Cholesterol Drugs Might Boost Kidney Cancer Survival

TUESDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs that are taken by millions of Americans might also improve survival from a type of kidney cancer called renal cell carcinoma, a new study suggests.

Statins -- drugs such as Crestor, Lipitor, Pravachol and Zocor -- have anti-inflammatory and cell self-destruction properties, and previous research has shown that these drugs may lower the risk of developing some types of cancer. The new research, presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association in San Diego, suggests that the drugs might fight kidney cancer.

"Given that one in four Americans over 45 years of age take a statin and renal cell carcinoma occurs most often in men ages 50 to 70, it may be prudent to prospectively evaluate if statins protect against [cancer] progression," study author Dr. Scott Eggener, an associate professor of urologic oncology at the University of Chicago, said in a meeting press release.

One expert not connected to the study wasn't surprised by the findings.

"The use of statins has shown promise in previous studies with reducing overall cancer-related mortality," said Dr. Michael Palese, an associate professor of urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City. He added that certain characteristics of renal cell carcinomas might render statins "beneficial" for patients.

In the study, Eggener's team reviewed data from more than 900 patients who had surgery for renal cell carcinoma between 1995 and 2010. After an average follow-up period approaching four years, statin use was associated with a reduced risk of cancer progression, the team reported.

Over three years, 10 percent of the patients who took statins died of their cancer, compared with 17 percent of those who did not take this type of drug.

After accounting for other factors, the researchers concluded that statin use was independently associated with both improved overall survival and disease-specific survival.

Another expert said the finding echoes those seen in other studies involving cancer patients.

"Last year in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Danish researchers studied 13 different cancers and found that in all types, the use of statins was associated with longer cancer specific survival," said Dr. Manish Vira, director of the fellowship program in urologic oncology at North Shore-LIJ's Arthur Smith Institute for Urology in Lake Success, N.Y.

But he stressed that the data so far come from observational trials, which can prove an association but not a cause-and-effect relationship between statin use and improved survival.

"Given the current data and known cardiovascular protective effects of statins, certainly it seems prudent to design clinical trials to study the potential of statin therapy in breast, colon, prostate and now kidney cancer treatment," Vira said.

Studies presented at medical meetings are typically considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Michael Palese, M.D., associate professor, urology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City; Manish A. Vira, M.D, director, fellowship program in urologic oncology, North Shore-LIJ Arthur Smith Institute for Urology, Lake Success, N.Y.; American Urological Association, news release, May 7, 2013

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Struggling with weight ;((

Hi there!

In March 2012 I was approximately 150 lbs I started loosing weight and by August, 2012 I had lost 25 pounds and I weighted 125 lbs at that time. I was eating really healthy lots of veggies, lean protein and going to gym 4 days per week for 1-2 hours. Of course sometimes there were birthdays and celebrations that didn't help to stick with a diet. After those days I was like obsessed and ate about 800kcal/per day to maintain my weight. Well during the fall 2012 and winter 2013 my weight was coming back no matter what.  I could eat 500 cals once a day and another day 1200 cal also healthy things. Well often there were overindulges, but I sincerely ate healthy veggies, lean protein, oats, cottage cheese and everything low fat most of the days. In spring 2013, my weight gaining stopped around 140lbs and I started going to a gym again for every day, doing the same things as the last year, even less cakes and other unhealthy crap but nothing has helped so far. I went to a doctor and got tested my thyroid - everything was fine and I had also had a period disappearing from last year but after I started using vitamin D and Calcium it has showed up again. I have stuck with 140 lbs on the scale for 4 months. And now I am eating about 1200 kcal every day working out for at least 1 hour and the biggest loss I've reached was 137 lbs. And yesterday I had a slice of pizza, some ice-cream and cake in the result my weight came down again to 143 lbs.

Can someone please help me? Tell me what am I doing wrong now? Because this year I don't even have cold hands and it looks for me that my metabolism is even higher now, but on the other hand with weight it looks differently.

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Q&A With Chris O'Donnell

By Lauren Paige Kennedy
WebMD Magazine - Feature

You’re the youngest child in a family of seven kids, and now you’re father to a brood of five, ranging from 5 to 13. What’s the best part about belonging to a big family?

Your family unit is your own world, all the drama and hilarity, all the personalities. Yes, you’ll have close friends, but your family’s on a different level. You fight, you have ups and downs, but you know it’ll wash over because it’s your family. With my kids, it’s just a completely different love. Until I had my first child I didn’t realize that there was this other level of love -- your kids are a part of you. I always wanted to have a bunch of kids … when we got to four, we thought, “This is insane!” We were done. But then we had a little surprise, and now five years on we can’t imagine life without our youngest, Maeve.

Do you and your wife Caroline ever feel overwhelmed as parents?

Very! Anyone who has kids does. But Caroline is a full-time mom, and we have a nanny, so we’re lucky -- and it’s still overwhelming. You think of single parents raising kids and holding down jobs, and I can’t even imagine. We’re very blessed to have five healthy, happy kids. [There's a lot of] chaos -- it’s just that time in their lives right now, the age when they’re so fun. Even on the mornings when you’re so tired and you have to get up to take your kids here or there, I have constant reminders from friends who are 10 years older who say: “It goes by so fast. Soak up every bit of it.” Already, I only have one left who’s small enough to pick up and cuddle -- the rest of them are too big! I can’t believe it.

Share a typical weekend at the O’Donnells'.

The older ones are into sports, and we’ll have Saturdays where we might have six or seven games in one day. So Caroline and I divide and conquer. We split up. And the kids, they each lobby to see which parent is going to which game. When we only had a couple of kids I was really involved in coaching, but now I tell the coach, “I have seven other games today. I’ll help you out when I can!” We also spend a lot of time at the beach, surf a bit, and play volleyball together.

Mother’s Day is coming up. Do you help your kids honor their mom in some special way?

They do it on their own. It’s more special when [a gift] is generated by the kids. My oldest daughter is the ringleader when it comes to stuff like that. You just have to be careful what her ambitions are. She fancies herself a chef and makes some pretty elaborate concoctions in the kitchen -- some shockingly good -- but usually with a really big mess.

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I want to feel well again

I am 27, 5ft 2.5 and weight 48kg and have been waiting 6 weeks for a referral for CBT and to see a dietician. I acknowledged I needed help and have been waiting for the referral to come through and in the meantime I am getting worse. I have restricted my calorie intake to 700 a day, I have been taking laxatives, and I feel so drained and unwell. I don't sleep at night and I constantly think of food. I went to the doctors again last week, and today, and they have now signed me off work for 2 weeks. I had an ED when I was 15-17 and saw the signs weeks (if not months) ago that I was slipping back into it again. I know I look terrible and I know I need to put on weight, but I seem to have great difficulty in just eating normally! I will happily devour a whole cantaloupe melon but won't even sniff a biscuit, or I will eat a whole lettuce and steer clear of a piece of bread. I tend to eat the most volume for the least calories and am obsessed with trying to get my '5 a day' so I feel like I'm being healthy. Now I have background rant out the way. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on what techniques they have to be brave and eat? How you get over the guilty feelings after eating 'bad foods' or 'too many calories'. I have seen on the marks and Spencer's website that there are meal plans for 'count on us' and 'fuller for longer' ranges and I was thinking of trying to emulate them in order to up my calorie intake and start to feel less weak and unwell and alter my perception of healthy eating, rather than just eating fruit n veg! Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I know I will probably need to eat a hell of a lot more to put on weight, but I need to start somewhere and am hoping that increasing my calorie intake will help me feel less unwell and give me a life back!

I have to say that reading everyone's topics and responses has been really helpful and I wish everyone struggling all the best, and huge well done for the work you have done so far! Keep it up!

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10 Workout Mantras That'll Get Your Butt Moving

We hear you: Getting #UpnOut for that workout isn't always easy. Why hit the gym or the track when you could be watching any number of so-bad-they're-good reality TV shows or catching up on important emails or trying a new look or, you know, sleeping?

The list of excuses to NOT work out is so long it might feel insurmountable to even the most well-intentioned. So what's a fit girl to do? Get a mantra, something you can repeat that'll serve as a little extra oomph on those rough days.

We took to Pinterest (the spot for this kind of fitspiration!) to find some of the best workout mantras out there. We found everything from quirky-cute to earnest to Ryan Gosling. (Of course. Of course there was Ryan Gosling). Click through to find one that'll help get your butt off the couch. Or, tell us the no-fail mantra that always works for you: We're listening @SELFmagazine.

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Would You Rather Walk 5,000 Steps a Day or Pay More for Insurance?

That may sound like a hypothetical question, but one health insurer put this question to the test -- and a new study finds that the controversial question -- and resulting action taken -- actually worked to keep costs down and customers healthier.

It all started when the Michigan-based Blue Care Network began requiring obese patients on certain insurance plans to enroll in physical fitness programs in order or have to pay higher rates. One option was a pedometer-based program, which required participants to walk 450,000 steps every three months (an average of 5,000 steps, or 2.5 miles, a day) and to upload their activity to a tracking website. Those who didn't meet the quarterly goals would be 20 percent more for their insurance. 

University of Michigan and Stanford University researchers tracked the more than 6,000 people who chose the pedometer option, about a third of whom strongly disagreed with the "coercive" nature of the program and were extremely reluctant to participate. The researchers' findings, however, published today in the journal Translational Behavioral Medicine, tell a different story: After one year, 97 percent of participants had met their daily activity goals! 

However, there is still not nearly enough research to determine whether participation in these programs translates to meaningful changes in health and costs of health care.

What do you think about cash incentives for staying active? Smart or sleazy? Tweet us at @amandaemac and @SELFmagazine.

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Image Credit: Plamen Petkov

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injury life events and weight gain

It has been a real tough 3-5 years as I went through separation and eventually marriage ending procedures ( annulment ) plus injury.

Been a big guy (6 foot 240) since I was 16 but was aways healthy and active I worked Road construction and walked/ran. Among other things along With many bad food choices i Gained weight through out the bad marriage and got up to 300-350 at times.

After marriage was over I lost tons if weight in a bad way due to depression and lack of eating. Then I met somebody and for the last four years life had been good and I have been emotionally happy. But some of the weight crept back up with me being I guess comfortably numb and if course lack of activity plus bad eating choices.

Then I tore up my knee got budging disc/pinched nerve and bone spurs plus tendon issues in foot. Now this is all on my left side so needless to say it been painful and many days and can't even lift the leg and she takes my shoes and socks off for me.

Been through many hours of physical therapy and providers like knee surgery and things like spinal steroid injections I still have long road to recovery but I feel I'm on the right track.

As I sat there last week and did a self assessment I saw a 43 year old guy that was at his heaviest weight ever with cholesterol/sugar and blood pressure all borderline high and raising with injures that still pain and plague me every day. Not to mention all the other aches and pains and other crap they comes along with being 200 pounds over weight.

So I got back to pt and with the spine doctor I also made appt. with the dietitian and nutricialist at the hospital for help with changing my eating habits and getting healthy again. I can't exercise a lot yet but i need to start someplace and eating us a big part of it also.

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Cool New Class: 305 Fitness

Reason #1 why people stop working out? Boredom. 305 Fitness, the 8-month-old cardio dance party that is drawing in young New Yorkers in is hoping to keep exercisers excited about sweating it out and keep them from getting bored. A Gen-Y entrepreneur and bundle of pep and quirky remarks, 305 founder Sadie Kurzban is a 2012 Brown grad who took her passion and made it happen -- while sweatin' it, of course.

Kurzban's love of fitness (and name of her brand) was inspired by her Miami roots, where the fitness community is thriving and "going to the gym is like going to church," she says. Kurzban first became a Zumba instructor in college, then started teaching her own cardio dance classes to fellow students. After going out one night with her friends to a Miami nightclub, they talked about why working out couldn't be just as fun, and Kurzban set out to do just that -- make a workout like a night out in the club.

It's not a dance class and it's not an aerobics class, but rather, it's a dance party with a live DJ, bright lights and no judgments. A 305 class feels like Zumba in a way -- with easy choreography, instructor cues and constant cardio, but Kurzban wants the instructors to really stand out. "My dream is that anyone who walks into a 305 class will leave thinking, 'wow, that instructor was the best I've ever had,'" she says.

You won't be intimidated by the workout or your fellow party-goers: Kurzban is not a formally trained dancer (although she is an ACE certified personal trainer), most clients are 20-somethings looking to let loose and get their cardio fix, not hard-core fitness enthusiasts, and the routines are challenging, yet easy to follow. In addition to dance moves, you'll perform sports drills, plyometrics, and moves gleaned from CrossFit and soccer training. Post class, my whole body ached -- which usually never happens to me after a cardio-dance class.

While other workouts tout their total body toning, "dance truly is the full-body workout; there is no muscle unworked," says Kurzban. Did we mention you'll never hear a mariachi band or bongo drum on the tracks? House and club music rule here. If you're in NYC, don't miss the party, currently located at Stepping Out Studios. Visit 305fitness.com for more details.

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Image Credit: Wen-You Cai

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weight loss help!

Hey guys I'm a 20 year old female, I'm 5"7 .5 and I'm 180lbs. For the past week ive been on an extremely low carb diet and lost 3 lbs so far.. And i need to lose ALOT more (i want to be 135-140lbs) I also can't do too much excersize as I have bad arthritis. Can you guys help me out? What can I do to lose the weight?!

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Prostate Cancer May Be Deadlier for the Uninsured

Study found they were more likely to have a higher PSA test score, advanced disease and shorter survival

By Kathleen Doheny

HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- Men who are uninsured or underinsured get advanced prostate cancer at nearly four times the national average and don't survive as long as other men with advanced disease, a new study says.

"We've identified a group of advanced prostate cancer patients who do not do well," said Dr. Jeffrey Reese, a clinical professor (affiliated) at Stanford University School of Medicine. He's also chief of urology at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, a county hospital serving a large underinsured population in San Jose, Calif.

"They come in invariably because they [are] having symptoms of metastatic disease," he said, which is when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.

Of all men diagnosed with prostate cancer at the medical center from 1998 through 2008, Reese found 71 men, or more than 14 percent, had advanced prostate cancer. That's more than three times the national average of 4 percent who have advanced cancer at the time of diagnosis.

Even though the men were offered all available treatments, their five-year survival rate was also well below the national average, Reese found.

He is due to present the findings Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA), in San Diego.

Testing for PSA measures the blood level of PSA, thought to be a key marker for prostate cancer. "A PSA of 4 is sort of the cutoff" before doctors begin doing other tests, Reese said. Some begin testing, such as a biopsy, even sooner, at 2.5 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL).

In the study, the 71 men with advanced cancer all had prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels above 100 ng/mL. The median PSA in the men was nearly 400.

None of the 71 men -- whose average age was 66 -- had been tested for PSA before at the Santa Clara hospital, and Reese said he suspects most or all had never had a PSA test anywhere.

Under new, less stringent guidelines issued at the meeting, the AUA suggests PSA testing be discussed by men and their doctors, especially those aged 55 to 69, weighing the pros and cons of screening. The association says the best evidence of benefit from screening is among those men aged 55 to 69 screened every two to four years.

Survival of the men in the study was lower than the national average for men with advanced prostate cancer, Reese also found. The median survival was 18 months -- half of the men lived longer -- and less than 10 percent lived three years past the diagnosis.

In comparison, 29 percent of men with advanced disease, overall, live at least five years after diagnosis, Reese said.

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Calories for weight loss?

Ok so over the last 6 months I have piled on some kilos, due in large part to being in a new relationship. On any day my weight can be between 53-57 kilos at 162 cm. (18 female) I wish to get back down to 50 kilos as soon as possible.

I exercise at the very least 5 times a week usually its a about 6-7 times. So exercise is not really an issue, I run 8 kilometers everyday (except for the occasional weekend) and I do two hours of Irish dancing on a Monday night, two hours of basketball training on a Tuesday and a basketball game on a Friday.

If I follow a diet similar to today, can I expect to see results soon:

Breakfast: Porridge 

Ms. Yoghurt

Lunch. Jam sandwich on wholemeal bread (no butter) and an apple

As. Banana

Dinner. Chilli con carne.

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Programming Implanted Defibrillators to React More Slowly Might Be Safer: Study

By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- By slowing down the programmed response rate on implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), doctors can reduce the number of shocks these devices deliver without causing a significant increase in the risk of fainting or death, new research suggests.

"The aim of [our] study was to evaluate a different programming strategy to reduce unnecessary therapies delivered by the ICD," explained study author Dr. Maurizio Gasparini, chief of the pacing and electrophysiology unit at the Humanitas Clinical and Research Center in Rozzano, Italy.

"The study found that the strategy utilizing a long detection period to recognize arrhythmias [irregular heartbeats] is associated not only to an overall reduction of therapies, but also to less inappropriate shocks experienced by the patients as well as fewer hospitalizations in the 12 months following ICD implant," Gasparini said.

ICDs are small devices implanted in the upper chest. Electrodes from the device are attached to the heart. If an ICD senses a dangerous heartbeat or no heartbeat, it can help correct that through electrical pacing -- like a pacemaker -- or it can deliver a shock to the heart to restore a normal heartbeat, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Results of the study are published in the May 8 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study was funded by Medtronic Inc., which makes ICDs.

While ICDs can literally be lifesavers, they can also cause problems for some patients.

"Defibrillator shocks, whether for appropriate or inappropriate indications, are associated with adverse effects. These adverse effects include the acute discomfort of the shock, as well as late and longer-lasting psychological trauma including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder," wrote Dr. Merritt Raitt, author of an accompanying journal editorial. Raitt is with the Oregon Health and Science University and the Portland Veterans Administration Medical Center, in Oregon.

The current study included about 1,900 people who were receiving their first ICD implant. Their average age was 65, and 84 percent of the study volunteers were male.

The volunteers were randomly placed into one of two groups: standard programming or programming with a long detection interval.

"Every time the heart beats, an electrical activity is recorded by the device. An interval is the time between two consecutives beats. Basically it is the time between two heartbeats. So, a long detection interval simply means a longer period of time to permit recognition of arrhythmias," Gasparini explained.

During an average of 12 months of follow-up, 530 episodes of an arrhythmia were recorded. The long detection group had a 37 percent lower rate of delivered therapies (pacing or shocks) than the standard therapy group, according to the study.

There were no significant differences in mortality or in fainting (syncope) episodes between the groups.

"This study shows that we can decrease inappropriate and unnecessary therapies, and clearly you make people feel better because they're not getting inappropriate or unnecessary therapy, said Dr. Ranjit Suri, director of the electrophysiology service and Cardiac Arrhythmia Center at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

However, Suri said it's not yet clear what the ideal interval time is. The current study doesn't show a benefit in terms of reduced risk of death. Another study, published last December in the New England Journal of Medicine, did find a mortality benefit. But, the interval was longer in that study.

Still, Suri said, doctors could start programming ICDs with longer intervals, and making such a change to the device isn't difficult or time-consuming.

In his editorial, Raitt wrote: "Regardless of whether these programming interventions lead to reduced mortality, the unequivocal reduction in ICD shocks and the reduction in hospitalization without an increase in adverse events such as syncope suggests that this programming approach should be considered for adoption in the care of patients with ICDs and clinical characteristics similar to those enrolled in these studies."

Study author Gasparini noted that the research provides physicians with an easy programming guideline that's "applicable to the great majority of patients who may benefit from the reduction of unnecessary painful shocks and hospitalizations."

Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCES: Maurizio Gasparini, M.D., chief, pacing and electrophysiology unit, Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano, Italy; Ranjit Suri, M.D., director, electrophysiology service and the Cardiac Arrhythmia Center, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City; May 8, 2013, Journal of the American Medical Association

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10lbs in 15 days

Starting at cc today.. Hoping to lose 10lbs In 15 days... Could use all the motivation I get.. Age :21 Weight: 143 lbs Height:5'11

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Anne Hathaway at the Tate Americas Foundation dinner

Go Anne! The newly-blonde star has embraced her new look with an edgy choice for the red carpet; Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci is the designer of choice for stars who DO want to stand out. 

See What Anne Wore To The Met Gala

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