Men who display chronic-inflammation in non-cancerous prostate tissue could have twice the risk of developing prostate cancer as those who don't.
"What we've shown in this observational study is a clear association between prostate inflammation and prostate cancer, although we can't prove that inflammation is a cause of prostate cancer," said Elizabeth A. Platz, Sc.D., M.P.H., a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and the School of Medicine, said in a Johns Hopkins University news release.
The researchers believe chronic inflammation could be used as a "diagnostic tool" to detect prostate cancer. In the future the team hopes they will be able to gain insight into what causes the inflammation and how it's linked to prostate cancer.
"I think there will be strategies going forward for either preventing inflammation or intervening when it occurs," Platz said.
The researchers made their findings by looking at the placebo group of a trial for a prostate-prevention drug called finasteride. In the trial prostate biopsies were conducted even if there was no sign of cancer.
"Our study was designed to rule out the bias that would ordinarily exist between the way we detect prostate cancer and the presence of inflammation," Platz said. "Because inflammation makes PSA levels go up, men with inflammation are more likely to have higher PSA and, with a rising PSA, they're more likely to be biopsied. By doing more biopsies on these men, prostate cancer is more likely to be detected, even if inflammation is not a cause of prostate cancer."
Mammograms and anxiety
Women whose mammograms suggest possible breast cancer that is eventually ruled out experience slightly increased anxiety, but that doesn't necessarily affect their overall health, according to a new study.
What's more, the increased anxiety appears to dissipate within a year, write the researchers in JAMA Internal Medicine.
"We provide one more piece of evidence that women need to be well informed of the outcome of screenings," Anna Tosteson said. "Especially women 40 to 49 (years old) need to think about how they would feel about having a false-positive mammogram."
False-positives occur when the results of a mammogram suggest possible breast cancer, when in reality no cancer exists. Typically the initial positive test is followed by additional screenings or a more invasive biopsy to look for cancer.
Vitamin D and pregnancy
A new study done in Canada suggests that Women’s low vitamin D levels during pregnancy are linked to a higher risk of cavities in the teeth of their toddlers.
They measured vit D levels in the second or early third trimester in 207 pregnant women and then examined the teeth of 135 of their children when they were an average of 16 months old.
Moms-to-be were studied from a mainly poor, urban area.
Women’s vitamin D levels were mostly in the normal range, but about one third had levels that were too low.
Depending on what definition of cavities the researchers used, 23 to 36 percent of the toddlers had cavities.
A baby’s vitamin D stores increase during pregnancy and go down after birth until the baby starts getting vitamin D from sunlight along with diet.
If a pregnant woman has low levels of vitamin D, she might not have passed on enough vitamin D to her baby.