Archives of main

June 21, 2006, 7:04 AM CT

Gene Mutation Linked To Breast Cancer

Scientists have discovered another breast cancer gene, which may be involved with breast cancer development. Mutation in this gene greatly increases the risk of breast cancer in women of European heritage. These genes may work in combination with the well-known BRCA genes and may increase the risk of breast cancer development as much as 80 percent.

These new research findings come from Iceland's Decode Genetics, and scientists say that the study suggests that women with certain mutations in two of the genes have an almost certain risk of developing breast cancer.

The newly discovered gene is called BARD1. "The BARD1 variant works together with the BRCA2 mutation in Iceland and increases the likelihood of breast cancer from 45% in those who have only the BRCA2 mutation up towards 100% in those who also have the BARD1 variant," Decode chief executive Kari Stefansson said in a statement.

The research team has found that women who harbor BARD1 mutation tend to develop breast cancer on both breasts. The Decode team identified 1,090 women in Iceland who had breast cancer, and compared them to 703 Icelandic women who did not have breast cancer. A mutant variant of BARD1 gene was found in 5.4% of breast cancer patients and 3.1% of women who did not have breast cancer. This represents an 80% increase in risk of developing breast cancer.........

Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source

June 20, 2006, 7:10 AM CT

Older Women Have Far Fewer Mammograms Than They Report

What older American women say about receiving regular mammograms and what they actually do are two different things, suggests a new study.

And unlike previous studies based on patient self-reports of mammography screening, the new study suggests that older African-American, Asian-American and Hispanic women all receive less screening than do white women.

"The rate of screening mammography among elderly American women is significantly lower than what has been reported based on the self-reported data sources" said lead author Christopher Kagay, M.D. Yet, he said, these inflated rates "are the most frequently cited data by policy makers."

The study, would be reported in the recent issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, analyzed national Medicare data involving 146,669 women ages and older. Scientists compared these data to patient self-reports collected by the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and the National Health Interview Study (NHIS).The data were amassed between 1991 and 2001.

"The screening rate for most groups of non-white women is substantially lower than that for white women, even while adjusting for factors of health status, access to care, education and income," said Kagay, a radiology resident at Massachusetts General Hospital and a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School.........

Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source

June 16, 2006, 6:58 AM CT

Walk During Breast Cancer Chemotherapy

A number of breast cancer patients may not be inclined to do much of walking, particularly while having chemotherapy, but research has shown that mild exercise can help women feel better while undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. This finding comes from Australian researchers.

In a study of Queensland and Victorian women scientists found that a 20 minute walk two or three times a week was well worth the effort. Patsy Yates, Queensland University of Technology nursing researcher Patsy said that a number of women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer reported they felt so tired they did not want to get out of bed or even to concentrate on the usual day to day activities.

"One woman told me what a process it was to make sandwiches for her children to go to school because of her fatigue," Prof Yates said.

But contrary to traditional medical advice and the women's intuitive desire to rest, some regular light exercise actually improved their sense of wellbeing and gave them more energy for the things they enjoyed, she said.

"There's some good research which tells us that probably over the years we may have been giving women the wrong advice about resting and that sort of thing," Prof Yates said.

"We are not sure why exercise works but it could be because it keeps your body conditioned so the effort to do other things is less".........

Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source

June 13, 2006, 9:19 PM CT

Mammograms May Reveal Heart Disease

Dr. Barbara Jaeger, Director, Women's Imaging

Bunny Gleiman, a patient of Dr. Barbara Jaeger, Director of Women's Imaging at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, recently underwent a mammogram and discovered something unexpected: calcifications in the arteries of her breast.

"We have seen these as incidental findings when we screen for cancer, now new studies have shown this does relate to a person's risk of coronary artery disease and cardiovascular disease," Dr. Jaeger said.

Dr. Mark Applefeld, a Mercy cardiologist, said doctors and patients should take note of heart health when reviewing mammograms.

"It is yet another risk factor, which identified on a mammogram, a doctor and patient should consider as another risk of heart disease," Applefeld said.

That's exactly what Gleiman did.

"I went to my internist who looked at the findings and (confirmed that) I did have (calcifications), and I was put in a risk-management program," she said.

She's now on medicine for high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and working on changes in lifestyle in hopes that early intervention will help her enjoy shopping for a number of years to come.

Now, the doctors are not talking about calcifications within the breast tissue, but calcifications within the arteries of the breast.........

Posted by: Betsy Permalink Source

June 13, 2006, 9:07 PM CT