Yoga has been becoming more popular in various health and illness areas – breast cancer is no different.
According to a press release issued by Wiley-Blackwell,

Women undertaking a ten week program of 75 minute Restorative Yoga (RY) classes gained positive differences in aspects of mental health such as depression, positive emotions, and spirituality (feeling calm/peaceful) compared to the control group. The study, published today in a special issue of Psycho-Oncology focusing on physical activity, shows the women had a 50% reduction in depression and a 12% increase in feelings of peace and meaning after the yoga sessions.

The study looked 44 …read more

I’ve not thought of her name for a long time, but as soon as I read it, I remembered who she was and what she’d done. She was an Olympic gold medalist in 1968, in Grenoble, France. She’s now 60 years old and a grandmother of 3. Imagine that. We know that we’re getting older, but somehow it always seems a bit of a surprise when a public figure or sports celebrity gets older too.
Peggy is not only a winner in sports, she’s a winner in breast cancer. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998 and is a cancer …read more

As more children are surviving childhood cancers, some are finding themselves fighting the battle again later on, in adulthood. Such is the case with many women who were treated for Hodgkin’s disease when they were children if they were treated with radiation. And, the higher the radiation, the higher the risk – up to 40 times that of women who didn’t have Hodgkin’s disease, say researchers.
Until about 20 years ago, Hodgkin’s disease in children was treated very aggressively with high doses of radiation and little else, but the survival rate has increased significantly. Over the past two decades, with improvements …read more

It’s got to be one of the worst nightmares of pregnancy – finding out you have cancer while you’re pregnant. Unfortunately it does happen (Pregnant and receiving chemotherapy, Cancer and pregnancy – a much wanted birth). Researchers say that over 3%, almost 4%, of pregnancies may be complicated by breast cancer. It’s estimated that the numbers will go higher though, as women have babies later in life and older age does also increase the chances of developing the disease.
Finding out you have cancer while you’re pregnant brings about many decisions that have to be made, any one of which may …read more

More news on the breast cancer/hormone replacement therapy (HRT) front.
According to a study published in the most recent issue of the journal Cancer (March 1), postmenopausal women who take estrogen and progesterone – compared to women who don’t take the combination HRT – are an increased risk (75%) of developing invasive ductal breast cancer and more than twice the risk for lobular breast cancer. Ductal breast cancer beings in the milk ducts and lobular breast cancer begins in the milk-producing lobules. The risks did drop two years after the HRT was stopped.
For women who take estrogen-only HRT, the risk was …read more

As in all studies, this finding doesn’t hold true for everyone, but it is very hopeful for quite a few women (or men) who are diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), an early form of breast cancer that hasn’t become invasive yet.
Researchers in Australia reviewed studies for a total of almost 4000 women that looked at patient outcomes following traditional lumpectomy or combination lumpectomy with radiation. They found that radiation after lumpectomy decreased the risk of recurrence or invasive cancer appearing in the treated breast by 51%,
You can read more about the findings in this article, Radiation Lowers Relapse …read more

This article is the third and final installment of a 3-part series on breast reconstruction surgery introducing the reconstructive options available to women facing mastectomy for breast cancer. The first two in the series are: Every woman has a right to breast reconstruction and Muscle flaps in breast reconstruction surgery after breast cancer.
Dr Minas Chrysopoulo has offered to write some information on various breast reconstruction issues. What he writes is from his point of view and knowledge. I hope that the series is of interest and help to those who live through breast cancer and helps those who love them …read more

This article is the second of a 3-part series on breast reconstruction surgery introducing the reconstructive options available to women facing mastectomy for breast cancer.
Dr Minas Chrysopoulo has offered to write some information on various breast reconstruction
issues. What he writes is from his point of view and knowledge. I hope that the series is of interest and help to those who live through breast cancer and helps those who love them understand the issues more clearly.
Breast Reconstruction Surgery: What Every Woman Needs To Know – Part II – Muscle Flaps
By Minas Chrysopoulo, MD
Women interested in breast reconstruction after mastectomy have …read more

Dr Minas Chrysopoulo has offered to write some information on various breast reconstruction issues. What he writes is from his point of view and knowledge. I hope that the series is of interest and help to those who live through breast cancer and helps those who love them understand the issues more clearly.
This article is the first of a 3-part series on breast reconstruction surgery introducing the reconstructive options available to women facing mastectomy for breast cancer.
Breast Reconstruction Surgery: What Every Woman Needs To Know – Part I
By Minas Chrysopoulo, MD
Every woman has a right to breast reconstruction. This has …read more

HER-2 positive breast cancer, a more aggressive type of breast cancer than HER-2 negative, was thought to right away mean a frightening prognosis. However, researchers who are using a new way of testing for HER-2 status are finding that it’s not always as grim as doctors once thought.
First of all, what is HER-2? HER-2 is a protein called human epidermal growth receptor-2. This particular protein encourages or promotes growth of cancer cells in any type of cancer. For some reason, about one third of breast cancers have much more of HER-2 than other cancers due to a gene mutation that …read more