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Prosecutor urges 4-year sentence for faulty breast implants

Agence France-PresseMay 15, 2013 01:00
A French prosecutor on Tuesday called for the founder of a firm whose faulty breast implants sparked a global health scare to be given a four-year prison sentence on fraud charges. In closing arguments at the trial in Marseille, prosecutor Jacques Dallest also called for PIP founder Jean-Claude Mas to pay a 100,000 euro ($130,000) fine and to be banned from working in medical services or from running a company. The defence is to present its closing arguments from Wednesday to Friday, after a month-long trial that was among the biggest ever held in France.

Angelina Jolie has double mastectomy due to cancer fears

May 14, 2013 18:45
(Reuters) - Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie said on Tuesday that she had undergone a preventive double mastectomy after finding out she had a gene mutation that leads to a sharply higher risk of both breast and ovarian cancer. Jolie, writing in the New York Times, said her mother's death from cancer at 56 and the discovery that she carried the BRCA1 gene mutation led to her decision out of fears she might not be around for her six children.

Salt in foods is still high: US study

Agence France-PresseMay 14, 2013 17:16
The amount of salt in foods that are processed or sold at fast food restaurants is still high despite calls by medical experts for people to cut sodium for better health, a US study said Monday. Americans on average eat more than twice the recommended daily allowance of salt, and as much as 80 percent of sodium consumption comes from salt that is added by restaurants or in the making of convenience foods, experts say.

FDA OKs Roche genetic test to screen for lung cancer patients who respond to Genentech drug

The Canadian PressMay 14, 2013 16:45
WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration says it approved a genetic test from Roche to help doctors identify patients who can benefit from a lung cancer drug made by Genentech. The diagnostic test is the first approved to detect genetic mutations found in roughly 10 per cent of patients with the most prevalent form of lung cancer, known as non-small cell lung cancer.

Women hail 'brave' Jolie's mastectomy revelation

Agence France-PresseMay 14, 2013 16:00
Health activists, doctors and movie fans hailed glamorous Hollywood megastar Angelina Jolie on Tuesday for her decision to reveal that she had had her breasts removed to reduce her cancer risk. The 37-year-old actress underwent a double mastectomy to minimize the risk that she might develop breast cancer as a result of inheriting a "faulty gene," and chose to publicize her surgery as an example to other women and mothers.

Restaurant meals pack calorie punch: studies

Agence France-PresseMay 14, 2013 14:47
A single meal at a North American restaurant may contain more than half the calories the average person needs for the whole day, according to research published Monday in a leading US medical journal. Researchers from the University of Toronto sampled hundreds of meals at 19 chain sit-down restaurants and found that average breakfast, lunch and dinner meals contained 1,128 calories, or 56 percent of the daily 2,000 calorie recommendation.

Jolie opts for double mastectomy in face of high cancer risk

Agencia EFEMay 14, 2013 14:45
International Desk, May 14 (EFE).- Actress and director Angelina Jolie underwent a double mastectomy after learning that her genes gave her an 87 percent chance of developing breast cancer. "My mother fought cancer for almost a decade and died at 56. She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms. But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was," Jolie wrote in an op-ed published Tuesday in The New York Times.

What are the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes? Primer on genetic mutations linked to cancers

The Canadian PressMay 14, 2013 14:04
TORONTO - Angelina Jolie's bombshell revelation of her double mastectomy due to a genetic cancer risk has brought renewed attention to specific genes linked to the development of both breast and ovarian cancers. The Oscar-winning actress revealed in an op-ed piece in the New York Times that she carries the "faulty" BRCA1 gene and opted to remove her breasts as a preventive measure. BRCA1 stands for breast cancer susceptibility gene 1. Both BRCA1 and BRCA2 are genes known as tumour suppressors, which normally prevent cancer from developing.

Study finds one kind of mammogram less effective at detecting breast cancer

The Canadian PressMay 14, 2013 12:27
TORONTO - A study looking at technology used for mammography has found that one type is less effective at detecting breast cancer than others. The Cancer Care Ontario study found digital direct radiography and screen film mammograms are better than digital computed radiography mammograms at uncovering breast tumours. The research concluded that computed radiography, or CR, is 21 per cent less effective at detecting breast cancer than digital radiography, or DR.

Surgery can dramatically reduce genetic cancer risk

Agence France-PresseMay 14, 2013 12:03
Women whose genes put them at a high risk of contracting breast cancer can dramatically reduce the danger by having a double mastectomy -- but not eliminate it altogether, experts say. The issue has been thrown into the spotlight with Hollywood star Angelina Jolie's announcement that she had her breasts surgically removed after tests revealed she carried a genetic mutation that can lead to cancer. Rocker Ozzy Osbourne's wife, Sharon, did the same last year.
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