Chest and cancer doctors are calling for lung cancer screening in older people with a history of smoking a pack or more a day. But at the same time they also highlight the potential harms of screening, including a high risk of false-positive tests.
Disco legend Donna Summer died at the age of 63, reportedly of lung cancer.
Smoking increases the risk of oral cancer (OC) up to five times and alcohol can elevate the risk by nine times, according to the South African Dental Association (SADA).
'Solidarity for Survival' is an exhibition that shows the difficult living conditions that African foreign nationals who have come to seek refuge in South Africa endure. It is currently showing at Constitution Hill, in Johannesburg. Many of the difficulties these migrants face include the lack of access to health care.
Fish-lovers may have a lower risk of colon and rectal cancers, according to a meta-analysis recently published in the American Journal of Medicine.
Thirty minutes of exposure to low levels of second-hand smoke can cause significant damage to the lining of blood vessels in non-smokers. This is according to recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
In September last year Karin Collins went to the doctor complaining of pain in her ear and throat. The doctor examined her, found nothing wrong, charged her a consultation fee, and sent her home with some pills. But the pain got worse and Karin returned to the doctor twice just to be told there was nothing wrong with her throat, but there might rather be something wrong with her 'head' ' the doctor diagnosed a mental disorder, prescribed anti-depressants and admitted her to hospital as a psychiatric patient.
South African cancer NGOs have joined forces to address shortcomings in the quality of and access to cancer care in South Africa.
Cancer services in Gauteng are facing an emergency with regular reports of broken equipment, drug stock outs, long waiting lists for treatment and delayed diagnosis.
Parents are unaware of the amount of smoke their children are exposed to.
Women have a 30% better chance of surviving the skin cancer melanoma than men, new research published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggests.
Women who smoke during pregnancy may increase their children's risk of high-functioning autism, according to a new study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Antiretroviral therapy reduces the incidence of pre-cancerous cervical lesions in HIV-positive women, South African investigators reported in the online edition of AIDS. Their study also showed that HIV therapy was associated with a regression of pre-existing lesions.
OPINION: Lifesaving drugs under disputed patents could become more easily available in future depending on the outcome of a case before the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein on Tuesday.
HIV activists and health workers are demanding an enquiry into continuing drug shortages, specifically a number of critical antiretrovirals that are central to government's treatment programme.
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