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 ...
- 5,784
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 (...
- 6,982
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 (...
- 6,887
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
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 ...
- 15.8k
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 ...
- 9,422
8
votes
How does the rare cancer mucinous carcinoma respond to radiotherapy?
A retrospective cohort study by Mo et al published in 2022 concluded the following:
Among women with T1-2N0M0 (tumor size ≤ 3 cm) pure mucinous breast cancer, the addition of radiotherapy after ...
- 3,273
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
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 ...
- 283
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 ...
- 6,982
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 ...
- 3,188
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 ...
- 3,188
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
...
- 1,630
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 ...
- 1,848
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 (...
- 3,849
6
votes
Occasional medical tests and imageries
Great answer above. This is to add on to it:
Making a decision on whether to recommend screening tests for the entire population is different from deciding whether to screen an individual patient. ...
- 5,784
6
votes
Accepted
Is a hyperventilation+hypoventilation breathing exercise (Wim Hof Method) more likely to prevent or promote cancer?
Apart from monks and nuns who showcase impressive abilities Wim Hof is onto something. One anecdote reads as follows:
I’ve also experienced the positive changes myself, […] My cardiovascular and ...
- 6,887
6
votes
What study materials can a layperson use to gain a deeper understanding of lung cancer?
Cancer can be one of the most complicated concepts in medicine, not only because of the pathophysiology of cancer, but the complicated statistics involved in the epidemiology of the diseases and ...
- 5,784
6
votes
Accepted
Isn't "epithelial carcinoma" a tautological term? Are there non-epithelial carcinomas?
You are correct that carcinoma refers to types of cancer arising from epithelial tissue.
Definition of carcinoma: Cancer that begins in the skin or in
tissues that line or cover body organs.
...
- 3,273
6
votes
Why is there is no screening for Ovarian Cancer?
It's interesting that you picked this one specific example, because it happens to have been studied by Gigerenzer, a prominent expert on risk perception. It also showcases that one shouldn't insist ...
- 2,791
6
votes
Can N95 face masks filter out benzopyrene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or formaldehyde?
TL;DR - The specific answer is "NO, N95 masks cannot reliably protect one from the questioned chemicals/compounds". But there's so much more to consider...
This supplemental answer is more ...
- 116
6
votes
How does the rare cancer mucinous carcinoma respond to radiotherapy?
In addition to Chris's answer. I see the following article in Pubmed:
Di Saverio S, Gutierrez J, Avisar E. A retrospective review with long term follow up of 11,400 cases of pure mucinous breast ...
- 3,101
5
votes
Is hemp oil the same as CBD oil?
Official source of information
http://www.thehia.org/Resources/PressReleases/HIA-position-CBD-FINAL.pdf
Hemp seed oil does not contain any significant quantity of CBD. Hemp fiber and seed ...
- 331
5
votes
Accepted
Accelerated tumor growth after stopping prednisolone?
I am not a veterinary so I can't answer your question in particular. Though, maybe following points on the mechanisms of action of prednisolone might perhaps bring some clarifications:
Prednisolone ...
- 3,194
5
votes
Accepted
How do you filter out Benzene?
VOCs are one of the most prevalent indoor air pollutants. They are released by many common materials, from foams to carpets to paints. House air circulation is not very conducive to adequate ...
- 5,784
5
votes
Why are airplane pilots more likely to have skin cancer?
A recent study confirmed the increased risk of airline pilots of a certain type of skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma or "BCC").
Incidence of cancer among licenced commercial pilots flying North ...
- 81
5
votes
Accepted
Can ear cancer occur?
Yes, there is ear cancer, both middle / inner ear and outer ear. See Cancer of the ear. Most of these are types of skin cancer.
The most common type of cancer of the ear is squamous cell carcinomas....
- 259
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible