A blood test may tailor breast cancer treatment for older women

For women age 70 and over with a common form of breast cancer, determining "the right size" of treatment can be challenging, in part because clinicians have limited tools to guide individualized treatment decisions. In a study published today in Clinical Cancer Research, scientists at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine found that a blood-based test may help guide treatment decisions for a carefully selected group of women age 70 and over who have estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer, who were considering endocrine (or hormone-blocking) therapy as the primary treatment and forgoing surgery and radiation.

The epigenetics of trauma: 86 miRNAs linked to PTSD symptom severity and social adversity

Adverse childhood experiences and traumatic events experienced or witnessed at any point during one's lifetime can sometimes prompt the emergence of some mental health disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD (c-PTSD). Past studies suggest that these disorders emerge from epigenetic factors, or in other words, from changes in gene activity that occur in response to the environment or experiences.

How exercise can lower your cancer risk

Exercise. It can be hard for a lot of us to get started. Regardless of how you feel about physical activity, it comes with various benefits. One benefit of exercise that is not often recognized is its assistance in lowering cancer risk.

Researchers launch OZ-ABCD tool to curb medication harm in aged care

Researchers at Monash University, together with a multidisciplinary team of health care professionals and medication safety experts, have developed the first national consensus list of medicines with a high risk of harm in Australian residential aged care. Published in the Australasian Journal on Ageing, the study identified 15 high-risk medications or medication classes that require specialized monitoring in aged care settings. These medications carry a significant risk of serious harm or death if misused or used in error.

Pittsburgh’s air pollution estimated to claim 3,000+ lives per year, and EPA rollbacks aren’t helping

In October 1948, a thick haze rolled into Donora, Pennsylvania, a steel town in the Monongahela Valley, south of Pittsburgh. For five days, toxic fumes from a zinc smelter—a plant that turns zinc ore into pure zinc metal—poured out of the factory's stacks, became trapped in the valley and thus blanketed Donora. The air was filled with sulfur oxides, heavy metal dust and airborne particulates.

Evidence-Based Rehabilitation Strategies for Long-Term Mobility

Medical News Bulletin - Daily Medical News, Health News, Clinical Trials And Clinical Research, Medical Technology, Fitness And Nutrition News–In One Place

Mobility loss rarely shows up as one big event. For most older adults, it arrives in small, compounding changes — a shorter stride, a slower sit-to-stand, a little more hesitation stepping off a curb — until independence starts to feel less guaranteed. What’s changed in recent years is how rehab responds. Instead of generic “stay […]

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SightGlass DOT myopia control lenses show no link to astigmatism

Children wearing SightGlass Vision Diffusion Optics Technology lenses had no increase in astigmatism compared with children wearing control lenses, according to studies presented at the Netherlands Contact Lens Congress.
The study was conducted after other research suggested that astigmatism could increase with the use of peripheral defocus, the myopia control method used by MyoVision (Zeiss) and Essilor Stellest (EssilorLuxottica). SightGlass Diffusion Optics Technology (DOT) lenses work through a different mechanism: contrast modulation.
“It’s important that it’s just one study, and I don’t

FDA approves nivolumab regimen as first-line treatment for classical Hodgkin lymphoma

The FDA has approved the combination of nivolumab plus chemotherapy as first-line treatment for certain patients with stage III or IV classical Hodgkin lymphoma.
The approval, for individuals aged 12 years and older, is based on results from randomized trial data that showed nivolumab (Opdivo, Bristol Myers Squibb) plus doxorubicin, vinblastine and dacarbazine (AVD) improved PFS 58% compared with brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris, Seagen) plus AVD.
Healio previously reported on the phase 3 SWOG S1826 trial, which included 994 patients randomly assigned to receive either the nivolumab or brentuximab