34
votes
Accepted
Is there any health risk in cellular phones?
The IARC has concluded that cell phones are a "possible carcinogen" due to the amount of evidence going both directions.
The gist of it is summarised on the website itself:
Cell phones emit ...
- 458
18
votes
Accepted
Can N95 face masks filter out benzopyrene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or formaldehyde?
No.
No, no, no.
Covid face masks help prevent contagious disease. They are not meant for anything else. Period. End of public health announcement.
To be clear, N95 facemasks are particulate ...
- 196
15
votes
Accepted
Why is there is no screening for Ovarian Cancer?
Screening tests are done across the population of asymptomatic people at risk of a disease (e.g. mammogram to look for breast cancer in all women with breasts) to try to catch disease early in its ...
- 5,704
14
votes
Accepted
Does the usage of sunscreen cause skin cancer?
The potential health risks of sunscreen include:
The absence of UVA filters combined with a longer exposure time of the sunscreen user1995, 2005, 2007, 2007.
Suppression of the skin's production of ...
- 4,695
14
votes
Why tell cancer patients not to seek information on the internet?
Telling people not to look information up themselves is indeed very strange. Especially a recently diagnosed patient has lots of questions and won't be able to ask all of them at their appointments (...
- 7,001
12
votes
CT scans and cancer risk
Every procedure has to be weighed for potential costs and benefits. Cancer is a risk already present and might shorten a life, CT scans on the other hand are done to prolong a life.
The exact risks (...
- 6,827
11
votes
Accepted
Is moderate alcohol consumption beneficial for maximizing life expectancy?
Another answer did a great job laying out some of the difficulties plaguing research on this topic. Observational data in the area are (hopelessly?) confounded. I would like to point out two ...
- 4,355
11
votes
Accepted
Safety of using a luggage with the prop. 65 warning
A California Proposition 65 warning doesn't really tell you anything about the safety of the luggage.
Proposition 65 requires warnings if somebody may be exposed to a substance that has a 1 in 100,...
- 2,002
11
votes
Is there any health risk in cellular phones?
Exposure to ionizing radiation, such as from x-rays, is known to increase the risk of cancer. However, although many studies have examined the potential health effects of non-ionizing radiation from ...
- 139
9
votes
Does the usage of sunscreen cause skin cancer?
Wearing sunscreen while out in the sun cuts your risk of skin cancer.
As others have pointed out, there are some potential risks associated with wearing sun screen. However, if you are out in the sun, ...
- 504
9
votes
Is a hyperventilation+hypoventilation breathing exercise (Wim Hof Method) more likely to prevent or promote cancer?
Hyperventilation can lead to reduced oxygen transport to cells. As a result, ineffective breathing patterns can cause cell and tissue hypoxia, chronic inflammation, immunosuppression, and many other ...
- 958
9
votes
Is Cow Milk unhealthy?
In short: According to several recent systematic reviews of studies, milk consumption is not associated with significant side effects, increased mortality, cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease or ...
- 15.7k
8
votes
Accepted
How to detect cancer in general?
Thus far, more than 20 different tumor markers have been characterized and are in clinical use... There is no “universal” tumor marker that can detect any type of cancer.
[L]imitations to the use of ...
- 492
8
votes
Accepted
Is hydrogen peroxide therapy (drinking it) safe?
Ingestion of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), especially very high strength H2O2, can be very dangerous and can cause some serious health risks and possibly even death.
A United States Food and Drug ...
- 7,738
8
votes
Why tell cancer patients not to seek information on the internet?
I agree with @YviDe. There are other possible reasons not mentioned, however.
On the internet, which is not tailored to individuals, there is no way to tell which category of a particular illness you ...
- 8,852
7
votes
Safety of using a luggage with the prop. 65 warning
I think the currently accepted answer is incorrect on a number of points. The official California Proposition 65 (aka OEHHA) site FAQ, has more accurate information. There is also another FAQ from the ...
- 229
7
votes
What are the health benefits and risks of ingesting Aloe vera?
What is Aloe vera?
Aloe vera is the common name of one particular species of the genus Aloe (member of the Xanthorrhoeaceae family). There are over 420 different plant species and the most commonly ...
- 4,695
7
votes
Accepted
What does "prognostic significance" mean exactly?
Although it would be helpful if we knew what sort of pathology report this was, I surmise that it is likely describing analysis of a biopsy or surgically removed tissue specimen from a breast cancer.
...
- 4,355
7
votes
Accepted
Lifetime cancer risk for people with healthy lifestyle
First of all, your numbers are good, but they depend on when one was born, and are higher for younger people:
The lifetime risk of cancer increased from 38.5% for men born in 1930 to 53.5% for men ...
- 7,001
7
votes
Accepted
How is hereditary cancer risk estimated?
There are really two distinct questions here, but they are common.
Is cancer heritable?
Is cancer (or cancer risk) contagious?
tl;dr
Most cancer cases are not heritable. Some are. Heritable cases ...
- 3,178
7
votes
Accepted
The Ethics of extra treatment
You're describing an unexpected intra-operative finding. The possibility of unexpected findings (and their treatment) is usually discussed during the consent for the original procedure. Of course, in ...
- 3,178
7
votes
Accepted
Meaning of "Chest wall, Sp, Ps" in a description of tumor recurrence locations
Mr. Hiroyasu Yamashiro wrote an anwer:
Thank you for your question about the paper.
The meaning of the abbreviations you ask is as follows.
Thank you.
Sp - Supraclavicular lymph nodes
...
- 1,640
6
votes
Accepted
Can someone explain these cancer names?
The causal sequence indicated here doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Having signed many death certificates, I can sympathize with the doctor who signed off on it. Generally, these have to be typed up ...
- 4,355
6
votes
Does the usage of sunscreen cause skin cancer?
Your question sounds like it generalizes about all sunscreen products. But not all sunscreen products are created equal.
I understand your concern because according to this report from the National ...
- 501
6
votes
Accepted
Does oral consumption of animal cancer cells increase your chance of getting cancer?
For any reasonable risk, the answer is no. Virtually all tumors are non-transmissible under normal (non-laboratory) circumstances (three exceptions, discussed below, none in humans), so you could not ...
- 273
6
votes
Is eating all natural food and avoiding any kind of proccess food / fertilized (fruit/veg) helps cure cancer?
The problem with these diets is not only do they not treat the cancer, but the false hope they offer prevents people (in this case, a woman with breast cancer) from receiving treatment that does ...
- 8,852
6
votes
Accepted
Does being underweight have an influence on cancer risk?
It's unclear, but it's generally terrible for your survival odds.
The American Institute for Cancer Research states quite bluntly that
While underweight men and women have higher overall mortality ...
- 1,838
6
votes
Real dangers of CT Scan made only once at age of 31
CT brain at 31, what's the risk?
Short answer: Very little, compared to overall cancer risk*
Longer answer:
Your girlfriend is concerned about increased risk of brain malignancy due to having a CT at ...
- 701
6
votes
Occasional medical tests and imageries
Screening tests such as "blood tests and imaging" have two costs and one benefit:
the cost (dollars and possible health problems) of the actual screening, which can in some cases be free
the cost (...
- 3,770
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible