Annette Leal Mattern

I recently attended the First International Granulosa Cell Tumor Conference, a gathering of women and caregivers of a rather unique subgroup of ovarian cancer know as GCT Survivors. Conceived by ...

Can our diets and the amount of exercise we get lower recurrences of ovarian cancer? That's the question posed by a new study being investigated by the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG), a ...

The American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO), recently issued a report recommending that when patients are diagnosed with advanced stage cancer, the physician initiate discussions about ...

Jack LaLanne transformed his body and his life through exercise and nutrition long before studies proved their relationship to wellness--actually before there was a notion of wellness. One of the ...

In yoga class, the teacher instructs us to assume the tree pose--Vriksasana it’s called in Sanskrit. Perched on one leg like a flock of flamingos, the other cancer survivors and I find our balance ...

A caregiver called me recently to ask about the holidays, struggling with how to balance her partner’s needs with the family’s plans for the holidays. The patient is in treatment for ovarian ...

I’m a true believer in investigating ways to improve one’s self. Once called “self help,” I think of this exploration as self investment. So, the Women’s Conference, the shining achievement of ...

After many years of medical treatments, I’ve collected countless stories about how doctors treat their patients. They cover the gamut: kind, sympathetic and gentle to blunt, brutal and harsh. Some ...

Women’s health is a hot topic these days. Unfortunately, gynecologic cancers still lag in their ability to create media buzz. Paradoxically, gynecologic problems just aren’t sexy. How can we ...

As an ovarian cancer survivor and advocate, I tell everyone who will listen about the symptoms of the disease, hoping that some woman will recognize them and get diagnosed early. I’ve given out ...

The term “psychosocial” is a psychological description of the way we relate to and interact with our social environment. It is the sense of self that we acquire though life experiences – from ...

It’s been a hotly debated issue for families who carry a genetic predisposition to develop ovarian and/ or breast cancer. Should women who have the genetic mutation undergo aggressive surgeries? ...

For chemotherapy patients, things are changing in a good way and it’s because of a new individualized approach called “personalized medicine.” The traditional method of classifying and ...

I recently attended a cancer conference that included a session on doctors who write poetry. How strange, I thought, that physicians were also poets. I was curious about their slant, wondering if ...

When we are faced with a medical crisis, our world turns upside down. Even if we had hints of a problem, the eventual diagnosis can be a crushing blow. Many patients feel as though they are in a ...

Inflammation is part of our immune system, a key ingredient in an intricate recipe of life-sustaining responses that heal our bodies, fight infection and kill dangerous intruders. When it works ...

Imagine being able to turn off the valve that feeds tumors just like we turn off the water at a hose bib when we need to. A therapy called anti-angiogenesis does just that. To understand how ...

For those who think there are no scientific studies of nutritional effects on diseases of the body, think again. Nutritional genomics science is doing just that: examining the relationship between ...

Someone you love gets diagnosed with cancer and suddenly, unexpectedly, you become a cancer caregiver. Without any preparation or planning, you are now responsible for shepherding someone through ...

The evidence is overwhelming: eating foods rich in phytochemicals can reduce your cancer risk. But, what are they and how do they work? And, most importantly, which foods deliver them to our ...

In celebration of Women’s Health Week, the Surgeon General, Dr. Regina Benjamin, issued a press release encouraging women to take steps to a healthier lifestyle, such as getting regular health ...

Asking women to exercise more and eat less is just too simplistic. Although many diseases are linked to things we seemingly control, to assume that women aren’t healthier because they are either ...

Hens (yes, as in chickens) are the only animals besides humans known to spontaneously develop ovarian cancer. This makes them a superb study subject for preliminary research into a disease that ...

I wrote earlier about using food as medicine based on an article highlighting nine foods that Prevention magazine listed as boosters to our immune system. The first three are yogurt, ...

Cancer patients are often left with a compromised immune system which makes them more susceptible to infections and disease. Resources designed to defend our bodies are stymied by the cancer ...

Cancer is such a personal journey that sometimes we think we need to go it alone. Some patients feel that no one quite understands their pain or anguish. Some think it’s their responsibility to ...

The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance held a seminar on Healthcare Insurance Reform and its impact on women, but especially focused on the ovarian cancer community. There has been so much confusion ...

Most women don’t think about ovarian cancer. With no family history for roughly 90 percent, they know little about it. Consequently, few ever think to take protective measures that could lower ...

Because I’ve lived with ovarian cancer for 23 years and survived breast cancer along the way, people often ask me what I would attribute my survival to. When I start listing several things they’ll ...

The possibility of using food to influence our health and halt cancer has intrigued patients and researchers for years. New, science-based studies are revealing remarkable links between ...

I ask this of cancer patient who are suffering from the intense effects of cancer or treatments. Are you doing everything you can to help your body with the incredible challenge it’s facing, ...

For the record, most husbands are fantastic support when their wives are diagnosed with cancer. They help with chores, bring home gifts, take their wives to treatment . . . all the things you ...

Cancer patients are often so overwhelmed by the disease and harsh treatments that they have trouble finding a path that will return them to a state of wellness. Many expect their oncologist will ...

We all carry baggage that we’ve collected over the years, problems that others or we ourselves created. We pack them up and haul them around as evidence of the wrongs done to us. As a cancer ...