Warning: feminism is bad for your health
Since before Germaine Greer published The Female Eunuch in 1970, and even before Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in 1792, campaigners have fought for sexual equality, convinced it is the key to a better society. Now researchers have discovered that gender equality may make people unwell.
Researchers in Sweden, arguably one of the most egalitarian countries in the world, have found that equality could be associated with poorer health for both men and women.
‘Triple negative’ breast cancers linked to the young, minority
So-called “triple negative” breast cancers, tumors that do not contain any of three significant tumor markers, are aggressive, deadly cancers that affect young, poor minority women, according to a new study. Published in the May 1, 2007 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study suggests that these tumors are more common among women who are African American and Hispanic, under 40 years old, and who have lower socioeconomic status (SES). The study found triple negative tumors are also associated with later diagnosis and shorter survival.
Tumor and tissue markers provide important information, including disease type and prognosis. Three important markers in breast cancer are estrogen receptor (ER), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and progesterone receptor (PR). In particular, these markers are useful in selecting appropriate adjuvant therapy and prognosis. Around 15 percent of breast cancers do not express any of these markers and are generally identified as basal-like subtypes. While these “triple negative” tumors are associated with poor prognosis and survival, hormone adjuvant therapy failure, and are often identified in African American women, little is understood about other associated demographic risk factors.
Rare Double Transplant Saves 23-Year-Old Woman
A new heart, a new liver, a new life. These are the poignant words Robert Jaunsen penned in an email sent to family and friends announcing that his daughter, Kelli, 23, would finally be heading home after a double organ transplant at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center—quite literally, her last hope. After nearly seven weeks of hospitalization, Kelli was discharged Wednesday, to begin a new chapter in a life nearly cut short.
In a 16-hour procedure that spanned Feb. 1-2, two organ transplant teams performed Cedars-Sinai’s second heart/liver transplant—the fifth in the Western U.S. Though many of the nation’s top transplant centers had been contacted by Kelli’s family, only Cedars-Sinai was willing to take on such a complex case with so many inherent risks.
WHO says Tamiflu concerns not affecting stockpiling
Concerns about the safety of Tamiflu are not affecting stockpiles of an influenza drug, which would be used in a potential pandemic, a World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesman said.
Health officials widely see Tamiflu as effective in treating the H5N1 bird flu strain if given early enough.
Many women go off tamoxifen too soon: study
About one third of women with breast cancer who are being treated with tamoxifen stop taking the medication before the end of the recommended 5 years of therapy, a study shows.
This is a concern, noted Dr. Thomas I. Barron in an interview with Reuters Health given that “the maximum benefit from tamoxifen is gained when it is taken for 5 years.”
