Cancer risk models tested

Women, wouldn't you like to know your precise risk of developing breast cancer, ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer? And wouldn't you like to know what changes you could make in your life to reduce that risk?

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute would like to help you. They've just published a study in the journal PLOS Medicine that takes a significant step toward that goal.

Ruth Pfeiffer, a senior investigator in the National Cancer Institute's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, and colleagues focused on the predictive value of more than a dozen variables, including a woman's body mass index, number of children she has, how long she took birth control pills, whether she used hormone therapy to treat symptoms of menopause, family history of gynecological cancers, and use of cigarettes and alcohol. They examined those variables in tens of thousands of women who participated in two long-term health studies ? the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study and the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial ? and used statistics to look for patterns that could explain why some women were diagnosed with cancer and others were not.

The breast cancer model performed the best. Among a group of 56,638 women who were part of the Nurses' Health Study, the researchers predicted a total of 2,930 breast cancer cases. In real life, there were 2,934. That was slightly more accurate than the NCI's Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool, which forecast a total of 2,947 breast cancer diagnoses. However, although the new model got the total number almost exactly right, it "significantly underestimated the number of breast cancers in premenopausal women," the study noted.

The model for ovarian cancer worked pretty well too. It predicted 406 cases, about 8 percent higher than the 377 cases that were actually diagnosed.

The model for endometrial cancer was further off the mark. It anticipated 640 cases among the nurses, though in real life there were only 532 cases. However, the research team noted that theirs was the first published model to predict an absolute risk for endometrial cancer, which is the fourth most common cancer in women.

Generally speaking, women with lower BMIs had lower cancer risk. Compared with women with similar BMIs who were nonsmokers, smokers had higher cancer risk too.

Women who took birth control pills tended to have higher cancer risk than women who didn't. So did women who used hormone replacement therapy. Women who had three or four children tended to have lower cancer risk than women who had one, and it helped if they had their first child in their 20s instead of in their 30s or 40s.

All of the women used to develop the models were white and at least 50 years old, and none of them had mutations in their BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that are known to boost the risk of breast or ovarian cancer. That means the results wouldn't necessarily apply to all women, they wrote.

In theory, reliable models could help women make important decisions about their health, especially in cases where a certain action decreases the risk of one type of cancer but raises it for another. Here's an example Pfeiffer and her colleagues described in the study: A woman with a high risk of breast cancer might consider taking tamoxifen to reduce that risk. But first, she might like to know her risk of endometrial cancer, since the drug would increase her risk for that.

In a Perspective essay that accompanied the PLOS Medicine study, two experts praised the idea of developing models to predict cancer risk. "What we want from models is that they help us make better decisions, leading to better outcomes for our patients," they wrote. But the jury is still out on the best way to judge any model's strengths and weaknesses, they added.

Source: http://www.montereyherald.com/lifestyle/ci_23792749/cancer-risk-models-tested?source=rss

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Win a box of AC swag!

It's the weekend, the bosses take the day off, and Michelle and I have cooked an awesome little plan where we're gonna give away three boxes full of random Android Central swag!

There may be a t-shirt, there may be stickers, there may be a coffee mug, pens, sticky notes or any manner of great AC stuff crammed into a box and sent to your door. We've got a big pile of it, and the best thing to do when you have a pile of cool stuff is to share some of it.

Want to try and win one of the boxes? That's the easy part. Make sure you registered at AC with a real email address. If we pick you, we need to know how to get in contact with you. If you didn't and we pick your name, we'll never know where to send your loot and we have to give it to someone else. That would totally suck, so make sure it doesn't happen. 

Once you've done that, just leave a comment below. At 11:59 PM Pacific time Sunday night, we'll shut it down and pick three winners at random. All that's left for you to do is check your email and see if you were one of them.

Ready? Set? Go!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/-NyuCYKbmxk/story01.htm

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President Obama to deliver speech Tuesday at Desert Vista High School - not open...

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Is It Really 'Gluten-Free'? FDA Sets New Limits

People with celiac disease can now trust that foods labeled "gluten-free" are safe for them to eat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says.

The agency issued a final rule today (Aug. 2) that requires foods with "gluten-free" labels to limit their gluten levels to less than 20 parts gluten per million parts of food.

The new rule also says that gluten-free foods cannot contain any wheat, rye or barley, or any of their crossbreeds. If any ingredients derived from these grains are used, they have to be processed to reduce their gluten to amounts less than the new limits, according to a statement from the FDA.

"This standard 'gluten-free' definition will eliminate uncertainty about how food producers label their products, and will assure people with celiac disease that foods labeled 'gluten-free' meet a clear standard established and enforced by FDA," said Michael R. Taylor, deputy FDA commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine.

People with the intestinal condition celiac disease have to avoid eating foods that contain gluten, proteins that occur naturally in wheat, rye and barley. Eating cakes, pasta and bread made with these grains' flours can be life threatening for people with celiac disease.

"The only choice for the up to 3 million Americans living with CD is to adhere strictly to a gluten-free diet," said Virginia A. Cox, associate commissioner of the FDA's Office of External Affairs.

For these people, consuming gluten can damage the intestines, prevent the absorption of vitamins and minerals, and lead to a host of other health problems, she said.

Celiac disease is a condition in which the body's defense system reacts to gluten by attacking the lining of the small intestine, and currently has no cure. The symptoms include pain, diarrhea and weight loss.

The new gluten limit is the lowest level that can be detected in foods using available tools, and is consistent with the limits set in other countries, according to the FDA.

"This is a tool that has been desperately needed," Andrea Levario, executive director of the American Celiac Disease Alliance said. "It keeps food safe for this population, gives them the tools they need to manage their health, and obviously has long-term benefits for them." [How to know if you have celiac disease]

The new rules are an addition to FDA requirements for other food labeled as "free": "Salt free" or "sodium free" means less than 5 grams of salt per serving, and items labeled "sugar free" should contain less than 0.5 g of sugar per serving. Foods labeled "zero calories" should have less than five calories in each serving.

Manufacturers have one year to ensure their gluten-free labels are consistent with the FDA requirements. Foods that carry labels stating they're gluten-free, free of gluten, without gluten and no gluten, but fail to meet the set limits, would be considered misbranded and subject to regulatory action by the FDA.
?

Email Bahar Gholipour or follow her @alterwired. Follow?LiveScience?@livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/really-gluten-free-fda-sets-limits-175806221.html

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If the order has not been shipped; please contact DinoDirect Live Support for order cancellation.You will get your refund within 24 hours.

If the order has already been shipped; you may return the item to us postmarked within 30 calendar days of delivery. Before that, please contact our Live Support to inform that.
In that case we will refund you the payment excluding actual shipping fees already incurred.

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Snowden's WikiLeaks 'adviser' takes public role

LONDON (AP) ? The whole time Edward Snowden has been seeking asylum, WikiLeaks staffer Sarah Harrison has been by his side.

She has emerged as a central, if mysterious, figure in the saga that has taken Snowden across the world in an attempt to evade U.S. espionage charges. Harrison rose from intern to one of WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange's most trusted lieutenants in just a few years, but she has earned an even higher profile as Snowden's guide and adviser.

WikiLeaks says she traveled with the former NSA systems analyst from Hong Kong to Moscow. She appeared next to Snowden at a meeting with activists at the Moscow airport where he was stranded in hiding for weeks. She even slipped out of the airport in a taxi with him after Russia granted him asylum Thursday, according to the group.

WikiLeaks has otherwise not revealed much about her. But what is clear is that she has become indispensable to the organization.

It has described her as Snowden's legal adviser. While she does not appear to have a law degree, her bio on the Wikileaks websites lists Harrison as a "U.K. citizen, journalist and legal researcher." Media reports put her age at 31.

While interning at the Center of Investigative Journalism, based at London's City University, she helped WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange with the organization's disclosure of secret U.S. military records, according to the group's website. Harrison went on to join the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in August 2010, working as a researcher at the British not-for-profit that supports investigative journalism.

There she worked on the team handling a series of Iraq War files released by WikiLeaks to several major media organizations ?before moving into WikiLeaks itself in October 2010. Since then, she has maintained a constant, but mostly silent, presence at Assange's side.

She was with him at the English country manor where he lived under house arrest while resisting extradition to Sweden on sex-related allegations. She was also with him at his court appearances. She was among those who forked over funds for his bail, money they lost when he sought refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in violation of his bail conditions.

But with Assange holed up in the embassy, Harrison has taken on a more public role with the organization.

She appeared at London's Frontline Club last year to announce that WikiLeaks was in the process of publishing material from 2.4 million Syrian emails, many of which it said came from official government accounts. In that appearance, she acknowledged that WikiLeaks was facing "a difficult time at the moment" but said "we are continuing to work through that."

On Thursday, WikiLeaks announced that Snowden had left the Moscow airport ? under Harrison's care. Rarely seen publicly in their weeks hiding out at the Sheremetyevo airport transit zone, that appears unlikely to change now that they have taken a taxi to somewhere in Russia.

"Harrison has remained with Mr. Snowden at all times to protect his safety and security, including during his exit from Hong Kong," WikiLeaks said in a statement. "They departed from the airport together in a taxi and are headed to a secure, confidential place."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/snowdens-wikileaks-adviser-takes-public-role-201056405.html

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Networking within UK businesses has increased by 15% since 2012

Networking has increased within UK companies according to a new report. The marketing technique is now used by nearly three out of five (58%) companies, a sign that companies today prefer to deepen relationships by face-to-face contact.

Compared to a similar report last year (the 2012 Channel Vision report), networking has increased by 15% over the last 12 months, a sign that in today?s digital age companies feel the need to boost their relations with their customers in a more personal way.

The new report, ?Channel Vision ? Version 2.0?, put together by design, marketing and print specialists Catalogues 4 Business (C4B) questioned over 100 organisations within the UK. The report was drawn from a diverse mix of businesses, both B2B and B2C, and a combination of industry sectors.

The report reflects that networking is second in terms of importance for delivering sales, managing director at C4B, Ian Simpson said: ?A majority of companies within the UK have found that networking has become a crucial element to their organisation. Even though social media and digital marketing has been increasing in popularity, networking has become that much more important. People prefer to talk to humans rather than computers and prefer to receive information in their hand rather than in an email. Its much more personal and appealing. A catalogue therefore becomes a great sales tool for any networker.?

The report also found that almost every company that can sell off the web could sell by catalogue too. It states that one in five businesses don?t use catalogues, who argue that it isn?t appropriate to their business. However, it highlighted that there is a need for catalogue and mail order specialists to educate the market and increase sales.

Ian Simpson said: ?The importance of offline marketing has come back into focus for companies compared to last year. With such a heavy focus on the digital era, the personal touch of networking has been lost and undervalued.?

He added: ?Now that offline marketing has flown back into the market, it is important to remember that you, as a business, need to create personal relationships with your customers and continue to build your brand. If you integrate networking with tangible materials such as catalogues, you have a strong, solid system.?

Using catalogues as a brand builder has significantly increased, a reported 39% use the technique. While looking ahead, 38% of companies aim to increase their sales by up to 20% this year, which could be done through networking and several sales platforms. Using catalogues as a sales channel is growing in importance with 17% saying that it will be crucial in the next year.

Questions surrounded their current and future business as well as their sales and marketing plans. Within the report, views of significant players were asked with 13% of those having a turnover in excess of ?20 million.

To download a copy of the report, click here or for more details phone: 0845 2300 258.

Source: http://the-gma.com/archives/networking-within-uk-businesses-has-increased-by-15-since-2012

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