Deaths from womb cancer (cancer of the uterus) in the UK have gone up by nearly 20% in the last ten years. The trend follows a steep rise in the number of women diagnosed with cancer of the uterus, and is accompanied by improvements in survival rates, according to new figures from Cancer Research UK released on Thursday.

Since the late 1990s, deaths from womb cancer have gone up from 3.1 per 100,000 to 3.7 per 100,000 women in the UK.

The disease now claims around 1,900 lives in the UK every year, compared to fewer than 1,500 back then.

These figures follow a sharp rise in the incidence of womb cancer. In the mid 1990s, 13.7 per 100,000 women received a diagnosis of this disease, compared to 19.6 some ten years later, a rise of 43%.

Before this period, incidence of womb cancer in the UK had been constant, and deaths had been falling.

There is some good news in the new figures: survival rates continue to improve. 77% of women now survive the disease for at least five years.

However, despite the fact survival is higher than before, because of the growth in numbers of women developing the disease, more are dying from it than before.

Many experts believe obesity is a big factor in the increase in womb cancer rates: research suggests that obesity doubles the risk of developing the disease.

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Hospitals may not be the place to go if you are trying to avoid getting sick.

Israeli researchers have reportedly found that hospital attire do harbor some very nasty organisms. Results of the study were published recently in the American Journal of Infection Control and reported by msnbc.com health writer JoNel Aleccia.

Researchers collected samples from sleeves, waists and pockets of hospital garbs worn by 75 registered nurses and 60 doctors at a busy university-based hospital.

According to the msnbc.com report, more than 60 percent of the tested uniforms carried some potentially dangerous organisms, including germs that could cause pneumonia, and bloodstream and other infections, including those that were drug-resistant.

The researchers, led by Dr. Yonit Wiener-Well of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, said the data suggested that personnel attire could be one route by which microbes were transmitted to patients.

The results of the study, Aleccia said, renewed concerns about the potential of hospital garb spreading infections, especially when health workers wear them in public.

The findings remind me of an American newspaper columnist’s story about her brother catching a fatal infection while in the hospital. She asked a doctor how he could get infected in the very place that was supposed to heal him.

The doctor demonstrated how easily disease-causing organisms could “hitch a ride” in his tie if it got into contact with a patient who might have a contagious disease. Germs from that one patient could be transmitted through the doctor’s tie to another of his patients.

In the Philippines, there’s this alleged botched surgery on a very distinguished personality whose cataract removal resulted in an infection so severe that she lost the use of one eye—the result of very lax regulations in the operating room at one of the country’s most expensive hospitals. People were said to be coming in and out of the OR without changing into the sterile gowns and footwear required, and without wearing surgical masks.

Ties, shirts and jewelry

Even before the Israeli study, many hospitals have already started taking steps to minimize the possibility of medical uniforms inadvertently spreading diseases. Many hospitals now discourage doctors from wearing ties and long-sleeved shirts when attending to patients.

Even the white jackets, as well as the white nurses’ caps, are no longer worn as often as before.

Aleccia added that previous studies in Britain and the United States suggested that not just hospital-worker attire but also jewelry could harbor bacteria that might be passed on to patients.

But other infection experts, he said, stressed that some contamination sources were far more worrisome than clothing or accessories. Aleccia quoted Russell N. Olmsted, president of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, as saying there was more concern about other surfaces around patients.

Experts said the germs on the uniforms likely reflected poor hand-washing practices, Aleccia wrote. They said hand-washing was an intractable problem at most hospitals. Studies estimated that between one-third and one-half of health workers failed to follow good hand hygiene.

Where does stress come from?

You probably know about the “fight or flight” response–that’s the adrenalin kick we get when we’re either very excited or in mortal danger and must mobilize our mental and physical resources to defend ourselves.

But what happens when the danger is “merely” looming, and not immediate? There’s nothing to fight and nowhere to run. This, in biological terms, is what is meant by stress. And in order to cope with prolonged threat or privation, the body begins to shut down some systems in order to conserve its resources.

College students, for example, tend to start their new semesters, with a rush of excitement, in anticipation of the joys and terrors just ahead–both kinds of excitement come with that animating surge of adrenalin. The feeling of being “stressed out” generally starts sometime after the first week, when the adrenalin wears off but the exciting opportunities and daunting demands remain. But now, without the adrenalin surge, where is the energy to take all that work and play on? The body can’t continue to pump out adrenalin, so it shifts into conservation mode, which leaves one feeling stressed–under siege by social and academic demands but lacking the resources to cope.

This feeling of high stress may begin to subside if mid-term exams and social activities go well, because by then the student has acquired some evidence that he or she can cope with the demands of school.

Two strategies for handling stress

No one likes to feel stressed, but perhaps there’s another way to look at this problem. The key word in the first paragraph above was “avoid.” Stress, it’s important to realize, isn’t always something to avoid.

Stress can mean 1 of 2 things. The first thing a prolonged sense of stress can mean is that one is genuinely overwhelmed. But feeling overwhelmed is not a reason to avoid the stressor; on the contrary, this distressing feeling is a sign that the life circumstances causing the stress must be dealt with. How? Either by eliminating those conditions altogether, or by reducing their effect on you. You might be able to alleviate the effects somewhat by better balancing work and play, or by increasing your exercise or meditation times, or by talking with friends or a counselor.

The second thing stress can mean is that you have come up against a challenge that you need to overcome. Soldiers walk bravely into high-stress situations when they go to boot camp or to war; young doctors in some specialties compete for the honor of entering the most stressful internships. Students challenge themselves by juggling a heavy course load and an active social life. Why? Because stress is also a sign that one is being presented with an opportunity for growth. To feel stressed–and yet to win the struggle against the forces that caused it–is to gain mastery and maturity and confidence.

Ingredients:
3 small boxes instant vanilla pudding mix
5 cups cold milk
12 ozs. whipped topping (Cool Whip)
1 cup sour cream
1 large box vanilla wafers
5 to 6 large bananas
Preparation:

Follow package directions for pudding, using the 5 cups of milk. Fold in half of the whipped topping and all of the sour cream. In large bowl, layer wafers, bananas, pudding mixture. Top with remaining whipped topping. Refrigerate.

Lemongrass is an herb with a plethora of uses medicinally, from being a stomach soother to being an effective insect repellant and fungicide.  A limited study done at the University of Wisconsin revealed that some people taking prepared Lemongrass capsules (140 mg) daily for three months experienced a significant reduction in cholesterol levels, and that their cholesterol levels returned to their previous highs when they stopped taking the preparation. Obviously, this indicates that Lemongrass may help reduce cholesterol in certain individuals.

Make a Tea and drink 1-4 cups per day to relieve congestion, coughing, bladder disorders, headaches, fever, stomach aches, digestive problems, diarrhea, gas, bowel spasms, vomiting, flu symptoms, as a mild sedative, and to promote perspiration – and as a possible cholesterol lowering agent.  Rather than discarding the tea bags, use them externally for the problems described below.  An Oil can also be made, 3-6 drops of which can be put on a sugar cube for the same purposes as above. The leaves can also be dried and made into a powder for use in Capsules.  Please see the link below for more details.

Externally, an Oil can be made with Lemongrass to be applied at 10 drops or so directly to the affected area in cases of  athlete’s foot, cuts, scrapes, lower back pain, sciatica, sprains, tendonitis, neuralgia, circulatory problems, and rheumatism.  It can also be tried on the face to help clear up acne and clean skin pores, and the fresh leaves can be crushed and rubbed on the skin as an on-the-spot outdoor insect repellent.

Use Lemongrass in the bath for a soothing aromatherapy experience by placing a mesh bag with a handful of leaves under the running bath water, then letting the bag soak in the water with you as you bathe.  Very relaxing.

Lemongrass is safe for use in moderation, but should be avoided by young children, pregnant women, and people with kidney or liver disease.