It’s easy to crunch the numbers on thyroid cancer and assume it is a disease fast on the rise. Incidence has more than doubled since the early 1970s, and for women, it is the cancer with the fastest-growing number of new cases.

But not every statistic tells the obvious tale. Despite the increase, thyroid cancer — a very treatable disease that develops in a butterfly-shaped gland in the neck — is still relatively uncommon.

Many people develop benign lumps, known as nodules, in the neck, but only one in 20, or less than 45,000 cases a year, are malignant. Even fewer patients have an aggressive form of the disease, which has a survival rate of nearly 97 percent after five years and results in an estimated 1,690 deaths each year. Over the last few years, however, studies showing there has been a significant increase in incidence, and even mortality, in certain groups have caused much debate in the scientific community.

“I don’t think there is any question that there is an increasing incidence of thyroid cancer,” said Dr. Kenneth Burman, chief of the endocrine section in the department of medicine at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. “But it is not that simple. The question is whether or not it is related to detection and radiological studies, or if it is related to an authentic rise in thyroid cancer.”

It is a question that still remains largely unanswered. Evidence from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database, a registry of cancer cases that is kept by the National Cancer Institute, leaves little question that there are more cases of thyroid cancer today than three decades ago. But the more important question, as Dr. Burman points out, is whether these statistics indicate a true rise in the disease or are simply a result of better diagnostic tools.

Over the last three decades, ultrasound and fine-needle biopsies have helped diagnose thousands of cases that would never have been found before. In many cases, nodules are discovered by accident during another medical investigation.

A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association first brought this issue to light in 2006. Researchers concluded that the reported 140 percent increase in thyroid cancer from 1973 to 2002 was simply a result of “increased diagnostic scrutiny.”

They argued that a true increase in incidence would be reflected in every stage of the cancer. But the study showed that 87 percent of the increase was from small papillary thyroid cancer tumors — the most common and treatable type of thyroid cancer — that were less than two centimeters in size. Many of these cases, the researchers say, would never have caused any problems. In fact, studies have shown that thyroid cancer is found in nearly 4 percent of all fine-needle aspiration biopsy specimens.

“These cases have been there all along,” said Dr. Louise Davies, assistant professor of surgery in the division of otolaryngology, head and neck surgery at Dartmouth Medical School. “We just didn’t see them until now. Understanding this requires that you think about the word ‘cancer’ in a different way than we usually do. You can have increased rates of incidence without changing the number of people who die.”

But the mortality rate is a little more complicated than that. Survival rates, after five years, increased 4.7 percent in women, who are three times as likely to develop the disease as men, from 1974 to 2001. In men, however, the annual percentage change in thyroid cancer mortality increased significantly, by 2.4 percent, from 1992 to 2000 — the highest jump of any cancer. That is one reason many other experts argue that diagnostic tools are not the only factor.

“I think it is an oversimplification to say the increase in diagnosis is from the overuse of technology and only relates to small tumors that are insignificant,” said Dr. Steven Sherman, medical director of the endocrine center at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. “There is a component that relates to increased technology, but until we can do a better job at predicting the outcomes for individuals who develop cancer we still need to treat each case.”

Physicians are fairly clueless about what else could account for this mysterious rise in incidence. Exposure to radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in 1986 and radioactive fallout from nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s have long been linked to thyroid cancer, but they would not account for all the new cases.

Regardless of the reported increase in small tumors, the standard of care for thyroid cancer remains the same as it was two decades ago. Patients must undergo a thryoidectomy, a surgical procedure that removes all or half of the thyroid gland. Afterward, many patients also require a radioactive iodine treatment, which kills any remaining cancer cells.

Dr. Bryan McIver, a physician in the division of endocrinology, diabetes, metabolism and nutrition at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said of the surgical default, “Even though the evidence does not support that it is beneficial, there is an increasing trend in the U.S., and probably worldwide, to treat all thyroid cancers in the most aggressive way.”

As a result, surgeons like Dr. Davies think the increase in diagnosis does patients with small tumors a disservice. “I don’t think it is helpful when patients pick it up by accident,” she said. “It distracts them from the problem they came in with and leads to unnecessary treatment. The mortality rate of papillary thyroid cancer is lower than the surgical complication rates.”

Since thyroid cancer has long been thought of as a disease that requires surgery, experts are starting to rethink how they approach the rapidly increasing number of small tumors.

“Sometimes I think we are doing more harm than good with these small tumors,” Dr. McIver said. “But there is also going to be a subset of these small tumors that are caught early and would have caused a problem. It’s hard to ignore a diagnosis of cancer.”

drive from：http://www.nytimes.com/

A few months ago Lady Gaga told Rolling Stone Magazine that although she didn't have Lupus it runs in her family.

When talking with Larry King on CNN she said she had tested borderline positive for Lupus. Lupus acts like other autoimmune diseases. The immune system attacks the body's cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage. Lupus affects about one-and-a-half million Americans, mostly women

It seems Lady Gaga does not have the hallmark butterfly rash that Lupus patients have as seen in the photo. For that matter she shows not signs as she told Larry King. "Lupus is in my family and it is genetic. My mother told me the other day that my fans were quite worried about me because I did talk about the fact that I was tested for Lupus."

"And ah, the truth is, I don't show any signs, ah, any symptoms of Lupus. But I have tested borderline positive for the disease. So, as of right now, I do not have it, but I have to take good care of myself."

Over time that symptoms may change as borderline becomes on the line! Sure stress could be a trigger but that is an unknown. Some of us are concerned that Lady Gaga doesn't have all the information she needs. If it were that easy to ward off Lupus by reducing stress we would all be heading to the corner to meditate.

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Fisher-Price announced the recall of over 10 million of their children’s products today including several different toys, tricycles and high chairs. Fisher-Price products involved in the recall include fourteen models of their Fisher-Price Trike and Tough Trike toddler tricycles, seven different models of infant activity centers with inflatable balls, three different high chair models (Healthy Care chairs manufactured before December 2006 and all Easy Clean and Close To Me models) and the Fisher-Price Little People Wheelies Stand ‘n Play Rampway.

For additional information about these products, recalled product model numbers and instructions on how to return items or receive replacement parts, please visit Fisher-Price’s website at www.service.mattel.com. Fisher-Price can also be reached at (800) 432-5437 between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.

The attached video from the Consumer Product Safety Commission gives additional details about the Fisher-Price items in question.

drive from: http://www.examiner.com/national

As far as sexual behavior goes, we may be worrying about the wrong people. The kids, it turns out, may be all right

Here are a few simple tips that you may find helpful for your next appointment.

• It is helpful to be prepared and to be empowered. Before you visit with your doctor, write down any questions that you may have. Be well prepared and organized. Keep your questions very specific. At the beginning of your visit, let your doctor know that you do have a list of very specific questions that you would like to ask. By mentioning this in the beginning of the visit, your doctor is now aware that you have questions. You are giving your doctor a "heads up" so they can accommodate your questions.
• Bring a trusted friend or family member with you. They can help decipher the information and take notes during the visit. You can also ask your doctor if it is okay to record the conversation. This will make it easier for you to have all the necessary information.
• Communicate and collaborate respectfully with your doctor. Present your questions in a clear and succinct manner. If your doctor interrupts you, or if you feel you are being rushed and you did not get time to ask your questions, calmly and politely let your doctor know that you have specific questions that you would like answered before the office visit ends.
• Listen carefully to what your doctor is saying. If you don't understand something, politely ask your doctor to explain it in simpler terms and if it will help you to remember, take some notes.
• Before leaving the office, make sure you are absolutely clear about all the information you received. It is important that you understand any instructions and the treatment plan given to you. If any medications are prescribed make sure you understand them exactly.

The doctor/patient relationship is very important (and your relationship with any other practitioners).

It is important that you trust your doctor (and other practitioners) and that you feel comfortable. Trust, partnership and communication are vital for a vibrant doctor/patient relationship and good patient outcomes.

Your turn

What has been your experience with your visit with your doctor? Do you feel rushed? Do you get all your questions answered? Do you write your questions beforehand? Do you take notes? Share your experiences with us, we would love to hear from you.

Warning: Objects in mirror may be larger/smaller/closer/farther away/than they appear.

All is not necessarily as it seems to be.

You might think you know yourself. But I suspect, that like most people, you've kept your true identity a secret, not only to the larger world around you, but especially to y-o-u.

In order to navigate in the world, we adapt who we are to fit in, get along, be liked, gain acceptance and thus feel good about ourselves. But already, like the prodigal son, we've left "home" and begun our human journey to discover who was the one who did the leaving.

Who was the one who didn't trust in her innate goodness? Who was the one who didn't know he was worthy? Who was the one who deemed she was unlovable? Who was the one who didn't know he was already enough?

Prodigal sons and daughters are we. We spend a lifetime trying to find our way back home to the truth of who we are. Meanwhile, back "home," the truth awaits our return.

Sooner or later, life will expose us to ourselves and we'll come to know of what we're truly made. It's often when we're being tested, when our back is up against the wall, when life is pushing us in a direction we thought we didn't want to go, or laying at our doorstep news we didn't want to hear, that we find ourselves having to dig deeper than we ever thought we could and discover something within we didn't know we had.

It's not until you think you've run out of courage that you'll learn to transform the few remaining drops into a whole new fountain. It's not until you've been wrestled to the floor and flattened that you'll discover a deeper source of strength to get you back on your feet and going again.

How little we know about what lies within us in what, for lack of a better word, I'll call "the mystery." Those resources, buried deep within, await our discovery, but most likely we'll only do the excavation in times that push us to the very edges of our capacity to handle what's been laid on our plates.

Our deepest wisdom is always with us, informing us throughout our lives, but doesn't tend to reveal itself to us directly until we're pressed up against the threshold where, in order to cross it and enter into new territory, we must shed what no longer serves and resurrect ourselves anew.

When these opportunities to dig deep and reveal ourselves to ourselves come along, the inherent tendency is to turn away and protect what we think is being threatened. These moments arrive, often wrapped in difficulties and great challenges that shake us to our core and seemingly dismantle our foundations. At times like these, every muscle is contracted, every cell tensed, every part of our DNA is fighting for what seems like our very survival.

How counterintuitive it feels to surrender into the moment rather than flee it. Human instinct seems to require that we flee. Yet, consider the possibility that surrender is the very element that is being called forth by such times as these.

Cause of Fear of Failure

Children get this destructive perspective on failure from American popular culture. Popular culture defines failure as being poor, anonymous, powerless, unpopular or physically unattractive. On television and in the movies, the losers--nerds, unattractive people, poor athletes--are teased, bullied and rejected. With this definition of failure, popular culture has created a culture of fear and avoidance of failure. It has conveyed to children that if they fail, they will be ostracized by their peers and branded as losers for life!

Parents Make Things Worse

Many parents have fallen under American popular culture's spell of failure as well. They've compounded the harm that failure can inflict on children by also connecting their own love and approval with it. The message children get is "I won't love you if you get bad grades." They come to see failure as a threat to their personal and social standing.

The Stigma of Failure

There is no greater stigma in American popular culture than being labeled a loser. The expression loser has become an oft-used and enduring symbol in popular culture. To be called a loser is, to paraphrase a well-known sports cliché, worse than death because you have to live with being a loser.

Avoiding Failure

Children learn that they can avoid failure three ways:

• Children don't engage in an activity in which they fear failure. If children don't participate, they're safe from failure. Injury, illness, damaged equipment, forgotten or lost materials, apparent lack of interest or motivation, or just plain refusal to take part are common ways in which children can avoid failure and maintain their personal and social esteem.
• Children can also avoid failure by failing in an activity, but protect themselves from the failure by having an excuse--"I would have done well, but I just didn't feel like it" or "I would have done just fine, but the teacher was totally unfair." Because their failures were not their fault, children can't be held responsible and popular culture and their parents must continue to accept and love them.
• Many children don't have the luxury of not taking part or coming up with excuses, for example, children can't just not go to school. So another way that children can avoid failure is to get as far away from failure as possible by becoming successful. But children who are driven to avoid failure are stuck in limbo between failure and real success, what I call the "safety zone," in which the threat of failure is removed. For example, they have a B+ average or finish in the top 10 in their sport, but they are unwilling to intensify their efforts to fully achieve success.

The Value of Failure

Failure is an inevitable--and essential--part of life. Failure can bolster the motivation to overcome the obstacles that caused the failure. It shows children what they did wrong so they can correct the problem in the future. Failure connects children's actions with consequences which helps them gain ownership of their efforts. Failure teaches important life skills, such as commitment, patience, determination, decision making and problem solving. It helps children respond positively to the frustration and disappointment that they will often experience as they pursue their goals. Failure teaches children humility and appreciation for the opportunities that they're given.

Of course, too much failure will discourage children. Success is also needed for its ability to bolster motivation, build confidence, reinforce effort and increase enjoyment. As children pursue their life goals, they must experience a healthy balance of success and failure to gain the most from their efforts.

Defining Failure

To protect children from popular culture's destructive definitions of failure, give them positive definitions of failure. I define failure in ways that encourage children to value rather than fear it.

• Failure is not living in accordance with their values. When children cheat, lie or don't take responsibility for themselves, then they fail.
• When children buy into popular culture's definition of success, for example, being overly concerned with popularity or appearance, then they fail.
• Failure involves children not giving their best effort, making poor decisions and not doing what is in their best interest.
• When children look for the easy way out, are influenced by peer pressure and act in ways that can hurt them, then they fail.
• Failure also means treating others poorly and not giving back to their families, communities and the world as a whole. When children are selfish, uncaring and disrespectful of the world in which they live, then they fail.

Are you a chronic rebounder?

Looking back, have you jumped from one relationship to the next with little or no time in-between? If so, think about any fears you might associate with not being in a relationship. Is the thought of being alone terrifying? If it is, what scares you most about being single? Also consider whether romantic relationships are fulfilling needs that you might be better off fulfilling yourself. For example, some chronic rebounders seek nurturing exclusively from outside sources. A healthy relationship does involve both parties nurturing each other, but it's essential that we're able on some level to nurture ourselves.

Did you go out looking for a new relationship or did it happen spontaneously?

Answering this question won't determine whether your new relationship is healthy, but it will offer clues about your motives. If you went out looking for a new relationship, you might be on the "self medication" train. Like someone who drinks in order to avoid painful feelings, you might be focusing on a new relationship for the same reason. On the other hand you might've been going about your new single life, focusing on yourself and on recovering from heartbreak. Maybe a new dating prospect came around unexpectedly, and you're motives for wanting to enter a new relationship have more to do with that person's qualities than with dodging painful emotions.

Is your new relationship boosting your self-esteem?

You might've just gotten out of a relationship in which you felt unnoticed, unappreciated, or uncared for. Perhaps your new companion dredges you with attention that you've been craving for months or years. This could be a good or bad thing. Obviously being noticed, appreciated and cared for are ingredients in a healthy relationship, and perhaps receiving this attention is a reminder of what you deserve. But, if your sense of worth was badly damaged by your previous relationship and you're relying on you new relationship to fix that, be careful. Relying exclusively on others for validation is a slippery slope; healthy self-worth requires personal attention from number one: you.

Are you in "I'm just having fun" mode?

If you're able to balance dealing with the emotional fallout from your last relationship while casually spending time with someone whose company you enjoy, this mindset isn't necessarily a bad thing. It can be a hard balance, though, especially if sex is involved and you consider that the emotional detachment required for "casual sex" is often hard to maintain. Another obvious question here is whether both you and the other person are open about your intentions. If the other person believes that they're in for a long-term relationship when your intention is to enjoy a short-lived fling, you might be setting yourself up for a tricky breakup down the road.

Are you putting up with bad behavior because at least it feels better than being alone?

You might have jumped into a new relationship that feels wrong on some or several levels, but you're going with it because even bad behavior (like inconsistency or disregarding your feelings) feels safer than loneliness. Again, be careful. The more entrenched you become in a relationship that isn't good for you, the harder it will be if (or more likely, when) the relationship ends. As difficult as being alone can be, learning how to be alone without feeling lonely is possible.

Are you a chronic rebounder?

Looking back, have you jumped from one relationship to the next with little or no time in-between? If so, think about any fears you might associate with not being in a relationship. Is the thought of being alone terrifying? If it is, what scares you most about being single? Also consider whether romantic relationships are fulfilling needs that you might be better off fulfilling yourself. For example, some chronic rebounders seek nurturing exclusively from outside sources. A healthy relationship does involve both parties nurturing each other, but it's essential that we're able on some level to nurture ourselves.

Did you go out looking for a new relationship or did it happen spontaneously?

Answering this question won't determine whether your new relationship is healthy, but it will offer clues about your motives. If you went out looking for a new relationship, you might be on the "self medication" train. Like someone who drinks in order to avoid painful feelings, you might be focusing on a new relationship for the same reason. On the other hand you might've been going about your new single life, focusing on yourself and on recovering from heartbreak. Maybe a new dating prospect came around unexpectedly, and you're motives for wanting to enter a new relationship have more to do with that person's qualities than with dodging painful emotions.

Is your new relationship boosting your self-esteem?

You might've just gotten out of a relationship in which you felt unnoticed, unappreciated, or uncared for. Perhaps your new companion dredges you with attention that you've been craving for months or years. This could be a good or bad thing. Obviously being noticed, appreciated and cared for are ingredients in a healthy relationship, and perhaps receiving this attention is a reminder of what you deserve. But, if your sense of worth was badly damaged by your previous relationship and you're relying on you new relationship to fix that, be careful. Relying exclusively on others for validation is a slippery slope; healthy self-worth requires personal attention from number one: you.

Are you in "I'm just having fun" mode?

If you're able to balance dealing with the emotional fallout from your last relationship while casually spending time with someone whose company you enjoy, this mindset isn't necessarily a bad thing. It can be a hard balance, though, especially if sex is involved and you consider that the emotional detachment required for "casual sex" is often hard to maintain. Another obvious question here is whether both you and the other person are open about your intentions. If the other person believes that they're in for a long-term relationship when your intention is to enjoy a short-lived fling, you might be setting yourself up for a tricky breakup down the road.

Are you putting up with bad behavior because at least it feels better than being alone?

You might have jumped into a new relationship that feels wrong on some or several levels, but you're going with it because even bad behavior (like inconsistency or disregarding your feelings) feels safer than loneliness. Again, be careful. The more entrenched you become in a relationship that isn't good for you, the harder it will be if (or more likely, when) the relationship ends. As difficult as being alone can be, learning how to be alone without feeling lonely is possible.

WASHINGTON — Struggling with sharp increases in suicides among U.S. military forces, the Pentagon is joining a new national effort to reduce the number of Americans who take their own lives.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that it was a tragedy to see soldiers, sailors and other service members return from the battlefield only to die from what he called "this scourge."

Gates and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius appeared at the National Press Club in Washington to launch the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. The coalition of public and private groups is dedicated to reducing suicides across the U.S. population.

More than 1,100 members of the armed forces killed themselves from 2005 to 2009, and suicides have been rising again this year.