Does This Cause Cancer?

Cancer is a class of diseases characterized by out-of-control cell growth. There are over 100 different types of cancer, and each is classified by the type of cell that is initially affected. Cancer harms the body when damaged cells divide uncontrollably to form lumps or masses of tissue called tumors (except in the case of leukemia where cancer prohibits normal blood function by abnormal cell division in the blood stream). Tumors can grow and interfere with the digestive, nervous, and circulatory systems, and they can release hormones that alter body function. Tumors that stay in one spot and demonstrate limited growth are generally considered to be benign.

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How to Have a Healthy Day From Morning to Night

We work, we plan, we organize, we go, fueling ourselves on coffee and pure determination. Until, that is, we fall onto the sofa in a stupor. More of us are struggling with energy issues, experts say; they point to the weak economy, which has us working harder and plugging in longer, and the belief that we can have it all (so what if we’re up till midnight making it happen).
“Just like houseplants need water, our energy reserves need regular replenishing,”

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Protect Yourself From Medical Costs and Disability

An estimated 22.4% of women 18 years of age or older and 29.3% of women 40 years of age or older had a self-reported disability.Women 40 years of age or older with a disability were less likely to have had a mammogram (72.2%) than were women without a disability (77.8%)

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Foods to Avoid If You Have High Triglycerides

When you have high triglyceride levels, there's a good chance you also have abnormal cholesterol numbers: specifically, low levels of HDL "good" cholesterol and high levels of LDL "bad" cholesterol. This combination increases the likelihood that you’ll have a heart attack orstroke.

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Tips to Stay Smart, Sharp, and Focused

We all want to keep our minds sharp and fresh. By working to keep your mind sharp, you can improve your attitude. Nothing angers a person more than not being able to remember mportant things or events. By having a sharp mind you can figure situations out more effectively and make wiser decisions. There are numerous ways to keep your mind sharp while keeping a good, well-rounded attitude. Reading this article will tell you those ways.

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Interactive DRI for Health Care Professional

Use this tool to calculate daily nutrient recommendations for dietary planning based on the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs). These represent the most current scientific knowledge on nutrient needs, developed by the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine. Individual requirements may be higher or lower than the DRIs.

Mobile app now available: download from the Apple Store or Google Play.

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What is a case-control study in medical research?

What is a case-control study in medical research?

Markus MacGill

A case-control study is a type of medical research investigation often used to help determine the cause of a disease, particularly when investigating a disease outbreak or a rare condition.

If public health scientists want a relatively quick and easy way to find clues about the cause of, for example, a new disease outbreak, they can compare two groups of people:

• Those who already have the disease – ‘cases’
• Similar people who have not been affected – ‘controls.’

A case-control study is retrospective – the researchers look back at data collected in the past, enabling them to test whether a particular outcome can be linked back to a suspected risk factor. To test for specific causes, the scientists need to formulate a hypothesis about what they think could be behind the outbreak or disease. They then compare how often the group of cases had been exposed to the suspected cause (risk factor), versus how often the controls had been exposed. If the risk factor has a greater prevalence among the cases, then this is some evidence to suggest that it is a cause of the disease.Risk factors could be uncovered by researchers studying the medical and lifestyle histories of the people in each group. A pattern may emerge that links the condition under investigation to certain factors.Case-control research is a central tool used by epidemiologists, who look into the factors that affect the health and illness of populations.Just one risk factor could be investigated for a particular disease outcome. A good example of this is to analyze how many people with lung cancer, versus how many without, have a history of smoking.

A case control study .pdf

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