Healthy Living Pays Dividends

Exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, avoiding smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight were associated with a lower risk of dying over the next decade, researchers affirmed.

Adhering to a greater number of those behaviors was associated with a lower coronary calcium burden, slower progression of coronary calcium, and reduced risks of coronary heart disease events and all-cause mortality through a median follow-up of 7.6 years, according to Haitham Ahmed, MD, MPH, of Johns Hopkins Hospital, and colleagues.

Adjustment for factors that could be on the causal pathway between the behaviors and atherosclerosis -- in addition to baseline coronary calcium -- eliminated the relationship with coronary heart disease events, although the association with mortality remained strong, the researchers reported online in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study to connect the protective effects of healthy lifestyle across baseline subclinical vascular disease, atherosclerotic progression, clinical coronary heart disease, and death in a single longitudinal evaluation," they wrote.

The behaviors assessed in the study have been used by the American Heart Association to define ideal cardiovascular health.

"The correlations between these behaviors and mortality in the present study bolster the AHA's recommendations, and the additional measure of subclinical atherosclerosis lends biologic credibility to the outcomes investigated," Ahmed and colleagues wrote.

The researchers examined data from 6,229 individuals ages 44 to 84 (median age 62) who participated in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis from 2000 to 2010. All were free from clinical cardiovascular disease at baseline, but some were taking medications for hypertension (37%), dyslipidemia (16%), and diabetes (10%); 14% were taking more than one medication.

All patients were assigned a lifestyle score ranging from 0 to 4 based on the number of the following healthy behaviors to which they adhered:

• Healthy diet (adherence to the Mediterranean diet)
• Regular physical activity (150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week)
• Body mass index of 18.5 to less than 25 kg/m2
• Never smoking (versus ever smoking)

Only 2% of the study population had a score of 4.

There were significant associations between higher lifestyle scores and both a lower chance of developing new coronary calcium during the study and a slower progression of coronary calcium over time (P≤0.003 for both trends).

An increasing lifestyle score also was associated with declining rates of coronary heart disease events, although the trend was no longer significant in fully adjusted models.

However, the relationship between higher lifestyle scores and all-cause mortality remained significant even after full adjustment. The unadjusted hazard ratios for death -- which were not significantly altered by full adjustment -- for each lifestyle score versus a score of 0 were as follows:

• 1 (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.03)
• 2 (HR 0.61, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.81)
• 3 (HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.75)
• 4 (HR 0.19, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.75)

In explaining the stronger association with mortality than with coronary heart disease, the researchers wrote, "Lifestyle factors likely take decades to take effect on atherosclerosis, so the more immediate effects on mortality suggest the importance of low-risk lifestyle in disease processes other than coronary heart disease alone."

The authors acknowledged that the study was limited by the lack of information on cardiorespiratory fitness. In addition, the dietary patterns of the participants -- who were all from the U.S. -- may have differed from those seen in other countries, so the findings might not be applicable beyond the U.S.

Dragon Boat Festival

Today is the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival. Modern Cancer Hospital expressed their best wishes and regards to many overseas patients from Indonesia, Philippines , Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand, etc by sending them the zongzi. We hope hospitalized patients have a warm and harmonious festival and gain more strength to fight against cancer.


At this specified day, many traditional customs and activities are held by people in China and even by some people in neighbouring countries. Among these customs are dragon boat racing, eating zongzi (pyramid-shaped glutinous rice wrapped in reed or bamboo leaves), wearing a perfume pouch, tying five-colour silk thread and hanging mugwort leaves and calamus.

Some Common Symptoms of Nasopharyngeal Cancer

Nasopharynx is quite a concealed part of our body. Symptoms of early nasopharyngeal cancer usually are not obvious. They often appear as stuffy nose, nose bleeding, headache and tinnitus, which are easy to be neglected. Therefore, many patients fail to have early diagnosis and are found in advanced stage when visiting the hospital. This brings great difficulty to treatment.

Hope the following presentation can help to detect nasopharyngeal cancer earlier.

　　1. Nose bleeding: nose bleeding is one of the early symptoms of nasopharyngeal cancer. It usually appears as bleeding in a single nostril or with blood in nasal discharge. As the blood is few, it is easy to be neglected and mistaken as rhinitis or nasosinusitis.

　　2. Stuffy nose: stuffy nose is another early symptom of nasopharyngeal cancer. It usually appears as stuffiness in a single nostril. The stuffiness is mild when the tumor is small, but it becomes severer and appears in both nostrils as the tumor grows.

　　3. Tinnitus, decrease of hearing: Tinnitus, muffled hearing and decrease of hearing also are early signs of nasopharyngeal cancer. They are caused when the excrescence of the nasopharyngeal cancer blocks the eustachian orifice near the lesion. Hearing decrease also is likely a result of hearing nerve injury, which is caused by the deterioration of nasopharyngeal cancer. Tinnitus and hearing decrease are always misdiagnosed as otitis media or other diseases, and therefore, treatment is delayed.

　　4. Headache: about 70% nasopharyngeal cancer patients have headache, which usually appears as migraine. In the early stage, the location of headache is not fixed. It is occasional but can be the first or the only symptom that occurs. Headache caused by nasopharyngeal cancer is mainly a result from the cancer tissue’s invading to skull base, nerves and blood vessels.

　　5. Mass in the neck: nasopharyngeal cancer metastasis to the neck causes few masses, but they grow rapidly, with solid texture, poor activity and no compressive pain.

　　6. cranial nerve symptom: besides facial numbing, diplopia, blur vision, eyelid ptosis, cross eye, nasopharyngeal cancer can also cause loss of sensation in the throat, numbing in the soft palate, difficulty in swallowing, hoarse and tongue skew, etc.

　　Experts from Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou remind that if any of the above symptoms occurs, one should go to regular hospital immediately for examination and diagnosis to exclude nasopharyngeal cancer.
For more information, link to www.asiancancer.com

Laryngeal Cancer Patients Should Be Strict to Diet after Surgery

Scientific and proper dietary plan plays a very important role in patients’ rehabilitation. Paying attention to laryngeal cancer patients’ dietary nursing and providing them sufficient and proper nutrient can enhance their resistibility and ensure the smooth completion of treatment plan. 

　　The major problem of laryngeal cancer nursing is choking during patients’ swallowing. The best way to deal with this problem is to practice swallowing 15-20 days after surgery. Through swallowing practice, choking will become less and less, and finally disappear. 

To prevent choking during swallowing practice, there are some tips for patients. For example, press the lower jaw with fingers when swallowing, or eat a full mouth of food to block the stoma when start eating. If these methods do not work, patients can also put an inflatable airbag in the incision of trachea. Fill the airbag before eating and release the gas after dinner. All these methods should be practiced under medical instruction. However, patients cannot completely rely on it and still need to overcome choking through practice. 

　　What food should laryngeal cancer patients eat or avoid? See here:http://www.asiancancer.com/cancer-healthcare/cancer-diet-therapy/2590.html

Boundless Love and Borderless Medicine

“Boundless love and borderless medicine.” Based on this object, Boai Medical Investment Group has treated numberless oversea patients, making great influence at home and aboard and drawing frequent attention from oversea media and medical institutions.


In Mar. 2013, Chairman Lin Zhicheng again visited the leaders of senior level of Southeast Asia.

On Mar. 5, staff of international network department of Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou lead by Chairman Lin Zhicheng reached Philippines and successively met Philippines former president Hussain Muhammad Ershad and present Health Minister Prof. Dr. A.F.M Ruhal Haque as invited. The business elites and media of Philippines also expressed their warm welcome and hospitality to the visitors. As the cooperation between Boai and Philippines gets further and with advanced medical technology as the cooperation foundation, bringing high-quality medical service to Bengali patients has become the subject of this conference.

Read here http://www.asiancancer.com/hot-topics/2578.html for moire information about visiting and other news.

Round-up report about Boai Medical Investment Group from Philippines media.

Boai Medical Investment Group has treated numberless oversea patients, making great influence at home and aboard and drawing frequent attention from oversea media and medical institutions.

here is the vioce from Philippines: http://anc.abs-cbnnews.com/videos/1543/cancer-and-the-philippines

Moms' Iodine Levels is Related to Kids' Poor Test Scores

Mothers who are mildly iodine deficient are more likely to have children who perform poorly in spelling, grammar and literacy, according to a new study from Australia.
 
Severe iodine deficiency during pregnancy is known to cause serious mental disabilities in children, but researchers examined the test scores of nine year olds whose mothers were only slightly iodine deficient during pregnancy and found the kids performed between 6 percent and 10 percent worse than peers born to mothers with sufficient iodine.

"This is to show in areas where there is even mild deficiency it can have long-term impacts on children," said Kristen Hynes, the study's lead author from the University of Tasmania in Sandy Bay.

Throughout life, everyone needs iodine to make thyroid hormones, but it's also crucial that pregnant women get enough of the element to support their children's brain development.
Past research has found that women who are severely iodine deficient give birth to children with motor, cognitive and auditory defects, Hynes' team writes in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Little is known, however, about what impact a mother's mild iodine deficiency might have on her child.

The U.S. Institute of Medicine recommends the average adult get 150 micrograms (mcg) of iodine every day. Pregnant women are told to get 220 mcg every day and women who are breastfeeding are told to get 290 mcg.

The main source of iodine in the American diet is milk, but it can also be found in some fish and vegetables as well as in "iodized" table salt.

One cup of reduced-fat milk contains about 56 mcg of iodine and one serving of baked cod has about 99 mcg, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

For the new study, Hynes and her colleagues used data on about 228 pregnant women who were patients at The Royal Hobart Hospital in Tasmania between 1999 and 2001 and the children they delivered at the time.

The researchers compared the standardized test scores of the nine-year-old children born to women whose urinary iodine levels fell below 150 mcg (mildly deficient) during pregnancy to the children of women whose iodine levels exceeded 150 mcg (sufficient).

The children of women who were iodine deficient scored about 371 points on the national student test for spelling and about 377 points for grammar. That compared to about 412 points for spelling and 408 points for grammar among children of women who had sufficient levels of iodine while pregnant.

The average score for all of Tasmania at that time was about 390 for spelling and about 410 for grammar in that age group.

The researchers also found that children born to mothers who were mildly iodine deficient scored about 6 percent lower on English literacy scores, compared to those whose mothers had sufficient iodine levels.

Hynes told Reuters Health her group suspects that iodine deficiency may have some impact on a child's auditory pathways to the brain, which may hurt their ability to quickly process the information they hear.

"It's really only a theory at this stage," she cautioned.

The researchers can't say for certain whether the mothers' iodine deficiency led to their children's poor scores, but she said there is an association.

"I think people working in education will realize this is important, but there are a lot of other things going on as well," Hynes said.

Dr. Elizabeth Pearce, who researches iodine but was not involved in the study, said the findings support recommendations that soon-to-be pregnant, pregnant and breastfeeding women take an iodine supplement, but added that it's important to not get too much of the mineral.

"Very excessive intake in susceptible people can lead to thyroid dysfunction and goiter," said Pearce, an associate professor of medicine at Boston University.

The NIH says the upper safe limit of iodine is 1,100 mcg a day.

"People should not read this and think more iodine is better," she said.

SOURCE: bit.ly/ZCksYH The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, online April 30, 2013

Stem Cell Therapy

Research showed stem cell has strong potential in erasing wrinkles and fine lines, or getting bigger breasts, without cosmetic surgery.  But its actual applications -- particularly those of a purely cosmetic nature -- are still distant. However, stem cell therapy has already applied in treating diabetes, liver cirrhosis, serious disease of the liver, etc, could cosmetic applications be far behind? 

For more information about stem cell therapy, please see here:http://www.asiancancer.com/technology-equipment/112.html

Modern Cancer Hospital

Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou is a comprehensive modern hospital specializing in oncotherapy and operating under the auspices of the Chinese government and Ministry of Health.

　　As an advanced medical brand institute concerning foreign affairs, Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou, located at the foot of the 5A scenic spot Baiyun Mountain in Guangzhou, is a modern comprehensive international hospital for “modern management, humanized service, digitized information and international image”under BoAi Enterprise Group, the biggest transnational medical group in China.


　　With a total of 20,000 m2 construction areas and over 200 beds, the hospital has established departments of oncology, plastic surgery, gynecology, infertility, Chinese and western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, internal medicine, stomatology, surgery, rehabilitation and physiotherapy, ENT and more, along with auxiliary departments including Medical Imaging Center and Clinical Examination Center. Low-mid-high level talents in the hospital have their ideas with excellent team quality and full energy. The employees make forward to establish “the strongest medical group” through unity of purpose and effort.


　　In terms of enterprise cultural construction, the hospital advocates people-oriented idea, rich extra-working culture life, flexible training mechanism and ideal benefit system. The development of employees and enterprise has achieved a win-win situation for many years.


　　In the thought of construction and development, the hospital continuously strengthens subject construction, takes the sustainable development path and emphasizes connotation construction and social effect basing good faith. The tumor center breaks through traditional treatment methods like chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery and possesses mature abilities in minimally invasive therapy, such as radio frequency therapy, interventional therapy, cryotherapy, photodynamic therapy and bio-immunotherapy, and the treatment technology has basically been consistent with the domestic leading level.


　　Over the years, Modern Cancer Hospital Guangzhou is rooted in China and serving the international community. With over one million of patients treated, including nearly 300,000 foreign patients, Modern Hospital Guangzhou has set an example of Chinese medical brand in many countries and become the model of success in medical industry.


　　Modern Staff Quality: Service-oriented, Quality-oriented, Effectiveness-oriented, Innovation-oriented.


　　Modern Development Purpose: Patient Satisfied, Employee Satisfied, Enterprise Satisfied, Society Satisfied


　　Modern Ideas of Client Service: Clean, Convenient, Efficient, Comfortable, Humane


　　Modern Team Culture: Friendly& Helpful, Harmonious &Tolerant, Practical& Efficient, Excellent &Innovative


　　Modern System Culture: Scientific & Reasonable, Executed strictly


　　Modern Talent View: Personal Character + Value=Talent


　　Due to business expansion, we welcome professional elites to join us to build a century-old brand:

　　Cancer expert: Master degree or above of clinical medicine; Associate senior professional title above; A wealth of working experience in Department of Oncology; Good communications skills; Familiar with the latest treatment technologies; Fluent in English; Working experience of 3A hospital above is preferred.


　　Resident physician of Department of Oncology: Bachelor degree or above of clinical medicine;; Above primary professional titles; Solid basic professional knowledge; At least three-year-experience of working in Department of Oncology; Excellent sense of service and good communication skills; English skills are preferred.


　　Overseas expert: Bachelor degree or above of clinical medicine or medical technology; Intermediate titles or above; Easy-going with good communication skills and rich professional knowledge; Capable of reviewing medical films; English skills are preferred.


　　Project manager: College degree or above; Majored in marketing or with relevant medical background; Good sense of marketing; Excellent abilities of coordination, management and communication; Willing to work overseas for a long period of time; Experience of hospital marketing is preferred.


　　Positions above can provide you with good salary and great opportunities for your career.


　　Send your personal resume to XD22221111@126.com


　　Address: 42 Lianquan Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou


　　Tel: 020-22221111-8810(Ms.Pan) or 8866(Ms.Kuang)


　　Web: http://www.asiancancer.com/