Improved lung cancer treatment is a major reason for the 31% decline in cancer death rates in the United States between 1991 and 2018, including a record 2.4% decrease from 2017 to 2018, the American Cancer Society says. How the COVID-19 pandemic will affect this downward trend is unknown, the society noted. “The impact of COVID-19 on cancer diagnoses and outcomes at the population level will be unknown for several years because of the time necessary for data collection, compilation, quality control and dissemination,” according to the report’s lead author, Rebecca Siegel. “We anticipate that disruptions in access to cancer care in 2020 will lead to downstream increases in advanced-stage diagnoses that may impede progress in reducing cancer mortality rates in the years to come,” she said in a cancer society news release. The American Cancer Society said about 3.2 million cancer deaths were prevented from 1991 through 2018 due to declines in smoking, earlier detection, and improvements in treatment that led to long-term decreases in deaths from the four leading cancers: lung, breast, colon and prostate. Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer death, causing more deaths than breast, prostate and colon cancers combined. While there’s been slow progress against breast, prostate and colon cancers in recent years, declines in lung cancer death rates grew from 2.4% a year during 2009 to…  read on >  read on >

Vaping may not be a way for kids to avoid the smoking habit, after all. A new study finds that teens who start vaping are three times more likely to smoke cigarettes in adulthood than those who never started with electronic cigarettes. Although the number of teens who start smoking cigarettes in high school has declined, vaping has soared. From 2016 to 2019, the number of cigarette smokers among U.S. high school seniors dropped from 28% to 22%, but e-cigarette use increased from 39% to 46%, the researchers found. “The rapid rise in e-cigarette experimentation among the youth of our country appears to mean that we will have a whole new generation of cigarette smokers along with all the health consequences that follow,” said lead researcher John Pierce. He’s a professor emeritus in the department of family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego. “There is an urgent need to reconsider the policies on e-cigarettes and at least hold them to the same standards as the cigarette companies, such as restricting their right to advertise to our teens,” Pierce said. For the study, the investigators collected data on nearly 16,000 people in the United States, aged 12 to 24. Nearly two-thirds had tried at least one tobacco product, and almost one-third tried five or more tobacco products, of which e-cigarettes and…  read on >  read on >

A plant-based diet is linked to healthy gut microbes that could lower your risk for conditions like obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, a new study finds. “This study demonstrates a clear association between specific microbial species in the gut, certain foods, and risk of some common diseases,” said Dr. Andrew Chan, a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “We hope to be able to use this information to help people avoid serious health problems by changing their diet to personalize their gut microbiome.” In this study of more than 1,100 participants from the United States and Britain, researchers collected data on composition of their gut bacteria, dietary habits and blood markers. They found evidence that the microbiome is linked with specific foods and diets, and that its makeup is also associated with levels of metabolic markers of disease. The microbiome has a greater link with these markers than other factors, such as genetics, researchers said. “Studying the interrelationship between the microbiome, diet and disease involves a lot of variables because peoples’ diets tend to be personalized and may change quite a bit over time,” Chan said in a hospital news release. Researchers found that those who ate a diet rich in plant-based foods were more likely to have high levels of specific gut microbes. They also found microbiome-based biomarkers of obesity, heart…  read on >  read on >

Could a cancer diagnosis sometimes produce positive life changes? In a new study, many people with colon cancer, even in advanced stages, believed their diagnosis had brought some beneficial effects to their lives. In surveys of 133 colon cancer patients, researchers found that nearly all — 95% — said their lives had benefited in some way since their diagnosis. Often, they felt their family relationships had strengthened, or they were better able to “take things as they come” and feel grateful for each day. That was the case whether people were in an earlier stage of the disease or had metastatic cancer — meaning it had spread to distant sites in the body. In fact, the study found, no medical factors seemed to influence patients’ capacity for “benefit finding.” On the other hand, that ability to see a “silver lining” did not buffer people against feeling anxious, sad or otherwise distressed. While that might seem counterintuitive, experts said it actually makes sense. People can simultaneously see the positives in their lives, and be distressed by dealing with a cancer diagnosis, said lead researcher Lauren Zimmaro, a senior postdoctoral associate at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Benefit-finding, she said, is about finding meaning in the midst of difficulties, and not “putting a positive spin on things.” “It’s more realistic than that,” Zimmaro said. Allison Applebaum,…  read on >  read on >

Could a cancer diagnosis sometimes produce positive life changes? In a new study, many people with colon cancer, even in advanced stages, believed their diagnosis had brought some beneficial effects to their lives. In surveys of 133 colon cancer patients, researchers found that nearly all — 95% — said their lives had benefited in some way since their diagnosis. Often, they felt their family relationships had strengthened, or they were better able to “take things as they come” and feel grateful for each day. That was the case whether people were in an earlier stage of the disease or had metastatic cancer — meaning it had spread to distant sites in the body. In fact, the study found, no medical factors seemed to influence patients’ capacity for “benefit finding.” On the other hand, that ability to see a “silver lining” did not buffer people against feeling anxious, sad or otherwise distressed. While that might seem counterintuitive, experts said it actually makes sense. People can simultaneously see the positives in their lives, and be distressed by dealing with a cancer diagnosis, said lead researcher Lauren Zimmaro, a senior postdoctoral associate at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Benefit-finding, she said, is about finding meaning in the midst of difficulties, and not “putting a positive spin on things.” “It’s more realistic than that,” Zimmaro said. Allison Applebaum,…  read on >  read on >

Vaping may not be a way for kids to avoid the smoking habit, after all. A new study finds that teens who start vaping are three times more likely to smoke cigarettes in adulthood than those who never started with electronic cigarettes. Although the number of teens who start smoking cigarettes in high school has declined, vaping has soared. From 2016 to 2019, the number of cigarette smokers among U.S. high school seniors dropped from 28% to 22%, but e-cigarette use increased from 39% to 46%, the researchers found. “The rapid rise in e-cigarette experimentation among the youth of our country appears to mean that we will have a whole new generation of cigarette smokers along with all the health consequences that follow,” said lead researcher John Pierce. He’s a professor emeritus in the department of family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego. “There is an urgent need to reconsider the policies on e-cigarettes and at least hold them to the same standards as the cigarette companies, such as restricting their right to advertise to our teens,” Pierce said. For the study, the investigators collected data on nearly 16,000 people in the United States, aged 12 to 24. Nearly two-thirds had tried at least one tobacco product, and almost one-third tried five or more tobacco products, of which e-cigarettes and…  read on >  read on >

A plant-based diet is linked to healthy gut microbes that could lower your risk for conditions like obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, a new study finds. “This study demonstrates a clear association between specific microbial species in the gut, certain foods, and risk of some common diseases,” said Dr. Andrew Chan, a gastroenterologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. “We hope to be able to use this information to help people avoid serious health problems by changing their diet to personalize their gut microbiome.” In this study of more than 1,100 participants from the United States and Britain, researchers collected data on composition of their gut bacteria, dietary habits and blood markers. They found evidence that the microbiome is linked with specific foods and diets, and that its makeup is also associated with levels of metabolic markers of disease. The microbiome has a greater link with these markers than other factors, such as genetics, researchers said. “Studying the interrelationship between the microbiome, diet and disease involves a lot of variables because peoples’ diets tend to be personalized and may change quite a bit over time,” Chan said in a hospital news release. Researchers found that those who ate a diet rich in plant-based foods were more likely to have high levels of specific gut microbes. They also found microbiome-based biomarkers of obesity, heart…  read on >  read on >