Facts about CANCER From John Hopkins Hospital USA

A Few Caveats...

1. Every person have cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion.When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.
3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumours.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds o f infections and complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:


• Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one importan t food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour - Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.
• Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.
• Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
• A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains,seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
• Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

TIPS FROM JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL

1. No plastic containers in micro.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

John Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer.Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.

Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers.

This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.

Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Wrist implant that keeps track of high blood pressure

A tiny device, not much bigger than a grain of rice, implanted in the wrist to keep a round-the-clock check on blood pressure could reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The miniature sensor sits next to an artery in the wrist and constantly measures changes in blood pressure. It is programmed to transmit the findings to a doctor’s computer. Scientists behind the new implant say it has no batteries that need replacing and, once implanted, can stay in place for the rest of the patient’s life. Three volunteers in the US had the sensor fitted inside their wrists last month as part of a trial designed to test its accuracy.

Blood pressure is measured by checking two readings. Systolic is the pressure inside arteries when the heart is forcing blood through them, and diastolic is the pressure when the heart relaxes. But testing blood pressure when a patient visits their doctor is not always accurate. Some patients suffer a syndrome called ‘whitecoat hypertension’, where the stress of seeing a doctor forces their blood pressure up. In others, readings may vary widely throughout the day.

The new ‘chip-in-a-wrist’ could be the solution. Doctors apply a local anaesthetic and insert the device just underneath the skin next to the radial artery.

A tiny pressure sensor in the device monitors changes in the forces being applied by blood as it flows through the artery. It transmits the findings to a handheld receiver, which stores the information so it can be downloaded to a doctor’s computer later.The US firm which developed the implant, Atlanta-based CardioMEMS, said it is a world first.

“We believe this is the first instance of a wireless sensor being used to monitor blood pressure,” said company chairman Dr Jay Yadav.

Facing The Future - Stem cell cream is future of face care

London: Controversial Stem Cell Lotion, Being Touted As The Holy Grail Of Skincare, Could Be Available In Weeks

Just imagine being able to clone your own skin, creating brandnew cells that are undamaged by age, sun or pollution. It would be the Holy Grail of skincare, the answer that every woman over the age of 30 has been looking for. And the technology, which centres on stem cells, could be available in Britain in a matter of weeks.

In embryos, stem cells form the basis of every cell in the human body; in adults, they regenerate damaged tissue. It might sound like science fiction, but the controversial new frontier in antiageing uses creams containing laboratory synthesised ingredients to stimulate dormant stem cells in the skin and transform them into new tissue. This process would usually occur only when the skin has been severely damaged.

So, rather than going under the knife in the pursuit of a firm, youthful, glowing face, you may be able to grow your own new, wrinkle-free, baby-soft skin simply by applying a face cream. First to the market in Britain will be ReVive’s Peau Magnifique, which will be priced at a staggering £1,050. It is already available in the U.S. and launches exclusively in Space NK in April.

Manufacturers claim it uses an enzyme called telomerase to “convert resting adult stem cells to newly-minted skin cells” and “resets your skin’s ageing clock by a minimum of five years’. The product claims long-term use “will result in generation of new cells, firmer skin with a 45% reduction in wrinkles and increased long-term skin clarity’.

Peau Magnifique is the latest in a line of products developed by Gregory Bays Brown, a former plastic surgeon, who realised that surgery had its limitations. ‘You can get rid of a turkey neck and take out bags, but surgery cannot give you the succulent soft skin you had in your 20s,’ he says.

In the course of his research into healing burns victims, Brown discovered a substance called Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) released in the body when there is an injury, and, when applied to burns or wounds, dramatically accelerates the healing process. He believed the molecule could be used to regenerate ageing skin and went on to develop ReVive, a range based on it.

One aspect of Peau Magnifique that is guaranteed to raise eyebrows when it hits shelves is the price tag (£1,050 for a four-week course twice a year). ‘Yes it is expensive,’ says Brown. ‘But the telomerase protein costs $4 million a gram and is the most expensive of all the molecules we use in any of our products.’ ReVive refuses to say how much telomerase goes into Peau Magnifique.

To be fair, if, as Brown says, telomerase creates the same effect as laser skin rejuvenation but without the trauma, effectively, you’re treating your skin to one session of laser skin rejuvenation every day for 28 days. Obviously, this would be impossible, but were you able to do it without your entire face melting, it would set you back in the region of £250 a session—that’s £7,000 in total.

Viagra saves infant’s life

Child’s Lung Had Collapsed When He Was Just A Day Old

This is the first picture of miracle baby Lewis Goodfellow, who was treated with Viagra to save his life. The six-month-old from Newcastle nearly died after being born 16 weeks premature in August.

His lung collapsed when he was just a day old and doctors had to stitch up a duct in his heart which had not closed properly. When the youngster’s lungs failed to work properly doctors tried Viagra in a last ditch attempt to save his life.

The drug worked by opening up some of the small blood vessels in the lungs, helping them to carry oxygen around the body properly. The operation at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary was a success and little Lewis has been allowed home. His parents Jade Goodfellow and John Barclay, from Walker in Newcastle, credited the wonder drug for saving their baby’s life.

Jade, 17, said: “He really is a miracle baby and we decided we would never give up hope until he had taken his last breath. At one point we were told we might have to make a decision about stopping. When they tried Viagra it was very much a last resort but it worked.”

Consultant neonatologist Alan Fenton said: “Using Sildenafil (Viagra) is relatively unusual. It is a fairly new form of treatment which we’ve been using on the unit for around a year.”

New hope for breast cancer patients

Women affected by breast cancer have new hope in the form of a nanotechnology-based drug that promises early identification and effective treatment of the disease. “Researchers have been working on finding new ways that could help patients fight breast cancer. Nanotechnology is the latest, which could bring a revolution,” said Harsh Dua, senior consultant in the Oncology Department at the Apollo Hospital. He said researchers in India are now able to develop a drug that is “more effective and comparatively more safer.”

The drug, a “nanoparticle formulation” of the anti-cancer drug Paclitaxel, promises new hope to thousands of breast cancer patients. In India, at 1.4 lakh, cervical cancer is the most widely reported. This is followed by cancers of the breast (80,000) and mouth (70,000). The drug would be injected into the patient during treatment, Dua said. “The nanoparticles in the drug shows preference for the tumour cell and chalks its own course. This helps because the other good cells are not affected and thus there are no side-effects,” he said.

The oncologist, who has been actively involved in the work, claimed the drug could be used to target any kind of cancer, but could prove more effective to combat breast cancer. “The drugs that are in the market currently have lot of side-effects like affecting the heart, damaging the nerve and depressing the blood count. But this drug has no such side-effects,” Dua said.

Describing breast cancer as a lifestyle disease, Dua believes that research activities in the country are the only way to bring the cost of the drugs down. “Cancer treatment is costly,” he said “The early advance in technology counts a lot. If it could cure one to two per cent of the cancer population. It will be wonderful.”

New gene linked to Alzheimer's identified...

Scientists said on Sunday they have pinpointed a new gene linked to Alzheimer's disease, the incurable brain disorder that is the top cause of dementia in the elderly. Abnormalities in a gene called SORL1 increased the risk for the disease, and this finding could help scientists develop new treatments, the researchers reported in the journal Nature Genetics.

The researchers looked at DNA samples from 6,000 people from four ethnic groups: Caribbean-Hispanics, North Europeans, black Americans and Israeli-Arabs. They found certain variations of SORL1 more often in people with late-onset Alzheimer's disease than in healthy people.

The late-onset form, affecting people age 65 and up, represents about 90 percent of Alzheimer's cases. The rarer early-onset form affects people from about age 30 to 65. Only one other gene, called ApoE4, has been identified as a risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's. It was identified in 1993.

Several genes are linked with early Alzheimer's, and study of both types might lead to better understanding of how the disease begins and how to tackle it. Many scientists think Alzheimer's begins with the buildup in the brain of a gooey material called amyloid that clumps together to form plaques. That material stems from a protein called amyloid precursor protein, or APP.

SORL1 controls the distribution of APP inside nerve cells of the brain. When working normally, the gene prevents APP from being degraded into a toxic byproduct called amyloid beta peptide. When SORL1 is deficient, it allows more of the bad amyloid beta peptide to accumulate, fostering amyloid plaques. Alzheimer's is a complex disease that gradually destroys a person's memory and ability to learn, reason, make judgments, communicate and carry out daily activities. Scientists have struggled to understand the biology of the disease and its genetic and environmental causes.

PIECE OF THE PUZZLE
"It's another clue to the way in which this disease comes about, another piece of the puzzle," Dr. Peter St. George-Hyslop, director of the Center for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Toronto and one of the key researchers, said in a telephone interview. "Every time you get a piece of the puzzle and you can relate it to something else in the puzzle, you're that much closer to knowing what the picture on the puzzle is," he added.

St. George-Hyslop said it is premature to say what percentage of cases of late-onset Alzheimer's disease can be attributed to SORL1. ApoE4, which also may be involved in the production of amyloid plaques, has been linked to about 20 percent of late-onset Alzheimer's cases. "This appears to be the fifth Alzheimer's disease gene, and there are likely to be other important genetic variants that need to be identified before the entire picture is complete," Dr. Richard Mayeux of Columbia University Medical Center in New York, also involved in the research, said in a statement.

The disease first affects parts of the brain controlling memory and thinking, but as it advances it kills cells elsewhere in the brain. Eventually, if the patient has no other serious illness, the loss of brain function will prove fatal. Researchers from Boston University and the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Jacksonville, Florida, also took part in the five-year study.

Tiny robo to tread through spine

It has been a stuff of science fiction, compressing something to microscopic size and making it travel with blood flow in the human body. In the film Fantastic Voyage, a underwater vehicle was shrunk to microscopic size and injected into the blood vessels.

Now, a team headed by Moshe Shoham of Haifa’s Technion has created a propulsion system for a miniature robot to travel through the spinal canal, powering through cerebrospinal fluid, reports livescience.com. Shoham is also the primary developer of the SpineAssist robot to aid surgeons in performing delicate spinal procedures. The requirements for a robot that moves through body cavities are strict; it must be small enough to move through the body and it must have apropulsion system that is flexible enough to work.

Devices like the PillCam, a pill-shaped camera that is swallowed to picture the complete digestive tract, are moved along by the body’s own peristalsis, and do not need their own propulsion system. “The first location we’re targeting is the spinal canal—which means the device will travel through the cerebral spinal fluid (CSS) which is clear and similar to water. It doesn’t flow too fast, but it needs propulsion,” said Shoham.

“Now we have the propulsion system, but we still don’t have the actual payload —whether it’s a camera from images, or a subsystem which would take a biopsy — that’s still in the development stage.” The robot would in essence be a freeswimming endoscope; a robot with two actuators — swimming tails — that will have a camera in the head to broadcast images to the physician outside. “This is a unique swimming mechanism that is adapted to tiny sizes and, with very low power consumption”, the Technion researchers explain. “In the future, we hope that the robot will also be able to perform biopsies and release medications for local treatment.”

Shoham estimates that it will takeseveral more years to complete the design of the robot’s payload and to further miniaturise the design. He remarks: “I believe that in the future there will be micro-robots that will be permanently implanted in our bodies and will be able to navigate to problematic points. This is a step up for micro-penetration into the human body.”