Should You Consider Integrative Medicine as Part of Your Cancer Treatment?

Death rates from cancer have dropped in recent years. This is partly due to the availability of a wider variety of improved treatment options. However, cancer rates continue to rise. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease.

Love Selfies? New App May Help You Detect Pancreatic Cancer

Sometimes it seems like we practically live on our phones: talking, texting, emailing, tracking, snapping selfies. And I’m a fan of fitness and other health apps that help me be proactive about eating right and exercising. But I never thought taking a selfie might save my life.

Lung Cancer, The Leading Cause of Cancer Death, Just Took George Romero

I’m deeply saddened to hear there has been yet another loss of a young life in the entertainment industry. “Night of the Living Dead” director, filmmaker, writer and horror film trendsetter George Romero died this past Sunday after enduring a “brief but aggressive battle with lung cancer.”

Your Genes Are Not Your Health Destiny!

Insight into my DNA has been made possible by personal genomics. Now, I am able to know whether I have cancer-causing or other alterations in my genes. However, you might be someone who adamantly refuses to learn about your genes and whether you are at risk for certain diseases. Avoiding information that threatens happiness or health is not abnormal and is sometimes referred to as information avoidance.

“When It Rains It Pours And When It Shines You Get Melanoma” (Sol Luckman)

With a crazy presidential election and all the activity and drama in the White House, you may not have heard of Proclamation 9581, which on March 31st declared the month of April as National Cancer Control Month.

Why Is Leukemia So Deadly And Is There Anything We Can Do To Prevent It?

Comedian and older brother to actor and comedian Eddie Murphy, Charlie Murphy, died this week at the age of 57 after losing a battle to leukemia. A report says his family was shocked because he seemed to be getting better and even joked his family was too worried about him. He was receiving chemotherapy treatment, but he did not disclose his illness to many people. Before his death, he continued to work. He was a castmate of the hit TV show “Power,” and reportedly other castmates did not know he was battling cancer.

Could Lack of Colorectal Screenings be to Blame for the Spike in Cancer Rates Under 50?

Colorectal cancer may be most prevalent among people over the age of 50, but that doesn’t mean younger people are immune to it. In the late 90s, Katie Couric and husband Jay Monahan learned he had colon cancer. He died nine months later at the age of 42. Since then, Couric has been a dedicated advocate for colon cancer screenings. If you’re over 50, there’s a good chance your doctor has already talked to you about colonoscopies and the importance of screening for colorectal cancer.

Are You Proactive with Screenings for Colorectal Cancer?

March is colorectal cancer month, and each year at this time I am reminded it took the life of my brother at the age of 65. What is even more intriguing is for years prior to his death, he was told by doctors to get a colonoscopy but he never did. I do not think he really appreciated the importance of getting a colonoscopy until after he was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Like many of us, he did not take the time to focus on preventive health care because he had no apparent symptoms. There appears to be a human tendency to generally wait until we are sick or have symptoms before we focus on our health.

Let’s take our heads out of the sand: What we are doing today may be increasing our risk for cancer

When it comes to cancer, what you don’t know can hurt you. And according to a recent survey from the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), it seems there’s a lot more many of us need to know -- like which lifestyle choices contribute to cancer and what we can do to reduce that risk.

Newsflash: Your pap smear doesn’t check for ovarian cancer! Here’s what to do to be proactive

September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In the U.S. this year, an estimated 22,280 women will receive an ovarian cancer diagnosis, and 14,240 women will die of it, according to the American Cancer Society. It is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women.

Simplify the hard task of picking the right cancer treatment: Let your genes decide

After a diagnosis of cancer comes the discussion of treatment options. The patient contemplates trying chemotherapy or radiation therapy, but wonders whether these treatment options will work. After all, they do come with a lot of collateral damage. For some people, the treatment causes more trouble than if the growth was just left untreated. Meanwhile, others respond quite well to the treatment. So, how is a patient to know which category he or she will fall into?

An alcohol-cancer link more people should know about

A drink after work, drinks with friends, drinks at yet another wedding -- it’s safe to say that there’s always an occasion to lift your glass. You know all about drinking responsibly, and you’d never dream of getting behind the wheel when you’re buzzed. But have you ever thought about the long-term consequences those drinks may have on your health?