Wanna Fight Cancer? Don't Chop Your Carrots

From hot dogs to cell phones, many summer pleasures are just fine

(NEWSER) - Each passing day seems to bring a new story about how something seemingly innocuous will ruin your health, or else ruin the planet. Not all of it's true, though, insists John Tierney of the New York Times, who lists 10 things it's not worth fussing about.

1. Deadly hot dogs. The nitrite scare is over, and saturated fat is bad but not terrible; if anything, sweat the carbs in the bun.

New study ties nutrient in milk, tuna, salmon to 60% decrease

(NEWSER) - The first research linking vitamin D directly to cancer prevention shows the nutrient sharply reduces cancer rates in older women. Only 3% of the 1,179 women monitored while taking a combination of vitamin D and calcium developed cancer over 4 years, a 60% lower rate than those given placebos, according to the breakthrough American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study. More»

If Rep. Jared Polis and his SLICE Act have their way

(NEWSER) - You may soon find it tougher to pack in a day's recommended number of vegetable servings. Rep. Jared Polis is on a quest to undo what some may consider to be the best thing Congress did in all of 2011 : its declaration that pizza is still considered a vegetable—at least where school lunches are concerned. Pizza is currently granted that designation thanks to its two tablespoons of tomato sauce, and the Colorado Democrat hopes his SLICE Act (seriously) will change all that, reports the Los Angeles Times . More»

Prostate cancer test does more harm than good: advisory panel

(NEWSER) - A federal panel's advice to American men: Forget about that prostate cancer screening, which does more harm than good, ABC News reports. The announcement by the United States Preventive Services Task Force today may have settled a longstanding debate about PSA blood tests, the most common screening for prostate cancer. The test includes medical procedures that lead to serious or even fatal health problems, the panel noted—so, in short, it's better to have the cancer. More»

But researchers don't know why

(NEWSER) - Sleep apnea afflicts some 28 million Americans, and now two new medical studies are indicating it might do far worse than ruin a night's sleep; it could also increase one's cancer risk, reports the New York Times . Those with severe sleep apnea have a 65% greater chance of developing some form of cancer, according to a study in Spain, while a second study in Wisconsin indicates people with the most breathing problems in their sleep face a risk of dying from cancer fives times the average. More»