The topic has been hotly debated in recent years; how often should women get a mammogram? And with all the conflicting information that is being published these days some women are more confused than ever about how to properly screen themselves for breast cancer.

The latest study to hit the web, saw researchers claiming that following the 2009 U.S. guidelines for mammography, which recommend being screened every two years instead of annually, can cause breast cancer to be missed by physicians.

This study was published right on the heels of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine which claimed that mammograms were leading to the overdiagnosis of breast cancer, pointing out that nearly one-third of all patients, over 1 million women, received unnecessary treatment for tumors that would most likely not become life threatening.

The debate pits the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force against the American Cancer Society in their recommendations for women. Up until 2009 both teams agreed that screening should be conducted annuall,y but in their new guidelines published that year, the task force decided to change their recommendation to once every two years for women between the ages of 50 and 74. The Cancer Society stands by their recommendation of annual cancer screenings.

The latest study conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Arleo and a team of researchers found evidence that annual screening is still vitally important for women and that regular mammograms are responsible for detecting 20% of cancer cases. Arleo issued a statement to accompany her findings saying: “Our findings favor the American Cancer Society recommendations. Women over 40 should have annual mammograms. In my book there’s no confusion. I tell my patients, I tell my friends, and I tell my mother to get annual mammograms.” She went on to say that she hopes these finding will “quell some of the confusion” that has erupted of late.

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Breast Cancer Awareness month is behind us but that doesn’t mean it’s an issue to forget about until next year. Here are just a few of the things you can do to help raise awareness in your community

Get Informed

The best way to raise breast cancer awareness is to become knowledgeable about it yourself. Get informed about statistics, charity events, sites that accept donations, prevention and self-examination that way you can share the information with friends and family.

Buy the Gear

Many organizations sell breast cancer awareness t-shirts, bracelets or decals that you can not only wear proudly, but most places donate the profits made from these sales to cancer research so you will also be contributing to the cause.

Hold a Breast Cancer Research Walk in your community

Raising funds is a huge part of the process in the continuing efforts to find a cure. Recruit friends, family and co-workers to start a walk or look for existing walks in your area.

Reach out to local organizations

Look for local programs that contribute to cancer research and find out how you can help. Hosting a fundraiser is a great way to raise money for research and gives you an opportunity to educate those in your neighborhood that share your interest in finding a cure.

Encourage the women in your life to get checked out

Early detection greatly increases the chance of survival. Talk to your friends and family and encourage them to perform regular self-exams and go to the doctor for regular screenings.

Create a website

Start your own breast cancer awareness website that lists useful information like where to donate money, where to get a cancer screening and any upcoming fundraising events. If a website is too intimidating, take to your social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter to keep your friends posted about you awareness activities.

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According to a new study, a woman’s menstrual cycle has a direct impact on respiratory problems and can increase asthma symptoms.

A Norwegian study has found that women suffer from more severe respiratory symptoms during ovulation than at other times during the month. “The effects of the menstrual cycle on respiratory symptoms in the general population have not been studied. In a cohort of nearly 4,000 women, we found large and consistent changes in respiratory symptoms according to menstrual cycle phase, and, in addition there patterns varied according to menstrual cycle phase, and, in addition, these patterns varied according to body mass index (BMI), asthma, and smoking status,” explained the study’s lead author Ferenc Macsali from the Haukeland University Hospital in Norway.

The study found that wheezing symptoms were most sever between days 10-22 of the ovulation cycle and women reported more shortness of breath between days 7 and 21.

“Our finding that respiratory symptoms vary according to the stage of the menstrual cycle is novel, as is our finding that these patterns vary according to BMI and smoking status,” Mascali explained. “These relationships indicate a link between respiratory symptoms and hormonal changes through the menstrual cycle.”

The study suggests that female patients could benefit from a treatment program that takes into account their menstrual cycle, adjusting medication for the times of the month when symptoms are at their worst.

A study published back in 1996 had similar findings. The study, which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, tracked the menstrual cycle of 182 women who were treated in the emergency room for asthma symptoms and found that “20 percent of the patients were preovulatory and 24 percent were in the ovulatory phase when the attacks occurred.”

According to the latest statistics approximately 25 million Americans suffer from and it causes 3,300 fatalities each year. Considering that more women suffer from asthma than men, this study could greatly affect the way doctors treat this very serious ailment.

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According to the latest research, getting as little as 10 minutes of exercise a day can increase life expectancy by as much as 2 years past the age of 40. Steven Moore from the U.S. National Cancer Institute and his co-authors collected data on 650,000 men and women, both here and in Sweden over the age of 40, who had self-reported their regular activity levels. The found that an average of 75 minutes of exercise a week, or about 10 minutes a day, could add 1.8 years to life expectancy compared to no exercise at all. They also discovered that walking briskly for 450 minutes a week, or a little over an hour a day, could increase life expectancy by 4.5 years.

“More leisure-time physical activity was associated with longer life expectancy across a range of activity levels and body mass index groups,” the author’s wrote in this month’s issue of PLOS Medicine, which is published by the Public Library of Science.

Researchers also examined the effects of weight on life expectancy and found that the best case scenario was for a person who was active and at a normal BMI, which could add 7.2 years compared to those in the obese or inactive category.  The same person who was inactive could lose up to 4.7 years.

Smoking was also a considerable factor in determining life expectancy. The study, which was funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, found that long-term smoking could reduce life span by as much as 10 years.

According to a survey conducted by Statistics Canada’s Health Measures only about 15% of adults get the recommended amount of exercise, 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

“This finding may help convince currently inactive persons that a modest physical activity program is ‘worth it’ for health benefits, even if it may not result in weight control.”

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According to the latest study cancer survivors are more likely to report poorer physical and mental well-being, even if they have beaten their disease, compared to those who have never suffered from cancer. The study’s authors found that 24.5% of  survivors surveyed reported a low physical quality of life and 10.2% claimed a poor mental quality of life. Of those that had never suffered from cancer only 10.2% reported low physical quality and 5.9% reported low mental quality of life. The author’s noted that  survivors “report more functional impairment, poorer health, greater psychological distress, and more mental health needs.”

The survey, conducted by the 2010 National Health Interview Survey, which “tracks trends in illness and disability in the U.S.” spoke with 1,822  survivors and 24,804 adults with no cancer history.

To determine quality of life a 10-item Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Global Health Scale was employed which addresses fatigue, social, physical and mental health and pain. Mean scores for survivors were compared against mean scores for those with no history of cancer.

The study also found that “adult cancer survivors were older, less likely to be racial and ethnic minorities, more likely to be female, reported higher incomes, and had more noncancer comorbidities than adults without a history of cancer,” and that “12% of the survivors reported that they had a recurrence of their cancer.”

This research helps illustrate that even after cancer goes into remission, the survivor has a long road to recovery ahead. The pain and suffering that comes with a cancer diagnosis can leave deep and long lasting scars that need to be addressed by health care professionals if a patient is to regain a high quality of life in recovery.

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According to a new study, kids that are bullied in school are 2.5 times more like to contemplate suicide than their non-bullied peers. School bullies aren’t the only risk factor for suicidal behavior though. Researchers found that children who were abused or sexually assaulted by a parent were up to 4.5 times more likely to experience suicidal thoughts and the risk goes up to 6 times more likely for kids who experienced seven or more victimizing experiences in a year. Study author Dr. Heather Turner, a professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, explains: “Exposure to multiple forms of victimization is especially detrimental. These kids may be exposed to crime and violence at home by witnessing their parents fighting and other types of domestic violence, and they may witness violence in their neighborhoods and be bullied on the Internet. These are kids that are clearly experiencing a hige amount of adversity in multiple areas of their lives.”

The study was conducted as part of the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence and followed 1,186 kids between the ages of 10 and 17. The children were given surveys regarding any abuse that they experienced and their environment and whether they ever thought about committing suicide. The study found that about 1 in 23 kids reported thinking about killing themselves and those children who lived with a step family or a parent with a live-in unmarried partner were at 3 times a higher risk of suicidal thoughts than those living with two married parents.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suicide remains the third leading cause of death for children between the ages of 10 and 24 and nearly 24,000 adolescents take their own lives each year. Better understanding the risk factors that lead to suicidal thoughts and ideation is the best chance researchers have to prevent these tragic deaths from occurring in the future.

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According to the latest research, boys are hitting puberty as much as two years earlier than they did in past decades and doctors are unable to explain the cause of such a significant change. The study was the first to take a large scale look at puberty in over 25 years and researchers were shocked by the results. They found that young men are showing the first signs of puberty between the ages of 9 and 10. In previous studies researchers found the average age to be closer to 11 years of age. The biggest change was seen in African American males who were showing signs of puberty at 9.1 years of age, followed by Hispanic males at the age of 10 years and white males at the age of 10.1 years. The fact that women are hitting puberty much earlier has been well documented but this is the first study to demonstrate that males are suffering the same effects. According to director of adolescent medicine Frank Biro, the study “does validate the perception that boys are maturing earlier than they did 30 years ago. The next piece is why, and we are starting to look at that more carefully.” For females, the common perception is that rising obesity rates are behind the early puberty trend as estrogen is stored in fat cells. In boys the connection is not as clear. In recent studies many boys classified as obese actually began puberty later than their normal weight peers. It is also more difficult to track puberty in males because most of the noticeable signs such as voice changes, growth spurts and facial hair don’t occur until the very end of puberty. The only initial sign is testicular growth which is often times so subtle as to go unnoticed. The next puzzle for doctors to investigate is what the long term health effects are of earlier puberty if any. Some doctors fear that earlier puberty could mean a higher risk of testicular cancer while others are considered with the social impact. Dr. Herman-Giddens warns “There is already a tremendous gap between sexual maturity and when the brain matures, and it’s probably getting ever greater.” He believes that this gap could lead to risky behavior.

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