You Can Beat Cancer! is a weblog written by a medical doctor specializing in public health and epidemiology.

The author tell us -- Cancer is certainly curable in the early stage, and in late stage, there are many available treatments to prolong their lives and also to let them have a good quality of life. Do not be despair. Ask your doctor for more information on the treatment options.

The blog is designed to teach readers the latest in cancer treatment. You can find articles about prevention, treatments, vaccines, new advances, insurance issues and much more.

Males born with undescended testis have and increased risk of developing testicular cancer later in life. The surgical procedure called orchiopexy, can be performed on a child as early as six months of age.

In the New England Journal of Medicine they state that surgery before the age of thirteen for the treatment of undesended testis reduces the risk of testicular cancer compared with having surgery later in life.

The results of a study done by researchers in Sweden concluded that among those who underwent orchiopexy before the age of thirteen had an increased risk of testicular cancer that was slightly more than twofold of the general male population. Those who waited to get the surgery after thirteen years of age had a fivefold risk of developing the disease.

WOW, what a book -- a perfect guide for those just embarking on a medical journey and a valuable resource for people like me -- already surviving a major illness -- who wish to better manage their health care for all of time.

Author Laura Nathanson, MD, wrote What You Don't Know Can Kill You: A Physician's Radical Guide to Conquering the Obstacles to Excellent Medical Care in honor of the husband she lost after a series of misdiagnoses and for everyone wishing to prevent such tragedy in their own lives.

Nathanson offers readers techniques for identifying signs of misdiagnosis and misleading analysis of symptoms. She shares tips for preventing medical miscommunication, keeping safe in the hospital, and choosing health care plans without falling into the uncovered services trap.

The allure of this book is the easy, non-medical approach Nathanson uses as she urges everyone facing the medical world to take charge of an often inpenetrable system. For the patient who is no stranger to this world, Nathanson's words will ring abundantly true.

"When I look back on that long period of delayed diagnosis and how we were then and later bounced around from one medical specialist to another, the image that pops into my head is that of a slightly mad, grotesque volleyball game -- with the patient as the ball," she writes.

For the patient new to medical confusion, Nathanson's words will impart volumes of truth.

"Here's what I've learned, and what you must learn if you wish yourself and your loved ones to survive a bout with serious illness," she reports. "No matter who you are, physician or not, lucky or not; no matter how rich, famous, successful, good-looking, innocent, kindly or powerful; no matter how close and trusting the relationship you have with those providing your medical care -- you cannot rely on today's medical system to keep you healthy, safe and alive."

Amen.

Valerie Monroe, beauty director for The Oprah Magazine, writes a monthly column -- Ask Val -- that appears on the pages of Oprah's feel-good publication. She responds to questions about make-up, skin care, hair care, and overall body care too.

In her February 2007 column, Val writes, "Many of you have written to tell me that you began to be less critical of your body when you appreciated the things it could do." As I read this, I had what Oprah would call an Aha! moment, a moment when something just clicks and makes sudden sense. Aha!, I thought, as I considered all the things my body can do, completely independent of how I look on the outside. So while I was jogging today -- my body can now easily run three miles -- I ran through all of my body's accomplishments, and I stored them in the files of my mind so I could later write them down.

Here are seven things my body can do. As you read them, consider your own body -- its strength, its power, its capacity for greatness -- and remind yourself of your wondrous self the next time you start to criticize the way you look.

• My body can partner in the creation of human life. It can carry babies and deliver them and love them and care for them and raise them. Not all bodies have this power. I am lucky.

• My body can climb an attic staircase, crawl into cramped and dark corners, pull large boxes out of wedged spaces, drag them back to the staircase, and walk backwards down the stairs with goods balancing on my head so that I can fulfill the wish my five-year-old child who wanted so badly in early November to assemble our Christmas tree and decorate our house for the holidays. "Let's wait until Daddy gets home," I told Joey when I found myself crammed into a tiny space in the attic, wrestling with a heavy box full of artificial tree parts. "You can do it, Mommy," Joey said. "You are strong." And so I fought my way through the frustrating feat because I was afraid of the lessons I would teach this little boy if I didn't. In the end, it was Joey who taught me the lesson. I can do it. I am strong.
  

• My body can endure and conquer a 5K run when it once could barely run around the block. With a little extra effort and push, I think my body can accomplish even more.

• My body, once weak and without definition, can lift increasingly heavy weight and can generate muscle tone. It can even do push-ups -- real push-ups. It takes dedication and practice and persistence and mental toughness too. But I see progress. I feel progress. And I want more.

• My body can help others. I can use my fingers to type words on a keyboard that will reach friends and family and people I don't even know. My words can inform and support and encourage and heal. I can use my hands and my semi-creative talents to create hand-made gifts, to cook and deliver very mediocre meals for friends in need, to massage my husband's sore back, to braid my niece's beautiful hair and paint her tiny nails. I can use my arms to hug my little boys with all my might. I can use my voice to communicate, my ears to listen, my senses to feel.
  

• My body can tolerate surgery and chemotherapy and radiation and horrible allergic reactions to antibiotics. My body was badly beaten by a treatment protocol intended to cure me of a disastrous disease. And somehow, in some way, it survived.
  

• My body killed cancer. With the aid of medical intervention and a hopeful attitude, my body overcame the worst and best thing that has ever happened to me. And if it could do nothing else, I would be truly happy for this one thing my body can do.
  

It can be a bit overwhelming and scary to read all the side effects on the sheet that the pharmacist gives with the medicine that has been prescribed by your physician. There always seems to be so many side effects that CAN happen. The thing is that most of the side effects are not life threatening and are mild. Some medications however do have severe side effects that if you are not aware of can prove to be deadly. This shouldn't happen of course if you are listening to what your doctor says and are being monitored closely.

It is important to read all the side effect information yourself and know what to look out for. In case something does happen that is abnormal, you will notice it sooner than later, and you can call or see your physician immediately.

In a report issued Tuesday, the Journal of the American Medical Association estimates that 700,000 people a year, especially the elderly, experience adverse drug events that lead to emergency room visits. In patients 65 or older, one-third of the drug reactions were caused by three medicines: Coumadin, a blood thinner, insulin and Digoxin, a heart medication.

The important thing to remember is to ask about any other drugs you are taking and the interactions with the newly prescribed drug. The report I saw on this issue mentioned that about 30 percent of us are taking around five pills every day.

So ask the nurse at the doctors office to explain the side effects and you can also talk to your pharmacist about the drug. I went and got a prescription filled the other day and the pharmacist asked me if I had any questions about that specific drug. I didn't this time, but I liked that he asked.

The American Cancer Society, ACS, Cancer Action Network, CAN, has issued a Save Our Mammograms and Cancer Screenings action alert for concerned citizens concerning legislation S.1955 designed to undermine important patient protections and hamper efforts to prevent, detect and treat cancer. State laws that ensure cancer screenings protections will be threatened. According to the ACS, this bill would eliminate all of the progress made in the states that guarantee access to mammograms, colon cancer screening, pap smears, clinical trial participation, off-label drug use and other cancer screenings and treatments. The ACS is asking Americans to stand up to protect these vital cancer screenings. ACS has provided an easy-to-use online form that allows citizens to contact U.S. Senators and voice opposition to this legislation. It is an election year. They just might pay a little more attention to what the voters have to say right now. Go here to speak up and have your opinion count.

Thank to Keri of 500 Miles 2 Nowhere for this blog lead!