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Best Way to Get Prostate Cancer News About the Latest New Treatments

September 27th, 2008 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

If you want to know the latest news you will have to use the Internet to get this information. Although the Web may be a difficult place at times to locate specific information, there are ways to get the latest treatment news right from your computer. It’s even possible with RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to have that news delivered right to your computer every day.

I thought of giving you some of the news but it would be yesterday’s news so to speak and be of little value as time wore on. Instead, here are a few ideas on finding the latest treatment news yourself anytime you want to.

To get started you will need to visit one of the larger search engines, like MSN, Yahoo.com, or Google and will begin a search for news specific information. Although you may have use a search engine to find things on the Web, many search engines also have an option to look for news. By selecting news, you’re limiting your search to only those sites that have the latest information you may be looking for.

So once on the search engine home page and after selecting a news type search, you’re ready to begin locating your treatment information.

After doing that, then type in the information in the space provided. In this case, type in “” in the space provided. When you have done this, then click the search button. This will return all the latest news articles about , but we can do better by refining our search a little.

To refine our search to get the latest news on treatments, you would enter the following into the box

” “new treatment ” then hit enter.

Be certain to use the quotes are you will get a lot more news that isn’t nearly as targeted as our interest is only in new treatments for . Without the quotes, we may get information on all types of cancer and all treatments, no matter new. The quote marks are important, so that the search engine will know that you want new treatments concerning .

The between the in new treatment phrases tells your computer system to bring you news that has “” AND “new treatment” in the article. This is the absolutely best way to find news on the Internet.

Another option is to manually review popular news sites such as www.healthfinder.gov and health.yahoo.com/.

If you want your news on any new treatments for to be delivered to your system automatically, consider using a news aggregator and RSS feed. This bit of technology can provide regular updates on any new treatment that’s mentioned in the news or health journals and deliver about information write to your desktop.

Wikipedia, a popular online encyclopedia has a with of news aggregators available for your use at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search/List_of_news_aggregators.

There are of course the old media and methods of staying updated about new treatment options. Of course, this means reviewing newspapers, magazines and journals manually. The good news once again however, is that a news aggregator can do this review of all online editions of these resources

So, although you may think the Web is nothing more than advertisements and spam e-mail, you will find that its search capabilities can provide a fantastic array of useful information on any subject, including new treatments and advancements.

Abigail Franks writes on a variety of subjects for more info on visit prostate-cancer-treatment-expert.com/ prostate-cancer-treatment-expert.com and prostate-cancer-treatment-expert.com prostate-cancer-treatment-expert.com/prostate-cancer-new-treatment.html

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Psa Bounce After Radiation Therapy For Prostate Cancer: Keeping An Eye On The Ball

September 27th, 2008 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is a protein produced by the prostate gland. It is measured in the blood stream and is a useful tool for following men who have been treated for . Does a PSA elevation after radiation treatment, be it a prostate seed implant and/or external beam radiation therapy, always signify disease recurrence?

In the past, a PSA elevation after a prostate seed implant or external beam radiation therapy was considered to be a harbinger of a relapse, often prompting expensive tests and invoking a great deal of patient anxiety. Then, when the PSA level climbed to10 ng/ml or greater, men were placed on hormonal therapy. Since the latter is associated with a number of unpleasant side effects, it is desirable to refrain from using hormonal therapy unless necessary. The question then arises: when does an increase in the PSA level not signify that cancer has returned?
There is a phenomenon known as a PSA bounce, in which the PSA level jumps up within one to three years after the man has completed radiation therapy. The PSA level eventually returns to the baseline it attained just after treatment. PSA bounce may be caused by death of the damaged cancer cells that release their PSA.

A PSA bounce usually begins with less than a one-point (less than 1 ng/ml) rise in the PSA level. Also, elevations of the PSA level after three years are less likely to be part of a bounce, and unlike a bounce, rises of the PSA level by more than 1.2ng/ml are less likely to drop back to their starting points.

A recent study collected data on 7,500 men who were treated for with radiation therapy. Nearly half of these men were found to have a PSA bounce. However, there was no adverse effect on their survival. In fact, these men fared just as well as men whose PSA did not bounce. Also, patients who show such a PSA bounce less than two years after treatment may be less likely to have cancer return later.

More good news is now that physicians are aware that an elevation in the PSA level does not necessarily mean has recurred, men whose PSA bounces after radiation therapy can be followed by their doctors, who can repeat the PSA blood test six months later.

Dr. Kornmehl is the medical director of Radiation Oncology at Passaic Beth Israel Regional Medical Center, Passaic, NJ and author of the critically acclaimed consumer health book, “The Best News About Radiation Therapy” (M. Evans, 2004). Her website is RTSupportDoc.com RTSupportDoc.com.

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Types Of Mesothelioma Asbestos Diseases

September 27th, 2008 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

There are different types of asbestos diseases because the asbestos can damage various parts of the body. These are named for their location in the body as well as for their progression.

Some of these asbestos diseases are:

Pleural – This is the most talked about form of cancer as it invades the inner lining of the lungs and causes respiratory symptoms like coughing, shortness of breath, and fatigue. Malignant pleural is the most common form of this disease.

Peritoneal – In the body, there is a sac that keeps the body parts separate from the skin in order to protect them and to cushion them called the peritoneum. When the asbestos has damaged this lining of the body, it’s referred to as peritoneal . Symptoms often include abdominal pain, weight loss, problems with bowels, ascites (fluid in the abdomen), and sometimes a mass is palpable. This cancerous disease can be hard to detect as the symptoms are vague.

Pericardial – This is a cancer that affects the sac that is surrounding the heart, or the pericardium. When this lining is affected, patients can have problems with their blood pressure in addition to respiratory problems.Some patients will also have troubles with esophageal cancer which affects the throat of the patient. These kinds of asbestos diseases can cause troubles with swallowing and eating.

There are rare forms of benign too that do not technically have the cancerous symptoms and cell growth, but is still dangerous for breathing and the disease can affect your quality of life.

The main concern with each of these diseases is the spread of the asbestos related disease to other parts of the body. If the cancer has spread, it can become more difficult to treat or require more aggressive and radiation therapy.

While there isn’t one part of the body that is more reactive to the cancer, any cancerous spreads in the and around the heart and lungs are going to be the most serious of the three asbestos diseases.

These many types of asbestos diseases remind us that the exposure to asbestos is far more dangerous than we could have thought. And that if you feel you were exposed at any point in your life, you may want to check with your doctor about getting tested.

About the Author:

Dave Casey writes for Mesothelioma-Adviser.com, the web’s premier guide on

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The 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Prostate Cancer

September 27th, 2008 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Uncategorized

Prostate problems will affect ninety percent of all men by the time the reach the age of eighty and in all too many cases the problem will be that of . But just what is the prostate gland and what does it mean to be diagnosed with ? Here we look at the ten questions which are most often asked by men who encounter prostate problems.

1. What is the prostate gland and what does it do?

The prostate gland is situated between the bladder and the rectum, partly surrounding the urethra which carries urine from the bladder out of the body, and forms part of the male reproductive system, making and storing fluid which forms part of a man’s semen. The prostate gland is about the size of a walnut in an adult.

2. What is ?

Prostate cancer is a form of cancer which normally appears late in life and tends to be slow growing as a result of which many men, despite having , in fact die of other unrelated conditions. This said, is the second commonest form of cancer in the United States today and in 2006 some 235,000 men were diagnosed with the disease and approximately 27,000 men died from it.

3. Who is likely to contract ?

Men in general are at risk of contracting although as it is an age related disease it tends to appear only from about middle-age onwards with the risk of contracting the disease increasing with age. Prostate cancer is more likely to appear in black men and where there is a family history of the disease.

4. What are the symptoms of ?

In the early stages of the disease there are normally few if any symptoms and it is possible to suffer from for many years without even knowing it. When symptoms do start to appear they are likely to include such things as difficulty in urinating, the need for frequent urination (especially at the night), a poor flow or urine which tends to stop and start, painful urination, blood in the urine or semen, pain when ejaculating and pain in the lower back, hips or upper part of the thighs.

5. Are there other conditions which can mask the presence of ?

Many older men suffer from an enlarged prostate which places pressure on both the bladder and the urethra and interferes with the flow of urine and with sexual function, producing many of the same symptoms that are seen in . This condition is not however cancer but is a benign condition known as benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH.

It is also quite common for the prostate gland to become infected and inflamed, again producing similar symptoms, and this also benign condition is known as prostatitis.

6. Is it possible to be screened for ?

Yes, although current screening is not foolproof. The two most commonly used screening test will indicate the possibility of a developing problem, which may or may not be cancer, and point to the need for further more specific testing.

The tests currently in use are the digital rectal exam (DRE), in which a doctor carries out an investigation of the prostate gland by feeling it with a gloved finger inserted through the rectum to detect the presence of hard or lumpy areas, and a blood test used to detect the presence of a substance which is known as prostate specific antigen (PSA) and which is made by the prostate gland.

7. How reliable are present screening methods?

Neither of the current screening tests is foolproof and both can easily miss prostate cancers. However, the two tests used together can produce quite reasonable results and are certainly preferable to not screening for the condition at all. Research is currently underway to find a more accurate method of screening.

8. How is a diagnosis of made?

There is really only one way to confirm the presence of and this is by carrying out a prostate biopsy. This involves removing a number of small samples of tissue from various different parts of the prostate gland and examining these under a microscope in the laboratory.

9. How is treated?

If is localized (that is to say confined only to the prostate gland) there are at present three main forms of treatment available.

One option is to do nothing and to simply watch and wait. If this seems an odd course of action it should be borne in mind that many prostate cancers appear at a very advanced age and, as long as the cancer remains within the prostate gland and is slow growing, the best option for an elderly patient might well be to do nothing at all.

Where active treatment is carried out this will often be to either treat the prostate gland with radiation to kill the cancer cells or to simply remove the prostate gland surgically.

In cases where cancer has spread outside of the prostate gland there are a wide range of treatment options available depending on the degree of spread. This is however a complex area and beyond the scope of this short article.

10. What is the best treatment for localized ?

This is a bit like asking ‘how long is a piece of string’ as there are a large number of factors which need to be taken into consideration, not the least of which are the patient’s own circumstances and wishes.

In the majority of cases however is slow growing and there is usually no need to rush into a treatment plan. This gives patients time to discuss their condition with their doctor, including taking a second or even third opinion if they wish, and also to discuss matters with their partner and family before making any decision.

ProstateProblemCenter.com provides prostateproblemcenter.com” target=”_blank prostate problem information and advice on such topics as spotting an prostateproblemcenter.com/prostate-symptoms.html” target=”_blank enlarged prostate symptom to prostate surgery.

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