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Showing posts from September, 2013

Miracle Drug for Skin Cancer (or too good to be true?) You Decide

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According to Star maagazine: The breakthrough drug cured one in six sufferers treated for cancer [PA] The treatment was having “spectacular” effects on patients and could be used for other types of cancer. Around one in six sufferers were being cured by the drugs, which boost the immune system. Each year almost 13,000 people in Britain are diagnosed with a type of cancer called melanoma. It kills 2,200 a year, accounting for 80% of skin cancer deaths. The number of cases has ­quadrupled in 30 years partly due to sunbathing.But Prof Alexander Eggermont, of the Gustave Roussy research centre, in Paris, said: “Advanced melanoma could become a curable disease for perhaps more than 50% of patients within five to 10 years. “If I’d made this bizarre prediction five years ago, people would have said I was mad.” If spotted early, lethal moles can be cut out before the cancer spreads. But if missed, the chances of survival plummet. This all changes with the new drugs. British experts h

Common sunscreen ingredient can cause health issues.

Have Potential Health Risks Sep. 25, 2013 — Using a particular type of titanium dioxide -- a common ingredient in cosmetics, food products, toothpaste and sunscreen -- could reduce the potential health risks associated with the widely used compound. The report on the substance, produced by the millions of tons every year for the global market, appears in the ACS journal Chemical Research in Toxicology. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Share This: From Science News, September 25, 2013 Francesco Turci and colleagues explain that titanium dioxide (TiO2) is generally considered a safe ingredient in commercially available skin products because it doesn't penetrate healthy skin. But there's a catch. Research has shown that TiO2 can cause potentially toxic effects when exposed to ultraviolet light, which is in the sun's rays and is the same kind of light that the compound is supposed to offer protection against. To de