Mammograms May Heighten Breast Cancer Risk in Some Women
A new study suggests that young women at high risk for developing breast cancer raise their risk by getting regular mammograms, HealthDay reports. Researchers examined how low doses of radiation used in mammography affect women with either family history or genetic mutations linked to breast cancer. Women exposed as teens doubled their breast cancer risk, said epidemiologist and study author Martine Jansen-van der Weide, according to HealthDay. One expert told HealthDay that young women are more sensitive to radiation and are therefore not routinely screened. For women at high risk, however, the American Cancer Society recommends an annual mammograms and MRI.
[Slide Show: 11 Screening Tests You Should (or Shouldn't) Consider.] [Read Mammography Screening: Clearing Up Some of the Confusion and Everyone Is Talking About Mammograms, But Many Women Don't Get Them.]
Loneliness Is Contagious: 4 Ways to Stay Connected as You Age
Loneliness is contagious, according to a new study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and can spread from person to person. Just as researchers have previously shown that happy people can make others feel exuberant, so, too, can lonely people make others feel desolate, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz reports.
It can be worse for older folks, who often cut many of their social ties when they head into retirement and their kids move away. And this can have negative health consequences, according to a slew of previous studies. In young adulthood, the stress that comes with perceived social isolation can raise blood pressure and cholesterol, speed the aging process, and cause the body to accumulate dangerous fat around the abdomen. In a person's senior years, this same isolation can lead to a progression of Alzheimer's disease, less independent living, clogged arteries, and even death, Kotz writes.
Aging, though, doesn't have to equal loneliness, says Laura Carstensen, a psychology professor at Stanford University and founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity. Carstensen offers advice for ensuring that your future is long and bright. Among the tips: Work longer. You can stay socially connected by remaining in the workforce as long as possible. Plus, it infuses your life with meaning. Read more.
[Read Why Loneliness Is Bad for Your Health and How to Get Yourself 'Infected' With Happiness.]
Know Your Diabetes Risk: Take a Self-Assessment
With news that the prevalence of diabetes is expected to double in the next 25 years, it's a good time to think about your risk of diabetes and prediabetes and to start taking steps to lower it, U.S. News's January Payne writes.
A new diabetes self-assessment tool, published in a study in the December issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, helps you determine your risk—and whether you should see a doctor right away for a blood glucose test. To develop the assessment, researchers examined data—including fasting blood glucose results, demographic and socioeconomic information, healthcare use, family medical history, health habits, physical exams, and lab test results—from 5,258 study participants ages 20 and older. People who had diabetes,diagnosed or undiagnosed, tended to be more sedentary and were typically older than people without the disease. They also were more likely to have hypertension, a family history of diabetes, and higher body mass indexes, waist circumferences, and cholesterol levels. To take the diabetes assessment, click here. If your score is on the high side, you can take steps to address those risk factors: eating a healthful diet and exercising regularly, for example, to shed excess pounds.
[Read Diagnosed With Diabetes? 4 Tips for a Low-Carb Diabetes Diet and 6 Common Myths and Misconceptions About Diabetes.]
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