The Risks and Benefits of Cosmetic Surgery
In 2004, almost 12 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the United States, a 44% increase from 2003. Choices of procedures abound, and you can find many articles and brochures describing them. But much of this information comes from the marketing departments of businesses trying to sell you their services. Reliable, objective information isn’t easy to come by. That’s why Harvard Medical School has published advice from two renowned cosmetic experts in its new special health report, Cosmetic Surgery A to Z.
This clear, easy-to-follow report covers the most popular cosmetic procedures and surgeries. It also gives candid details about recovery times, how long results last, and what you are likely to pay. It describes new advances in treatments, such as the recently approved procedure called the Contour Thread Lift, a more subtle alternative to the face lift in which the patient is awake and can offer input as the surgeon inserts threads to combat sagging skin.
Calcium and vitamin D supplements do not reduce breast cancer
A large multicenter randomized clinical trial reported that supplementation with calcium and vitamin D did not reduce breast cancer risk in the overall population.
However, exploratory analyses suggest the effect of vitamin D and calcium supplements on breast cancer risk may vary according to a woman’s initial supplement use.
“Our findings suggest that calcium and vitamin D supplementation may reduce breast cancer risk in some women, but more research is needed to clarify these results,” said Rowan T. Chlebowski, MD, PhD, Medical Oncologist at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) and the study’s lead author. “We can’t yet make a general recommendation about how much calcium and vitamin D individuals should take each day as supplements.”
Report links asbestos to larynx cancer
Research has linked another cancer to asbestos, according to a report released on Tuesday that found exposure can cause cancer of the voice box, or larynx, and possibly of the colon, stomach and upper throat.
The U.S. Senate had asked the Institute of Medicine to look at the link between asbestos and cancers of several organs that are currently listed in stalled legislation to create a $140 billion asbestos injury compensation fund.
It was unclear whether the findings would compel lawmakers to further amend the bill to exclude some cancers that could not be definitively linked to asbestos.
Black women prone to aggressive breast cancer
African-American women who haven’t entered menopause but who develop breast cancer have a higher risk of dying from the disease than their white counterparts. Now, new research suggests that this increased risk may be in part due to the higher rate of so-called basal-like breast tumors among premenopausal African-American women.
“Basal-like cancers,” Dr. Lisa A. Carey explained in an interview with Reuters Health, “are highly proliferative, have a lot of ... features of aggressive tumors, and tend to have a poor prognosis.”
Carey is an oncologist at the University of North Carolina-Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chapel Hill and is lead author of a report published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
Low-carb diets not a threat to bone health
Contrary to concerns raised by animal studies, people on low-carb diets don’t run a risk of weakening their bones, Florida researchers report.
Scientists had suspected that such diets might leach calcium out of the bones by causing the kidneys to excrete more acid, and research in animals had supported this possibility.
To investigate whether this occurs in humans as well, Dr. John D. Carter and colleagues from the University of South Florida in Tampa had 15 people follow a low-carb diet for three months, comparing them to 15 age- and sex-matched “controls” who ate a normal diet.
