While we can’t always prevent cancer, we can do things to help reduce the risk of developing it. Of course, we always hear: eat healthy foods, exercise, don’t smoke. But the message doesn’t seem to be getting through because people still eat junk or high fat foods, still don’t exercise and still smoke.
The Mayo Clinic published 10 tips to reduce cancer risk in their most recent issue of Mayo Clinic Women’s HealthSource.
Here are the tips and below there’s more explanation:

Stop smoking
Limit alcohol intake – some alcohol is okay, too much is not
Follow recommended intake of fruits and vegetable (daily!)
Decrease the …read more

There has been plenty of talk about parents not wanting to give their teenage girls Gardasil, which is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics as protection against cervical cancer and genital warts caused by HPV, or the human papillomavirus. Up until now, most parents worried about the moral issue of giving their 11 and 12-year old daughters a vaccine that has to do with sex.

However, many parents are holding back with the vaccine, not because of moral issues, but because they fear what the drug’s side effects will be. The drug is, after all, new, and they …read more

…dies of oral cancer. This is how the website Fight Oral Cancer begins its introduction.
Oral cancers, of the tongue, gums, lips or mouth, are in the rise around the world. And the sad fact is that most oral cancers are preventable. According to the American Cancer Society ,
Most oral cancers could be prevented if people did not use tobacco or drink heavily.
Quitting tobacco and limiting alcohol use sharply reduce any risk of developing oral cancer, even after many years of use. Many oral cancers may be found early by a combination of routine screening examinations by a …read more

One of the most hotly debated issues when it comes to children is if boys should be circumcised. Unless you do it for religious reasons, the issue can start an argument in no time at all. There are vehement arguments for both sides of the issue and the problem is, it doesn’t seem like anyone is right or wrong because both sides can find studies to back up their beliefs.
A new study out has weighed in on the benefits of circumcision – the potential that it can help prevent the spread of the human papillomavirus (HPV). A few forms of …read more

Yes..I was about to get up and call it a weekend when I suddenly remembered the contest I was running here: The “Take The Test” HPV Awareness Bracelet contest.
So far, i have four valid contestants. Because of that and because I wouldn’t be online much, I will extend the contest to Monday, 19th May 2008 (GMT+8) at 23.59.
I will announce the winners on Wednesday, May 21.
Thanks a lot., please join if you haven’t done so already.

Where has the month of April gone? Time really does fly.
April was STD Awareness Month and it is better late than never to mention it here,just now.
To kick off the month of April, I am running a contest wherein 2 winners will each win a “Take The Test” HPV Awareness Bracelet.
Contest Mechanics:

Leave a comment to this post until 1159 PM (GMT+8) on May 16, 2008. 1 unique commenter = 1 contest entry which i will raffle from a “hat”, the old-fashioned way.
Winners (2) will be announced the next day (May 17, 2008) in a blog post. The winners will than …read more

The Digene® HPV Test is the only such test approved by the FDA that uses advanced molecular technology to detect the DNA (genetic material) of 13 high-risk types of HPV (the virus shown to actually cause virtually all cases of cervical cancer.)
Approved by the FDA in 2003 for cervical cancer screening in conjunction with a Pap, in women age 30 and older – Digene® HPV Test – is based on proprietary “Hybrid Capture” technology, which combines two innovations from the rapidly evolving field of life sciences – DNA/RNA probes and monoclonal antibodies – to allow rapid, standardized gene testing …read more

Speaking of cervical cancer vaccines, there are two notables: Gardasil by Merck which was approved by the FDA earlier this year and Cervarix by GlaxoSmithKline which is expected to be approved by the FDA later this year (but already approved in Australia).

Regarding these HPV vaccines that will protect women against cervical cancer, the CDC recommends that the vaccine should be routinely given to girls at 11-12 years of age – the stage before young girls are more likely to become sexually active.
Now there is a new project that will evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of these vaccines.
The said project -funded …read more

Cervarix™ is the cervical cancer vaccine candidate of GlaxoSmithKline which have been previously known to protect from human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18.
Now, an Australian study of under 150 Perth women included in a major international research at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research proved that the new Cervarix vaccine provides broader protection against cervical cancer because it also demonstrated additional protection against infectious from other strains of HPV that account for another 10 percent of cervical cancers.
According to co-author Dr Rachel Skinner, who headed the Perth trial:
“We have found through this study that this vaccine is extremely …read more

A year ago, Merck’s cervical cancer vaccine- Gardasil® – has been approved by the FDA for use across the United States for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections of strains of human papilloma virus (HPV) linked to most cervical cancers and genital warts and is recommended for young girls and women aged 11 to 26.
Last February, mandatory vaccination of Gardasil® took effect in the state of Texas only to be overturned by a legislature in April. While most states have proposed laws to make Gardasil® vaccination a mandate, no one followed Texas State.
However, the big issue remains whether whose decision …read more