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  Jean Hunleth, PhD, MPH, instructor of surgery and anthropology, has been awarded the 2018 Elliott P. Skinner Book Award from the Association of Africanist Anthropology for her book Children as Caregivers: The Global Fight against Tuberculosis and HIV in Zambia (2017, Rutgers University Press). This annual award recognizes exemplary work in advancing African Studies […]

The holidays are here, and that means a calendar filled with family, friends and festivities. And as wonderful as that can be, it can also make it challenging to stick to the regular routines that help keep us healthy. To help you have the physical and mental freshness to fully enjoy the season, try these […]

A new analysis out this week found that people with type 2 diabetes who eat a largely plant-based diet can experience a boost in quality of life and well being, in addition to improvements in other diabetes-related factors. The analysis, which appears in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care, reviewed the results of 11 separate dietary […]

A new study led by Yin Cao, ScD, MPH, assistant professor of surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, shows a link between weight gain and increased risk of young-onset colorectal cancer. Rates of colorectal cancer diagnosed in people under age 50 are going up and researchers are searching for possible reasons […]

Ying Liu, MD, PhD, assistant professor of surgery, has received a three-year, $1,075,887 grant from the National Institutes of Health. The project, Residential Mobility, Treatment Quality and Survival in Low-Income Women with Breast Cancer, will study how relocation after a cancer diagnosis impacts follow-up care for low-income patients, and thus, effects their treatment. Dr. Liu […]

Erika Waters, PhD, MPH, associate professor of surgery in the Division of Public Health Sciences, has received a three year, nine month R01 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The $2,584,000 project, Child asthma exacerbation: Role of caregiver risk beliefs, aims to lay the groundwork for improving interventions for caregivers of children with asthma. […]

Bettina Drake, PhD, MPH, associate professor of surgery in the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named associate director of cancer health equity for Siteman Cancer Center. In this newly formed position, Drake will oversee Siteman’s community outreach and engagement and will work to promote […]

PECaD is excited to announce our fourth East St. Louis, Il Smart Health Cancer Community Education Day event on Saturday, Oct. 13 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Make sure to save the date for this free, educational and community-based event. The event will be held at the Jackie Joyner Kersee Foundation (101 Jackie Joyner […]

Community outreach and educational support for navigating health insurance options available in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace are crucial for helping people choose the best plan based on their individual needs, according to researchers, health policy experts and community partners across Missouri – one of 19 states that hasn’t expanded Medicaid eligibility. Such efforts […]

Excerpted from TOGETHER – Every Woman’s Guide to Preventing Breast Cancer Breastfeeding for a total of one year or more (combined for all children) lowers the risk of breast cancer. It also has great health benefits for the child. Unfortunately, as natural a thing as breastfeeding is, it doesn’t always naturally fit into today’s modern […]

Latest addition to the 8IGHT WAYS® health series offers simple, evidence-based tips for keeping weight in check Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has launched a new public resource, “8ight Ways to a Healthier Weight and Lower Risk of Cancer.” This evidence-based guide is free […]

Recently released numbers from a national survey show that many high school-aged youth in the United States put themselves at risk for lifelong addiction by using tobacco or electronic cigarettes. The 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System report found that 16 percent of girls and 24 percent of boys had vaped, used smokeless tobacco, or […]

Even in today’s frenetic media landscape, health news can still grab the headlines.  It is a real testament to the priority we place on good health and well being – how important they can be not only to ourselves but also to our family, friends, and communities.  In the first part of 2018, we posted pieces on a wide variety of […]

    Time is hard to come by. If you’re a woman in today’s world, that’s more than likely one of the constants in your life. Between work, home, school, and family obligations, the days just fill themselves, leaving little extra. And, though that time-crunch is certainly evident to you – and those around you […]

By Hank Dart An important new report further confirms that the HPV vaccine is both safe and extremely effective at preventing cervical pre-cancers that could develop into cervical cancer. The report, published Wednesday in the Cochrane Library, reviewed the results of 26 HPV vaccine clinical trials that included over 73,000 girls and women ages 15 […]

Stop. Read this. Now read this slowly. S l o w l y. Now take a slow deep breath in and count “one.” Take a slow breath out and count “two.” Now repeat that three times. S l o w l y. You’ve just had a mindful moment. It’s a real rarity in today’s busy, […]

It’s World Physical Activity Day – a great reminder that there really is nothing quite like regular activity when it comes to both individual and population health. Among other benefits, physical activity helps prevent many serious diseases – from stroke to diabetes to cancer – and also improves quality of life and boosts mental mood. […]

A new federal analysis shows that the adult obesity epidemic in the United States keeps on getting worse.  Between 2007 and 2016, the percentage of the adult population that was obese increased from an already very high 33.7 percent to a staggering 39.6 percent.  And the rate of those severely obese increased from just under […]

It’s March, which means it’s both National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and National Nutrition Month. And that’s an apt combination. A number of healthy diet tips can help lower the risk of colon cancer. And they’re all pretty straightforward. Eat whole grainsWhole grains are filled with fiber and other healthy nutrients. And eating more of […]

A recently published clinical trial out of Stanford University found that high-quality low-fat and high-quality low-carbohydrate diets could be equally effective for weight loss. It was a positive finding from a well-designed study. Many news headlines about the study, however, focused on something else entirely: that calories don’t matter for weight loss. Some examples: The […]

by Hank Dart A new study out of France highlights another possible reason to avoid eating too many highly processed foods:  They may increase the risk of cancer. The paper, published yesterday in the British Medical Journal, followed close to 105,000 adults for an average of 5 years.  Along the way, participants were asked to regularly […]

by Hank Dart In my many years of writing about and promoting healthy behaviors, I’m happy to say that I’ve at least tried to put into practice just about everything I’ve espoused. Of course, like many people, my success at doing so can be uneven. Some behaviors I do pretty well with – like exercise, […]

by Dr. Lindsay Kuroki Parents grow up wanting their kids to be healthy and happy. And taking control of your child’s health may be easier than you think with evolving research. We know that with healthy eating, encouraging exercise, staying safe in the sun, and getting scheduled vaccinations your child is on the right path […]

As we’ve written about before on Cancer News in Context, good evidence points to the important role that behaviors in youth and young adulthood can have on cancer risk later in life. Health habits started in youth not only have a longer time to impact risk, but they can also have unique and important interactions with the […]

Two years ago during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we posted over nine days excerpts from our, then, new book TOGETHER:  Every Woman’s Guide to Preventing Breast Cancer. Each of the nine days focussed on a single practical step that could help lower the risk of the disease.  With each of the steps still relevant and […]

In a little under a month in New York state, electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) will be banned wherever standard tobacco cigarettes are prohibited. The move adds to a growing list of states restricting e-cig use because of concerns about their impact on health and safety. Although e-cigs are often marketed as safer alternatives to standard cigarettes […]

Ever wonder how you’re state stacks up compared to others when it comes to important health risk factors? If so, a tool from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (below) can help you do just that. And while it can be fun to click through and explore the data from different states and for […]

By Hank Dart Differences in life expectancy in the United States can vary greatly depending on the county in which you live.  That’s the finding of a new analysis out of the University of Washington and published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Using data from the Human Mortality Database, National Center for Health Statistics, and […]

A new analysis published last week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that physical inactivity results in a significant economic burden the world over. Though the authors found that studies looking at the economic impact of inactivity lacked consistent methodology – which, therefore, limited specific conclusions – sedentary lifestyles were found to account […]

A great interview this week with Belma Andrić, MD, MPH on the 80% by 2018 blog highlights successful approaches that can boost colon cancer screening rates at community clinics with underserved populations. During her tenure as Medical Director with C. L. Brumback Primary Care Clinics in Florida, colon screening rates increased from 21 percent in 2013 […]

by Graham Colditz The debate regarding luck, prevention, and cancer risk is in the media again today (see Science, NPR, Forbes, and many others). The authors of this new paper — a follow-up of their original published two years ago and which caused such stir — make a clear effort too classify cancer risk as […]

by Hank Dart Even in the middle of the roiling media cycle we’re in, diet has still managed to break through and make headlines the past couple weeks. Probably the biggest recent story was the release of a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found that around 40 – 50 percent […]