In 2013, Academy Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie wrote a now famous opinion piece for the New York Times detailing her journey involving genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer.
There is power in numbers. When a researcher is studying the causes of a human disease, the more people involved in the study, the greater the probability that the study will generate useful results.
Historically, the most important risk factors for head and neck cancer — which can strike anywhere from the lips to the larynx, and up into the sinuses and nasal cavity — consisted of alcohol use, tobacco use (including smokeless tobacco), poor oral hygiene and missing teeth.
Precision medicine uses data on an individual's person’s diet, exercise routine, family history, environment, genetics, and more to tailor treatment and prevention of certain conditions to that person’s unique characteristics.
As an African American woman, I am aware that I’m in one of the highest-risk groups for dying from heart disease but my non-inherited risk factors are manageable.
