New Research on the Survival Benefit Of A Double Mastectomy In Treating Unilateral Breast Cancer

Bilateral mastectomy is increasingly used to treat unilateral breast cancer. A JAMA study has found that there is no survival benefit to opting for a double mastectomy over breast-conserving surgery combined with radiotherapy for breast cancer patients. The percentage of California women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer who opted for a bilateral mastectomy increased between the years 1998 and 2011, even though there was no medical research to support this decision. Bilateral mastectomy is not associated with lower mortality rates any more than breast-conserving surgery and radiation. However unilateral mastectomy is associated with higher rates of mortality than other options. These results may inform decision-making about the surgical treatment of breast cancer.

Research Says A Low Carbohydrate Diet Is Better Than A Low Fat Diet For Cardiovascular Health

Has menopause got you in a struggle to whittle your middle? Recent research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine says that cutting down on your carbohydrate intake is a better strategy for weight loss and reducing cardiovascular risk than reducing fat intake. The randomized trial found that after 12 months on a low carbohydrate diet, participants lost 11.7 pounds while those on a low fat diet with a similar caloric makeup only lost 3.9 pounds.Restricting carbohydrates may be an option for people who want to  lose weight and reduce their cardiovascular risk factors.

Enzyme UCB13 Found to Control the Spread of Breast Cancer

University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have recently identified an enzyme that controls the spread of breast cancer. The research, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, states that metastatic breast cancer is the leading cause of mortality amongst breast cancer patients. The enzyme, UBC13, is said to be present in breast cancer cells two to three times higher than normal, healthy cells. The enzyme’s role in regulating normal cell growth and healthy immune system function is well known. However this is the first study to connect the enzyme to the spread of breast cancer.

“The take-home message of the study is that we have found a way to target breast cancer metastasis through a pathway regulated by an enzyme,” said lead author Xuefeng Wu, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego.

Why More Women Get Alzheimer’s Than Men

The Washington Post recently tackled the question: Why do more women get Alzheimer’s than men? Currently two thirds of 5 million people in the United States with Alzheimer’s are women. Prior research has attributed the fact that women live longer than men as the reason behind the mystery. The average life expectancy for women is 81 years, compared with 76 for men. However recent research shows that there are other biological, genetic, and cultural influences that still put women at higher risk than men. Some research attributes the phenomenon to the fact that after menopause, estrogen levels in the body drop causing a series of events that can ultimately damage brain cells.