I had heard that Roger Ebert had developed throat cancer, and have read some recent reviews of his, but this month's Esquire evidently has an updated interview with him.

He seems to be holding up pretty well, telling Esquire that he's happy, and that people shouldn't pity him.

You know, say what you like about him as a film maker (one flop) or film critic, the guy has a lot of guts to put a photograph in Esquire and do an interview.  Show business seems to want to sweep cancer survivors under the rug, but here's one not afraid to show his face.

(reproduced from Medscape.com original link: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/703926) June 4 2009 (Orlando Florida) — It has been nearly 10 years in coming but at last there is a positive result with a vaccine approach to follicular lymphoma. Two other phase 3 clinical trials have failed but the one that succeeded was reported during a plenary session here at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 45th Annual Meeting.

A half cupful of bleach per tub full of water seems effective in a small study published in next weeks' journal Pediatrics. This seems like an off-the-wall idea but the efficacy was pretty amazing: five-fold reduction in eczema flares in children in the treatment group. Evidently this is a real thing: The eczema kept getting better and better with the bleach bath and these baths prevented it from flaring again which is an ongoing problem for these kids said lead author Dr. Amy S.

Dr. Myeong Soo Lee of the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine in South Korea weighs in with a review of acupuncture studies for the treatment of hot flashes. Though there is one study showing a benefit to the technique the rest of the evidence suggests that there is no improvement of menopausal symptoms with acupuncture. The journal Climacteric has the article publication. http://news.e-healthsource.com/index.php?p=news1&id=625818 I have solicited a comment from Dr. Lee the lead author of the paper...watch this space for further information.

WSJ today reports a fascinating piece that exposes the dark underbelly of clinical research. "Jonathan Leo a professor of neuro-anatomy at tiny Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate Tenn. posted a letter on the Web site of the British Medical Journal this month criticizing a study that appeared in JAMA last spring. The study concerned the use of the anti-depressant Lexapro in stroke patients.

Where is the thyroid gland and what is it’s function? The thyroid gland is shaped like a butterfly and sits just below the voice box and in front of the trachea (wind-pipe). It resides under thin muscle layers in the midline central neck just above the sternum and moves with swallowing as it is attached to the trachea. The thyroid gland is a central organ in the body that secretes thyroid hormones and as such regulates our body’s metabolism energy level and various other functions.

Extensive review of probiotics in WSJ.com today. The author keeps the review evidence-based and clearly put a lot of time and research into the article. Good health journalism is clearly alive and well at WSJ.com. Probiotics are being touted as aiding everything from digestion to irritable bowel syndrome and we need a recent review article in the medical literature.

A report from a radiological meeting continues the encouraging news we've heard lately about nuclear scans for breast cancer so-called Molecular Breast Imaging. A series of 145 breast cancer patients underwent the nuclear study 45 additional lesions were biopsied for 19 new cancers. All 145 women had a negative mammogram for the additional tumors. The accompanying press article contains the usual justifications of why nuclear scanning is better than other technologies including cost and flexibility in diabetics.

Regular use of alcohol can lead to an accumulation of fat in the liver which can cause liver diseases like cirrhosis and fibrosis of the liver. However this could be prevented by consuming resveratrol according to a new study appears in the American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology published by The American Physiological Society on mice. The study titled "Resveratrol alleviates alcoholic fatty liver in mice " was carried out by Joanne M. Ajmo Xiaomei Liang Christopher Q.

A large meta-analysis of cancer patients who are taking erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESAs) has established that there is a considerable increased risk of death related with these agents. While the outcome is not new but it has led to restriction labeling and black box warnings for these products and it will inculcate apprehension over the use of ESAs in cancer patients say experts. These findings are the outcome of a detailed study carried out on 13 933 cancer patients from 53 clinical trials.