| Cancer death rates still declining
The death rate from most forms of cancer has continued a decline begun in the early 1990s, driven in large part by decreases in lung cancer in men, according to an annual national cancer report released Wednesday. Between 1993 and 2003, deaths from cancer dropped about 16 percent in men and 8 percent in women, the study found. Deaths from lung cancer declined about 15 percent in men. The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer also found recent increases in breast cancer appear to have leveled off, but scientists say it's too soon to call that a trend. They also uncovered a surprising jump in thyroid cancer. "The bottom line is we are making progress," said Ahmedin Jemal, program director for cancer occurrence at the American Cancer Society.
Back problems are second only to colds and flu as
Back problems are second only to colds and flu as the most common reason why people go to their doctors, according to the American College of Rheumatology. The National Institutes of Health report that back pain will affect nearly 90 percent of Americans in their lives - most for the first time in their 30s. The most common pain occurs in the lower back and disables 5.4 million Americans and costs at least $90 billion in medical and nonmedical expenses (such as loss of work and worker's compensation claims) every year. Maddeningly, most back pain has no specific cause, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Furthermore, comparative research has shown that people with no pain or symptoms often have the same amount of pathology in their spines as do those with symptoms.
Ads lure young women to become egg donors
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Young women in college will see the ad in their school newspapers and on the papers' Web sites: "SEEKING SPECIAL EGG DONORS. Red/Blonde/Brunette Hair. Blue/Green/Brown/Hazel Eyes. Young, Tall, Athletic. High Compensation!! Make a real difference!!" The ad includes the toll-free number and Web address for Loving Donation, a Florida agency that matches couples who want babies with young women willing to provide the eggs to help make it happen. About 70 agencies provide similar services around the country, and some have offered $50,000 and more for eggs from women with specific physical attributes and intelligence criteria sought by couples trying to have babies. But medical ethicists and women's health advocates say offers of high compensation can lead some women to make a decision without considering the possible health and psychological risks of egg donation.
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