Defeating Cancer: An advance of paramount importance to health reform
Julian Lieb, M.D
Prostaglandins are tiny molecules regulating the chemistry of every cell, including those subserving mood, and those subserving immune function. When brain cells produce excessive concentrations of prostaglandins, they depress mood and immunity. In 1973, David Horrobin showed that antidepressants inhibit prostaglandins, and in 1977 that prostaglandins regulate nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). Others subsequently showed that prostaglandins regulate the synthesis, inhibition, and expression of genes, and the growth and replication of cells, with cancer the accelerated replication of abnormal cells. Excessive synthesis of prostaglandins induces cancer, with genes determining the variations. Twenty years ago, prostaglandins owned cancer, but evidence often goes only so far, before falling prey to monopolistic medical cartels.
More than fifty studies have shown that antidepressants kill cancer cells, inhibit their replication, convert multidrug resistant cells to sensitive,
protect nonmalignant cells from damage by radiation and chemotherapy, and target the mitochondria of cancer cells while sparing those of healthy ones. Antidepressants have efficacy in many cancers that are often treatment resistant, such as gliomas, cancers of the lung, kidney, liver, and uterus,
inflammatory breast cancer, and multiple myelomas. Antidepressants are capable of arresting cancer in advanced stages, and even reversing it. That
antidepressants are effective for a multitude of malignancies, decries the myth that cancer is a hundred diseases, when it is one disease with a
hundred variations. Depression predisposes to cancer, and accelerates and increases its mortality. Other inhibitors of prostaglandins, such as
non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs and COX-11 inhibitors, also have potential value in cancer therapeutics.
All of the ingredients are in place for a revolution in cancer prevention and treatment. Enter Medline or Pubmed, enter “antidepressants” and
“cancer,” and anyone may see for themselves.
Sincerely,
Julian Lieb, M.D
Mal de Debarquement Syndrome
by Jane H.
I am merely trying to raise awareness of a misunderstood and often misdiagnosed health condition called, rather grandly, Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS for short) If I may I will explain more.
Basically, with this condition it is an imbalance or rocking sensation that occurs after getting off a boat or “debarking” (debarquement).Other forms of motion are also known to trigger it. Once back on dry land the traveller continues to feel “all at sea”, unable to get their land legs back. Although a lot of travellers can identify with this feeling and do actually experience it temporarily after
disembarking, unfortunately in the case of MdDS sufferers it can persist for many months, even years afterwards. The symptoms are with you constantly, they never leave, nor can they be alleviated by any anti-motion sickness drugs. “Like trying to constantly walk on a mattress
or trampoline” is a good description of the main symptom, the illusion of movement, not to mention the others, nausea, gaze instability/visual disturbance whereby objects jump and
shimmer in front of you, often like looking at things through a heat haze, constant tinnitus, imbalance, I could go on. However I must stress at this point that there is no rotational or “spinning” vertigo with this condition.
More information on and support for sufferers of MdDS can be found at www.mdds.org.uk.
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The future belongs to young people …
Contributed to Health Blogs by Abhishek Shah
and it is we who will be affected most by the decisions we take today on AIDS/HIV epidemic, climate change, food, energy, environmental degradation, economic stability and the continuing challenge of world poverty.
Such decisions will influence the shape and quality of our future lives and could even dictate how long we will live. So it is very important that we, as individuals and as a group, take a keen interest in these issues now and make absolutely sure our views are heard
http://www.slideshare.net/abhishekshah/aids-1534610
Laws allow substitution of generic drugs without patient knowledge
According to a report published at MSNBC.com,
Some pharmacists legally switch a drug prescribed by a doctor in a common practice called therapeutic substitution. The new drug is in the same class as the old and treats the same condition, but it’s not precisely the same medication.
HealthBlogs has a new look
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To login or create a new blog, click on the menu link at the top.
Look at the list of recently updated blogs on the right to see what’s being written by other bloggers.
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How can I avoid getting swine flu during this pandemic?
According to every news report I’ve seen on television or read on the web, the best thing we can do to help us avoid getting the swine flu (H1N1 flu) is to wash our hands! We need to become a nation of handwashers. Just use soap and water and wash frequently. It will also help if you avoid places where there are outbreaks. Some governments have issued travel warnings, telling their citizens to avoid going to Mexico and even the US. Stay healthy. Practice frequent hand washing, get plenty of sleep, stay hydrated and eat right. You know the drill!
New measurement standard for vitamin D may lead to better bone health
Monday, March 30, 2009
SALT LAKE CITY — In a development that could help improve the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, rickets, and other bone diseases, government chemists are reporting an advance in developing an accurate, reliable set of standards for measuring vitamin D levels in blood. Their findings could affect the health of millions of people worldwide, particularly children, women, and the elderly, who suffer from or are at risk of these debilitating diseases. The study will be presented here today at the American Chemical Society’s 237th National Meeting.
The advance comes in the midst of a growing awareness that many children and adults are not getting enough vitamin D. New studies also link vitamin D deficiency to a higher risk of diseases ranging from cancer to cognitive impairment in the elderly. Everyone needs ample vitamin D not just to absorb calcium and maintain bone strength but to promote good overall health.
People produce the vitamin naturally when sunlight shines on their skin. Concerns about skin cancer, however, have reduced exposure to sunlight. Likewise, declines in consumption of certain dairy products have reduced intake of another natural source of vitamin D. The vitamin also is available as a dietary supplement.
Despite concerns about adequate vitamin D intake, there is no standard laboratory test for measuring vitamin D levels in humans, and no universal agreement on what are considered “normal” or “optimal” vitamin D levels. To understand vitamin D’s role in health and disease, and use that knowledge in everyday medicine, laboratories need better measurement standards, the scientists say.
“No one really knows what methods or assays are correct at this point,” says Mary Bedner, Ph.D., an analytical chemist with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Md. “Right now, you can send a blood sample to two different labs and get completely different results for vitamin D.”
About three years ago, NIST, the Federal Government agency that sets measurement standards, began efforts to develop a standard for measuring vitamin D in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) Office of Dietary Supplements. Later this year, after much consultation with experts and extensive laboratory testing, NIST scientists plan to unveil their standard to the public in a development that promises to lead to a better understanding of vitamin D in health and disease.
The most commonly used indicator of a person’s vitamin D status is the measurement of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the blood. But several different forms of this vitamin exist in the blood — including 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 — that are of clinical significance and would be overlooked by scientists focusing on total 25-hydroxyvitamin D alone.
To account for these other forms of vitamin D, NIST developed Standard Reference Material 972 (SRM 972). The material is composed of four different pools of human blood serum obtained from a wide cross-section of blood donors. Each of the four pools contains different amounts of 25-hydroxyvitamin D2 and D3 to represent vitamin D profiles normally seen in a clinical setting. All were carefully measured using a combination of state-of-the-art liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy — highly sensitive analytical chemistry tools.
One pool represents “normal” serum, which contains mostly 25-hydroxyvitamin D3. The second pool, which represents vitamin D deficient individuals, contains about half as much 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 as the “normal” pool. The third represents the blood profile of someone taking vitamin D supplements and contains elevated levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D2. Finally, the fourth pool contains high levels of 3-epi-25-hydroxyvitamin D3, or the “epi” form of vitamin D, which is typically found in the blood of small children.
By using these four blood samples as reference points, clinical laboratories can calibrate their instruments and measurement techniques to assure more accurate and reliable vitamin D measurements for blood samples so doctors can make the right treatment decisions. As a result, testing based on this standard can more reliably tell patients whether they’re getting enough vitamin D and provide information about what forms of vitamin D they need to take to stay healthy, the researchers say.
“Accuracy is key,” Bedner says. “We need to provide a reference material that other people can trust.”
The researchers plan to make their reference standard commercially available within the next year. NIST and NIH funded the research.
— Mark T. Sampson
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 154,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
How to choose an Internet pharmacy
The folks at HomeChoice Networks have posted some good advice about choosing an Internet pharmacy.
They say
The cost of medications continues to rise at the time when the economy is in a severe prolonged downturn. Many are intrigued by advertisements touting lower cost medications that can be purchased over the internet. There are hundreds of online pharmacies on the Internet. Many of them operate outside the law. Follow these five simple rules and you can find an Internet drugstore that is both safe and legal.
Read more from HomeChoice at their web site: http://hchoicenet.com
New hard drive
The HealthBlogs server is undergoing a hard drive replacement at about 10:00 PM Eastern time. The server will be offline for about an hour.
