General
Be inforMD – Know your breasts: Breast density hides cancers and increases cancer risk. We explain how breast density can complicate mammogram screening and what steps you can take to reduce your risk of breast cancer. Please share and help us spread the word! Can you see the Polar Bear?
Today’s Abused Health Concept
Vaccine Adverse Event Claims. HPV vaccine adverse events – study of 11 years of use in Australia: The anti-vax crowd love to make big claims about vaccines causing adverse response. Now a large Australian study put that in perspective. “HPV is a sexually transmitted disease. HPV causes 43,000 cancers a year in the USA alone. The HPV vaccine prevents becoming infected by HPV, which means you are protected from these cancers.” Compared to the harm done by the disease, the worst ‘adverse events’ found was that some patients fainted, not at all uncommon during injections. “… the researchers found no concerning issues with HPV vaccine adverse events except for syncope, a condition that is frequently observed with all vaccines or procedures that use needles such as blood draws.” Hence when one considers the risks, and compares the risk to the benefits, the fear mongering about ‘adverse events’ takes on a rather ridiculous tone.”
Great Moments in Health and Science
History of Insulin: Less than 100 years ago, Type 1 diabetes was a death sentence, with patients living less than 3 years from time of diagnosis on average. The discovery of insulin’s role in the disease and the development and refinement of insulin injections over this time period has dramatically increased the life expectancy and quality of life of those with this condition.
Thanks to Science
We are unravelling the causes of Cerebral Palsy. Study confirms genetic link in Cerebral Palsy: Researchers at the University of Adelaide together with an international team have identified genetic mutations associated with cerebral palsy in humans – and have now demonstrated that they can cause defects in movement in a fruit fly model. These findings may lead to better screening tests for CP, or potentially the development of treatments to mitigate the effects of the defective gene pathways.