Oct 25, 2021 06:53 PM
(This post was last modified: Oct 25, 2021 07:13 PM by C C.)
Quit Smoking Before 45 & Wipe Out 87% of Lung Cancer Risk
https://consumer.healthday.com/10-25-qui...34756.html
INTRO: Smokers who kick the habit before age 45 can nearly eliminate their excess risk of dying from lung or other cancers, a new study estimates. It's well-established that after smokers quit, their risk of tobacco-related cancers drops substantially over time.
Researchers said the new findings underscore the power of quitting as early as possible. Among more than 400,000 Americans they followed, smokers died of cancer at three times the rate of nonsmokers. However, smokers who managed to quit by age 45 lowered that excess risk by 87%.
And if they overcame the habit by age 35, their excess risk of cancer death was erased, said Blake Thomson, a researcher at the American Cancer Society who led the study. He stressed that it's never too late to quit. Smokers who quit in their 50s to early 60s also substantially lowered their excess risk of cancer death.
But the findings do underscore the power of kicking the habit as early as possible. "If you're a smoker in your 30s, hopefully these findings will speak to you," Thomson said.
The study was published Oct. 21 in the journal JAMA Oncology. It looked at data on more than 410,000 Americans who entered an ongoing federal health survey between 1997 and 2014... (MORE)
Half of all space travelers deal with back pain, study says
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2021/10...635175796/
EXCERPTS: . . . Back pain could turn out to be a major problem for the growing number of space travelers, and learning more about it could also benefit Earth-bound back patients, researchers say. Low gravity, the physical stress of riding in a rocket and nutritional changes may all contribute to back pain among space travelers, according to the Johns Hopkins team that reviewed past research on how space travel affects the spine.
[...] One study, which analyzed 722 space flights, found that 52% of astronauts had some form of back pain in the first two to five days of space travel. While 86% of those cases were mild, the pain was sufficient to interfere with the ability to complete tasks.
Another study of military helicopter pilots and crew found that nearly half of those who experienced fluctuating gravitational forces reported low back pain. And the pilots were nearly three times more likely to develop an injury to the soft connective cushioning in their lower spine -- lumbar disc herniation -- than the general population.
Meanwhile, a 2010 study from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration found that astronauts have four times the odds for disc herniation. And the risk is even higher in the first year after they return to Earth.
The S-shaped bend in the human spine enables it to resist gravity, remain flexible and absorb weight and impact, explained lead author Dr. Radostin Penchev, a resident physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. "If reduced gravity allows this curvature to straighten, this not only could be a cause of acute pain in astronauts, but also could affect the stability of their spine when they return to Earth," he added in a Hopkins news release.
His team also examined past studies on preventing, diagnosing and treating back pain in astronauts... (MORE - missing details)
https://consumer.healthday.com/10-25-qui...34756.html
INTRO: Smokers who kick the habit before age 45 can nearly eliminate their excess risk of dying from lung or other cancers, a new study estimates. It's well-established that after smokers quit, their risk of tobacco-related cancers drops substantially over time.
Researchers said the new findings underscore the power of quitting as early as possible. Among more than 400,000 Americans they followed, smokers died of cancer at three times the rate of nonsmokers. However, smokers who managed to quit by age 45 lowered that excess risk by 87%.
And if they overcame the habit by age 35, their excess risk of cancer death was erased, said Blake Thomson, a researcher at the American Cancer Society who led the study. He stressed that it's never too late to quit. Smokers who quit in their 50s to early 60s also substantially lowered their excess risk of cancer death.
But the findings do underscore the power of kicking the habit as early as possible. "If you're a smoker in your 30s, hopefully these findings will speak to you," Thomson said.
The study was published Oct. 21 in the journal JAMA Oncology. It looked at data on more than 410,000 Americans who entered an ongoing federal health survey between 1997 and 2014... (MORE)
Half of all space travelers deal with back pain, study says
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2021/10...635175796/
EXCERPTS: . . . Back pain could turn out to be a major problem for the growing number of space travelers, and learning more about it could also benefit Earth-bound back patients, researchers say. Low gravity, the physical stress of riding in a rocket and nutritional changes may all contribute to back pain among space travelers, according to the Johns Hopkins team that reviewed past research on how space travel affects the spine.
[...] One study, which analyzed 722 space flights, found that 52% of astronauts had some form of back pain in the first two to five days of space travel. While 86% of those cases were mild, the pain was sufficient to interfere with the ability to complete tasks.
Another study of military helicopter pilots and crew found that nearly half of those who experienced fluctuating gravitational forces reported low back pain. And the pilots were nearly three times more likely to develop an injury to the soft connective cushioning in their lower spine -- lumbar disc herniation -- than the general population.
Meanwhile, a 2010 study from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration found that astronauts have four times the odds for disc herniation. And the risk is even higher in the first year after they return to Earth.
The S-shaped bend in the human spine enables it to resist gravity, remain flexible and absorb weight and impact, explained lead author Dr. Radostin Penchev, a resident physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. "If reduced gravity allows this curvature to straighten, this not only could be a cause of acute pain in astronauts, but also could affect the stability of their spine when they return to Earth," he added in a Hopkins news release.
His team also examined past studies on preventing, diagnosing and treating back pain in astronauts... (MORE - missing details)