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Prostate cancer pathogen may be behind the disease once dubbed 'yuppie flu'. A study on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has linked the mysterious and controversial disease to a recently discovered retrovirus. Just last month researchers found the same virus to be associated with aggressive prostate tumours.Chronic fatigue syndrome is seen as a serious but poorly defined disease.PUNCHSTOCK CFS is marked by debilitating exhaustion and often an array of other symptoms, including memory and concentration problems and painful muscles and joints. The underlying cause of the disease is unknown; it is diagnosed only when other physical and psychiatric diseases have been...

Petraeus Has Prostate Cancer By ERIC SCHMITT Published: October 5, 2009 WASHINGTON — Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of American military forces in the Middle East, received a diagnosis of early-stage prostate cancer in February but has undergone “successful” radiation treatment to deal with the illness, according to a statement issued late Monday. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of American military forces in the Middle East, at the Newseum in Washington last week. He received a diagnosis of early-stage prostate cancer in February. General Petraeus, 56, who as head of the United States...

Toronto researchers have developed a portable device they say will accurately diagnose prostate cancer in 30 minutes. The microchip technology, created by a pair of University of Toronto scientists, will be able to determine the severity of the tumours through a simple urine sample and produce quick diagnosis with no need for painful biopsies. Now heading into the engineering stage, a BlackBerry-sized device should be available for doctors' use within two to three years and eventually could be tuned to detect a broad range of cancers and infectious ailments, the researchers say. "The goal would be to produce a result...

A small molecule earlier found to have both anti-fat and anti-cancer abilities works as a literal turnoff for fat-making genes, according to a new report in the August 28th issue of the journal Chemistry and Biology, a Cell Press journal. The chemical blocks a well known master controller of fat synthesis, a transcription factor known as SREBP. That action in mice that are genetically prone to obesity causes the animals to become leaner. It also lowers the amount of fat in their livers, along with their blood sugar and cholesterol levels. "We are frankly very excited about it," said Salih...

Late last week, Conservative Member of the European Parliament, Daniel Hannan, appeared on Fox News. His statement that the US should not attempt to create a new health care system, based on the British model of the National Health Service (NHS), ignited a firestorm in England. On Friday morning, the British airwaves and print media, not to mention the blogosphere, went into overdrive with comments which amounted to a national self examination verging on a societal inquisition. Full marks to Steven Glover for his analysis in The Daily Mail. He wrote what most Brits would categorize as “the bleeding obvious.”...

Reform: If the world's most famous physicist, Stephen Hawking, is a shining example of British health care, how is it that others in the U.K. are repeatedly denied critical care and medicine?In commenting on efforts to overhaul American's health care system, we have tried to pull back the curtain and pay attention to those trying to clone the systems of Canada and Britain. But supporters of government-run health care frequently ignore some of the less-pleasant facts. Much has been made of this statement in one of our Aug. 3 editorials: "People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance...

Why do the British lag behind American survival rates? Screening standards are different. In the United States, internists recommend that men 50 and older get screened for colon cancer; in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, screening begins at 75. And British patients wait much longer to see specialists. A Clinical Oncology study of British lung cancer treatment found in 2000 that 20% "of potentially curable patients became incurable on the waiting list." Novel drugs offered here often aren't available there; for instance, Avastin, a drug for advanced colon cancer, is prescribed more often in the U.S. than...

August 07, 2009, 0:00 a.m. Government Medicine KillsThe U.K. and Canada prove it. By Deroy Murdock Imagine that your two best friends are British and Canadian tobacco addicts. The Brit battles lung cancer. The Canadian endures emphysema and wheezes as he walks around with clanging oxygen canisters. You probably would not think: “Maybe I should pick up smoking.” The fact that America is even considering government medicine is equally wacky. The state guides health care for our two closest allies: Great Britain and Canada. Like us, these are prosperous, industrial, Anglophone democracies. Nevertheless, compared to America, they suffer higher...

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd underwent surgery for prostate cancer on Tuesday and was recuperating at a New York hospital. Dr. Peter Scardino of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center said the surgery was successful and Dodd was resting comfortably. "It is anticipated that he will be able to return to full activity within a few weeks," Scardino said in a statement released by Dodd's office. Dodd, 65, is expected to remain at the hospital for a few days before returning home to Connecticut. The five-term Democrat announced last month that he had been diagnosed with an early, treatable stage of cancer. He...

Health Care: There might not be a "death panel," as Sarah Palin described it, but federal bureaucrats will be making end-of-life decisions. That's why state-run medicine is a leading cause of death in Britain and Canada.A post on the former Alaska governor's Facebook page has caused a stir by discussing openly what many privately fear and something we have written about. End-of-life counseling and efforts to measure cost-effectiveness of treatment will combine in a perfect storm to ration care in a way that lets the government decide who lives and who dies. "The America I know and love is not...

Per MSNBC

U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd has been diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer. Dodd is scheduled to undergo surgery during the Senate's August recess and said he expects to be back at work after a "brief recuperation" at home. "It's something that's very common among men my age,'' said Dodd, who is 65 and the father of two young daughters. "In fact, one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point during their life.''

WASHINGTON – Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., has been diagnosed with an early stage of prostate cancer and intends to have surgery early in August, his office said Friday. Dodd intends to be back at work when Congress reconvenes in September, according to an e-mail his office circulated to fellow senators. The AP obtained a copy. Aides also said the diagnosis would not affect Dodd's plans to seek a sixth term in 2010.

News conference 2PM Eastern.

POLITICO Breaking News: ----------------------------------------------------- Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) has told the Hartford Courant that he has early-stage prostate cancer. For more information...http://www.politico.com

Two prostate cancer patients who had been told their condition was inoperable are now cancer-free as the result of an experimental therapy, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester announced today. “We were all pretty shocked,” says Dr. Eugene Kwon, an immunologist and urologist at Mayo and leader of the clinical trial in which the experimental therapy was being used. “These results were far beyond anything we ever envisioned.” The two patients had a particular subset of prostate cancer that is very aggressive and deadly. Unlike most prostate cancer, which grows slowly and usually remains confined to the prostate gland, aggressive forms...

Experimental drug saves two men with inoperable prostate cancer By FIONA MACRAE 21st June 2009 Two men with inoperable prostate cancer have made dramatic recoveries after being given a single dose of an experimental drug. Both men are now cancer-free and their doctors say their progress has exceeded all their expectations. Dr Eugene Kwon, of the respected Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, said: 'This is one of the Holy Grails of prostate cancer research. We have been looking for this for many years.' Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in British men, with nearly 35,000 cases a year, 10,000 deaths...

For patients with prostate cancer, it is a common surgical procedure: a doctor implants dozens of radioactive seeds to attack the disease. But when Dr. Gary D. Kao treated one patient at the veterans’ hospital in Philadelphia, his aim was more than a little off. Most of the seeds, 40 in all, landed in the patient’s healthy bladder, not the prostate. It was a serious mistake, and under federal rules, regulators investigated. But Dr. Kao, with their consent, made his mistake all but disappear. He simply rewrote his surgical plan to match the number of seeds in the prostate, investigators...

Learning you have prostate cancer is bad enough, but then to be told that your condition is inoperable can be devastating. That’s where Rodger Nelson found himself. He and his wife Carol were wintering in California. Doctors there made the diagnosis, but it wasn’t until he decided to return home to Minnesota for treatment that he was told an experimental therapy was his best option. “I arrived Tuesday and was told my surgery was scheduled for Friday,” says Nelson. “But when the final test came back late on Thursday, I was told the surgery was cancelled.” MRIs had shown the...

According to results of a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, men with prostate cancer who consumed the active compounds in green tea demonstrated a significant reduction in serum markers predictive of prostate cancer progression. Green tea is the second most popular drink in the world, and some epidemiological studies have shown health benefits with green tea, including a reduced incidence of prostate cancer, according to Cardelli. However, some human trials have found contradictory results. The few trials conducted to date have evaluated the clinical efficacy of green tea consumption and few studies have evaluated the change in biomarkers, which...