Childhood cancer drugs cure now, may cause problems later, research shows

ScienceDaily (Dec. 16, 2011) ? Will a drug used to treat childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and other pediatric cancers cause heart problems later in life?

UB associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences, Javier G. Blanco, PhD, who sees his work as a bridge between research and clinical practice, has focused recent efforts on trying to answer this question.

Blanco and colleagues' recent study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology looked for the underlying genetic answers to why some childhood cancer survivors who were treated with anthracylines -- powerful antibiotics like Adriamycin and Daunomycin -- developed cardiomyopathy, such as congestive heart failure, later in life.

"Anthracyclines are effective drugs used to treat a variety of pediatric cancers, they are also used to treat breast cancer and other malignancies in adults," Blanco says. "After cancer, survivors can develop cardiac toxicity anywhere from one year to more than 15 years after the initial chemotherapy with anthracyclines. The window separating the effectiveness of these drugs from their toxicity is narrow. The dosage has to be precise to achieve a therapeutic effect without toxicity."

Blanco explains that the key to individualizing any drug treatment comes down to understanding the way an individual is genetically coded to respond to the drug once it enters the body, and then adjusting the dose accordingly.

Working closely with Smita Bhatia, MD, MPH, chair of the Department of Population Sciences at City of Hope National Medical Center in California and senior author of the study, Blanco and a team of researchers decided to look at how the drug was broken down by enzymes encoded by specific genes.

The study, which began seven years ago, compared DNA genotypes of 170 childhood cancer survivors diagnosed with anthracycline-related cardiomyopathy to a control group of 317 survivors without heart disease.

Using the candidate gene approach, Blanco and his team were able to identify a tiny gene variant related to the risk of cardiotoxicity.

"We pinpointed the genetic difference or polymorphism that makes an enzyme work faster or slower in patients," said Blanco, "slower is better."

They zeroed-in on carbonyl reductases (CBR1 and CBR3) -- two enzymes that break down anthracyclines into cardiotoxic alcohol metabolites. Blanco notes that in mouse models, higher levels of CBRs or faster enzymes dictate higher levels of these metabolites -- and more cardio toxicity.

The research showed that the risk of cardiomyopathy was significantly increased among individuals with two copies of the "G" version of the CBR3 polymorphism when exposed to low-to-moderate doses of anthracycline.

Blanco says that while the results of the study validated the findings of an earlier study in a totally independent cohort of cancer survivors, further study is required.

"We have to be careful," says Blanco. "So far, we are showing an association, not yet causation. Our next step will be to conduct a prospective study -- where we don't study individuals who were exposed to anthracyclines in the past but follow them in real time as they are receiving the drug and after."

What does this mean for children who are taking or have taken anthracyclines?

"If we stop using anthracyclines we will not be able to cure up to 90 percent of the children who suffer from acute lymphoblastic leukemia." Blanco says. "Parents must continue to have their children's health monitored long after the cancer is cured to identify cardiac problems if they develop."

Blanco's research is primarily funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, among many others.

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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111216175244.htm

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ICC says Sudan's al-Bashir will face justice (AP)

UNITED NATIONS ? The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court said Thursday that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's "destiny" is clear: he will face justice for alleged genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Luis Moreno Ocampo said it took 18 years to arrest all 161 people indicated by the U.N. tribunal prosecuting war crimes in former Yugoslavia, and al-Bashir will eventually be arrested and handed over to the ICC.

"International justice is here to stay," he told a news conference after briefing the U.N. Security Council. "It will take time but the destiny is clear. He will face justice."

Moreno Ocampo said all countries ? including Sudan ? have a legal obligation under the Security Council resolution that referred the Darfur conflict to the court in 2005 to arrest al-Bashir and two other Sudanese indicted by the ICC.

Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman disputed Moreno Ocampo's allegations of war crimes against Sudanese officials, stressing that Sudan is not a party to the Rome statute that established the court "and we do not recognize the ICC."

Moreno Ocampo said that at the closed Security Council meeting there was "full support for arrest warrants issued" by the court.

He said many ambassadors said "Sudan should cooperate with the court because it's not about being a member of the ICC, but about complying with Security Council resolutions."

The prosecutor said he asked the council "to come up with a comprehensive strategy integrating political negotiations with justice efforts," and to address the refusal by Chad and Malawi to arrest al-Bashir when he visited.

Osman said Moreno Ocampo had ignored the government's efforts to promote peace in Darfur and "falsely" sought an arrest warrant earlier this month for Sudan's defense minister, Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein, who has been heavily involved in these negotiations in order "to prevent the peaceful efforts of the government to establish peace and security in Sudan."

The prosecutor alleged that Hussein committed crimes against humanity and war crimes by helping orchestrate atrocities in Darfur.

A panel of judges will study evidence filed by Moreno Ocampo before deciding whether to issue a warrant for Hussein's arrest.

Darfur was plunged into turmoil in 2003, when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government, whom they accused of discrimination.

The Khartoum government is accused of retaliating by unleashing Arab militias on civilians ? a charge the government denies. The U.N. estimates 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been displaced in the conflict.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_re_us/un_un_international_court_darfur

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Double Life, Two Genders

roleplay/false-licia/

Some quick heads ups':

- This roleplay uses 'Realistic' pictures. no anime, peeps. Sorry! PM me if you want to see an anime version with a different, maybe similar premise. If I get enough requests, I'll make it this weekend. XD

Enjoy!

-

Image

Felicia "Cherry" Williams. A name at Roland College that got all the guys looking up, and all the girls envying her. She had it all: An athletic body with Curves, Silky hair, an endowed chest, fluffy buns, a wardrobe that doesn't care about the dress code, and so much more. She's a real popular girl, A Cheerleader: Not the captain, and not any hotter than the other girls, but she knows how to make her looks work perfectly. When she's not at school cheering or looking good, she loves to dance, play a sport like volleyball, and has even been known to do a little wrestling, especially when some girl thinks Felicia stole her man, and wants to catfight her. All the men wanna see her make a few dozen porno's, even if it's just a video of her sucking on an Eclair.

She's already got a deal to act as a small time model to get some big bucks, and believe it or not, actually does it for a minor magazine on sports, movies, video games, pro-wrestling, etc. She's boosted their readers to a million in a matter of 20 days. When she's not modeling, she helps out as a waitress at a local cafe.

Most of all though, she loves to

Flirt.

Flirt.

Flirt.

Even if it was just small talk. speaking that way gave her thrills...

But then there's the truth to it all.

Felicia Williams is not as she seems?something is under her tight pink shirt, and it ain't just her knockers?it's also in her panties. And it ain't her glory hole...

Image

Felicia is actually a geek: and a guy, at that. A guy who had a major lab accident, gaining a condition that allows him to turn into a female, his body physically forming into the opposite gender in mere minutes, literally reshaping every little bit, turning testosterone to estrogen, and swelling up the 'attic' and taking out 'the package from the basement.' He was able to 'perform' this change as in his high school years after a failed experiment, and had to learn to live with his 'issue.' However, at some point, he realized that people really liked Felicia. Not just the populars, everyone: Felicia was normally nice, a pretty good student, and mostly an angel. She had a slight bitch reflex, but she was really accepted, not like her other self, who was rejected the day he walked in, and never given a chance no matter what he did. But then, he had almost full control of his body: granted, he couldn't handle 'that time of the month' that easily, had a bit more romantic/lustful side (he learned to like guys when he turns into a chick. Go figure.), and his 'nag-bitch' reflex as he calls it. Since those days, he's been able to maintain a routine that keeps he and Felicia getting all their work done. Felicia shows up for half of 'A' Day's, and shows up for most of the 'B' days, which has actually given him enough time to do everything that he needs to get done with over the course of the day.

Things have been looking perfect: the transformation still takes a few moments for those extra parts to come in, and previous ones to leave and re-shape, but he can will it in, but still has a few moments where something doesn't go right As Felicia, she's been keeping her eye on an up and coming Jock who has a close level of popularity, whom she has some lovey feelings for, as well as a sexual need to be with him.

Things start to get complicated when he begins to wonder if he should take back his old life as a guy: and the meeting of an old friend who has a small crush on Felicia, and would probably be devastated to find out his best friend disappeared, and she left him in the dust. Not to mention all these screwy feelings may just turn all those easy transformations into a fear of being caught during the change, and a thought out, simple routine schedule into a disaster.

will 'Felicia' choose wisely??

-

1) 'Felicia'/The Geek

Main Character, also owns an entire dorm to his/herself. The Geek's 'lair' has a secret passage thing into a more girly room, AKA Felicia's hideout.

Must make two slots for each identity.

2) The Rising Jock

a decent guy among meatheads, who has Felicia's horomones raging, a bit more by way of lust than romance, but she still likes him as a person.

3) The Old Friend (JayZeroSnake)

An old friend of 'Felicia's' who doesn't know the secret.

4) The Sister

Felica's older sister. Sarcastic, and never a bore to be around. She taught 'Felicia' the 'Art of womanhood' and see's a younger version of herself in her sibling. She's bi, and has an interest in the 'Old friend' if Felicia doesn't fall for him first.

-

Character Sheet requirements:

Name
Gender
Age
Appearance
History
Items

Optional Character Sheet info:

Quote(s)
Fun Facts
Theme Song
Extra

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/1NzCopR8xIE/viewtopic.php

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Video: Winter system brings snow to Southern California

A major winter storm system rotating in from the Pacific blanketed the interior of Southern California, as well as Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. NBC?s Brian Williams reports.

Related Links:

http://www.facebook.com/nbcnightlynews

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/45661350/

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No cellphones, no texting by drivers, US urges (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Texting, emailing or chatting on a cellphone while driving is simply too dangerous to be allowed, federal safety investigators declared Tuesday, urging all states to impose total bans except for emergencies.

Inspired by recent deadly crashes ? including one in which a teenager sent or received 11 text messages in 11 minutes before an accident ? the recommendation would apply even to hands-free devices, a much stricter rule than any current state law.

The unanimous recommendation by the five-member National Transportation Safety Board would make an exception for devices deemed to aid driver safety such as GPS navigation systems

A group representing state highway safety offices called the recommendation "a game-changer."

"States aren't ready to support a total ban yet, but this may start the discussion," Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association, said.

NTSB chairman Deborah Hersman acknowledged the recommendation would be unpopular with many people and that complying would involve changing what has become ingrained behavior for many Americans.

While the NTSB doesn't have the power to impose restrictions, its recommendations carry significant weight with federal regulators and congressional and state lawmakers. Another recommendation issued Tuesday urges states to aggressively enforce current bans on text messaging and the use of cellphones and other portable electronic devices while driving.

"We're not here to win a popularity contest," she said. "No email, no text, no update, no call is worth a human life."

Currently, 35 states and the District of Columbia ban texting while driving, while nine states and D.C. bar hand-held cellphone use. Thirty states ban all cellphone use for beginning drivers. But enforcement is generally not a high priority, and no states ban the use of hands-free devices for all drivers.

A total cellphone ban would be the hardest to accept for many people.

Leila Noelliste, 26, a Chicago blogger and business owner, said being able to talk on the cellphone "when I'm running around town" is important to self-employed people like herself.

"I don't think they should ban cellphones because I don't think you're really distracted when you're talking, it's when you're texting," she said. When you're driving and talking, "your eyes are still on the road."

The immediate impetus for the recommendation of state bans was a deadly highway pileup near Gray Summit, Mo., last year in which a 19-year-old pickup driver sent and received 11 texts in 11 minutes just before the accident.

NTSB investigators said they are seeing increasing texting, cellphone calls and other distracting behavior by drivers in accidents involving all kinds of transportation. It has become routine to immediately request the preservation of cellphone and texting records when an investigation is begun.

In the past few years the board has investigated a train collision in which the engineer was texting that killed 25 people in Chatsworth, Calif.; a fatal accident on the Delaware River near Philadelphia in which a tugboat pilot was talking on his cellphone and using a laptop computer, and a Northwest Airlines flight that sped more than 100 miles past its destination because both pilots were working on their laptops.

Last year, a driver was dialing his cellphone when his truck crossed a highway median near Munford, Ind., and collided with a 15-passenger van. Eleven people were killed.

The board said the initial collision in the Missouri accident was caused by the inattention of the pickup driver who was texting a friend about events of the previous night. The pickup, traveling at 55 mph, hit the back of a tractor truck that had slowed for highway construction. The pickup was rear-ended by a school bus that overrode the smaller vehicle. A second school bus rammed into the back of the first bus.

The pickup driver and a 15-year-old student on one of the buses were killed. Thirty-eight other people were injured. About 50 students, mostly members of a high school band from St. James, Mo., were on the buses heading to the Six Flags St. Louis amusement park.

Missouri had a law banning drivers under 21 years old from texting while driving at the time of the crash, but wasn't aggressively enforcing the ban, board member Robert Sumwalt said.

"Without the enforcement, the laws don't mean a whole lot," he said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported earlier this year that pilot projects in Syracuse, N.Y., and Hartford, Conn., produced significant reductions in distracted driving by combining stepped-up ticketing with high-profile public education campaigns.

Before and after each enforcement wave, NHTSA researchers observed cellphone use by drivers and conducted surveys at drivers' license offices in the two cities. They found that in Syracuse, hand-held cellphone use and texting declined by a third. In Hartford, there was a 57 percent drop in hand-held phone use, and texting behind the wheel dropped by nearly three-quarters.

However, that was with blanket enforcement by police.

The board's decision to include hands-free cellphone use in its recommendation is likely to prove especially controversial. No states currently ban hand-free use although many studies show that it is often as unsafe as hand-held phone use because drivers' minds are on their conversations rather than what's happening on the road.

Hersman pointed to an Alexandria, Va., accident the board investigated in which a bus driver talking on a hands-free phone ran into a bridge despite his being familiar with the route and the presence of warning signs that the arch was too low for his bus to clear. The roof of the bus was sheared off.

The board has previously recommended bans on texting and cellphone use by commercial truck and bus drivers and beginning drivers, but it had stopped short of calling for a ban on the use of the devices by adults behind the wheel of passenger cars.

The problem of texting while driving is getting worse despite a rush by states to ban the practice, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said last week. In November, Pennsylvania became the 35th state to forbid texting while driving.

About two out of 10 American drivers overall ? and half of drivers between 21 and 24 ? say they've thumbed messages or emailed from the driver's seat, according to a survey of more than 6,000 drivers by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

However, the survey found that many drivers don't think it's dangerous when they do it ? only when others do.

At any given moment last year on America's streets and highways, nearly one in every 100 car drivers was texting, emailing, surfing the Web or otherwise using a hand-held electronic device, the safety administration said. Those activities were up 50 percent over the previous year.

Driver distraction wasn't the only significant safety problem uncovered by NTSB's investigation of the Missouri accident. Investigators said they believe the pickup driver was suffering from fatigue that may have eroded his judgment. He had an average of about five and a half hours of sleep a night in the days leading up to the accident and had had fewer than five hours of sleep the night before the accident, they said.

The pickup driver had no history of accidents or traffic violations, investigators said.

Investigators also found significant problems with the brakes of both school buses involved in the accident. A third school bus sent to a hospital after the accident to pick up students crashed in the hospital parking lot when that bus' brakes failed.

However, the brake problems didn't cause or contribute to the severity of the accident, investigators said.

Another issue involved the difficulty passengers had getting out of the first school bus after the accident. Its doors were unusable and passengers had to exit through an emergency window. The raised latch on the window kept catching on clothing as students tried to escape, investigators said. Escape was further slowed because the window design required one person to hold the window up in order for a second person to crawl through, they said.

It was critical for passengers to leave as quickly as possible because a large amount of fuel underneath the bus was a serious fire hazard, investigators said.

"It could have been a much worse situation if there was a fire," Donald Karol, the NTSB's highway safety director, said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111213/ap_on_bi_ge/us_drivers_texting

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Simple test to help diagnose bowel and pancreatic cancer could save thousands of lives

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 14-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Emma Thorne
emma.thorne@nottingham.ac.uk
44-115-951-5793
University of Nottingham

A simple online calculator could offer family GPs a powerful new tool in tackling two of the most deadly forms of cancer, say researchers.

Academics from The University of Nottingham and ClinRisk Ltd have developed two new QCancer algorithms, which cross-reference symptoms and risk factors of patients to red flag those most likely to have pancreatic and bowel cancer, which could help doctors to diagnose these illnesses more quickly and potentially save thousands of lives every year.

Leading the research, Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox in the University's Division of Primary Care, said: "We hope these new tools will help GPs with the difficult task of identifying patients with suspected cancer earlier and that this in turn could help improve treatment options and outcomes for patients."

Pancreatic cancer, which affects more than 8,000 people in the UK every year, has the worst survival rate for any cancer almost three-quarters of patients die within a year of diagnosis. Catching the disease in the early stages can offer a more optimistic prognosis for patients however, with very few established risk factors and no reliable screening test available, it is also one of the toughest cancers for GPs to spot.

The research, published in the January edition of the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP), used patient data from 564 GPs practices to develop the algorithm and test its success at predicting which patients were likely to have pancreatic cancer, based on a combination of symptoms such as weight loss, appetite loss, and abdominal pain and risk factors such as age, chronic pancreatitis, smoking and diabetes.

It was successful in predicting 62 per cent of all pancreatic cancers diagnosed over the following two years which were in the top 10 per cent of patients predicted to be most at risk.

Colorectal cancer, or bowel cancer, is the second most common cancer in Europe as well as the second most common cause of cancer-related death. In the UK, 16,500 people die every year from bowel cancer and 36,000 people develop the disease. The UK has one of the poorest survival rates for bowel cancer in Europe, which is thought to be largely due to late presentation, delays in diagnosis and delays in treatment. Swift diagnosis can make all the difference among patients where the disease is diagnosed early, the five year survival rate can be as high as 90 per cent.

Many of the major symptoms, such as rectal bleeding, weight loss, appetite loss, diarrhoea, constipation or abdominal pain are very common and can more often be linked to other less serious conditions, presenting GPs with a diagnostic challenge.

Based on using single 'red flag' symptoms such as rectal bleeding, doctors could miss 60 per cent of current bowel cancers.

For the research, published in the same edition of the BJGP, academics used anonymous data from the same 564 GP surgeries to develop and test the colorectal cancer algorithm by looking at a combination of risk factors, including age, family history of bower cancer, anaemia, symptoms including rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, appetite loss, weight loss, diarrhoea and changes in bowel habits. The researchers also took into account the different risks affecting men and women.

The study found that the algorithm was very successful in spotting which patients would be most likely to develop bowel cancer over the following two years 70 per cent of all bowel cancer patients subsequently diagnosed were in the top 10 per cent of patients predicted to be most at risk, The two studies used the anonymous data of patients aged between 30 and 84 years old who were all free from diagnosis or symptoms of the two cancers over the previous 12 months. The GPs' practices were all contributing to the QResearch database system a not-for-profit partnership between The University of Nottingham and leading GP systems supplier EMIS.

The new algorithms for pancreatic and bowel cancer could be incorporated into existing GP computer systems to alert doctors to patients who are potentially most at risk of developing the diseases.

They could support the work of GPs in reducing diagnosis times in line with current Government policy and the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI) a public/third sector partnership between the Department of Health, National Cancer Action Team and Cancer Research UK. Evidence suggests that simply raising awareness of symptoms and speeding up diagnosis could save 5,000 lives per year without any new advances in medicine.

The study has resulted in two simple web calculators one for pancreatic cancer and one for bowel cancer which are designed for doctors but a simpler version could also be made available on the internet to raise awareness among the general public and to prompt patients with risk factors or symptoms to seek advice from their doctor.

Similar QResearch scores have already proven effective in previous research in identifying patients at most risk of developing lung cancer, gastro-oesophageal cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, fractures, kidney disease and serious blood clots.

Dr Clare Gerada, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, which publishes the BJGP, said: "Early diagnosis, and access to appropriate diagnostic tests and tools, can make an enormous difference to the treatment and outcomes of patients with cancer and this new calculator, which is concerned with two of the most deadly forms of cancer, has the potential to save many lives.

"Professor Hippisley-Cox and her colleagues at The University of Nottingham are leading the way in devising simple but effective ways to help GPs speed up and improve their identification and diagnosis of cancer, and they should be rightly proud of this new research.

"The very foundation of the British Journal of General Practitioners is research such as this, which serves to improve the care GPs across the UK and further afield are able to provide to their patients."

Professor Hippisley-Cox added: "We are very grateful for the continuing support of the EMIS GP practices that contribute their high quality data to QResearch. Without them, our research would not be possible."

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 14-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Emma Thorne
emma.thorne@nottingham.ac.uk
44-115-951-5793
University of Nottingham

A simple online calculator could offer family GPs a powerful new tool in tackling two of the most deadly forms of cancer, say researchers.

Academics from The University of Nottingham and ClinRisk Ltd have developed two new QCancer algorithms, which cross-reference symptoms and risk factors of patients to red flag those most likely to have pancreatic and bowel cancer, which could help doctors to diagnose these illnesses more quickly and potentially save thousands of lives every year.

Leading the research, Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox in the University's Division of Primary Care, said: "We hope these new tools will help GPs with the difficult task of identifying patients with suspected cancer earlier and that this in turn could help improve treatment options and outcomes for patients."

Pancreatic cancer, which affects more than 8,000 people in the UK every year, has the worst survival rate for any cancer almost three-quarters of patients die within a year of diagnosis. Catching the disease in the early stages can offer a more optimistic prognosis for patients however, with very few established risk factors and no reliable screening test available, it is also one of the toughest cancers for GPs to spot.

The research, published in the January edition of the British Journal of General Practice (BJGP), used patient data from 564 GPs practices to develop the algorithm and test its success at predicting which patients were likely to have pancreatic cancer, based on a combination of symptoms such as weight loss, appetite loss, and abdominal pain and risk factors such as age, chronic pancreatitis, smoking and diabetes.

It was successful in predicting 62 per cent of all pancreatic cancers diagnosed over the following two years which were in the top 10 per cent of patients predicted to be most at risk.

Colorectal cancer, or bowel cancer, is the second most common cancer in Europe as well as the second most common cause of cancer-related death. In the UK, 16,500 people die every year from bowel cancer and 36,000 people develop the disease. The UK has one of the poorest survival rates for bowel cancer in Europe, which is thought to be largely due to late presentation, delays in diagnosis and delays in treatment. Swift diagnosis can make all the difference among patients where the disease is diagnosed early, the five year survival rate can be as high as 90 per cent.

Many of the major symptoms, such as rectal bleeding, weight loss, appetite loss, diarrhoea, constipation or abdominal pain are very common and can more often be linked to other less serious conditions, presenting GPs with a diagnostic challenge.

Based on using single 'red flag' symptoms such as rectal bleeding, doctors could miss 60 per cent of current bowel cancers.

For the research, published in the same edition of the BJGP, academics used anonymous data from the same 564 GP surgeries to develop and test the colorectal cancer algorithm by looking at a combination of risk factors, including age, family history of bower cancer, anaemia, symptoms including rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, appetite loss, weight loss, diarrhoea and changes in bowel habits. The researchers also took into account the different risks affecting men and women.

The study found that the algorithm was very successful in spotting which patients would be most likely to develop bowel cancer over the following two years 70 per cent of all bowel cancer patients subsequently diagnosed were in the top 10 per cent of patients predicted to be most at risk, The two studies used the anonymous data of patients aged between 30 and 84 years old who were all free from diagnosis or symptoms of the two cancers over the previous 12 months. The GPs' practices were all contributing to the QResearch database system a not-for-profit partnership between The University of Nottingham and leading GP systems supplier EMIS.

The new algorithms for pancreatic and bowel cancer could be incorporated into existing GP computer systems to alert doctors to patients who are potentially most at risk of developing the diseases.

They could support the work of GPs in reducing diagnosis times in line with current Government policy and the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI) a public/third sector partnership between the Department of Health, National Cancer Action Team and Cancer Research UK. Evidence suggests that simply raising awareness of symptoms and speeding up diagnosis could save 5,000 lives per year without any new advances in medicine.

The study has resulted in two simple web calculators one for pancreatic cancer and one for bowel cancer which are designed for doctors but a simpler version could also be made available on the internet to raise awareness among the general public and to prompt patients with risk factors or symptoms to seek advice from their doctor.

Similar QResearch scores have already proven effective in previous research in identifying patients at most risk of developing lung cancer, gastro-oesophageal cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, fractures, kidney disease and serious blood clots.

Dr Clare Gerada, Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, which publishes the BJGP, said: "Early diagnosis, and access to appropriate diagnostic tests and tools, can make an enormous difference to the treatment and outcomes of patients with cancer and this new calculator, which is concerned with two of the most deadly forms of cancer, has the potential to save many lives.

"Professor Hippisley-Cox and her colleagues at The University of Nottingham are leading the way in devising simple but effective ways to help GPs speed up and improve their identification and diagnosis of cancer, and they should be rightly proud of this new research.

"The very foundation of the British Journal of General Practitioners is research such as this, which serves to improve the care GPs across the UK and further afield are able to provide to their patients."

Professor Hippisley-Cox added: "We are very grateful for the continuing support of the EMIS GP practices that contribute their high quality data to QResearch. Without them, our research would not be possible."

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/uon-st121411.php

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Bachmann: Former Cain backers moving her way

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., expresses appreciation as she puts on a gift from a supporter during the book-signing event for her book "Core of Conviction" Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Aiken, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., expresses appreciation as she puts on a gift from a supporter during the book-signing event for her book "Core of Conviction" Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Aiken, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)

Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. addresses the media before a book signing event for her book "Core of Conviction" Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in Aiken, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)

(AP) ? GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann says many people who had supported Herman Cain in the race are getting behind her candidacy.

With Cain now out of the race, Bachmann says Republican voters see her as the tea party candidate and the "most consistent conservative" in the contest.

The Minnesota congresswoman tells CNN's "State of the Union" that Cain's supporters considered him as an outsider and that her conservative positions are most reflective of his.

Cain abandoned his White House bid on Saturday under the weight of sexual misconduct allegations.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-04-Bachmann/id-6966a0898aa54d49a752ff05a70bbf39

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"Real Housewives" star Kim Richards enters rehab (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? And the troubles keep on mounting for the "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" cast.

"RHoBH" cast member Kim Richards has entered an undisclosed rehab facility to seek treatment, several sources confirm to ET Online.

Though it isn't clear what affliction Richards, 47, is seeking treatment for, her use of alcohol has become a point of concern on the series. During the "Beverly Hills" season finale last January, Richards' sister, Kyle Richards, lashed out at her sister, accusing her of being an alcoholic. More recently, in an episode that aired in October, Richards' new castmate, Brandi Glanville, accused Richards of being "wasted out of her f***ing mind," an accusation that Richards denied at the time.

The second season of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills," which premiered in September, has already been marred by tragedy, with the August suicide of cast member Russell Armstrong -- a month his wife, Taylor Armstrong, filed for divorce -- casting a shadow over the season.

A spokesperson for Richards did not immediately respond to TheWrap's request for comment.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111206/people_nm/us_kimrichards

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Nuts! Dr. Phil helped with own vasectomy

Charles Sykes / AP

Dr. Phil McGraw helped with his own vasectomy, which he later had reversed.

By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper

Most men don't even want to think about how a vasectomy happens. Not Dr. Phil McGraw. The talk-show host was a little, shall we say, hands-on when it came to getting the snip.

According to an essay McGraw wrote for Newsweek, back when wife Robin was expecting their son Jay, the couple decided one child was enough. So a doctor friend casually offered to have McGraw, then 29,?come in to?his office for the procedure.

The offer was so casual, in fact, that the friend didn't bother to book a nurse, and so had patient McGraw himself?hand him the surgical instruments as needed. (McGraw's quotable comment on the operation itself? "It?s painful when they kind of pull on it.")

But six years later, McGraw's wife Robin let slip that she felt having only one child was the biggest regret of her life. McGraw's decision to get the vasectomy reversed was as speedy as it was to get it in the first place. The very next day, he mentioned it at the hospital where he worked and more doctor pals instantly offered to reverse the operation. And to think the rest of us have to wait months sometimes just for a checkup.

"They say, ?Take your shirt off,? and they start plugging me into IVs," McGraw?wrote in Newsweek.?"I remember being in recovery and the doctors saying, ?Wake up! We have to get you out of here.? They drag me out with one arm over each shoulder and drive me home. They dump me on the curb later that night."

The operation worked like a charm. Six weeks later, Robin McGraw was pregnant with their second son, Jordan.

Hooray for happy families and all that, but it's the helping with the operation that gets us. We shudder to think what would happen if Dr. Phil gets a sudden yearning for a root canal. Anybody got a power drill?

Was Dr. Phil, um, nuts to help out with his own vasectomy? Tell us on Facebook.

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Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/06/9252140-thats-nuts-dr-phil-helped-with-own-vasectomy

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