PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Cancer among people experiencing homelessness: research into current situation forms basis for prevention program

2023-07-24
(Press-News.org) (Vienna, 24 July 2023) Cancer is twice as likely to affect people experiencing homelessness (PEH) as members of the housed population. The disease is the second most common cause of death among PEH, a group that is underserved when it comes to medical care. At the same time, there is a lack of awareness and of structures for targeted cancer screening. Against this backdrop, a team headed by MedUni Vienna has examined the current situation in four European countries and drawn up approaches for the development of a prevention programme. The study has just been published in the journal eClinicalMedicine. 

For the study, a research team led by Tobias Schiffler and Igor Grabovac from the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at MedUni Vienna's Center for Public Health collected experiences and viewpoints from directly affected groups, namely people experiencing homelessness who have cancer and those who do not, as well as professionals working at health and social services facilities. Members of these groups in Austria, Greece, the UK and Spain gave insights into the current situation and spoke about the obstacles to cancer prevention among people at the margins of society. “Until now, data on this problem was extremely thin on the ground,” says first author Tobias Schiffler, emphasising just how significant the qualitative research is. 

Check-ups as a luxury 
The study found that awareness of cancer screening is low among both PEH themselves and members of the health and social services community. For example, one unhoused person from Austria spoke about the “luxury of taking care of preventive examinations and check-ups when you have other acute problems to worry about”. Cancer prevention services tailored to specific target groups are also in short supply, as specific local initiatives usually fail to reach sufficient numbers of PEH.

Cancer is often only detected in members of this underserved group when they receive emergency medical care for an acute illness or injury. In some cases, tumour growth is already so advanced that it causes other complaints. The very nature of the life circumstances of PEH means that it can prove difficult to provide regular treatment or follow-up measures that may still be an option at any given time. In some countries, the affected groups also face financial or structural barriers if they need to access the health system. As a result, PEH cannot take steps to look after their health to the degree that they would actually like to, as some of them reported. This leads to diseases often being detected too late.

Life expectancy of 47 years
Data from the UK show that the average life expectancy of PEH is 47 years. This is due to the higher overall burden of disease that this group faces. Cancer affects PEH twice as often as people in the housed population. This is associated with various influences, including a higher prevalence of risk factors (e.g. alcohol and tobacco consumption), the greater frequency of infectious diseases and malnutrition, as well as the access barriers to healthcare services mentioned above.
“Our study is one of the first to look at cancer prevention from the perspective of people who are directly affected by homelessness. The findings could form the basis for tailored and targeted preventive measures that take the needs and circumstances of this target group into account,” explains principal investigator Igor Grabovac. The study was conducted as part of a wide-ranging EU project titled CANCERLESS (Cancer prevention and early detection among the homeless population in Europe: Co-adapting and implementing the Health Navigator Model), which Grabovac also heads and coordinates.

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

PKU researchers make major progress in convective turbulence

2023-07-24
Researchers from the Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science at Peking University (PKU), led by Prof. Chen Shiyi and Prof. Yang Yantao, have recently proposed a groundbreaking mechanism to enhance the efficiency of heat transfer in convective turbulence. The paper has been published in the first-class journal Physical Review Letters, entitled “Boundary-Layer Disruption and Heat-Transfer Enhancement in Convection Turbulence by Oscillating Deformations of Boundary.” Convective turbulence, driven by gravity-induced instabilities resulting from temperature ...

How toxic is alcohol? This PKU-Oxford team seeks answers

2023-07-24
Recently, a study conducted by researchers from Peking University and Oxford Population Health shed light on the susceptibility of Chinese men to 60 diseases related to alcohol consumption. The study, titled "Alcohol consumption and risks of more than 200 diseases in Chinese men," was published in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine. Alcohol consumption poses a significant global health threat, with previous research highlighting its strong association with diseases such as liver cirrhosis, stroke, and various types of cancer. However, there has been a lack of ...

Discovery of pair density wave state in a two-dimensional high-Tc iron-based superconductor

2023-07-24
As a macroscopic quantum state of matter, superconductivity has attracted tremendous attention in the field of scientific research and industry over the past century. According to the BCS (Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer) microscopic theory, superconductivity arises from the condensation of coherent Cooper pairs, and each Cooper pair is formed by two electrons with opposite spins and momenta. Theoretically, when time-reversal symmetry is broken, Cooper pairs may acquire a finite momentum and exhibit a spatially modulated superconducting order parameter, which is known as the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov ...

PKUers finds key evidence for existence of nanohertz gravitational waves

2023-07-24
A group of Chinese scientists has recently found key evidence for the existence of nanohertz gravitational waves, marking a new era in nanohertz gravitational wave research. The research was based on pulsar timing observations carried out with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST). The research was conducted by the Chinese Pulsar Timing Array (CPTA) collaboration. Researchers (Prof. Kejia Lee, Post-Doc. Siyuan Chen, PhD students Jiangwei Xu, and Zihan Xue) from Department of Astronomy ...

MSU study links cadmium levels in women’s urine to endometriosis

MSU study links cadmium levels in women’s urine to endometriosis
2023-07-24
EAST LANSING, Mich. – Women with a history of endometriosis had higher concentrations of cadmium in their urine compared to those without that diagnosis, according to a Michigan State University study that suggests the toxic metal could be linked to the development of endometriosis.  Affecting one in 10 reproductive-age women, endometriosis is a gynecologic condition in which tissue that looks like the lining of the uterus, or womb, appears outside the uterus. Those with endometriosis can experience chronic, painful and debilitating symptoms, which can interfere with all aspects of life, including daily activity, work productivity, ...

Breastfeeding is associated with a 33% reduction in first-year post-perinatal infant mortality

2023-07-24
Ann Arbor, July 24, 2023 - Among nearly 10 million US infants born between 2016 and 2018, breastfed babies were 33% less likely to die during the post-perinatal period (day 7−364) than infants who were not breastfed, reports a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier. The findings build on previous US research with smaller datasets, which documented the association between the initiation of breastfeeding and the reduction of post-perinatal infant mortality by a range of 19% to 26%. Lead investigator Julie L. Ware, MD, MPH, ...

Large study determines number needed to be vaccinated to prevent COVID-19 hospitalizations and ED visits

2023-07-24
An analysis of real-world data from more than 1.2 million patients from health systems in four geographically dispersed states -- Indiana, Oregon, Texas and Utah -- conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s VISION Network, has determined both the number of adults needed to be vaccinated to prevent one COVID-19 associated hospitalization and the number needed to be vaccinated to prevent one COVID-19 associated emergency department (ED) visit. This study is one of the first, ...

These eight habits could lengthen your life by decades

These eight habits could lengthen your life by decades
2023-07-24
A new study involving over 700,000 U.S. veterans reports that people who adopt eight healthy lifestyle habits by middle age can expect to live substantially longer than those with few or none of these habits. The eight habits are: being physically active, being free from opioid addiction, not smoking, managing stress, having a good diet, not regularly binge drinking, having good sleep hygiene, and having positive social relationships.   According to the results, men who have all eight habits at age 40 would be predicted to live an average of 24 years longer than men with none of these habits. For women, having all eight healthy lifestyle factors ...

Nutritional content of most milk alternatives doesn’t measure up to cow’s milk

2023-07-24
More people are drinking milk alternatives made from plant sources such as oats, soy, or almonds, but do plant-based products deliver the same nutrition as cow’s milk? Results from a new study suggest that most don’t.   Cow’s milk is an important source of calcium and vitamin D, both of which are identified in the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans as nutrients of public health concern for underconsumption. Cow’s milk is also a major source of protein in the American diet.   To assess how the nutritional content of plant-based milk alternatives compares to that of cow’s milk, researchers examined more than ...

How people judge anti-vaxxers who die from COVID-19

2023-07-24
COLUMBUS, Ohio – When people who publicly reject COVID-19 vaccines later die from the disease, observers have complex reactions to their fates, a new study suggests.   While very few rejoice in the deaths of anti-vaxxers, some people believe those who are dogmatic against vaccines are deserving of worse outcomes – and that reaction is related to the political party affiliation and vaccination status of the person evaluating the anti-vaxxer.   Democrats and those who were vaccinated were more likely than Republicans and the unvaccinated to think anti-vaxxers who died got what they deserved ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Cheese may really be giving you nightmares, scientists find

Study reveals most common medical emergencies in schools

Breathable yet protective: Next-gen medical textiles with micro/nano networks

Frequency-engineered MXene supercapacitors enable efficient pulse charging in TENG–SC hybrid systems

Developed an AI-based classification system for facial pigmented lesions

Achieving 20% efficiency in halogen-free organic solar cells via isomeric additive-mediated sequential processing

New book Terraglossia reclaims language, Country and culture

The most effective diabetes drugs don't reach enough patients yet

Breast cancer risk in younger women may be influenced by hormone therapy

Strategies for staying smoke-free after rehab

Commentary questions the potential benefit of levothyroxine treatment of mild hypothyroidism during pregnancy

Study projects over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 if USAID defunding continues

New study reveals 33% gap in transplant access for UK’s poorest children

Dysregulated epigenetic memory in early embryos offers new clues to the inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

IVF and IUI pregnancy rates remain stable across Europe, despite an increasing uptake of single embryo transfer

It takes a village: Chimpanzee babies do better when their moms have social connections

From lab to market: how renewable polymers could transform medicine

Striking increase in obesity observed among youth between 2011 and 2023

No evidence that medications trigger microscopic colitis in older adults

NYUAD researchers find link between brain growth and mental health disorders

Aging-related inflammation is not universal across human populations, new study finds

University of Oregon to create national children’s mental health center with $11 million federal grant

Rare achievement: UTA undergrad publishes research

Fact or fiction? The ADHD info dilemma

Genetic ancestry linked to risk of severe dengue

Genomes reveal the Norwegian lemming as one of the youngest mammal species

Early birds get the burn: Monash study finds early bedtimes associated with more physical activity

Groundbreaking analysis provides day-by-day insight into prehistoric plankton’s capacity for change

Southern Ocean saltier, hotter and losing ice fast as decades-long trend unexpectedly reverses

Human fishing reshaped Caribbean reef food webs, 7000-year old exposed fossilized reefs reveal

[Press-News.org] Cancer among people experiencing homelessness: research into current situation forms basis for prevention program