The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Urban cycling may save the environment but not your lungs Posted: 29 Sep 2011 12:09 AM PDT  A new British study found that city dwellers who cycle to work have more black soot in their lungs than pedestrians. — AFP pic The new University of London study found that urbanites who cycled to work had 2.3 times more black carbon in their lungs than pedestrians. Black carbon is present in car exhaust fumes and is created by the combustion of fossil fuels. "Pedestrians breathe in these miniscule particles of soot, but bikers inhale even more because they are closer to the fumes and take deeper breaths," reported health website MyHealthDailyNews on the study on September 27. "This could be due to a number of factors, including the fact that cyclists breathe more deeply and at a quicker rate than pedestrians while in closer proximity to exhaust fumes, which could increase the number of airborne particles penetrating the lungs," said study researcher Chinedu Nwokoro in a statement released this week. But rather than give up cycling forever, Nwokoro stated that cyclists should plan less-trafficked routes to minimise their exposure to exhaust fumes. Previous research has shown that black carbon is linked to a wide range of serious health issues, including reduced lung function and a higher risk of respiratory diseases and heart attacks, noted MyHealthDailyNews. The study was presented at the European Respiratory Society's Annual Congress in Amsterdam on September 23. — AFP-Relaxnews |
| Colon cancer advances faster in men, says study Posted: 28 Sep 2011 07:32 PM PDT  Doctor's stethoscope. — AFP pic Currently, men and women age 50 and older are urged to get a colonoscopy to screen for growths or polyps that could form into tumours. Colorectal cancer is the fourth leading cancer killer worldwide, taking 610,000 lives per year. The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association examined 44,350 participants in a national screening colonoscopy programme from 2007 to 2010 in Austria. The screenings look for adenomas, which are polyps or benign tumours as well as for particularly advanced adenomas and colorectal cancer. The analysis found "a significantly higher rate of these lesions among men compared with women in all age groups, suggesting that male sex constitutes an independent risk factor for colorectal carcinoma," according to the study. For instance, five per cent of men age 50-54 had advanced adenomas compared to just 2.9 per cent of women. The rate of colorectal cancer in 55-59-year-old men (1.3 per cent) was about the same as in women a decade older (65-69-year-old women were diagnosed at a rate of 1.2 per cent). The prevalence of colorectal cancer overall was twice as high among men, at 1.5 per cent, compared to 0.7 per cent in women. The researchers noted that "deciding whether to adjust the age at which screening begins also requires considering whether the recommended age for women should be older or the recommended age for men younger." However, the study stopped short of saying what that new age should be, saying further studies "are needed to demonstrate the relative clinical effectiveness of screening at different ages." — AFP-Relaxnews |
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