Attention, chocolate lovers: You may not be able to help yourselves. Swiss and British scientists have linked the widespread love of chocolate to a chemical "signature" that may be programmed into our metabolic systems.
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Thoracoscopic surgery increases options
LOS ANGELES, Dec 6, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Los Angeles surgeons say some elderly patients with early stage, non-small cell lung cancer might benefit from a minimally invasive surgical procedure.
Thoracic surgeons at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles say when such cancers are detected at an early, localized stage, surgical removal often can prevent metastasis.
But while some elderly patients might not be good candidates for the physical demands of open chest surgery, a study of 159 patients between ages 80 and 94 suggests video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery should be considered a viable option.
"Some patients and their doctors wonder why a person that age should bother to go through any major pulmonary surgery," said Dr. Robert McKenna Jr., the study's lead author and chief of thoracic surgery and trauma at Cedars-Sinai.
He said whether the patient is 80 or 95, if he or she is in reasonably good physical condition without any imminently life threatening problems, such surgery involves very low risk and produces good results.
The research is described in journal The American Surgeon.
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