A coalition formed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) resulted in a 40% increases in colorectal screening rates over four years. The program is now being looked at as a possible pilot for other communities to boost their cancer screening rates. A report headed by Dr. Steven Itzkowitz, a professor of medicine/oncological sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), now provides a framework for how communities might learn from a program to increase screening rates and ensure access for all people. “The increased screening rates from 2003 to 2012 translates to an additional 833,000 New Yorkers who have undergone screening colonoscopy and represents an important public health intervention,” said Dr. Itzkowitz. “By making ...
A vaccine can't prevent disease unless people use it. In Texas, a largely Latino state, only 39% of girls and 15% of boys ages 13-17 complete the three-dose HPV vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection that can cause cervical cancer and other problems. Dr. Deborah Parra-Medina has a plan to change that. Parra-Medina, a health researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio, received a new $1.2 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to develop an professional education and community outreach program to increase awareness and uptake of the HPV vaccine among children in South Texas. She and her team will train local health care providers to deliver accurate HPV vaccine ...
When you’re 27 years old the last thing that crosses your mind are mammograms, breast self-examination and breast cancer. “My doctor had said I was too young to have a mammogram, so when I finally heard the breast cancer diagnosis after tests on my “cyst,” my whole body went numb. I didn’t have time for cancer; I was getting married. On December 5, 1997,” Tanya Enriquez says. Her honeymoon turned into a visit to the hospital to have 20 lymph nodes removed, and an aggressive chemotherapy treatment. Soon after her diagnosis Tanya met Marta Zuniga, a stage III breast cancer patient and later met Susan Coll, the three were known as the Three Musketeers. “We had a bond that not many shared. We were all under 30 and had breast cancer. We would talk, laugh, and go out ...
Getting a breast cancer diagnosis could be a shocking experience, especially when your doctor confirms your fears and tells you, you have breast cancer. “ I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You have breast cancer. We need to set up an appointment with a surgeon as soon as possible.” I asked the doctor to proceed with whatever arrangements would be necessary. I called my husband at work. I could tell by his voice he was in shock. That evening we informed our four children,” Gloria Diaz says. The day after, Gloria, accompanied by her daughter visited her doctor and was given two options: a mastectomy or lumpectomy. “I was scared and confused. A mastectomy meant I would have my entire right breast removed along with a large number of lymph nodes, and if everything ...
Smoking is a tough opponent to beat. Quitxt is a new free service that turns your mobile phone into a personal coach to help you quit smoking, using interactive and entertaining text messages, online support, hip-hop music, and videos designed for South Texas young adults by researchers at UT Health San Antonio. The service’s text messages help with motivation to quit, setting a quit date, finding things to do instead of smoking, handling stress, using nicotine replacement if needed, and more. To join Quitxt in English, text “iquit” to 844-332-2058. For Spanish, text “lodejo” to 844-332-2058. “Text-message applications have scientifically proven to roughly double one’s odds of quitting smoking, so we developed Quitxt specifically for young adults to ...
Algunos meses después de la muerte de su madre, Mary González consulto con su doctor si era necesario hacerse un mamograma, el doctor le dijo que estaba muy joven. Dos años después se encontró un bulto por debajo de su brazo y después de insistirle a su doctor que lo revisará descubrió que tenía cáncer de seno. “Era como una pesadilla. Todas las cosas pasaban muy rápidamente y yo estaba muy aturdida. Se tenían que tomar muchas decisiones en muy poco tiempo. Me aterrorizaba acordarme de mi mamá cuando estaba recibiendo su tratamiento de quimioterapia, la pérdida de su pelo, la náusea y el vómito,” nos cuenta Mary. La lucha contra el cáncer se convirtió en una batalla familiar para la familia González. “Mi esposo y yo nos educamos sobre el cáncer del ...
Meg Reyes, fue diagnosticada con cáncer de seno con apenas 33 años “Solamente requería una tumorectomía”, dice ella, “pero a causa del tamaño de mi tumor mis doctores fueron muy agresivos con mi tratamiento y me removieron 16 ganglios”. Con el apoyo incondicional de sus familiares y amigos Megan sobrevivió el cáncer de seno. Diez años después, Megan es una consejera no-oficial para pacientes recién diagnosticadas con cáncer, ha perdido 150 libras, ha vivido en Alemania e Inglaterra y ha sido madrina de un estudiante de intercambio japonés. El sobrevivir “significa vivir aun después de que algo difícil se cruce en tu camino. No tiene que ser cáncer, puede ser cualquier cosa que hayas sobrevivido y como manejas esas situaciones.” Lee la historia ...
Although risk is higher for some women, breast cancer remains a top cause of death. Spread awareness about breast cancer and the importance of getting regular mammograms by joining our weekly #SaludTues tweetchat! WHAT: #SaludTuesTweetchat: “Breast Cancer: Early Detection Saves Lives”
DATE: Tuesday, October 6, 2015
TIME: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT)
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: FDA en Espanol (FDAenEspanol,) FDA Women (@FDAWomen) Gobierno USA (@GobiernoUSA) USA Gov (@USAGov) Be sure to use the hashtag #SaludTues to follow the conversation on Twitter/X and share your stories and resources. #SaludTues is a Tweetchat on Twitter/X that focuses on a variety of different health issues. From September 2014 to March ...
Breast cancer is a top killer. But survival is possible. In 2004, a group of 26 cancer survivors from South Texas shared their stories to inspire hope, comfort, and resiliency in a bilingual booklet called Nuestras Historias: Mujeres Hispanas Sobreviviendo el Cáncer del Seno (Our Stories: Women Surviving Breast Cancer). 2014 marked the booklet’s 10th anniversary. Today, 16 of the remaining survivors have new, courageous stories to tell about the importance of cancer screening and that women can not only survive cancer, but thrive in the workplace, school, home, and family. Read their ...
