Transcendental Meditation (TM) reduces stress and improves wellbeing among women with breast cancer, according to a new study.
A total of 130 women with breast cancer, 55 years and older, participated in the two-year study at Saint Joseph Hospital.
The women were randomly assigned to either the TM technique or to a usual care control group. They were administered quality of life measures, including the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B), every six months for two years.
“The women in the study found their meditation practice easy to do at home and reported significant benefits in their overall quality of life,” said Sanford Nidich, study co-author and senior researcher at the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention (INMP), Maharishi University of Management.
“Emotional and psycho-social stress contribute to the onset and progression of breast cancer and cancer mortality,” added Nidich.
“Data from this well-designed clinical trial and related studies suggest that effective stress reduction with the Transcendental Meditation program may be useful in the prevention and treatment and of breast cancer and its deleterious consequences,” said Robert Schneider, study co-author and director, INMP. [click to continue…]
BETHESDA: Studying cancer in pet dogs is helping U.S. researchers find new treatments for human patients, the researchers reported.
A study, published in PLoS Medicine, says many pet owners are willing to have their dogs take part in clinical trials.
Study leader Dr. Chand Khanna and colleagues at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., found a pet owner’s decision to pursue an experimental therapy is influenced by a number of factors — including the possible risks and benefits of the experimental therapy and reduced costs for care provided by the investigational trial.
“Many pet owners are motivated by the opportunity to contribute to the advancement of cancer treatment for future human and canine patients,” the study authors say in a statement.
The authors note that looking at naturally occurring cancer biology and treatment in animals, known as comparative oncology, is not a new concept. In the last 30 years, they say this approach has advanced treatment of several cancers including osteosarcoma — a bone cancer — and melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.
Source: www.upi.com
In one of those health and nutrition stories that make you think “when are they going to tell us to start smoking because it’s beneficial”, Chocoholics around the world can quite literally take heart from research that shows chocolate can help you live longer.According to US research, people who eat chocolate and sweets up to three times a month live almost a year longer than those who eat too much or those who steer clear of chocolate altogether.Scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health studied almost 8,000 American men aged 65 for a five-year period. The results were adjusted for other risk factors such as smoking and drinking.
Chocolate, which was the obsession of the Aztecs (even today chocolate is used as a routine ingredient in South American cooking) was brought to Europe after the Conquistadors’ conquest of South America. Chocolate is big business with a global market worth of around $75 billion, so this research is excellent news for the manufacturers.
It’s great news too for the British, who consume on average 14 kilograms per person of sugar confectionery each year.OK, that’s not just chocolate bars, but includes chocolate biscuits, Jaffa cakes, Easter Eggs, chocolate drinks etc.In contrast, and not as you would have thought given their reputation for obesity, the average American only eats around 6.5 kilograms of the stuff in the same time period. [click to continue…]
Hispanics in the United States are less likely to die from cancer than non-Hispanic whites, but they have higher rates of cancers linked to infections, including stomach, liver and cervix malignancies, a new report says.
At first glance, Hispanics’ lower death rate from cancer seems to be good news, but one explanation is that the Hispanic population skews younger than the general U.S. population. Cancer risk rises with age.
The new detailed look at cancer incidence is from Cancer Facts & Figures for Hispanics/Latinos 2009-2011, a report released Sept. 15 that’s published every three years by the American Cancer Society.
Hispanics are the largest, fastest-growing and youngest minority in the United States, according to the report. They also have a cancer risk profile that differs from whites and other ethnic groups.
Hispanics are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to die from the four most common cancers: breast, prostate, colorectal and lung.
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