Understanding Cancer

You may be surprised to learn that there are companies out there who market cosmetic products for women with cancer. As is usual on the internet, there seem to be the usual mix of trustworthy sites doing a good job and people out to make a quick buck by selling rubbish.

One of the [...]

The Rowett Institute for Nutrition and Health is in Bucksburn, on the outskirts of Aberdeen.  It merged with the University of Aberdeen on the 1st of July 2008 and is part of the College of Life Sciences and Medicine.

The Rowett carries out research into how what we eat affects our health. This covers [...]

Okay, a confession. I can update a blog, but I’m not very technical.  I do not live “in world” or whatever the expression is.  But, for those of you that are in “Second Life”  I just thought I’d let you know that a Scottish cancer research charity called AICR (the Association for International Cancer [...]

Prescription charges in Scotland, should fall from £5 to £4 on the 1st of April 2009.

The new charges to come into effect on the 1st of April 2009 are:

Single Item £4.00 Pre Pay Certificate (4 months) £13 Pre Pay Certificate (12 months) £38 * *

The prescription form your doctor writes on [...]

The Scottish government is investing £20 million pounds to upgrade radiotherapy equipment in Scotland. You can read more about how this money is divided up on the Scottish Government website. NHS Grampian will receive £3.116 million pounds.  The amount is decided by the cost of replacing current equipment.

Replacing equipment of this type is [...]

There have been several news reports  about the Danish Government compensating night shift workers who developed breast cancer. There is some evidence to suggest working night shift increases your risk of cancer, specifically hormone sensitive cancers, which means breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.  Shift work is also thought to increase [...]

I’ve come across a website called prostate scotland. http://www.prostatescotland.co.uk, it’s new and up to date.  It contains lots of information on all types of prostate disease (including prostate cancer).

Why do I like this website?

1 It’s well laid out and easy to navigate, you just have to click on the blue bar [...]

Girls in Scotland, aged 12-18 are being offered a cervical cancer vaccine.  You can find out more on the website, fight cervical cancer.  Does this protect you from all types of cervical cancer?  It does protect you from most (about 70%), but not all (there is more information here).   So, even if you have [...]

Why is science important? This website and film is written by a science teacher, looking to answer a  seemingly simple question he was asked by  his pupils, why is science important?

As you will see from the website there is no simple answer, but there are lots of interesting ones! The project is funded [...]

Most people will have at least heard of Marie Curie or Macmillan nurses, but few people know the difference!  Generally speaking Marie Curie nurses come into your home and help care for a person who is dying of cancer (in the terminal stage).  Marie Curie Nurses can work both day and night shifts. There [...]

This month sees the annual “Scotland Against Cancer” conference. It is held in Glasgow, which is a bit far to travel if you’re in the North-East but I thought it was worth mentioning.  It’s held on Friday the 20th of  March 2009.

The conference is organised by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and has [...]

This is a geeky post.  Some cancers are caused by mistakes in DNA.  We know this for sure, because people in every generation of a family develop the same type of cancer, however this is rare. A lot rarer than most people think. For example only 10 % of breast cancers are caused by [...]

Most people are diagnosed with cancer in their 60′s, 70′s or 80′s. It is very rare for someone in their teens, 20′s or 30′s to have cancer. It does happen though and there are support services out their for younger people with cancer.

The website “No Surrender” is a UK based forum for young [...]