Trending News Today: Advanced Breast Cancer Survival Rates Improving

Women with advanced breast cancer are surviving longer, The Washington Post reported. The results of a new study found that the 5-year survival rate of women under 50 years of age initially diagnosed with advanced cancer doubled from 18% between 1992 and 1994 to 36% between 2005 and 2012. Among women aged 50 to 64 years, survival time extended from a little more than 19 months to nearly 30 months. The authors said that the findings are favorable because, in part, they are due to longer survival times resulting from better treatments, the Post reported. The investigators estimate that more than 154,000 women are living with stage 4 cancer.

Experts believe that the best ways to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease is to take good care of the brain, reported The Los Angeles Times. The following are 8 ways to potentially reduce the odds of Alzheimer’s: engage in physical activity, healthy diet, quit smoking, get adequate amounts of sleep, keep blood pressure under control, address depression and high stress levels, stay socially engaged, and keep the brain in shape with mental challenges.

The FDA warns that a common lead test can produce inaccurate results when using blood drawn from a vein, according to NPR. Although Magellan Diagnostics has sold millions of tests in recent years, most them are heel-stick or finger-stick tests. There is no evidence that blood obtained from a finger or heel stick are impacted. Officials recommend that certain children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers get retested if they had blood used from a vein. The FDA said it is aggressively investigating why these tests can produce inaccurate results, NPR reported.