MENU: |  Ritalin-Heart Problems  |  Breast Cancer News  |  Watch Your Scalp!  |  Summer Camp Safety   |  5 Easy Ways to Keep Cancer Away   |  Brain Mistakes  |  Migraine-Skin Connection  |  Breast Self Examination  |  Dinner Ideas  |  Cellphones and Cancer  |  Smoking Addiction In Teens  |

			Ritalin-Heart Problems The American Heart Association suggests that children should be screened for heart problems with an electrocardiogram before getting drugs like Ritalin to treat hyperactivity and attention-deficit disorder.  Stimulant drugs can increase blood pressure and heart rate.  For most children, that isn't a problem.  However, in those with heart conditions, it could make them more vulnerable to sudden cardiac arrest.

			Breast Cancer News A protein known to stop breast tumours in mice may also predict how deadly a breast cancer is in women.  Researchers found the tumour known as Brd-4 in mice and used it to find the comparable protein in humans.  In five groups of breast cancer patients, women with the protein had a longer survival rate and a lower spread of tumours.  The finding is reported by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Cancer Institute.

			Watch Your Scalp! A new study suggests that people with skin cancer (melanoma) on their scalp or neck are nearly twice as likely to die as those with skin cancer elsewhere.  Researchers gathered their information from 51-thousand melanoma cases in the U-S, and found that patients with melanoma on the scalp or neck were 84 per cent more likely to die.  As a result of their study, the researchers ask doctors to more carefully examine patients' skin in these areas for signs of melanoma.  Researchers say skin cancers on the scalp and neck account for six per cent of melanoma cases and 10 per cent of the deaths.  Their work is reported in the Archives of Dermatology at the University of North Carolina.

			Summer Camp Safety Summer camps are great for children!  However, the Red Cross RespectED program is urging parents to think over the following tips and use them as a checklist when choosing which day or overnight camp to send your children to....Have all staff and volunteers been screened with a criminal reference check?  Have there been measures put in place that ensure your child's safety?  Have the staff been trained to recognize the danger signs of child abuse, bullying and harassment--do they know how to to intervene if these things are happening?  How are incidents of violence and bullying dealt with?--are parents informed right away?  Do the campers know who to talk to if they're feeling unsafe?  What kind of discipline is allowed at the camp?--will yelling, insulting or any physical force be tolerated from camp personnel?  Who is in charge of enforcing the guidelines, and how?  The Red Cross aims to break the cycle of violence by educating the adults that work with children and youth.  The Red Cross offers online and group workshops on bullying, harassment and child abuse.  For more information call the local Canadian Red Cross at 759-4547.

			5 Easy Ways to Keep Cancer Away Obesity is a risk factor in six types of cancer, a landmark report recently announced. Consuming alcohol, red meat, and processed meats (ham, sausage, bacon) also raises your odds, while eating more fruits and nonstarchy vegetables and getting more exercise lower your risk. What makes these findings noteworthy is that a team of international experts spent five years reviewing all the evidence. Use these research-based tips to jump-start a healthier lifestyle: Stash baby carrots, red pepper slices, and snap peas in a container in the fridge and graze on them instead of last night’s leftovers. Up the appeal of fruit: Serve fruit salsa as a side with chicken or fish; microwave an apple with cinnamon and a little sugar; freeze grapes. Stretch red meat by using it in stir-fries or combining it with ground turkey or veggie crumbles (for burgers). Skip dessert after eating out with a friend (you know you’d go for the molten chocolate cake) and take a walk instead. Don’t count on vitamin supplements to protect you against cancer; in some cases, they may even increase your risk.

			Brain Mistakes New research suggests that a careless mistake may have been set in motion by your brain up to 30 seconds before you did it.  To set this up, researchers gave subjects a monotonous task where they had to respond quickly to a visual clue and used M-R-I to look at blood flow in the brain.  The scientists could see abnormal brain activity up to 30 seconds before the subject made a mistake.  Researchers believe this will allow us to predict and protect against workplace accidents.

			Migraine-Skin Connection People with migraines may be more likely to suffer from skin sensitivity.  A mail survey to 16-thousand identified headache sufferers showed that 68 per cent of people with daily migraines and 63 per cent of people with frequent migraine reported a skin sensitivity called allodynia.  It leads to pain after daily activities like rubbing your head, combing your hair, or wearing necklaces or earrings.

			Breast Self Examination The Canadian Cancer Society is changing its message to women about monitoring themselves for breast cancer.  The organization is no longer insisting on routine breast self-examination according to a once-a-month schedule.  It is now urging women to know their own breasts and to tell their doctors if they detect any changes in them.  The new message is that women don't need to use a specific technique or schedule for this kind of breast self-examination.  The Canadian Cancer Society also reaffirms the importance of mammography as a method for screening breast cancer.  It recommends a mammogram every two years for women aged 50 to 69, while women over 40 should have a clinical breast examination by a trained health-care professional at least every two years.

			Dinner Ideas Need help with dinner or any meal idea, check out these websites. www.allrecipes.com www.foodtv.com www.kraftfoods.com www.bettycrocker.com

			Cellphones and Cancer Mobile phones could kill far more people than smoking or asbestos, a study by award-winning cancer expert Dr. Vini Khurana has concluded. He says people should avoid using them wherever possible and that governments and the mobile phone industry must take "immediate steps" to reduce exposure to their radiation.  The study draws on growing evidence that using handsets for 10 years or more can double the risk of brain cancer. Cancers take at least a decade to develop, invalidating official safety assurances based on earlier studies which included few, if any, people who had used the phones for that long.  Professor Khurana admits that mobiles can save lives in emergencies, but concludes that "there is a significant and increasing body of evidence for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumours". He believes this will be "definitively proven" in the next decade.

			Smoking Addiction In Teens A new study finds kids who feel relaxed after their first drags on a cigarette are most likely to get hooked on smoking -- and find it toughest to quit.  Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School say it’s the brain's first response to that first dose of nicotine that most likely determines who gets hooked.  The study followed a thousand teenagers between 2002 and 2006.  The report is published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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