HPV vaccine could lower oral cancer risk in men
The HPV vaccine that helps prevent cervical cancer in women also might lower the risk in young men of oral infections that can cause mouth and throat cancers, a new study finds.
These cancers are rising fast, especially in men, and research suggests that HPV, the human papillomavirus, is spreading through oral sex.
Actor Michael Douglas brought attention to this risk several years ago when he blamed his cancer on it.
This is the first study of whether the vaccine might prevent oral HPV infections in young men, and the results suggest it can. No men who had received at least one dose were later found to have infections of HPV strains linked to cancer, but more than 2 per cent of unvaccinated men had them.
“There may be additional benefits to vaccinating your son or daughter” besides the problems the vaccine already is known to prevent, said Dr. Maura Gillison of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Results were released last week by the American Society of Clinical Oncology ahead of presentation at its annual meeting next month. Women in 30s having more babies than younger moms in US. For the first time, women in their early 30s are having more babies than younger moms in the United States.
Health experts say the shift is due to more women waiting longer to have children and the ongoing drop in the teen birth rate.
For more than three decades, women in their late 20s had the highest birth rates, but that changed last year, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The birth rate for women ages 30 to 34 was about 103 per 100,000; the rate for women ages 25 to 29 was102 per100,000. The CDC did not release the actual numbers of deliveries for each age group. Taking abortion pill at home as safe as in a clinic, study finds A new study shows medical abortions done at home with online help and pills sent by mail appear to be just as safe as those done at a clinic.
The research tracked 1,000 women in Ireland and Northern Ireland, who used a website to get abortion pills by mail and get around strict abortion laws.
The researchers said less than 1per cent of the women reported side effects, comparable to the rates for women who seek medical abortions at clinics. The website is run by Women on Web. The Netherlands-based non-profit provides advice and pills to women seeking an early abortion in countries where access to abortion is restricted.
The study was published last week in the British journal, the BMJ. Study recommends diet and exercise combination for obese seniors New research suggests older, obese people on diets shouldn’t skip the weight machines or the treadmill.
A study published last week by the New England Journal of Medicine tried to determine the safest approach for seniors losing weight.
Researchers randomly assigned groups to a diet-and-exercise program for six months. Those whose program included aerobics and strength training scored best on tasks such as standing up from a chair and climbing stairs.
Experts have worried about recommending weight loss to obese seniors because it speeds up bone and muscle loss, increasing the danger of broken bones.
The study excluded people with serious health problems, so the results apply only to people well enough to start an exercise program.