Posts Tagged ‘Cancer’

Polyphenols are the natural life savers that are in the vivid colored fruits and vegetables. This is the non-manufactured life saver.

Research

Researchers have found that baking British garden rhubarb for 20 minutes increases its levels of anti-cancerous chemicals. The findings are from academics at Sheffield Hallam University, together with the Scottish Crop Research Institute, were published in the journal Food Chemistry.

These chemicals, called polyphenols, have been shown to selectively kill or prevent the growth of cancer cells, and could be used to develop new, less toxic treatments, even in cases where cancers have proven resistant to other treatment.

Dr. Nikki Jordan-Mahy, from Sheffield Hallam University’s Biomedical Research Center, said: “Our research has shown that British rhubarb is a potential source of pharmacological agents that may be used to develop new anti-cancerous drugs.”

Plant Polyphenols

The natural source of polyphenols is plants. Dietary polyphnols have caught the attention of nutritionists rather recently. Up till the mid-1990s, the studies centered on antioxidant vitamins, carotenoids, and minerals. After 1995 research began in earnest on flavonoids, and other polyphenols, and their antioxidant properties. Their effects on human health are now being studied.

Polyphenols have been found in a wide array of phytochemical-bearing foods. These include such fruits as apples, blackberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, cherries, cranberries, grapes, pears, plums, raspberries, and strawberries. The highest levels of polyphenols are found in the fruit skins.

Vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, celery, onion and parsley are rich in polyphenols. Red wine is known for its health benefits, which in large part come from the grapes. Coffee is considered healthy because it is an alternative source of this, as is green tea, olive oil, bee pollen and whole grains.

Studies

Population studies have linked fruit and vegetable consumption with lowering the risk for many chronic conditions. These included heart disease and many cancers. What the medical community wants is to establish proof that documents the role of functional foods in healing.

Population studies found that elderly men with the highest intake of dark green and deep yellow vegetables had about a 46% decrease risk of heart disease compared to those who consumed the least amount. The men who consumed the darkest green and yellow vegetables had about a 70% lower risk of developing cancer than those consuming the lowest amount of these vegetables.

The most interesting part of the study was that the men that consumed the highest level which was more than two (>2.05 and >2.2) servings of dark green and yellow vegetables a day. The men at the lowest level consumed less than one serving daily (<0.8 and <0.7). This is proof that small consistent changes matter. (Gaziano et al. Annals of Epidemiology 1995; 5:255 and Colditz et al. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1985,:41:32)

This study was one conducted in 1995. Where are all the physicians advocating this diet change for their patients?

While many alternative health and wellness advocates have actually produced some remarkable discoveries, the scientific community has their head in a test tube.

Strategy

Searching for a strategy to remain healthy?  Follow Kathy Bee our nutrition/lifestyle educator with www.yourhealthupdates.com

Cancer’s Growth Depends on its Neighborhood

“Think of it as this kid in a bad neighborhood,” said Dr. Susan Love, a breast cancer surgeon and president of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation “You can take the kid out of the neighborhood and put him in a different environment and he will behave totally differently.”

“It’s exciting,” Dr. Love added. “What it means, if all this environmental stuff is right, is that we should be able to reverse cancer without having to kill cells. This could open up a whole new way of thinking about cancer that would be much less assaultive.”

Alternative Notions

This is what the alternative community has said time and again about this condition. The internal terrain is the neighborhood. Change the terrain and you change the outcome. By the time mainstream medicine catches up many lives will be lost on top of the ones already lost.

According to alternative medicine cancer is reversible, and according to those that used holistic methods it is reversible. They themselves have done it and now are broadcasting the news.

Methods

From using a plant based diets and juicing to using some cutting edge natural products that are being manufactured as supplements. These are not the days where the testimonials were suspect. The people who healed themselves have become spokespersons, authors and speakers. They have the diagnosis and scans to back up their claims. They will all tell you Cancer’s growth depends on its neighborhood.

Even thought the methods may vary they all point to a change of lifestyle. The rational is if the lifestyle brought about the condition, then to do what you always done and expect different results is not too bright.

All these methods take time, work, and support. The individuals that embarked on this path realized that their lives were in their hands. They trusted their instincts, and did their homework.

Outcome

The people that were able to forge ahead with this are now on the lecture circuit, to encourage others. The fear factor is what blinds people to the possibilities. Most websites have a disclaimer that states to talk to your healthcare provider. There seems to be a general consensus that there is danger in not seeking their counsel. That may be true, but the reverse is also true. There is danger in seeking their counsel; they have knowledge that is limited.

Blindly they recommend the same old treatments even if they have a dismal record. Your job is to do as much research as you can and then draw your own conclusions.

The outcome depends on you to a large extent. A good patient doesn’t always get a good outcome. There is always a choice to use either one or combine both; the decision is crucial. Only you can change the neighborhood.

The amazing cancer cure is missing in action. Taking a look at the track record of this industry tells it all.

A newly approved chemotherapy drug will cost about $30,000 a month, the prices of cancer medicines are continuing to rise. Despite the fact that the drug Folotyn has not been showed to prolong lives, it only shrinks tumors. The drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in late September as a treatment for peripheral T-cell lymphoma, a rare and usually aggressive blood cancer that strikes an estimated 5,600 Americans each year.

Upfront Reports

Folotyn has not yet shown an effect on longevity. In the clinical trial that led to approval of the drug, 27 percent of the 109 patients experienced a reduction in tumor size. The reductions lasted a median of 9.4 months.

But considering all the patients in the trial, only 12 percent had a reduction in tumor size that lasted for more than 14 weeks. The trial did not compare Folotyn to another drug or a placebo.

Critics, who include many oncologists, point out that patients are paying a huge price for drugs that, on average, provide only a few extra months of life at best.

Folotyn Side Effects

Important Safety Information published on Drugs.com

Warnings and Precautions:

Folotyn may suppress bone marrow function, manifested by thrombocytopenia, neutropenia, and anemia. Monitor blood counts and omit or modify dose for hematologic toxicities.

Mucositis may occur. If ? Grade 2 mucositis is observed, omit or modify dose.

Patients should be instructed to take folic acid (1.0 -1.25 mg orally on a daily basis) and receive vitamin B₁₂(1 mg intramuscularly every 8-10 weeks) to potentially reduce treatment-related hematological toxicity and mucositis.

Folotyn can cause fetal harm. Women should avoid becoming pregnant while being treated with Folotyn, and pregnant women should be informed of the potential harm to the fetus.

Use caution and monitor patients when administering Folotyn to patients with moderate to severe renal function impairment.

Elevated liver function test abnormalities may occur and require monitoring. If liver function test abnormalities are ? Grade 3, omit or modify dose

Folotyn Adverse Reactions

The most common adverse reactions observed in PROPEL were mucositis (70%), thrombocytopenia (41%), nausea (40%), and fatigue (36%). The most common serious adverse events (>3%), regardless of causality, were pyrexia, mucositis, sepsis, febrile neutropenia, dehydration, dyspnea and thrombocytopenia. Forty-four percent of patients experienced a serious adverse event while on study or within 30 days after their last dose of Folotyn. Twenty-three percent of patients discontinued treatment due to adverse reactions.

Drug Interactions:

Co-administration of drugs subject to renal clearance (e.g., probenecid, NSAIDs, and trimethoprim/sulfamethaxazole) may result in delayed renal clearance.

Use in Specific Patient Populations:

Nursing mothers should be advised to discontinue nursing or the drug, taking into consideration the importance of the drug to the mother.

Believe or Not

The new treatments are good for the drug companies CEO’s and the inventors.

For investors, a high price is usually a good thing. Mr. Schimmer’s note was entitled “Folotyn Prices High, Reiterate Outperform.” He estimated annual sales of the drug in the United States reaching about $300 million by 2014.

In a note to clients in October, Joshua Schimmer, an analyst at Leerink Swann, estimated that a typical treatment would last 3.5 months and cost $126,000, or about $36,000 a month.

Does Anyone Know Whats Going On

Folic acid a vitamin B12 should not be given to cancer patients for good reason.

In a study published in the November 18th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, heart patients in Norway had a 21% increased risk of cancer when they took large doses of folic acid and vitamin B12 over patients who did not supplement the vitamins.

Studies show that people who get plenty of folic acid reduce their risk of developing colorectal cancer and precancerous polyps by 40% to 60%. But folic acid doesn’t just help healthy cells grow. It also helps cancerous cells grow. Studies in animals have shown that once cells are on the path to becoming cancers, the vitamin makes things worse.

In the 1940s, folic acid supplements were found to accelerate leukemia in children who were given the vitamin in the hope that it might help.

Reducing Tumor the Greatest Fraud

Reducing the tumor is not the way to defuse the disease process. The risk factors that have made this process start and perhaps progress are not going to be addressed by trying to reduce a tumor. Doing that is pointless. The tumor is made up partly of healthy cells. A percentage of the cells in a tumor are cancer cells.

Tumors are a complex mix of neoplastic cancer cells and normal cells – inflammatory and immune cells, endothelial cells, fibroblasts, pericytes, and others, collectively known as stromal cells.

Dr. John Dick from the Ontario Cancer Institute compared combating cancer to killing a backyard weed: “You can keep cutting the leaves off the weed, but the weed will re-grow.  But if you cut the roots, the leaves will wither away.  Killing the cancer stem cells is the equivalent of killing the root of the weed.”

Chemoprevention

The amazing cancer cure is in your body. If you ready to do more than survive, you are finally ready to change your life for the better. Chemoprevention is the word that is drawing a lot of attention. There is persistent and persuasive evidence that certain naturally occurring agents act in ways to inhibit, delay and reverse the disease process.

There is chemo in your fruits, vegetables, and herbs with the side effect of making you healthier than you have been in a long time. There are enzymes, supplements, and other technology that is now being shown to build immunity.

Health

The real truth is that there are no shortcuts allowed when trying to be well. The only ways to get to a so called cure it to take it slow by overhauling your lifestyle. The medical atmosphere points to studies that rely on a course of action that is guaranteed to wreck havoc with your digestive, immune, and cardiovascular systems.

Think of it this way when you get a cold you get rid of it, but if you entertain the same life style you will be getting more of them. Now you can say you cured the cold, but you can’t say you are now well. Not having the symptoms of a bad cold does not make you healthy.

Building health is the best protection and the best cure. Sheltering yourself from medical damage means you are on your own. Experts in the field are increasing the use of toxic substances to resurrect your health. They can’t do it with substances that are not easy to tolerate. You have to choose for yourself the most effective way to optimize your health.