Guest post featuring Jacques L. Moritz, MD, Director of the Division of Gynecology at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai Roosevelt
Ovarian cancer is one of the deadliest gynecological cancers. It is difficult to diagnose because there are currently no self-tests or routine screenings. (more…)
Guest post featuring Franklin C. Lowe, MD, MPH , Associate Director, Department of Urology, Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai Roosevelt
There are changes and challenges that come with getting older. Some may be hard to detect but can affect your quality of life. As men move through middle age, it becomes more likely their prostates will grow and could cause problems related to urination. According to Dr. Franklin C. Lowe , a urologist and the Associate Director of the Department of Urology at St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals, prostate-related problems can range from annoying to debilitating. (more…)
Guest post featuring Caner Z. Dinlec, MD Physician-in-Charge, Division of Endourology and Stone Disease at Mount Sinai Beth Israel
Howard has always taken great care of himself. The 60-year-old is active, doesn’t smoke, eats a healthy diet and is diligent about seeing his doctor for annual wellness exams — through which his PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels have been tested for years. About five years ago, Howard’s PSA levels started increasing. It wasn’t long before Howard’s PSA levels exceeded the 4 mg/mL mark, which is when levels are considered abnormal or high. (more…)
Did you know that eating a plant-based diet filled with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and other plant foods can help lower your risk for many cancers? In addition to cancer-fighting minerals and vitamins, plant foods contain thousands of beneficial natural chemicals called phytonutrients.
Phytonutrients (also referred to as phytochemicals) serve various functions in plants, helping to protect the plant’s vitality. For example, some phytonutrients protect the plant from UV radiation while others protect it from insect attack. Not only do phytonutrients award benefit to plants, but they also provide benefits to people who enjoy plant foods. That’s because of their health-boosting properties, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and liver-health-promoting activities. (more…)
Cervical cancer screening is probably the most successful cancer-screening program ever developed. One hundred years ago, cancer of the cervix was the leading cause of cancer for women in this country. Now it is not even in the top 10. This is largely because of the Pap smear, which was introduced in the 1950s.
Cervical cancer lends itself to a screening test, as the cervix can be directly visualized with simple equipment and its cells can be directly sampled with a relatively painless and risk-free procedure. In addition, cervical cancer is caused by the human Papilloma virus (HPV), which causes changes in the cervical cells that can be detected almost a decade before the onset of cancer. (more…)
Pulmonary embolism is a common and dangerous condition that occurs when blood clots (deep venous thrombosis, or, DVT) break loose and travel from where the clots formed—mostly the leg veins (or, uncommonly, veins elsewhere)—to the pulmonary arteries, which conduct blood from the heart to the lungs. Sometimes these clots are small and may not cause clinical symptoms, because the surface area of the lungs, when opened out, would cover the surface of two tennis courts! However, occasionally, a pulmonary embolism can be massive and rapidly fatal. (more…)