exercise scientists tried to quantify the ideal “dose” of exercise for most people. They fi ..read more
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New Year’s resolution guide: 5 steps to a healthier 2024
VM-Med Blog » Cancer
by Toula Stake
3M ago
It is a fact that your ability to stave off age-related diseases such as heart disease and cancer resides in your muscle mass. Photo: Pexels (Melissa Rudy/ Fox News) — Heading into 2024, about a third of people will make New Year’s resolutions — many of which will be tied to leading longer, healthier lives. “Life expectancy is at its lowest in decades despite our wealth of scientific knowledge,” Dr. Brett Osborn, a Florida neurologist and longevity expert, told Fox News Digital.  “But it doesn’t have to be this way — you have a choice to be healthy in 2024 an ..read more
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Why do I have ovary pain? 11 causes and treatment options
VM-Med Blog » Cancer
by Toula Stake
3M ago
Endometriosis often causes severe cyclical or episodic uterine or ovarian cramping pain and intermittent bleeding. Photo: Pexels (Jaime R. Herndon/ Very Well Health) — On each side of the pelvis, there is an ovary. Ovaries produce and release eggs for fertilization. When someone has ovarian pain, the most common causes are typically related to ovulation and menstruation. You can feel ovarian pain in the lower abdomen, pelvis, or lower back. While ovary pain is often related to the menstrual cycle, there are times when ovary pain can be caused by something else, like en ..read more
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More evidence that regular mammograms save lives
VM-Med Blog » Cancer
by Toula Stake
4M ago
Women who got all their scheduled mammograms had a 66% to 72% reduced risk of breast cancer death. Photo: Pexels (Dennis Thompson/ HealthDay) — A woman who gets her regular mammograms as scheduled is much less likely to die from breast cancer than if she skips screenings, a new study shows. Women with breast cancer who underwent all her scheduled mammograms had a survival rate of 80%, compared with survival rates as low as 59% for women who didn’t participate in any screenings, researchers found. “The purpose of mammography is to detect breast cancer during the few years it can be seen on a ma ..read more
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A Less Invasive Approach: Learn More About Interventional Radiology
VM-Med Blog » Cancer
by Toula Stake
4M ago
Medical specialist reviewing an X-ray (Tina Dawn/ VM-Med) — As we navigate an increasingly taxed healthcare system and a post-pandemic world that recognizes the importance of reducing virus and infection exposure, minimally invasive procedures will become more popular as both medical professionals and patients choose to prioritize them. One procedure that’s certain to gain ground is interventional radiology, also known as image-guided therapy, which is the use of medical imaging techniques to guide doctors as they diagnose and treat certain problems with blood vessels and lymph vessels through ..read more
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How to perform a breast self-examination
VM-Med Blog » Cancer
by Toula Stake
5M ago
Woman wearing pink to celebrate breast cancer awareness month. (Tina Dawn/ VM-Med) — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Canada and while it’s an opportunity to celebrate the amazing progress that has been made against breast cancer, we should also continue to prioritize research and raise awareness about a disease that has affected and continues to affect many women’s lives. Thanks to early detection and improvements in treatment, breast cancer mortality rates have considerably decreased over the past few decades. But we can’t afford to be complacent. Recent medical studies show that ..read more
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Can a 3-minute exercise burst lower your cancer risk?
VM-Med Blog » Cancer
by Toula Stake
6M ago
A new study found that short bursts of exercise throughout the day helped lower cancer risk by up to 18% in adults who were not exercisers. Photo: Pexels (Rachel Murphy/ Very Well Health) — Maybe you’d love to hit the gym for a serious workout session, take a long walk, or go for a run—if only your jam-packed schedule would allow it. What if the benefits of physical activity could take less time? A new study suggests that even short bursts of exercise you can do at home may boost your health and could even lower your risk for cancer.1 The study included more than 22,000 non-exercising adu ..read more
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What are the different stages of ovarian cancer?
VM-Med Blog » Cancer
by Toula Stake
7M ago
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month (Tina Dawn/ VM-Med) — Being diagnosed with ovarian cancer can be a scary and stressful experience. It’s important for a patient to understand what stage of cancer they are facing, how their doctor determines this, and how their medical team expects to plan treatment and predict prognosis based on the cancer’s development. Oncologists determine a person’s cancer stage using a variety of measurements and results acquired via a series of diagnostic tests, imaging scans, and sometimes samples taken from surgical biopsy. An ovarian cancer ultrasound is also a very use ..read more
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