• According to 3 sobering new reports from a study funded by U.S. CDC, despite years of improvements in cancer care, the disease still disproportionately kills black people. The CDC’s findings on ovarian, breast and colon cancer survival, published in the journal Cancer, come at a time when reports show that that overall cancer death rates have declined every year 1999 in the U.S.
• According to the CDC, more than 7,000 cases of influenza have been confirmed in the U.S. so far, which is more than double the number this time last year. The CDC reports that  flu is currently widespread in four states, including Georgia, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Massachusetts. It is the same formulation that was used during Australia’s most recent flu season — which typically sets a pattern for what the U.S. will face — and it was only 10% effective there.
• Research says that smoking cigarettes and daily use of cannabis are strongly linked in the United States. Smokers, overall, are seven times more likely to use pot daily than non-smokers, according to a study recently published in the American Journal of Public Health. This relationship was found to be especially strong among young people between the ages of 12 and 17. The researchers say that nearly a third of traditional cigarette smokers in this age group said they also used cannabis day in and day out.

News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 8th of December 2017. Read by Tabetha Moreto.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/decades-cancer-treatment-progress-black-white-survival-rates/story?id=51586632

According to three sobering new reports from a study funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, despite years of improvements in cancer care, the disease still disproportionately kills black people. The CDC’s findings on ovarian, breast and colon cancer survival, published in the journal Cancer, come at a time when reports show that overall cancer death rates have declined every year since nineteen ninety nine in the U.S. It is important for people, no matter their race, to be proactive in their own healthcare, Doctor Sherri Stewart of the CDC, who is also an author of one of the reports, said in a statement issued to ABC News. This means looking up routine cancer screening schedules, getting educated on warning signs and symptoms, and advocating for access to primary care.
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Using large amounts of data from eighty percent of the U.S., some of the largest studies ever done in the U.S. on cancer survival in specific populations, researchers compared the number of black patients who survived at least five years after a cancer diagnosis to the number of white patients who survived in the same period. They found that at least ten percent fewer black patients lived past five years after being diagnosed with breast, colon or ovarian cancer compared to white patients. According to the CDC, these three cancers are among the top ten causes of cancer deaths in the U.S.; breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among women and colon cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer deaths in both men and women.

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One concerning situation found in the research was that more black people were diagnosed at later stages of the three cancers studied –- and people diagnosed with more advanced-stage cancers usually have worse outcomes. But, even with earlier stages of cancer diagnoses, fewer black people survived five years out.

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Other possible factors in why black patients tended to have worse overall rates of cancer survival could include racial differences in treatment follow-up, disease management, health beliefs –- and perhaps the biology of some cancers.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/this-years-flu-vaccine-may-only-be-10-effective-experts-warn/

Health officials say there are a number of signs pointing to a potentially rough flu season. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than seven thousand cases of influenza have been confirmed in the U.S. so far, which is more than double the number this time last year. The CDC reports that  flu is currently widespread in four states, including Georgia, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Massachusetts. It is the same formulation that was used during Australia’s most recent flu season — which typically sets a pattern for what the U.S. will face — and it was only ten percent effective there.

On average, past flu vaccines have been about forty two percent effective, though that number can range anywhere from ten to sixty percent in a given year. But Doctor Pardis Sabeti, a Harvard professor and infectious disease expert says even though the effectiveness of this year’s vaccine is particularly low, it’s still worthwhile to get a flu shot.
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The CDC estimates that the flu virus has caused between nine point two million and thirty five point six million illnesses in the U.S. each year since two thousand ten. Those cases resulted in between one hundred forty thousand and seven hundred ten thousand hospitalizations, and between twelve thousand and fifty six thousand deaths each year. The CDC recommends everyone age six months and older should get a flu vaccine every season.

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/05/health/cigarette-smoking-pot-smoking-study/index.html

Research says that smoking cigarettes and daily use of cannabis are strongly linked in the United States. Smokers, overall, are seven times more likely to use pot daily than non-smokers, according to a study recently published in the American Journal of Public Health.
This relationship was found to be especially strong among young people between the ages of twelve and seventeen. The researchers say that nearly a third of traditional cigarette smokers in this age group said they also used cannabis day in and day out. In fact, young smokers were more than fifty times more likely to use cannabis daily than their nonsmoking peers.
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According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana is the most commonly used “illicit” drug, used by about twenty two point two million Americans. The institute classifies marijuana as an illicit drug despite legislation in a few states that permits recreational use of this drug. More men than women use the drug, a gender gap that widened even further between two thousand seven and two thousand fourteen.

Data was collected from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health for two thousand through two thousand fourteen, a total of seven hundred twenty five thousand ten people. Respondents, who were offered thirty dollars to participate, answered personal interview questions plus some computer-assisted, self-interview questions designed for privacy and confidentiality. Participants reported how often they smoked cigarettes, if at all, and how long it had been since their last cannabis use.
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Some groups showed a stronger association than others. For instance, the link between smoking cigarettes and daily cannabis use was stronger among Hispanic smokers than white smokers and among females compared with males. Hispanic smokers were more than ten times more likely to use cannabis daily than nonsmoking Hispanics, while white smokers were more than seven times more likely to use cannabis daily than their nonsmoking peers. Like Hispanics, female smokers of all groups were found to be more than ten times more likely to dip into cannabis every day than non smoking females.

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