Hot MedFax

Women, next time you pump gas, you might want to let the attendant do it. That's because a recent study has found that gasoline and chemicals formed by combustion are two of the biggest breast cancer carcinogens. T he greatest sources of breast cancer carcinogens in the environment were found to be gasoline and chemicals created by combustion, such as benzene and butadiene, according to medical news today (MNT). Such chemicals are present in vehicle fuel, lawn equipment, tobacco smoke and burned or charred food. Chemicals often found in industrial degreasers, speciality cleaners and spot removers were found to be other breast cancer-causing chemicals, while other mammary carcinogens include chemicals found in flame retardants, stain-resistant textiles, hormone replacement therapy and drinking water disinfection byproducts. "Reducing chemical exposures could save many, many women's lives. When you talk to people about breast cancer prevention, chemical exposure of...

You're not going to believe this.  An apple a day does not keep the doctor away.  Fatty foods don't cause cancer.  But coffee may have some minimal benefit in warding off the disease. All revealed at the American Association for Cancer Research's annual meeting, according to George Johnson of The New York Times. He reports that many of the supposed tried-and-true benefits of diet and illness just don't, well, hold water. He notes that in 1997 studies showed that " green vegetables helped ward off lung and stomach cancer. Colon and thyroid cancer might be avoided with broccoli, cabbage and brussels sprouts. Onions, tomatoes, garlic, carrots and citrus fruits all seemed to play important roles." But that was completely reversed in 2007. "The hypothesis that fatty foods are a direct cause of cancer  has also been crumbling , along with  the case for eating more fiber ," he adds . "The idea that red meat causes colon cancer is shrouded in ...

I remember years ago taping up the vent in my bathroom so I wouldn't smell the smoke coming from the apartment next door.  My neighbor was a chain smoker and the smell of it filled my apartment. Now it turns out he was a cancer risk not only for himself but for me, too. A new study has found that "third-hand" smoke, or l eftover cigarette smoke "that clings to walls and furniture is a smelly nuisance, but now research suggests that it could pose a far more serious threat, especially to young children who put toys and other smoke-affected items into their mouths," according to newswise.com. Scientists reported today that one compound from this “third-hand smoke,” which forms when second-hand smoke reacts with indoor air, damages DNA and sticks to it in a way that could potentially cause cancer. I now live in a house where this is not a problem but I remember those days clearly, having my clothes and hair smell of smoke when I -- or anyone else who lived wi...

So now we know.   Air pollution does cause cancer.  At least, in China and other rapidly developing countries like Addis Ababa, where the fumes from bulldozers to minibuses creating all this growth daily "pump out black plumes" according to Tyler Falk of smartplanet.com. And these plumes -- the outdoor air pollution that "plagues urban areas from Ethiopia to China -- are causing lung cancer. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has officially labeled outdoor air pollution as a leading cause of cancer [PDF] after reviewing 1,000 scientific papers on the subject from five continents," writes Falk. And it kills 223,000 people a year, who die from lung cancer as a result of breathing in the polluted air. “The air we breathe has become polluted with a mixture of cancer-causing substances,” Falk quotes Kurt Straif, head of IARC's Monographs Section. “We now know that outdoor air pollution is not only a major risk to ...

Something new to worry about.  Prostate cancer and fish oil.  Will these doctors ever get it right? A new study has shown that too much fish oil (and fish) could lead to prostate cancer.  Say what?  Writes David L. Katz, MD, MPH, director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center, this recent headline caught his attention: "Fish oils may raise prostate cancer risks, study confirms." Katz neither confirms nor denies the possibility that the study may be correct.  Instead, he reports, "The study does not prove that fish oil intake causes prostate cancer. But nor is the study dismissible rubbish, as the large crowd of fish oil proponents gathered around it with harpoons in hand would like to contend." There were some steps taken that aren't usually in a study like this, and some that were.  "Blood was obtained from men at baseline as they enrolled into the study," he relates. Over time, more than 800 men developed prostate cancer, whi...