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2012-01-02T03:45:00.000-08:00

What is male breast cancer?

Men possess a small amount of nonfunctioning breast tissue (breast tissue that cannot produce milk) that is concentrated in the area directly behind the nipple on the chest wall. Like breast cancer in women, cancer of the male breast is the uncontrolled growth of the abnormal cells of this breast tissue.
Breast tissue in both young boys and girls consists of tubular structures known as ducts. At puberty, a girl's ovaries produce female hormones (estrogen) that cause the ducts to grow and milk glands (lobules) to develop at the ends of the ducts. The amount of fat and connective tissue in the breast also increases as girls reach puberty. On the other hand, male hormones (such as testosterone) secreted by the testes suppress the growth of breast tissue and the development of lobules. The male breast, therefore, is made up of predominantly small, undeveloped ducts and a small amount of fat and connective tissue.

How common is male breast cancer?

Male breast cancer is a rare condition, accounting for only about 1% of all breast cancers. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2010, about 1,970 new cases of breast cancer in men would be diagnosed and that breast cancer would cause approximately 390 deaths in men (in comparison, almost 40,000 women die of breast cancer each year). Breast cancer is 100 times more common in women than in men. Most cases of male breast cancer are detected in men between the ages of 60 and 70, although the condition can develop in men of any age. A man's lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is about 1/10 of 1%, or one in 1,000.

What are causes and risk factors of male breast cancer?

As with cancer of the female breast, the cause of cancer of the male breast has not been fully characterized, but both environmental influences and genetic (inherited) factors likely play a role in its development. The following risk factors for the development of male breast cancer have been identified.
Radiation exposure
Exposure to ionizing radiation has been associated with an increased risk of developing male breast cancer. Men who have previously undergone radiation therapy to treat malignancies in the chest area (for example, Hodgkin's lymphoma) have an increased risk for the development of breast cancer.
Hyperestrogenism (high levels of estrogen)
Men normally produce small amounts of the female hormone estrogen, but certain conditions result in abnormally high levels of estrogen in men. The term gynecomastia refers to the condition in which the male breasts become abnormally enlarged in response to elevated levels of estrogen. High levels of estrogens also can increase the risk for development of male breast cancer. The majority of breast cancers in men are estrogen receptor-positive (meaning that they grow in response to stimulation with estrogen). Two conditions in which men have abnormally high levels of estrogen that are commonly associated with breast enlargement are Klinefelter's syndrome and cirrhosis of the liver. Obesity is also associated with elevated estrogen levels and breast enlargement in men.
Klinefelter's syndrome is an inherited condition affecting about one in 1,000 men. A normal man has two sex chromosomes (X and Y). He inherited the female X chromosome from his mother and the male Y chromosome from his father. Men with Klinefelter's syndrome have inherited an extra female X chromosome, resulting in an abnormal sex chromosome makeup of XXY rather than the normal male XY. Affected Klinefelter's patients produce high levels of estrogen and develop enlarged breasts, sparse facial and body hair, small testes, and the inability to produce sperm. Some studies have shown an increase in the risk of developing breast cancer in men with this condition. Their risk for development of breast cancer is markedly increased, up to 50 times that of normal men.
Cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver can result from chronic alcohol abuse, chronic viral hepatitis, or rare genetic conditions that result in accumulation of toxic substances within the liver. The liver produces important binding proteins that affect the transport and delivery of male and female hormones via the bloodstream. With cirrhosis, liver function is compromised, and the levels of male and female hormones in the bloodstream are altered. Men with cirrhosis of the liver have higher blood levels of estrogen and have an increased risk of developing breast cancer.
Familial predisposition
Epidemiologic studies have shown that men who have several female relatives with breast cancer also have an increased risk for development of the disease. In particular, men who have inherited mutations in the breast cancer-associated BRCA-2 gene have a dramatically increased (about eightyfold) risk for developing breast cancer, with a lifetime risk of about 5%-10% for development of breast cancer. BRCA-2 is a gene on chromosome 13 that normally functions in suppression of cell growth. Mutations in this gene lead to an increased risk for development of breast, ovarian, and prostate cancers. About 15% of breast cancers in men are thought to be attributable to BRCA-2 mutation. The role of the BRCA-1 gene, which has been associated with inherited breast cancers in women, is not as clearly defined for male breast cancers.
Finasteride use
Finasteride (Propecia, Proscar), a drug that has been used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia and to prevent prostate cancer, may be associated with an increased risk for male breast cancer. During clinical trials for the drug, no increased risk was shown. However, over 50 cases of male breast cancer have been reported worldwide in men taking the drug. Further studies are needed to clarify whether a causal relationship between the drug and the disease actually exists.

Improves English

2011-12-29T00:36:00.000-08:00

As someone who speaks very fluent English and even teaches on occasions I have developed a few strategies that are ideal for getting a better grasp on the English language without even really trying. Most students don’t enjoy reading masses and masses of textbooks on the subject but they do enjoy other areas of reading and that is what I try to incorporate into my teachings…
Tip #1
Read, read and read. It doesn’t have to be anything boring, just read about what you’re interested in. If you like soccer, then read about soccer. If you like music, then read about music. If you like poetry, then read a few poems.
Even if you just do this for ten minutes a day whilst you enjoy your morning coffee you will notice a vast improvement. Reading anything that is professionally written in English will allow you to have a much greater understanding of the language and best of all – you will hardly even notice your learning!
Tip #2
Write, write and write. It is all very well and good being able to speak the language but if you can’t write as well as you speak then you’re not advancing enough as you should be.
It will be difficult at first to write anything fluently but again, practice makes perfect. By the time you have written several letters, articles, poems (whatever it is that you enjoy) you will start to get a real feel for the language that will obviously help develop your written English but also your speaking too.
Tip #3
Speak, speak and speak. Don’t just sit in silence trying to improve your English. Start discussing subjects you enjoy with others who are trying to accomplish the same goal or even better speak to an English person if you are confident enough. If you feel you confident enough to do this it will help massively.
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, people won’t mind and you will learn from these mistakes.
Bonus Tip
READ the dictionary. You should take this with you everywhere so that every time you hear a word that you don’t understand you can quickly see what it means in your dictionary. Chances are, if you look it up you won’t forget it and you may start to understand similar words without having to check.

15 Tips to Make Today the Day You Finish Your To-Do List

2011-12-29T00:10:00.000-08:00

You’ve seen it before. Every checkmark only leaves two more unfinished tasks. Your to-do list has become an living organism, spawning more and more work while leaving you less and less time to finish. Is it possible to stop your to-do list, or will it just become an unstoppable blob of extra work?

Your best weapon against the rising tide of to-do is dedicating a day to destroying that list. Instead of wandering around, attacking various projects before putting them down, you go for the kill. Set up a massive to-do list and wipe it clean.
Few things are more satisfying than after a day of ending your to-do list. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Clear your schedule. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish if you give yourself a large chunk of time. A to-do ending day can’t be filled with all the regular errands of your life. The entire day needs to be focused on killing that list, so pick a day where you can have complete control over your time.
Wake up early. Building momentum is critical. Even if waking up at 5 am isn’t a usual event for you, it can be helpful here. Which do you think will give you the right start: dragging yourself out of bed at ten o’clock, or forcing yourself to start moving at six?
Collect your to-do list. If you have tasks and projects scattered over different parts of your life, you need to collect them into one list. One list detailing everything you want to have accomplished, on one piece of paper you can hold in front of you.
Know the end. What does being finished look like? Every task should have a clear goal and purpose beyond just getting done. You can spend an entire day attacking your to-do list and accomplishing nothing if you aren’t clear on the final picture.
Put hard tasks first. Pick your biggest and most difficult tasks and start on them first. Putting off the hard work is a sure sign it won’t get done. By putting the difficult tasks first, you also build a momentum that allows you to focus easily.
Isolate yourself. Lock yourself in a room, unplug your phone and internet if you have to. Anything to ensure that interruptions won’t break your focus. A few hours of complete focus can accomplish what would take several days of multitasking.
Set your rest breaks. Working continuously for several hours can be difficult to do with mentally straining work, especially if you aren’t used to it. My suggestion is to set short, but meaningful breaks in advance so you won’t be tempted to procrastinate.
Match breaks with tasks, not time. Your breaks should match up with the large to-do chunks on your list, not at a specific time. If you plan to finish a report you expect to take ninety minutes, finish it in one chunk. Taking a break while working on a major task will only break your flow.
Be patient when accelerating. It can take time to build up speed. When I write an article, it can take me up to fifteen minutes to get a clear idea on what I want to write. During this build-up time, the temptation is to quit or move on to something easier. Avoid that temptation and be patient.
Give yourself meaningful rewards. If you finish your to-do list, take a break. Go out and have fun, watch a television show, meet up with friends or just stare blankly at a wall. Feeling the urge to be completely productive 24/7 is an easy way to ensure you never do.
Does it need to be done? Cross off any items that lack long-term importance. Purify your to-do list so it only contains tasks that will be significant months and years from now. If your to-do list doesn’t seem important, it probably isn’t.
Energize your diet. Engineer your food and exercise routine to give you the energy you need throughout the day. Eat lighter foods and avoid simple carbohydrates (which spike your blood glucose and then drop it). Drink plenty of water and eat smaller meals more frequently. Your goal is to create a diet that will keep your fuel levels even throughout the day.
To exercise or not to exercise? Exercise is definitely a good idea. But whether you should bother heading to the gym on an intense project attacking day depends. I would say that a quick run can give you enough added energy to make up for the time loss. But if your exercise is long and prescheduled, you might want to leave it out to focus completely on your to-do list.
Collect resources ahead of time. The night before you plan your epic battle against your to-do, prepare. Make sure you have all the right tools, information and resources to get the job done. Nothing feels worse than a half-finished list because you needed to wait on information from a third party.
Chunk, don’t spread. Don’t spread tasks over all your waking hours like butter on toast. Intensity trumps time-management. Get as much done as possible and give yourself large chunks for both work and play. Spreading yourself too thin results in only a half-effort.

A half-day is often enough. The surprising thing about creating a to-do list day is, that if you do it right, it takes far less time than you expected. I’m usually impressed that I can accomplish my entire list by the late afternoon when I follow these suggestions.