« August 2004 | Main | October 2004 »
The Journal of the American Dental Association reported in its August edition that cigarette smoke combined with healthy saliva creates a mixture that can accelerate oropharyngeal cancer, according to researchers in the July 5 issue of British Journal of Cancer... [Medical News Today]
A new study is casting doubts on the effectiveness of tamoxifen. A drug thought to help prevent breast cancer may not work as well as first thought. [Breast Cancer - Topix.net]
Scientific tests on a range of traditional remedies have shown they have "real benefits", researchers say.
Experts from King's College London said the treatments from around the world had properties which may help treat conditions such as diabetes and cancer.
The remedies included India's curry leaf tree, reputed to treat diabetes.
However complementary medicine experts said full clinical trials would have to be carried out to confirm the treatments' benefits.
The researchers examined Indian diabetes treatments, Ghanaian wound healing agents and cancer treatments used in the Far East. [Cancer - Topix.net]
The first clinical trial of the herbal supplement Zyflamend in patients with a precursor to prostate cancer is being conducted by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.
Zyflamend, which is commonly used as an anti-inflammatory, may prove effective in preventing prostate cancer. Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) is a clinical precursor to prostrate cancer. Without intervention, men with PIN have a 50 percent to 70 percent risk of developing prostate cancer, the researchers said. [MedicineNet Cancer General]
Women with certain genes get an extra protective boost when they take fish oils called marine n-3 fatty acids that may reduce the risk of breast cancer.
That's the conclusion of a study by researchers at the University of Southern California and the National University of Singapore.
The study found that women whose bodies do a poor job of eliminating the fish oils' byproducts seem to derive the most benefit from taking them. It's believed the fish oils' byproducts provide the cancer-fighting properties.
"In this study, we found that women with certain common DNA patterns experienced more breast cancer protection from marine n-3 fatty acids than women with other common patterns," study author Dr. Manuela Gago-Dominguez, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at USC's Keck School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.
Researchers examined data from the Singapore Chinese Health Study of diet and cancer risk in more than 63,000 Chinese women and men who live in Singapore.
The findings could help scientists better understand how fish oils may protect against cancer. [MedicineNet Cancer General]
With national press from Newsweek's feature on Mind, Body Medicine, national author, tv and radio guest and mind, body medicine expert and cancer survivor says cancer and illness is rooted in emotions of pain and inner turmoil. Every part of the body is connected with an emotion and uncovering the root creates the opportunity for more effective and lasting healing. [PR Web (The Free Wire Service) Medical Alternative Medicine]
Vitamin B2 is known as riboflavin and helps the body metabolize carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. It is fundamental in red blood cell formation, antibody production, and cell respiration. B2 facilitates the utilization of oxygen by the tissues of the skin, mucous membranes, nails, and hair. This vitamin is needed to properly metabolize niacin, vitamin B3. B2 is important in the prevention and treatment of cataracts, and is especially critical during pregnancy to help promote normal fetal growth.
Individuals who take antibiotics or oral contraceptives, drink alcohol daily, or exercise heavily each day have increased needs for vitamin B2. The best sources are:
• Almonds
• Broccoli
• Cheese
• Green leafy vegetables
• Egg yolks
• Fish
• Legumes
• Milk
• Organ meats
• Poultry
• Soy
• Spinach
• Whole grains
• Yogurt
The anticancer compound sulforaphane, found in vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts and kale, blocks the growth of late-stage breast cancer cells, a new study says.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers say their finding, which appears in the September issue of the Journal of Nutrition, could help improve prevention and treatment of breast cancer.
"This is the first report to show how the naturally occurring plant chemical sulforaphane can block late stages of the cancer process by disrupting components of the cell called microtubules," Keith Singletary, a professor in the department of food science and human nutrition, said in a prepared statement.
"We were surprised and pleased to find [it] could block the growth of breast cells that were already cancerous." [MedicineNet Cancer General]
A new study shows that a common blood test for ovarian cancer may be better than standard imaging techniques like CT or "CAT" scans in predicting survival in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, according to Danish researchers. [cancerfacts.com]
Researchers have designed a blood test to detect ovarian cancer using three proteins found in the blood of women with the disease. The researchers led by Dr. Daniel Chan, professor and director of the Biomarker Discovery Center at Johns Hopkins, identified a small group of specific proteins produced by genes that become mutated in ovarian cancer. [cancerfacts.com]
Vitamin B1 is also called thiamin. A severe deficiency of thiamin is associated with diseases of the nervous system and poor digestion, resulting in overall poor health. Many Oriental countries suffer with these types of diseases because they eat predominantly polished rice, which is devoid of vitamin B1. Vitamin B1 helps maintain a normal appetite, promotes good digestion and the absorption of nutrients, and also combats constipation. Vitamin B1 plays an important role in burning carbohydrate foods in the body. It is also essential for normal reproduction and lactation.
Vitamin B1 is found in the outer coats and embryo of grains. Polishing rice and the manufactured processing of breads and cereals removes this vitamin. In the United States, the manufacturers of white flour and refined cereals add vitamin B1 back into their processed products, but this isn’t the same as eating the vitamin in its natural state. I’ve always wondered where the ‘replacement vitamins’ come from anyway. Do the manufacturing companies salvage the natural vitamins from their original extraction and insert them back into the processed food product? Do they buy the vitamins from a health food store and dump them into their man-made concoctions in bulk? Are the vitamins chemical reproductions of the natural vitamins?
The foods that provide natural vitamin B1 include:
• Lean meats
• Liver
• Kidney
• Port
• Yeast
• Whole-grain cereals and flour
• Wheat germ
• Legumes
• Beans
• Peanuts
• Egg yolk
• Milk
• Oranges
• Pineapple
• Grapefruit
• Tomatoes
• Peas
• Potatoes
• Green leafy vegetables
Foods that contain the B vitamins are considered the most potent ‘morale foods’ because they promote a feeling of general well being and increased vigor. The B vitamins are essential for good health and nutrition. They assist in healthy blood, bones, and nerve function, as well as supporting liver function. B Complex is necessary to aid in the body’s nutritional demands during the detoxification process and to maintain health. B-Complex contains the following B vitamins that work efficiently and with fewer side effects when taken together.
Sure, 25-year-old Niki Atwal knows about the wonders of rouge and a little lipstick. [Cancer - Topix.net]
The FDA has approved BreastScan IR (Infrared Sciences Corporation), a new breast-scanning device that uses digital infrared imaging to help in the early detection of breast cancer. [Breast Cancer - Topix.net]
A daily walk around the block, a few laps in the pool, a vigorous game of soccer: studies suggest exercise is extending the lives of women who've survived breast cancer, even as it lifts their spirits. [Yahoo! News - Health]
Reuters - When added to conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT), testosterone may reduce the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, results of a small study suggest. [Yahoo! News - Health]
If a woman carries the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation, an MRI is better at detecting her breast cancer than alternatives, such as mammography, ultrasound or clinical breast examination, says a new study published in JAMA, September 15 Issue... [Medical News Today]
Could electric light pose a cancer threat?
It might seem like the wildest of paranoid beliefs, but a growing number of scientists suspect it might be true. The reason: Turning on the lights after dark may affect a small number of "clock genes" that play a major role in controlling how cells live, die and function, these researchers suggest.
Specifically, the experts say, there is evidence that night lighting can help cause cancer by interfering with the molecular mechanisms that control cell death and multiplication.
A number of these researchers are in London this week for a five-day meeting where they are considering the evidence for a link between lighting at night and an increase in the incidence of childhood leukemia. The meeting, which concludes Friday, is sponsored by Children With Leukaemia, Great Britain's leading charity devoted to conquest of the disease. [MedicineNet Cancer General]
Low-carb dieters may be reducing their risk of breast cancer while they're shedding pounds, a new study shows.
While diets high in fat have long been suspected as a risk factor for breast cancer, a new study in Mexican women led by Dr. Walter Willett at the Harvard School of Public Health showed that a carbohydrate laden diet may double the risk of breast cancer risk compared to consuming a more balanced diet. The results appear in the August edition of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
"Scientists have long suspected that diet was among the factors contributing to breast cancer," study co-author Willett said in a prepared statement. "Now, with studies like ours, we are beginning gradually to understand what elements of diet specifically are associated with the disease, and to grasp the chemical and biological processes that contribute to it at the cellular level."
In the study of 1,866 women in Mexico, researchers from the Instituto de Salud Pública in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston found that women who derived 57 percent or more of their total energy intake from carbohydrates incurred a risk of breast cancer 2.2 times higher than women with more balanced diets. Dietary patterns in Mexico are characterized by higher consumption of carbohydrates and lower intake of fat and animal protein than those in more affluent western countries.
The researchers theorize that the link between carbohydrates and breast cancer may be related to elevated levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor binding proteins in the blood. [cancerfacts.com]
CANCER patients awaiting medical test results could soon have their anxieties eased with the use of aromatherapy.
Researchers from Napier University in Edinburgh are to study whether a blend of sweet-smelling essential oils can reduce the stress of waiting for news of important tests.
The study will examine whether a mix of neroli and sandalwood oils can help calm the patients. It is believed that patients’ stress levels are reduced, they will be in a better condition for surgery. [Scotsman.com News - Health]
A dose of vitamin C may give a quick boost to the poorer-than-average blood circulation seen in healthy young smokers, a Japanese study suggests. [Yahoo! News - Health]
Prostate cancer is the second-most deadly cancer in men and is the subject of an upcoming presentation at Maui Memorial Medical Center. [Cancer - Topix.net]
For many men, a routine PSA blood test to screen for prostate cancer has become an annual ritual. Now the developer of the test says it can't be relied on for this purpose, and has led to overly zealous treatment of men with prostate enlargement. [Yahoo! News - Health]
Men with enlarged prostates can now receive fast, effective and affordable relief, thanks to new herb and external prostate massage techniques revealed in the ebook, "Prostate Secrets". [PR Web (The Free Wire Service) Medical Alternative Medicine]
Tranquility Productions celebrates the successful release of an authentic CD recording of a profound and unique meditation practice, entitled Yoga Nidra Meditation: Extreme Relaxation of Conscious Deep Sleep. This practice has been widely used as a complementary and alternative health method, as well as a nonsectarian meditation for spiritual growth. [PR Web (The Free Wire Service) Medical Alternative Medicine]
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) lists prostate cancer as the second most common cancer in men, after skin cancer. Some 230,110 American men will be diagnosed with the disease this year, and about 30,000 will die from it, most from diagnoses in previous years.
But because the disease progresses slowly over the years, experts predict that men are much more likely to die with prostate cancer than from it. Recent autopsy studies show many men over age 50 have early, undiagnosed prostate cancer, and most early cancers remain harmless, taking years for them to become life-threatening. [MedicineNet Cancer General]
After cancers of the lung and breast, colorectal cancer is the third-leading cause of cancer deaths among U.S. women. About 130,000 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed in the United States every year, resulting in 56,000 deaths. [MedicineNet Cancer General]
In the 1970s, colas (or soft drinks as we call them in the South) were not as widespread as today. Soft drinks were not available in public schools, there were not as many drive-through restaurants in which to purchase a soft drink with every meal, nor was the ‘big gulp’ available for all to buy at the quick mart.
Beverages should ideally be thirst quenching, refreshing, and nourishing. Instead of colas, especially diet sodas, drink 100% fruit juices NOT from concentrate. Pour the juices into a frosty mug or add natural ice cream (ice milk or frozen yogurt) for a sweet treat. Create your own sodas by adding sparkling water or spring water to fruit juices or to milk with ice cream. Puree fruits and add sparkling water with a squeeze of lime.
Limit the number of soft drinks you consume daily. And, if you must drink a carbonated soda, drink a regular soft drink opposed to a diet cola. Natural health food markets offer herbal colas and natural beverages that taste like the old-fashioned colas from the past.
Soft drink machines have no place in public schools, in my opinion as a mother and a nutritionist. Carbonated beverages offer school-aged children nothing nutritionally. As a geologist, I construe carbonated soft drinks reacting in the human body like water dripping in a cave. Think about this:
Caves form where thick layers of limestone rock containing carbon are found. Water trickles through the soil, turning slightly acid from the carbon dioxide in the air and from decaying plants in the soil. This acidic water dissolves the carbonates (carbon) in the limestone. Over a period of time, the water fills with carbonates and other dissolved minerals it collects along the way. The primary mineral dissolved in cave water is calcite, or calcium. But iron, manganese, and other metals can be found in the water as well. These minerals are responsible for staining caves with their beautiful colors. Water dripping from cave rooves form beautiful formations called stalactites and stalagmites. This mineral combination is known as calcium carbonate.
When you open a cola, it fizzes. The ‘fizz’ comes from the tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide trapped inside the sealed container. Carbon dioxide is a by-product of carbon. Every time you breathe out, you put carbon dioxide into the air. It is one of your body’s waste products.
When you drink a carbonated soft drink, you are drinking dissolved carbon, like cave water. Burp the dioxide and the remaining carbon flows through your body like calcium-rich water trickling through a cave. The acidic water from the soft drink dissolves the other minerals in your body it collected along the way, specifically the calcium it assembled from your bones and teeth. Your body disposes of the dissolved minerals by crystallizing the calcium in ‘your cave’ (your body) in the form of bone spurs and arthritis. Stalactites and stalagmites of the soul!
In a nutshell, sodas combine with the calcium in your body to form calcium carbonate, just as in a cave. This is not wise, especially for the diet of young children. Many people currently blame the problem with soft drinks on the caffeine or the sugar content. It is important to recognize the primary chain of events created by the soft drink itself as the fundamental concern.
Many older women with early breast cancer can safely skip radiation after having a lump removed, two studies suggest. [Breast Cancer - Topix.net]
Regular psychological counseling for breast cancer patients may do more than just lower their stress and anxiety . [Breast Cancer - Topix.net]
The study of other cultures is a good way to view the American diet from 'outside of the box.' Just as environmental pollutants cause disease in animals, chemicals in our foods create the same body reactions in humans. Outside the United States in countries less overtaken by technology and mass-manufacturing of foods and pharmeucticals, cancer rates more clearly illustrate the effects toxic foods have on human health.
Colon cancer is at its highest level in the United States today because the American ‘diet of convenience’ has promoted the highest fat, lowest fiber, fried-food and processed diet in the world.
The lowest colon cancer rates are found in Japan because the Japanese have diets low in processed fat. Mormons also have a low colon cancer rate because they eat a natural food diet, especially a diet high in natural fiber. Seventh-Day Adventists have a low colon cancer rate, too, because they eat very low to no fatty fried foods and also have high fiber diets.
Stomach cancer poses the highest risk in Japan and South America because a high degree of salted and pickled foods is consumed in these two countries. They also add nitrates to their soils and water, and have an average low intake of vitamins C and E. Stomach cancer is the lowest in the United States because Americans have available year round fresh fruits, salads, and vitamins C and E.
And beware. The fat substitute Olestra® absorbs the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. This is bad news for the body’s immune system, cardiovascular system, and digestive system, and particularly the liver. Each of these body systems depend on the above vitamins to keep them healthy. Essential fats should be natural, and the body can expel them easily with a good B-vitamin and some vigorous exercise. The liver and gall bladder cannot assimilate unnatural chemical, processed fats, anyway. Human bodies haven’t evolved that ability.
Breast cancer is the highest in the United States and Western Europe due to the ‘Western’ high-fat, chemical-fat diet. The lowest is in Japan as a result of their low fat diet.
Prostate cancer is the highest in the United States and Scandinavia because of high fat contents. The lowest is in Japan due to low fat consumption.
Esophagus cancer is the highest in France, Eastern Iran and Central China, and within the lower socioeconomic groups in the United States. France and the United States have high risk factors of alcohol and tobacco use. Iran and China have very low levels of vitamins C and A available, and the possible use of opium causes esophagus cancer.
So, foods do make a difference. My grandmother used to say, “You don’t live to eat; you eat to live.” Grandmommy lived to be 102 years old and passed-on in her home of 100+ years outside Atlanta, Georgia.
Health experts see great promise in an experimental blood test designed to detect ovarian cancer in its early stages.
Although the test, which looks for a tumor "fingerprint" of proteins specific to ovarian cancer, is not yet ready for widespread commercial use, it's been hailed as new hope for earlier detection of this potential killer. [MedicineNet Cancer General]
Discovered about 200 years ago by German physician Samuel
Hahnemann, homeopathy is enjoying ever-increasing popularity as a choice of health care for millions around the world. In fact, the leading prescription cold medicine in Germany is a homeopathic medicine. [Homeopathy in the News]
Many parents are facing the trauma of learning that their child has cancer, with one new case being registered among children under 16 every month. [Cancer - Topix.net]
In women with breast cancer, the probability of dying from that malignancy, as opposed to some other cause, can range from 3 percent to 85 percent, depending on factors such as disease stage and patient age at diagnosis, new research shows. [Yahoo! News - Health]