I've had clothes custom-tailored by a seamstress. I've had vacations custom-planned by travel agents. And now, I've received a custom-designed personal health plan from medical experts.

Recently, I joined a group of volunteers at Emory University submitting to an exhaustive -- and exhausting -- "predictive health assessment" that researchers used to determine the specific health risks I face and to prescribe changes to my behavior and lifestyle with the aim of reducing those risks.

Scientists report that a protein best known as a common marker of inflammation plays a key role in the progression of human cancer. The research, published in the journal Cancer Cell, implicates C-reactive protein (CRP) as a potential target for cancer treatment.

AstraZeneca PLC's cholesterol drug Crestor sharply lowered risk of heart attacks among apparently healthy patients in a major study that challenges longstanding heart-disease prevention strategies. The findings could substantially broaden the market for statins, the world's best-selling class of medicines.

Health insurers are increasingly relying on outside firms to help rein in the skyrocketing costs of imaging scans like MRIs. But when these middlemen clash with doctors about what tests are needed, consumers can get caught in the crossfire.

It is well appreciated that persons with multiple myeloma have an increased risk of venous thrombosis. More recently, this relative risk has been shown to be increased further in these patients while on therapy with thalidomide and its derivatives. The mechanism of this increased risk for thrombosis has traditionally been attributed to traditional neoplasia risks for thrombosis, such as decreased mobility, surgical procedures, use of chemotherapy, and/or indwelling catheters.

ABSTRACT

Background Smoldering (asymptomatic) multiple myeloma is an asymptomatic plasma-cell proliferative disorder associated with a high risk of progression to symptomatic multiple myeloma or amyloidosis. Prognostic factors for the progression and outcome of this disease are unclear.

Over the last few years new immunoassays have emerged that allow the measurement of free immunoglobulin light chains (FLCs) in serum to a level of 2-4 mg/l and provide a much greater sensitivity than older methods, such as immunofixation, which is able to detect FLCs at a minimum concentration of 100-150 mg/l. The new FLC assay has enabled the detection of monoclonal protein in some patients with non-secretory myeloma and amyloidosis that were previously undetectable.

When I was first diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1994, I wish that I had read the article below before I doing anything else. The article below, "You've Just Been Diagnosed..." is written by the multiple myeloma survivor who edits the mma listserv, Chris Hollyer, a knowledgeable, warm and genuinely helpful person who has experienced a great deal and who is a tremendous resource.