Advanced Liver Cancer Treatment: Selective Internal Radiation Therapy Versus Sorafenib

Advanced Liver Cancer TreatmentWhen it comes to treating liver cancer, sorafenib has traditionally been considered the most effective treatment. However, a trial was recently conducted comparing sorafenib treatment to selective internal radiation therapy. Patients who were treated using selective internal radiation therapy displayed similar overall survival to those that were treated with sorafenib, not to mention that selective internal radiation therapy resulted in fewer treatment-related adverse effects.

The study was the very first hepatocellular carcinoma study of a liver-directed therapy against systemic chemotherapy. The results of the trial were showcased this year at the International Liver Congress in Amsterdam, Netherlands. According to the leading investigator of the trial, Professor Valerie Vilgrain, sorafenib has been the go-to treatment for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. She stated that even though the treatment has been proven effective at extending patients’ survival compared to a placebo, the treatment also resulted in side effects that diminished their quality of life.

The way that selective internal radiation therapy works is that it delivers internal radiation directly to the liver tumors through the hepatic artery. This form of treatment only requires two total treatments, whereas sorafenib is provided via a tablet that’s taken twice a day. Until now, sorafenib was the only treatment available for advanced liver cancer.

Over the course of the trial, the liver cancer patients/subjects’ quality of life was measured every three months using a questionnaire. The results clearly showed that patients treated with selective internal radiation therapy had a substantially better quality of life than patients that were being treated with sorafenib. These patients were also more likely to maintain their health status over time.

Although certain treatments can extend the life of individuals suffering from serious diseases, such as liver cancer, diminishing the quality of life in order to extend it isn’t a fair tradeoff. It’s why researchers are hopeful that selective internal radiation therapy can become an effective alternative to sorafenib for liver cancer patients.

New medical advancements are being made every day to improve people’s lives. To keep up-to-date with such medical advancements, visit us at The Benefits Store today.

5 Reasons Positivity Is Good for Your Health

Positive OutlookHaving a positive outlook on life isn’t just beneficial to people’s mental attitude and ability to motivate themselves. It can actually have an impact on their overall health as well – including their physical health. At this point, the scientific community is in agreement that what happens in a person’s brain will influence what happens to the body, which is why a positive attitude can result in improved health. The following are just five reasons why positivity is good for health:

  • Staying positive reduces stress – People who are positive tend to be less stressed out. Stress can have a negative impact on one’s immune system and energy levels, which can affect the overall health of a person, reducing the risk of depression.
  • Staying positive reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease – Several studies have shown that people with more optimism are at a lower risk of heart disease or failure than those who are pessimistic.
  • Staying positive is linked to lower cholesterol levels – A study performed by the Harvard School of Public Health revealed participants who scored as being optimistic on their test tended to have higher levels of good cholesterol.
  • Staying positive makes it easier to cope – People who are have a positive outlook on life have a stronger ability to cope with a worse turn in luck – such as developing a disease. By being able to cope with an illness better, it will have less of a negative impact on their life.
  • Staying positive allows the enjoyment of life – Being positive won’t cure certain diseases, but it can give the person the ability to enjoy their life as they are living it – even while they are sick. Imagine having been negative for ten years while ill, only to have the illness disappear! That’s ten years of one’s life that was spent in misery when it could have been enjoyed.

These are just five reasons why a positive outlook on life is so important to one’s health. For all the latest health-related news and advice, be sure to stay up to date with The Benefits Store.

Healthcare: Moving in the Right Direction

American healthcareAmerican healthcare is in a state of flux right now. Nobody knows what condition it’s going to be in a year from now, due to how politicized the subject has become. The Affordable Care Act recently survived an effort to repeal and replace because of public outcry, but that doesn’t mean that Americans’ healthcare is safe.

The Importance of Healthcare

American healthcare is more important than it’s ever been. In 2012, the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine), announced the current generation of children and young adults here in the U.S. would be the first generation to experience fewer healthy years of life as well as shorter life spans than their parents. In 2015, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), reported that the average American life expectancy went down for the first time in over 20 years.

These recent discoveries on the state of American health are worrisome, to say the least. In order to ensure the U.S. moves in the right direction to help improve the health of Americans, there are three things that must be done:

  1. Americans will need better access to health insurance – Although the Affordable Care Act managed to help insure an additional 20 million Americans, there are currently still 28 million people who are uninsured as of 2015.
  2. The country has to invest more in health and prevention – Around 75 percent of healthcare costs are related to conditions that are preventable, including tobacco use and obesity. Investments in prevention can help lower these costs as well as save lives.
  3. Health disparities among various demographics must be addressed – There are health inequalities that are related to income and access to coverage across different demographics. For example, Hispanics are 65 percent more likely to develop diabetes than white Americans.

To help American healthcare head the right direction, tell Congress to continue to support the Affordable Care Act and to authorize Medicaid expansion. To stay up-to-date with all of the latest healthcare related news, be sure to visit us at The Benefits Store today.

Uber Autonomous Vehicle Involved in a High-Impact Collision

Uber Autonomous Vehicle CrashSelf-driving cars have been getting a lot of attention recently, especially with the success of Google’s self-driving cars, a project that is now known as Waymo. The passenger-share company Uber began testing its self-driving cars recently as well; however, they suspended their program following a high-impact crash involving their autonomous vehicles in Tempe, Arizona.

Uber’s Accident

Although Uber has halted its self-driving vehicle program, it has not terminated it. It is merely temporarily suspended while they investigate the accident that occurred in Arizona. Uber has also decided to temporarily suspend its Pittsburgh operations as well.

Even though Uber has taken their self-driving cars off the road for now, the accident that occurred was not the fault of the autonomous Uber vehicle. The fault of the accident lies with another car, the driver of which failed to yield for Uber’s vehicle. The collision resulted in the Uber car ending up on its side, while the other car experienced several dents and smashed windows. Nobody was injured in the accident.

Uber’s Self-Driving Cars

Uber first began testing their self-driving cars last year in Pittsburgh before expanding the program to Arizona. They attempted to test them in San Francisco as well, but were banned from the streets by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Uber’s program has not been without controversy. Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo sued Uber, claiming that they stole designs for their Lidar, an important component of their own driverless cars that they are also testing in Arizona. Uber has denied the charges. Waymo has tested their driverless cars for over two million miles on public roads. There were only a few minor incidents, all of which were caused by other cars rear-ending Waymo’s driverless vehicles in busier areas of the state.

Although Uber is trying to stay at the forefront of the industry by implementing new technological advancements, they continue to court controversy in numerous areas, from their self-driving cars to various other scandals involving the evasion of government regulations and enforcements. Keep up-to-date on all the latest news that could affect you at The Benefits Store.

What’s So Great About Insurance?

InsuranceInsurance is not something people tend to look upon with much fondness. In many cases, people often find insurance to be a huge and unnecessary expense, especially since there are so many different types of insurance, many of which everyone is required to purchase, whether it be car insurance, homeowner’s insurance, or health insurance. However, it’s important to look past the cost of insurance and to embrace insurance for how great it truly is. The following are five reasons why insurance is something that people should love:

  1. Insurers are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Many insurers offer some of the best customer service around. They realize that accidents happen at all hours, which is why they generally have customer service representatives to talk to no matter what time it is or what day.
  2. Insurers want people to save money. Many insurers offer free tools to help people save money. For example, some car insurance companies have apps that monitor drivers and reward safe behavior with discounts and other perks.
  3. Insurers want people to be safe. Insurers will often provide discounts on insurance premiums as an incentive for people to invest in safety. For example, installing a security system can help lower homeowner’s insurance premiums.
  4. Many insurers assist people with New Year’s Resolutions. Insurers will often provide resources for common resolutions, whether it’s to quit smoking or to lose weight.
  5. Insurers understand that nobody’s perfect. The mistakes that people make often result in the need to collect on insurance. For example, people have been known to leave the burner on in the kitchen, resulting in a fire, or to back up into a parked car, resulting in the need for repairs. Insurers understand that mistakes such as these happen, which is why they help pay for them.

These are just a few reasons why people should embrace insurance as something to love, not to look down upon. For more information about health insurance or to keep up to date with all health insurance-related news, be sure to visit us at The Benefits Store today.