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Monday, December 13, 2010

Finger's tell-tale on men's prostate cancer

Would you believe it now? This is quite a breakthrough - why your index finger can tell you a lot about your getting prostate cancer.

How about that?
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Finger length predicts prostate cancer risk

PARIS - Men whose index fingers are longer than their ring, or fourth, fingers run a significantly lower risk of prostate cancer, according to a study published Wednesday in the British Journal of Cancer.

The chances of developing the disease drop by a third, and even more in younger men, the study found.

"Our results show that relative finger length could be used as a simple test for prostate cancer risk, particularly in men aged under 60," said Ros Eeles, a professor at the Institute of Cancer Research in Britain and co-author of the study.

Finger pattern could help identify which men should undergo regular screening, especially in combination with genetic testing or other risk factors such as a family history of the disease, she said.

From 1994 to 2009, Eeles and colleagues questioned more than 1,500 prostate cancer patients in Britain, along with 3,000 healthy control cases.

For more than half the men, the index was shorter than the ring finger. Compared to this group, men whose index and ring fingers were the same length -- 19 per cent of the cohort -- had a similar prostate cancer risk.

But when the index finger was longer, the risk of developing the disease dropped by 33 per cent.

Men under 60 were 87 per cent less likely to be in the cancer group.

The relative length of the two fingers in question -- set before birth -- appears to be a marker of different levels of sex hormones to which a baby is exposed in the womb, with less testosterone correlating with a longer index finger.

Earlier research has shown that testosterone promotes the growth of prostate cancer.

Underlying the unexpected connection between digits and cancer are two genes, HOXA and HOXD, that control both finger length and the development of sex organs.

Other studies have found a link between exposure to hormones before birth and the development of other diseases, including breast cancer and osteoarthritis.

- AFP/rl


Taken from ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:
Finger length predicts prostate cancer risk


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Thursday, December 2, 2010

We have moved!

Moving House (Usborne First Experiences)The Moving Survival Guide: All You Need to Know to Make Your Move Go SmoothlyThe Berenstain Bears' Moving Day (First Time Books(R))Moving Men 1545-12 8-Piece Furniture Slider SetWe're Moving (First-Time Stories)We have moved!

The renovation is not 100% done yet, but they are finishing touches only.

I was on leave from work for 3 days to do the unboxing and arranging and rearranging. That is usually the rigorous part of it. I'd usually go with the movers when they move the boxes and furnitures here and there, but for the 2nd batch, I stole away from them. I had to be in the flat for the houseworks!

Before the boxes came, we had to do a quick tidying up of the place. The usually debris and fine dust from the sawing and cutting and all others is quite a health hazard, so we did that before anything can be laid down on the floor. We did that on a Saturday night, and then concluded the neatening work on Sunday. So Monday morning was a clean day to unload and uncrate. it is not exactly a shining clean flat, but one that is now ready for transferring the whole motherload of things we brought from the other flat.

And today I'm back to work. 2 days, and I'd be again out for a weekend escapade with the whole family. It's been planned so long ago, last year actually, when we attempted, but was unsuccessful due to full booking on the rooms and all. So we thought of having it this year, and the booking was early, earlier than most folks would do, just to make sure we have slot available.

So, till then. We're next to the top, so I'll be snapping up some scenes, and be the judge whether or not they are nice pictures.

Au revoir!

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