Daily Rounds: Breast Cancer Treatment Success; Boosting PhysEd; Sex & TV; Stents For Erectile Dysfunction

Benefit in Radiation After Breast Cancer Surgery (The New York Times) "Radiation treatment after surgery for breast cancer significantly lowers the risk that the disease will recur in the breast or spread lethally to other parts of the body over the next 10 to 15 years, researchers say. The new findings mean that radiation prevents recurrences for a longer time and saves more lives than was generally recognized, said Sarah C. Darby, a professor of medical statistics at the University of Oxford and an author of the report."

Mass. considers boost to schools physical education classes - The Boston Globe (boston.com) "Although state law requires physical education at every grade level, no time minimum is specified, and districts looking to add instruction time for academic courses have been known to chip away at gym classes. However, several bills are before the Legislature that would restore exercise’s standing. One bill would base state standards on national standards, and establish a physical education coordinator for the state. Another bill spells out grade-by-grade standards. A third would set up a pilot program to provide matching grants to at least six public schools to expand their PE programs." Teens' Sexual Attitudes Affected By TV And Mom : Shots - Health Blog : NPR "A strong mother-daughter relationship neutralized the TV effect on girls, the report from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven says. For boys, the risk actually increased if they were closer to their moms.So what's happening in the mother-son relationship that's not happening in the mother-daughter one? One theory that co-authors Laura Vandenbosch and Steven Eggermont offered is that when a mother encourages her TV-watching son to talk about sex, he might misinterpret her intentions as a confirmation of the importance of sex in his life or even as an approval of recreational sex." (npr.org)

Medtronic tests stent for erectile dysfunction | Reuters "Initial findings showed two-thirds of men who underwent the 1- to 2-hour procedure improved by at least 4 points on the 30-point Internal Index of Erectile Dysfunction scale, he said. There were no adverse events reported up to three months later, but Rogers acknowledged that risks may become evident much later.""This is still investigational and requires more research. It is the inception of an entirely new way of treating ED that has never been seen before," he said.' (Reuters)