Category Archives: Cancer

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Treatment Breakthrough

September 7, 2013   Cancer, Carers, Multiple Sclerosis
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Treatment Breakthrough

Added by Janet Grace Ortigas on September 4, 2013.

A team of Norwegian researchers headed by Deputy Director and Professor Carmen Scheibenbogen of the Institute of Medical Immunology, at Berlin Charité University Hospital, had their first Chronic Fatigue Syndrome breakthrough treatment using an anti-cancer agent rituximab. This trial study was published on Oct. 19, 2011, in PLoS ONE scientific journal and is promising news for the 300,000 people who suffer from this disease in Germany.

In a new study conducted at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway, the 30 patients, who were randomly selected, were given rituximab developed for lymph gland cancer chemotherapy. Two-thirds of these patients observed over twelve months showed an improvement in health condition.

Approximately one million people in the US suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. For several years, CFS was not recognized by doctors as a regular diagnosis, but today it is becoming more commonplace and strikes more people than those afflicted with multiple sclerosis, lupus and a number of forms of cancer.

Although people of either sex or age can develop CFS, it occurs four times more in women than men in their 40s and 50s. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is less common in children and occurs in all racial and ethnic groups and countries around the world and there may be a genetic link.

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Cure for dementia will be found in 7 years says Jeremy Hunt

July 6, 2013   Alzheimer’s, Cancer, Carers, dementia, health

BRITISH scientists will find a cure for dementia in just seven years, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has declared.

By: Jo Willey

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt

Not only will this save lives, it will also save the NHS by slashing ­billions of pounds a year from the cost of caring for those with the ­condition.

Mr Hunt said: “Finding drugs that can halt or cure dementia may seem a distant prospect now but there are drugs companies that think they will have a cure for dementia by 2020.”

He said the answer lay in DNA mapping, claiming it could unlock a “treasure trove” of information to help tackle diseases from dementia to cancer.

Plans are already under way for Britain to be the first country in the world to map the personal DNA code – known as a genome – of up to 100,000 patients.

The project would be the “medical equivalent of the invention of the internet in terms of its significance”, Mr Hunt told the annual conference of the Local Government Association in Manchester.

He added: “For the UK, this is a very big opportunity, because we are the country that first cracked what DNA was back in 1953.

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'Carers walk the cancer journey with patients but need more support'

June 26, 2013   Cancer, Carers, ukcuts

Up to 1.1 million people are thought to be providing unpaid care to a friend or family member who has cancer but they are getting neither the information nor help they need

guardian.co.uk,

Researchers found carers are often not told how best to support patients or where they can turn for practical or emotional support (picture posed by models).

When Fiona O’Kelly’s widowed mum was diagnosed with leukaemia two years ago, her life changed overnight. “It’s like our roles suddenly flipped,” she recalls. “Mum used to help me look after my two boys but now I look after her. She was independent up to then but her cancer and the treatment have left her frail and affected her memory.

“There are times when I think I can’t cope but I know staying in her own home and being cared for by family is the best thing for Mum.”

O’Kelly, whose sons are 10 and 16, negotiated a year off work following the diagnosis, and has since dropped her hours from four to two days a week. Her husband has also changed his working hours to minimise childcare costs.

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