FitSugar

DrSugar Answers: Breast Cancer Screenings?

FitSugar — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:00:00 PDT

DrSugar is in the house and answering your questions.

Hello Doc,
My mother is 50 years old and has never had a mammogram. She has lived in Florida for about 26 years now and has not had health insurance since my father passed away seven years ago. However, due to the economy and her low income, she can not afford health insurance and her employer does not offer it to their employees either. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I was hoping to find an affordable way for her to get screened?
Best Regards,
- Worried Daughter in Miami

In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I thought we would answer a breast cancer-related question. To see more on the serious and important topic of screening for breast cancer

read more. Approximately one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes. The fact that breast cancer is so common makes screening very important. If caught early, breast cancer can often be surgically cured before it spreads. Mammograms are recommended yearly, starting at forty, to screen for breast cancer. Frequent self breast examinations can also be useful for finding suspicious lumps, but are not a substitute for yearly mammograms and clinical breast exams. Sometimes breast cancer screening is recommended at a younger age when there is a strong family history of breast cancer or a known family history of having the BRCA gene. It’s unfortunate that your mother does not have health insurance. Mammograms can be very expensive without insurance. Luckily many communities have programs to offer mammograms to patients with little or no health insurance. The Centers for Disease Control website has a list of breast cancer screening resources by state. You can also go to the American Cancer Society website, enter your zip code, and find the ACS branch closest to her and see what breast cancer screenings they offer. Many of the programs offer free breast cancer screening for women without insurance. Good luck with your search and don’t give up. If you have a question for DrSugar, send me a private message here and I will forward it to the good doctor. DrSugar's posts are for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations. Click here for more details.

Love Your Laptop: 8 Tips For Keeping it Healthy and Happy

Kristy Korcz — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:23:02 PST

Valentine's Day doesn't just have to be about giving affection to your significant other. It can be about showing your appreciation for the people and things that make your life awesome. Take your laptop, for example. Your window to the vast Internet, your laptop works really hard for you without asking much in return. Give your laptop a little TLC this Valentine's Day with these tips that will keep it happy and healthy all year long.

Clean it up - Giving your laptop (or desktop) a thorough cleaning is essential to extending its life. Back up any data you may already have stored (on an external hard drive or a portable flash drive), organize your desktop icons, empty your computer's trash on a regular basis, and clear out any programs you don't use. This will help free up space and keep you on the fast track to productivity.
Practice proper shutdown habits - Shutting down all open programs and putting your laptop to sleep instead of just closing the lid will help your computer stay cool and safe while in transport. But if you've had your laptop in a cold environment, let it warm up to room temps slowly before turning it on. This will keep condensation and dew at bay, which can ruin your computer's sensitive guts.
Protect your investment - If you're going to be lugging a laptop around, make sure it's protected in a padded case!

See the rest of my tips after the jump.

Handy Everyday Gmail Tips and Tricks

GeekSugar — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:01:03 PST

If you've moved to Gmail recently (congratulations!), it's possible that you could get overwhelmed with all of the options, settings, and possibilities at your fingertips. We've got a ton of tips to share, but let's start with a few basic and handy tips that you could use every day. Check them out below!

Make voice calls - You can easily make voice calls in Gmail on the cheap. In the "Chat" section, just click the "Call Phone" button and enter the digits. You'll then be able to make free calls to landlines the US and Canada, and for super cheap you can call cell phones and landlines worldwide.
Search with options - If you haven't discovered the "Show Search Options" link to the right of the Gmail search bar, you're in for a treat. Clicking it reveals a host of helpful options, including the ability to search by sender, date, attachment, subject, and more. It's extremely helpful if you are less than diligent about labeling and filing emails in your inbox.
Use rich text signatures - Tired of those boring text-only signatures or canned responses coming from your Gmail account? Take note: Gmail supports rich text signatures! Add links, colors, images, or formatting to your Gmail account signature, or any other account you've set up to send from Gmail. It's super easy to set up - just head to your settings page, scroll down to the Signature section, and design away!
Use keyboard shortcuts - First, enable keyboard shortcuts in your Settings menu. Then, use these fast and easy keyboard shortcuts to navigate!

See the rest of the list after the break.

11 Fun and Useful Photoshop Tips and Effects to Try

GeekSugar — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:01:38 PST

Now that you've polished up your photography skills, it's time to take your photos to the next level by having some fun with Photoshop. Editing and tweaking your pics isn't considered cheating - it helps bring out the beauty in your images, and keeps things interesting. Here, I'll cover ten fun and useful Photoshop tips and effects that you can use every day, or when you want to add some pizzaz to your pics.

Get Photoshop for free - Don't have Photoshop? No prob! Get Photoshop Express for free!
Take in some free tutorials - Get the low down on Photoshop basics free of charge.
Get rid of blemishes - Who doesn't want clear skin? Make it a reality with this tip that ditches the zits.

See the rest of the tips, and learn about some sweet and simple effects you can add to your images after the break.

Earn More Money By Changing Up Your Office Space

LearnVest — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:15:07 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Most of us spend about 40 hours per week at work - in other words, the majority of our waking hours.

And nearly all of those hours are spent sitting at our desks. It’s a definite problem - and not just because we’re missing happy hour or quality couch time at home.

There’s no shortage of discouraging research pointing out the evils of a sedentary lifestyle and claiming that sitting will actually shorten our lives.

But, conversely, making a few tweaks to the way you sit - and the space you sit in - all day has been proven to make you a happier, healthier worker, busy earning your killer salary.

And, scientists say, the happier you are, the more you tend to earn.

In an effort to make the time spent at our desks as productive (and as profitable) as possible, we’ve combed the research for the easiest, most effective tips to soothe your mind and body when trapped in a cubicle . . . or corner office.

Just follow these four steps.

1. Make It Comfy

When we say “comfy,” we mean “ergonomic.” It’s an unfriendly word for a friendly concept: basically it means “intended to provide optimum comfort and to avoid stress or injury.” Friendly, right? Besides, an awkward workspace can lead to major health issues, including disorders in your joints or tendons, so a little tweaking of your cubicle can go a long way for your well-being. Line up your body correctly by following these two principles:

Your feet should be flat on the floor and your elbows should be even with your desk. This can be achieved either through adjustable chairs or - if chairs are a hot commodity at your office - a combination of step stools and pillows.

Read on for more tips.

Rachel McAdams Joins Vanessa and Josh For a Journey 2 Premiere

Allie Merriam — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:01:09 PST

Vanessa Hudgens only had eyes for boyfriend Austin Butler on the carpet at last night's LA premiere of Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. They were joined at the event by her costars Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and a Monique Lhuillier-clad Kristin Davis at Grauman's Chinese Theater. Rachel McAdams doesn't have a role in the film, but her The Vow is coming out soon. She donned a gorgeous Peter Som dress and shirt for the occasion, and later attended the afterparty at The Colony nightclub to pose for pictures with High School Musical buds Ashley Tisdale and Vanessa. The screening was held a week before the movie arrives in theaters next Friday, Feb. 10. The cast has spent a great deal of time together recently. Vanessa, Josh, and the gang were just in Hawaii for a press junket - stay tuned for our chat with them! There were hours free from press duties, though, and Vanessa Hudgens slipped into a bikini for some beach fun with Austin.

Security Tips For Data Privacy Day!

Anna Monette Roberts — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 08:30:34 PST

It's Data Privacy Day, so we're here to give you 10 tips to keeping your computer safe, secure, and totally private. Nothing is worse than having your computer hacked into, your personal information stolen, or becoming a victim of fraud. We've rounded up all of our best tech advice to help keep your computer protected and free from hacker malice. If you haven't implemented these 10 tidbits yet, today is the perfect day to begin to take charge of your computer's safety.

Avoid fraud: Be wary of emails, calls, and log-in screens that ask you to verify all of your information. Always air on the side of precaution when sharing more sensitive information like banking passwords. If a company reaches out to you (rather than you personally reaching out to them), don't give your personal information out. Redial the number or email the company using the information posted on their website.
Set up a hack-proof password: When logging in to websites, come up with difficult and different passwords for each site, using a variety of letters, numbers, and symbols. Change it every couple of months for additional safety.
Double-check your firewall: Most computers have a built-in firewall that protects your computer by stopping hackers and malicious software from accessing your computer via the Internet. Make sure to keep your firewall setting on, and you could even customize what websites, domains, and IP addresses you want to access from your computer.
Forget about free public WiFi: Hackers often create fake networks, titling them "Free Public WiFi" in hopes of stealing your personal data. Even if the WiFi is legit, it's still dangerous to access private information in an unsecured network. Always opt to pay the small fee for a service that requires you to log-in to an official network.
Safely search for celebrities: Googling your favorite celebrities can be a dangerous business if you don't recognize the sites you are clicking on. Many Google results of famous celebrity names lead to infecting your PC with malware and viruses.

See more tips to better privacy.

The Benefits of Homeschooling Your Kids

LearnVest — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:05:49 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

In the past, LearnVest spoke to parents who chose not to use diapers with their children and dove into the stay-at-home parent debate. This time, one mother shares why she has decided to homeschool her children.

In 2002, we had our third child, 10 years after our second was born. Our eldest two boys were in a private school, but we began to consider the best way to educate our newest addition. Although we loved the school our boys attended, each year cost us about $10,000. We questioned how feasible it would be to put additional kids through there, too.

We had three more children in the following years for a total of six, and with each new baby came further confirmation that putting our four youngest through private school was out of the question financially. Our two eldest were approaching college age, which put even more pressure on us.

The decision was simple. We elected to educate our four youngest at home.

Why Public School Wasn’t an Option

We always knew that we wouldn’t send our children to public school. Parents who opt out of public school do so for many reasons: safety, quality of education, religious conviction, and many others. My husband and I both went to public school, but that was a long time ago, and I don’t know what schools are like today. For us, religion was the main reason. We believe that God gave parents the responsibility to raise, train, and educate their own children. Many parts of the Bible talk about training your children - to us, that includes education.

For more, read after the jump.

Enter For a Chance to Meet Drew Barrymore!

PopSugar — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:50:00 PST

Drew Barrymore is back on the big screen in February with Big Miracle! To celebrate the film and Drew's amazing fans, we're giving away an exciting trip. One lucky winner and a friend will fly to Los Angeles on Virgin America, be chauffeured by Limos.com, and get the A-list treatment, all before meeting - and interviewing - Drew in person as part of our I'm a Huge Fan series! There will be a few fun surprises along the way, too. We're looking for one of Drew's biggest fans, so prove you're it by taking our quiz. Check out the official rules here - it doesn't matter how you score. Hurry, the sweepstakes ends Jan. 12 at 11:59 p.m. PST. Big Miracle opens in theaters nationwide on Feb. 3!

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Sweepstakes starts 6:00 p.m. PST 1/6/12 and ends 11:59 p.m. PST 1/12/12. Open only to legal residents of 49 US and DC (RI excluded). 18+. Click here for official rules. Void where prohibited. Sponsor: Sugar Publishing, Inc.

Step 1: Like PopSugar on Facebook!

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Step 2: Log into your PopSugar account. If you're not already a member, register now for free. (You need to be logged in before you take the quiz below.)

Step 3: Take our quiz below and good luck!

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Why New Yorkers Live Longer Than the Rest of the US

Heather Dale — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:49:18 PST

Well here's a new year's shocker for you - The Annual Summary of Vital Statistics has just announced that New York City has surpassed national figures with its all-time high life expectancy of 80.6 years. That's right, New Yorkers are living longer than ever before, and not only that, but they are living, on average, two years longer than the rest of the country. "By investing in health care and continuing to encourage more New Yorkers to take charge of their own health, we've experienced dramatic improvements in life expectancy," says Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

Here are the secrets behind New York City residents' longevity.