| Family counseling improves lives of patients and spouses coping with ...
Families coping with prostate cancer report improved quality of life from a structured support program integrated into the patients cancer management, according to a new study. The findings appear in the December 15, 2007 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. This randomized clinical trial by Dr. Laurel Northouse from the University of Michigan and co-investigators found that patients and their spouses who participated in a five-session home counseling program reported significant improvement in such areas as symptom management, hope, uncertainty and couples communication. Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men. While treatment advances have reduced mortality rates since the early 1990s, the treatments themselves are often associated with serious permanent side effects, such as urinary incontinence or sexual dysfunction.
Little Havana's Big Impact In Florida
Not so long ago, Rudy Giuliani was the clear Republican frontrunner among Cuban-American voters in South Florida. When he would arrive in Miami, Cubans treated him like a full-fledged celebrity. "It was like Bono getting off a plane," says Tom Eldon, a Democratic pollster in Florida. "It was like a rock-star event." In November, Eldon's firm conducted a survey of Florida's GOP primary voters in tandem with Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway. Giuliani had the support of roughly 70 percent of Hispanics, the majority of whom are Cubans. "Nowhere is Giuliani's support in Florida stronger than in South Florida, buoyed by high ratings among Hispanic Republicans," the St. Petersburg Times reported in mid-December.
Since then, of course, Giuliani has dropped precipitously at the national level, and his best hope in today's Florida primary appears to be a third-place finish.
The McMenu of the future
America's love affair with fast food has hit a rocky patch.There is litigation in the air. Nutritionists warn us about trans-fats and super-sizing our way to obesity. Something is not right in the drive-thru, our transport to a half-century of low-cost, high-calorie, turned-on-a-dime comfort food.As Americans get fatter, and critics look for culprits among peddlers of cheeseburgers and chicken fingers, the nation may be about to engage in an epic culinary transformation."People who eat fast food tend to have the high-fat and low-fiber diets we associate with obesity," says Gail Woodward-Lopez, associate director of the Center for Weight and Health at the University of California at Berkeley. "We're not asking anyone in the fast-food industry to go out of business. But serving nutritious foods must be given a priority in our culture, just like providing safe buildings." .
|
