(Long Island, NY) We have known for a while that people with red hair, fair skin and freckles were at greater risk for skin cancer. Now new research not only tells us why, but is also warning us that our red-haired friends  have a much higher risk for melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

The research, published in Nature Communications, showed that even a single copy of a red hair-associated MC1R gene variant increased the number of mutations in melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. Many non-red haired people carry these common variants and the study shows that everyone needs to be careful about sun exposure.

Red-headed people make up between one and two percent of the world’s population. They have two copies of a variant of the MC1R gene which affects the type of melanin pigment they produce, leading to red hair, freckles, pale skin and a strong tendency to burn in the sun.

The study unexpectedly showed that people with only a single copy of the gene variant still have a much higher number of tumor mutations than the rest of the population.

The researchers, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and University of Leeds, analyzed publicly available data-sets of tumor DNA sequences collected from more than 400 people. They found an average of 42 per cent more sun-associated mutations in tumors from people carrying the gene variant.

Exposure to ultraviolet light from either sunlight or sunbeds causes damage to DNA and it has been thought that the type of skin pigment associated with red-heads could allow more UV to reach the DNA.  While this may be one mechanism of damage, the study also revealed that the MC1R gene variation not only increased the number of spontaneous mutations caused by ultraviolet light, but also raised the level of other mutations in the tumors.  This suggests that biological processes exist in cancer development in people with MC1R variation that are not solely related to ultraviolet light.

The research explains why red-haired people have to be so careful about covering up in strong sun. It also underlines that it isn’t just people with red hair who need to protect themselves from too much sun. People who tend to burn rather than tan, or who have fair skin, hair or eyes, or who have freckles or moles are also at higher risk.

Dr. Samadi is a board-certified urologic oncologist trained in open and traditional and laparoscopic surgery and is an expert in robotic prostate surgery. He is chairman of urology, chief of robotic surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital and professor of urology at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. He is a medical correspondent for the Fox News Channel’s Medical A-Team Learn more at roboticoncology.com. Visit Dr. Samadi’s blog at SamadiMD.com. Follow Dr. Samadi on Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest and Facebook.

(Long Island, NY) Cancer extracts a heavy toll, even upon its survivors. Fatigue from chemotherapy sessions, soreness from shots, any number of bone density issues… there is some truth to the adage that sometimes the cure can feel worse than the disease. But recent studies have shown that yoga can help survivors sleep better, feel more energized, and even cut back on sleeping medications.

Yoga, of course, is that integration of stretching, breathing, exercise, and Hindu spirituality that originated in India sometime in the 5th or 6th century B.C. but is enjoying the apex of its popularity today. Researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, NY enrolled 410 early-stage cancer survivors into their study, primarily women who had breast cancer. Half of them attended a twice-a-week specialized yoga program. Participants in the yoga group reported improved sleep quality and less fatigue, and a better quality of life while reducing the use of sleeping medications following the four-week program. The control group showed increased use of the sleep medications and reported reduced sleep quality, greater fatigue and a poorer quality of life.

“This is great news for cancer survivors who deal with persistent and debilitating side effects from their cancer and its treatments long after their primary therapy ends. There are few treatments for the sleep problems and fatigue survivors experience that work for very long, if at all,” said Karen Mustian, Ph.D., M.P.H., the study’s lead investigator and assistant professor of Radiation Oncology and Community and Preventive Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s James P. Wilmot Cancer Center.

The specialized yoga program, designed by Mustian and her colleagues, is called YOCAS® (Yoga for Cancer Survivors). It includes breathing exercises, gentle Hatha and restorative yoga postures and mindfulness exercises. Yoga Alliance-certified instructors who were trained to deliver the YOCAS® program at cancer centers in nine cities across the country. YOCAS® has since been vetted by the National Institutes for Health and found to “significantly [reduce] general pain, muscle aches, and physical discomfort.”

Why does it work? Mustian suspects it is the breathing, postures and mindfulness components of gentle yoga, individually or in combination, that improve sleep, fatigue and quality of life. “It is also possible that the YOCAS® program works through many different biological, psychological and social pathways simultaneously,” she said, adding that stress and anxiety reduction help initiate relaxation.

Dr. Samadi is a board-certified urologic oncologist trained in open and traditional and laparoscopic surgery and is an expert in robotic prostate surgery. He is chairman of urology, chief of robotic surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital and professor of urology at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. He is a medical correspondent for the Fox News Channel’s Medical A-Team Learn more at roboticoncology.com. Visit Dr. Samadi’s blog at SamadiMD.com. Follow Dr. Samadi on Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest and Facebook.

(Long Island, NY) It’s a reminder that Necessity is still often the Mother of Invention, albeit a grim one. In the wake of a rash of stabbing attacks in Israel, students at Hebrew University in Jerusalem have developed a life-saving device to cope with pneumothorax – the collapsed lungs.

The condition, caused by chest trauma, involves the collection of air in the pleural space separating the lung from the chest wall, causing it to collapse and causing the victim to suffocate. Pneumothorax is believed to be responsible for more than a third of preventable deaths on the battlefield and in terrorist attacks.

The current treatment involves two steps: a fast needle decompression of the thorax (between the neck and abdomen, where the lungs and other vital organs are located), followed by a 10-minute tissue separation and tube insertion procedure into the chest to drain air and blood, allowing the lung to re-inflate.

“This is a very laborious and technically difficult procedure,” said Dr. Ariel Drori, an internal medicine expert at the Hadassah University Medical Center, “leading caregivers to neglect the second step in favor of rapid evacuation from the scene to the hospital.”

The need for a solution was made evident by a current wave of stabbing attacks that has left dozens of Israelis dead and hundreds of them wounded.

Members of the BioDesign: Medical Innovation program, created by Hebrew University and the Jerusalem hospital, set out to solve this problem. The result was ThoraXS, a one-handed thoracic portal opener that shortens the procedure time of chest-tube insertion from minutes to less than 30 seconds. Its closed knife-shape allows fast penetration of the pleural space, and its mechanical opening mechanism enables rapid and easy opening of a portal through which a chest tube can be quickly inserted. ThoraXS is thus a single-step, rapid life-saving solution for treating pneumothorax.

The researchers included, besides Drori, engineering students YoavKan-Tor and Bettina Nadorp, Dr. Liran Levy, a Hadassah pulmonologist, and Chen Goldstein, a Hebrew University MBA student.

Prof. Yaakov Nahmias, director of the Hebrew University’s Alexander Grass Center for Bioengineering, said: “Our students responded to terrorist attacks by developing life-saving medical devices, an approach that is the very essence of our BioDesign: Medical Innovation program. ThoraXS is a life-saving innovation that exemplifies our commitment to helping the local and global communities through practical research and development projects.”

Nahmias added that its annual market potential was estimated at $300 million and that continued investment is actively being sought. The innovations produced by the Biodesign program participants are commercialized by Yissum, HU’s technology transfer company, and Hadasit, the R&D company of the medical center.

Dr. Samadi is a board-certified urologic oncologist trained in open and traditional and laparoscopic surgery and is an expert in robotic prostate surgery. He is chairman of urology, chief of robotic surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital and professor of urology at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. He is a medical correspondent for the Fox News Channel’s Medical A-Team and the chief medical correspondent for am970 in New York City. Learn more at roboticoncology.com. Visit Dr. Samadi’s blog at SamadiMD.com. Follow Dr. Samadi on Twitter and Facebook.

(Long Island, NY) A PSA, or prostate specific antigen, test is a simple blood test that measures the amount of prostate specific antigen present in the blood. PSA is a protein that men have in their blood which is released by the prostate gland. In healthy males, the amount of PSA men have in their blood is low – generally less than 4.0 ng/mL. However, when men age, their prostate can experience physiological or pathological changes which cause the PSA to rise.

What causes the PSA to rise?

• Age – even without any prostate problems, your PSA levels can go up gradually as you age
• After ejaculation or sex
• After insult or injury to the prostate (i.e. riding a bike, having a catheter in, after a prostate biopsy)
• Medications (i.e. Proscar, Avodart, Propecia – these may falsely lower your PSA than what it actually is)
• Urinary tract infection – can irritate and inflame prostate cells and cause PSA to go up
• Prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate gland)
• Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) – aka enlarged prostate
• Prostate cancer

With less serious conditions, the PSA level goes back to normal within a few hours or in the case of an infection, with antibiotics. However, with more serious conditions like BPH or prostate cancer,your urologist will do further testing to determine which of these may be causing the elevated PSA. Further testing includes a digital rectal exam (DRE) and a prostate biopsy.

The PSA test is mainly used to screen for prostate cancer. If a person is diagnosed with prostate cancer, the PSA is an important value throughout your treatment:

• To guide your treatment plan – The PSA is used along with the DRE and tumor stage to determine how advanced or aggressive the prostate cancer is. The results will determine the best option for treatment.
• Prognosis after treatment – After having a radical robotic prostatectomy and/or radiation, the PSA level is monitored to determine how successful the treatment was. After surgery, the PSA level typically goes down to zero. However, a rising PSA after treatment typically indicates prostate cancer cells are present and the cancer has come back. In this case, further treatment would be needed.

Should you have a PSA test?

Knowing the risk factors for prostate cancer can help you understand why it’s important to have your PSA tested and when to start screening.

• Age – After 50, the risk for prostate cancer greatly increases. However, men as young as 40 can get prostate cancer, and it is often more aggressive. Men should begin screening for prostate cancer at age 40.
• Race – African-American men have the highest risk for prostate cancer; they are more likely to have aggressive cancer, be diagnosed at an advanced stage, and die from the disease.
• Family history – Men who have had a brother or father with prostate cancer are twice as likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.
• Diet – A diet high in fat or being obese may increase your risk for prostate cancer.

With early detection, lives can be saved. Not only are there are more treatment options available, but a better outcome, less side effects, and less chance of a recurrence. So if you any of these risk factors, or multiple risk factors, be smart – get your PSA checked.

Dr. Samadi is a board-certified urologic oncologist trained in open and traditional and laparoscopic surgery, and an expert in robotic prostate surgery. He is chairman of urology, chief of robotic surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital and professor of urology at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. He is a medical correspondent for the Fox News Channel’s Medical A-Team and the chief medical correspondent for am970 in New York City, where he is heard Sundays at 10 a.m.

Learn more at roboticoncology.com and SamadiMD.com. Follow Dr. Samadi on Twitter and Facebook.

(Long Island, NY) A new study says people who drink coffee may live longer than those who don’t. The study found that coffee lowers the risks of dying early from heart disease and neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. The study was published in the journal Circulation and bring additional evidence regarding the benefits of coffee.

According to the study’s lead author, Dr. Frank Hu, many people often think of drinking coffee as a bad thing that they need to limit their intake. Dr. Hu is a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. However, Dr. Hu claims that many studies have linked moderate coffee intake to lower risks of developing various diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, liver cancer, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Hu’s study found that coffee drinkers were not only less likely to develop certain diseases, but those that drank coffee lived longer. The study last over thirty years and involved on more than 200,000 U.S. doctors, nurses and other health professionals who were given multiple surveys over the years. During that study, almost 32,000 study participants died. It involved people who were nonsmokers and drank three to five cups of coffee a day. The study found that those people were 15 percent less likely to die of any cause, compared to nondrinkers. Specifically, those that drank coffee had lower rates of death from heart disease, stroke, neurological conditions and suicide. As for what type of coffee, both regular coffee and decaf were associated with longer survival.

However, it is important that people know that this does not likely mean that coffee by itself helps people live longer. There are likely other factors that are associated with the connection.

Additional benefits of coffee

• Reduced Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
• Faster Weight Loss
• Improved Cognitive Function
• Better Kidney and Liver Health
• Lower Risk of Cancer
• Enhanced Sexual Health

Dr. Samadi is a board-certified urologic oncologist trained in open and traditional and laparoscopic surgery, and an expert in robotic prostate surgery. He is chairman of urology, chief of robotic surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital and professor of urology at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. He is a medical correspondent for the Fox News Channel’s Medical A-Team and the chief medical correspondent for am970 in New York City, where he is heard Sundays at 10 a.m.

Learn more at roboticoncology.com and SamadiMD.com. Follow Dr. Samadi on Twitter and Facebook.

(Long Island, NY) Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in men and women in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, there is a 1 in 20 chance of developing colorectal cancer during their lifetime. This year in the United States, it is expected that colorectal cancer will cause about 50,000 deaths. A new study says eating a vegetarian diet may reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer. The study was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Researchers at the Loma Linda University in California chose to further study the link between a vegetarian diet and colorectal cancer. There have been a number of previous studies that claim that a diet high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains has been associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer. Previous studies have also shown that a diet high in red and processed meats raises the risk of colorectal cancer.

The study involved 77,659 men and women who were recruited to the Adventist Health Study 2 between 2002 and 2007. Everyone in the study was required to complete questionnaire about their diet as well as a medical questionnaire. The study participants were followed for about 7.3-years and at the end of the study, 490 participants were diagnosed with colorectal cancer (380 cases were colon cancer and 110 were rectal cancer). The results showed that those who ate a vegetarian diet were at a 22 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer, with a 19 percent reduced risk of colon cancer and a 29 percent reduced risk of rectal cancer, compared with participants who did not consume a vegetarian diet.

The results also depended on the type of vegetarian diet the participants followed. The researchers found that pescovegetarians (who eat fish) had a 49 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer, lacto-ovo vegetarians (who eat milk and eggs) had an 18 percent lower risk, vegans had a 16 percent reduced risk, and semi-vegetarians were 8 percent less likely to develop the disease.

Risk factors for Colorectal Cancer:

• Age 50 and over (90% of new cases occur in people ages 50 and over)
• Inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis
• People with an immediate family member with a history of colon cancer have 2-3 times the risk of developing colon cancer
• African-Americans have a 20% higher risk of developing colon cancer and a 45% higher mortality rate
• Lifestyle factors – Physical inactivity, a diet low in fruits, vegetables, fiber and high in fat, being overweight or obese, alcohol and tobacco use

Dr. Samadi is a board-certified urologic oncologist trained in open and traditional and laparoscopic surgery, and an expert in robotic prostate surgery. He is chairman of urology, chief of robotic surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital and professor of urology at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. He is a medical correspondent for the Fox News Channel’s Medical A-Team and the chief medical correspondent for am970 in New York City, where he is heard Sundays at 10 a.m.

Learn more at roboticoncology.com and SamadiMD.com. Follow Dr. Samadi on Twitter and Facebook.