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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Cancer: The facts

One in three of us will be diagnosed with cancer during our life.

The disease tends to affect older people - but can strike at any time.

Excluding certain skin cancers, there were more than 270,000 new cases of the disease in 2001 - and the rate is increasing by about 1% a year.

Some cancer, such as breast, are becoming more common, while new cases of lung cancer fall away due to the drop in the number of smokers.

However, while the overall number of new cancers is not falling, the good news is that successful treatment rates for many of the most common types are improving rapidly.

BBC News Online has produced, in conjunction with Cancer Research UK, a guide to some of the most common forms of cancer and the treatments used to tackle them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3444635.stm

Migraines 'raise pregnancy risk'


stroke during pregnancy was very rare.

She said: "However, this study shows that some expectant mothers with migraines are at risk of stroke.
"It is important that pregnantMigraines substantially raise the risk of a stroke during pregnancy, a US study suggests.

However, the British Medical Journal study stressed the overall risk remained low.
It also linked the headaches to a raised risk of heart disease, blood clots and high blood pressure.
The researchers suspect migraine puts extra stress on the body when it is already struggling with increased blood volume and heart rate.

Our study should not discourage women with migraine from considering getting pregnant
Researcher Professor Cheryl BushnellWake Forest University. They also suggest it may be possible that migraine itself is a sign that the cardiovascular system is not working as well as it should be.

Previous research has shown the cells that form the inner wall of blood vessels, called endothelial cells, may not function as well in people with migraine.

Migraine headache occurs in up to 26% of women of childbearing age and around one third of women aged between 35 and 39. women talk to their GP or health professional if they experience migraines."

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Menopause timing affects women's Parkinson's risk

Women who count more years between their first period and menopause have a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease, new research indicates.

The findings, which will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 61st annual meeting in Seattle in April, suggest that longer exposure to the body's own hormones may help protect brain cells affected by Parkinson's disease, says study author Rachel Saunders-Pullman, of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx and Beth Israel Medical Center in New York and a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

Parkinson's is a nervous system disorder that occurs when special brain cells that make dopamine, a chemical messenger in the brain, die or become impaired. It leads to trembling and movement problems.

In the study, the researchers analyzed the medical records of 74,000 women who experienced natural menopause and about 7,800 women who went through surgical menopause. Among women with natural menopause, those who had a fertile lifespan of more than 39 years had about a 25-percent lower risk of developing Parkinson's than women with a fertile lifespan of less than 33 years.

Women who had menopause from surgery had almost twice the risk of developing the disease if they had previously taken hormone therapy and stopped than if they had never taken hormone therapy. Taking hormones did not have any effect on natural menopause women.
Author Saunders-Pullman says more research is required to understand why women with four or more pregnancies are at increased risk.

"This study does not support a role for treatment with hormone therapy in preventing Parkinson's, but there are still many unanswered questions," she says.


--By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY

Optimists live longer than pessimists


Is this glass half full or half empty?


If you said half full, congratulations. A new study suggests you'll live healthier and longer than your pessimistic peers. And if you're trusting of other people as well as an optimist, well, you'd better plan on having a lot of money stashed away in your retirement account.

I don't know about you, but I'm highly skeptical of the scientists who conducted this study. Besides, what's so great about outliving all of your friends? Sheesh.


But seriously, folks, the new study analyzed data from nearly 100,000 postmenopausal participants (say that three times fast) in the
Women's Health Initiative, or WHI. The WHI is best known for its clinical trials of postmenopausal hormone therapy, whose findings caused women to abandon the drugs in droves.


In the new analysis, being presented this week at the
American Psychosomatic Society's annual meeting in Chicago, the researchers found that optimists--women who expected that good things, not bad, would happen--were 30% less likely to die of heart disease during the course of the study than pessimists. And trusting women were 23% less likely to die of cancer than their "cynically hostile"--or highly mistrustful--counterparts.

So would a magic happy pill make us all live longer? In a press release,
Hilary Tindle, a University of Pittsburgh internist who led the study, cautions that it doesn't prove pessimism kills. Tindle says more research is needed to determine whether treatments to increase optimism or decrease cynical hostility would lead to better health.

ASPARAGUS FOR CANCER



Several years ago, I had a man seeking asparagus for a friend who had cancer. He gave me a photocopied copy of an article, entitled, `Asparagus for cancer ' printed in Cancer News Journal, December 1979.



I will share it here, just as it was shared with me: 'I am a biochemist, and have specialized in the relation of diet to health for over 50 years




Several years ago, I learned of the discovery of Richard R. Vensal, D.D.S. that asparagus might cure cancer. Since then, I have worked with him on his project. We have accumulated a number of favourable case histories.




Here are a few examples:


Case No. 1, A man with an almost hopeless case of Hodgkin's disease (cancer of the lymph glands) who was completely incapacitated. Within 1 year of starting the asparagus therapy, his doctors were unable to detect any signs of cancer, and he was back on a schedule of strenuous exercise.


Case No. 2, A successful businessman 68 years old who suffered from cancer of the bladder for 16 years. After years of medical treatments, including radiation without improvement, he went on asparagus. Within 3 months, examinations revealed that his bladder tumor had disappeared and that his kidneys were normal.



Case No. 3, A man who had lung cancer. On March 5th 1971, he was put on the operating table where they found lung cancer so widely spread that it was inoperable. The surgeon sewed him up and declared his case hopeless. On April 5th he heard about the asparagus therapy and immediately started taking it. By August, x-ray pictures revealed that all signs of the cancer had disappeared. He is back at his regular business routine.


Case No. 4, A woman who was troubled for a number of years with skin cancer. She finally developed different skin cancers which were diagnosed by asking specialist as advanced. Within 3 months after starting on asparagus, her skin specialist said that her skin looked fine and no more skin lesions. This woman reported that the asparagus therapy also cured her kidney disease, which started in 1949. She had over 10 operations for kidney stones, and was receiving government disability payments for an inoperable, terminal, kidney condition. She attributes the cure of this kidney trouble entirely to the asparagus.



I was not surprised at this result, as `The elements of Materia Medica', edited in 1854 by a Professor at the University of Pennsylvania , stated that asparagus was used as a popular remedy for kidney stones. He even referred to experiments, in 1739, on the power of asparagus in dissolving stones.



We would have other case histories but the medical establishment has interfered with our obtaining some of the records. I am therefore appealing to readers to spread this good news and help us to gather a large number of case histories that will overwhelm the medical skeptics about this unbelievably simple and natural remedy. For the treatment, asparagus should be cooked before using, and therefore canned asparagus is just as good as fresh.
I have corresponded with the two leading canners of asparagus, Giant Giant and Stokely, and I am satisfied that these brands contain no pesticides or preservatives.
* * PROCEDURE:


1) Place the cooked asparagus in a blender and liquefy to make a puree, and store in the refrigerator.


2) Give the patient 4 full tablespoons twice daily, morning and evening.



Patients usually show some improvement in from 2-4 weeks. It can be diluted with water and used as a cold or hot drink. This suggested dosage is based on present experience, but certainly larger amounts can do no harm and may be needed in some cases.


As a biochemist I am convinced of the old saying that `what cures can prevent'. Based on this theory, my wife and I have been using asparagus puree as a beverage with our meals. We take 2 tablespoons diluted in water to suit our taste with breakfast and with dinner. I take mine hot and my wife prefers hers cold.



For years we have made it a practice to have blood surveys taken as part of our regular checkups. The last blood survey, taken by a medical doctor who specializes in the nutritional approach to health, showed substantial improvements in all categories over the last one, and we can attribute these improvements to nothing but the asparagus drink...


As a biochemist, I have made an extensive study of all aspects of cancer, and all of the proposed cures. As a result, I am convinced that asparagus fits in better with the latest theories about cancer. Asparagus contains a good supply of protein called histones, which are believed to be active in controlling cell growth. For that reason, I believe asparagus can be said to contain a substance that I call cell growth normalizer. That accounts for its action on cancer and inacting as a general body tonic. In any event, regardless of theory, asparagus used as we suggest, is a harmless substance.




The FDA cannot prevent you from using it and it may do you much good.. It has been reported by the US National Cancer Institute, that asparagus is the highest tested food containing glutathione, which is considered one of the body's most potent anticarcinogens and antioxidants. Please spread the news... ...the most unselfish act one can ever do is paying forward all the kindness one has received even to the most undeserved person *

Thursday, March 5, 2009

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