Physicians have for a longer period of time wondered if hot beverages like tea and coffee increased the chances of getting esophageal cancer. Studies were conducted among people who had higher esophageal cancer rates (abnormal rates) and tried to find out the factors responsible for the condition.
People were monitored and documented for their alcohol consumption, smoking, tea and coffee habits and tried to get statistics of all the risk factors separately to know which contributed the most and which contributed the least towards esophageal cancer. Even though they found out that coffee and tea were the main causes they also observed that the people who had esophageal cancer came from poor economic and social backgrounds who could not consume more fruits and vegetables. They did not brush their teeth properly which was also considered as a major risk factor. They drank piping hot tea and coffee. They were so hot that even a finger could get hurt. This finding enabled the researchers to associate the link between hot tea, coffee and esophageal cancer. The piping heat of the beverages were said to be responsible for the cause of damage to the esophageal cell lining and in a longer run resulted in esophageal cancer.
But, there are also theories and new research observations that consumption of coffee lowers the cancer risk of pharynx, esophagus and oral cavity. A study was conducted among general public in Japan who consumed more amounts of coffee. They studied their subjects (40,000) who did not have any hereditary evidence of esophageal cancer in the age group of forty to sixty four for nearly fourteen years and found that men had were susceptible to esophageal cancer three to four times higher than women. The risk of esophageal cancer increased when they were also consuming alcohol and smoking whereas the risk was lower when they did not even though they drank coffee regularly. Hence researchers concluded that if smoking and alcohol consumption is controlled, it would lower the risk of getting esophageal cancer and found that coffee alone does not increase or lower the risk.
Green tea is known for its health benefits and it is found to be true when it comes to esophageal cancer too. Some of the medical conditions that can benefit from drinking green tea include rheumatoid arthritis, infection, cancer, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease and immunity. Green tea is very special because of its rich contents called EGCG or epigallocatechin, catechin polyphenols and so on. EGCG is known to be a very powerful anti oxidant that inhibits the cancerous cell growth.
March 13, 2013
Effective Cancer Treatment – Chemotherapy
Cancer is one of the most dangerous diseases that have arisen in the recent decade on a faster note. The development of cancer is so fast that it is very difficult to detect in the initial stages. The main issue with some cancer patients is that there are no symptoms in the initial stages and they live their normal life as it is, and the pain starts after the cancerous cells have spread to the lymph nodes or bones or sometimes other parts of the body.
Cancer chemotherapy is one of the most effective and successful treatments for curing cancer. The main advantage of this therapy is that it destroys the cancer cells. It is given in several doses in the form of pills or injections. Sadly, chemotherapy is followed by certain side effects, which, in certain cases, may not disappear after the treatment is over. Therefore, before undergoing chemotherapy, it is important that the patients should have strong will-power and determination to undergo this therapy. The main aim of this type of treatment is to cure and control cancer as well as ease the cancer symptoms at the earliest.
Chemotherapy can be given after or before surgery or along with radiation therapy. If given before surgery, then it is meant to shrink the size of the cancer, and if given after surgery, then it is to kill the cancer cells remaining behind after surgery, and may re-grow in the patient's body. To be given before surgery or after surgery or along with radiation therapy depends on the condition of the patient, the extent to which the cells have spread in his / her body and his / her age.
Also, there are different types of chemotherapy, like first line chemotherapy, second line chemotherapy, adjuvant chemotherapy and neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. Again, the type of chemotherapy given to the patient depends on the above mentioned factors. This type of treatment can also be given to cease bone pain, in case the cancer has reached the bones or other parts of the body, and it is not possible to remove it by surgery or radiation treatment or kill the cells using some combination of chemotherapy drugs. This type is called palliative chemotherapy treatment.
Be it whatever type, chemotherapy has proved to be successful in killing the cancer cells, reducing the size of tumor for surgery, preventing the cells from re-growth to prevent recurrence of cancer cells and reducing bone pain, in cases where the tumor is not curable. This type of treatment, though backed with side effects, has also proved to be effective to prolong the life of the cancer patients.
Cancer chemotherapy is one of the most effective and successful treatments for curing cancer. The main advantage of this therapy is that it destroys the cancer cells. It is given in several doses in the form of pills or injections. Sadly, chemotherapy is followed by certain side effects, which, in certain cases, may not disappear after the treatment is over. Therefore, before undergoing chemotherapy, it is important that the patients should have strong will-power and determination to undergo this therapy. The main aim of this type of treatment is to cure and control cancer as well as ease the cancer symptoms at the earliest.
Chemotherapy can be given after or before surgery or along with radiation therapy. If given before surgery, then it is meant to shrink the size of the cancer, and if given after surgery, then it is to kill the cancer cells remaining behind after surgery, and may re-grow in the patient's body. To be given before surgery or after surgery or along with radiation therapy depends on the condition of the patient, the extent to which the cells have spread in his / her body and his / her age.
Also, there are different types of chemotherapy, like first line chemotherapy, second line chemotherapy, adjuvant chemotherapy and neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. Again, the type of chemotherapy given to the patient depends on the above mentioned factors. This type of treatment can also be given to cease bone pain, in case the cancer has reached the bones or other parts of the body, and it is not possible to remove it by surgery or radiation treatment or kill the cells using some combination of chemotherapy drugs. This type is called palliative chemotherapy treatment.
Be it whatever type, chemotherapy has proved to be successful in killing the cancer cells, reducing the size of tumor for surgery, preventing the cells from re-growth to prevent recurrence of cancer cells and reducing bone pain, in cases where the tumor is not curable. This type of treatment, though backed with side effects, has also proved to be effective to prolong the life of the cancer patients.
Healing Cancer - Learn About Ways to Remove It So It Won't Come Back
Have you ever wondered why a person dies after being successfully treated for cancer? When a doctor tells a patient they have got it all, that doesn't mean you can carry on living the same way you were, when the cancer first appeared. Only a person who is ill informed or a fool would do that.
We don't get cancer, our bodies grow it and the reason it grows is because of factors relating to modern living. It's our artificial food, the toxic chemicals we use believing them to be harmless and generally a life void of the 7 necessities of life. Cancer wasn't a problem many years ago and now days is only a problem in developed countries so you don't have to be a genius to figure out the causes of it.
Cancer is similar to a disease called scurvy that was a problem 200 years ago. Scurvy is a deficiency disease where the body is deficient in vitamin C. Of course there is not a treatment or a drug to cure scurvy but is easily corrected by an intake of food containing the missing vitamin. Cancer is also a deficiency disease but a more serious one and none of our current ways of treating it will correct that. That's why so many people are dying of the problem.
With deficiency diseases it is pointless just removing the symptoms. A symptom is a sign that's telling the body that something is wrong and a better way or the only way is to enhance our natural defence system which is the immune system. Why do we have treatments that only remove growths? It's because our entire drug based western health care which is tightly controlled by pharmaceutical companies is money orientated whereas no one can profit from natural ways as nature can not be patented.
We don't get cancer, our bodies grow it and the reason it grows is because of factors relating to modern living. It's our artificial food, the toxic chemicals we use believing them to be harmless and generally a life void of the 7 necessities of life. Cancer wasn't a problem many years ago and now days is only a problem in developed countries so you don't have to be a genius to figure out the causes of it.
Cancer is similar to a disease called scurvy that was a problem 200 years ago. Scurvy is a deficiency disease where the body is deficient in vitamin C. Of course there is not a treatment or a drug to cure scurvy but is easily corrected by an intake of food containing the missing vitamin. Cancer is also a deficiency disease but a more serious one and none of our current ways of treating it will correct that. That's why so many people are dying of the problem.
With deficiency diseases it is pointless just removing the symptoms. A symptom is a sign that's telling the body that something is wrong and a better way or the only way is to enhance our natural defence system which is the immune system. Why do we have treatments that only remove growths? It's because our entire drug based western health care which is tightly controlled by pharmaceutical companies is money orientated whereas no one can profit from natural ways as nature can not be patented.
We don't get cancer, our bodies grow it and the reason it grows is because of factors relating to modern living. It's our artificial food, the toxic chemicals we use believing them to be harmless and generally a life void of the 7 necessities of life. Cancer wasn't a problem many years ago and now days is only a problem in developed countries so you don't have to be a genius to figure out the causes of it.
Cancer is similar to a disease called scurvy that was a problem 200 years ago. Scurvy is a deficiency disease where the body is deficient in vitamin C. Of course there is not a treatment or a drug to cure scurvy but is easily corrected by an intake of food containing the missing vitamin. Cancer is also a deficiency disease but a more serious one and none of our current ways of treating it will correct that. That's why so many people are dying of the problem.
With deficiency diseases it is pointless just removing the symptoms. A symptom is a sign that's telling the body that something is wrong and a better way or the only way is to enhance our natural defence system which is the immune system. Why do we have treatments that only remove growths? It's because our entire drug based western health care which is tightly controlled by pharmaceutical companies is money orientated whereas no one can profit from natural ways as nature can not be patented.
We don't get cancer, our bodies grow it and the reason it grows is because of factors relating to modern living. It's our artificial food, the toxic chemicals we use believing them to be harmless and generally a life void of the 7 necessities of life. Cancer wasn't a problem many years ago and now days is only a problem in developed countries so you don't have to be a genius to figure out the causes of it.
Cancer is similar to a disease called scurvy that was a problem 200 years ago. Scurvy is a deficiency disease where the body is deficient in vitamin C. Of course there is not a treatment or a drug to cure scurvy but is easily corrected by an intake of food containing the missing vitamin. Cancer is also a deficiency disease but a more serious one and none of our current ways of treating it will correct that. That's why so many people are dying of the problem.
With deficiency diseases it is pointless just removing the symptoms. A symptom is a sign that's telling the body that something is wrong and a better way or the only way is to enhance our natural defence system which is the immune system. Why do we have treatments that only remove growths? It's because our entire drug based western health care which is tightly controlled by pharmaceutical companies is money orientated whereas no one can profit from natural ways as nature can not be patented.
March 10, 2013
Lung Cancer Explained
Lung cancer results from abnormal cellular proliferation of cells in the lung area. It is caused due to a failure in the regulation of cell replication. Cancer of the lungs usually begins in the lungs and spread to other parts of the body if not diagnosed on time. Based on cellular appearance on the microscope, there are two types of lung cancer. The first is small cell lung carcinoma, while the second is non-small cell carcinoma. Also, cancer of the lungs can arise from various parts of the lungs such as the epithelial cells or the pleural which covers the lungs. This article will focus on causes of lung carcinoma, how this disease is diagnosed and symptoms as well as treatment.
Cancer of the lungs may be caused by a variety of factors. The leading cause of lung carcinoma is cigarettes. In the united-states alone, approximately seventeen thousand people which is about 10 % of lung carcinoma patients fall within this category. It has been discovered that smoking suppress certain genes which regulate cell proliferation. Non smokers who stay near cigarette smoke are also at risk of lung cancer. This passive smokers develop lung cancer at a lower pace compared to active smokers. With low tar cigarettes, however, no risk as been associated.
Another cause of cancer of the lungs is asbestos. Asbestos are non-combustible natural mineral mined from the earth-crust. They are useful in building and construction in industries, houses and ships. Asbestos easily disintegrates and are air-borne when they become old. These tiny, microscopic fibers are deposited in the lining of the lungs where they remain for several years before undergoing malignant transformation to become cancer.
Genetics play a factor in lung carcinoma because a family history of the disease posses as a big risk factor in developing the condition.
Other causes of lung carcinoma includes: high levels of air pollution, some types of gases such as radon gases, and high levels of radiation such as one administered during therapy.
Symptoms include: pleural effusion, abnormal coughing, decreased lung functions, abdominal swelling, facial paralysis and nail problems.
Three main treatment options used in cancer treatment is radiotherapy, surgery and chemotherapy.
Radiotherapy is the use of powerful radiations in the treatment of lung cancer. It is associated with severe side-effects such as loss of hair, nausea and vomiting, and so on. Ionizing radiation used consist of electromagnetic wave and accelerated particles. Radiotherapy involves the use of implants in the treatment of cancer of the tongue, breast or rectum. It is a short distance treatment such that the patient is in contact with the radiation source.
Cancer of the lungs may be caused by a variety of factors. The leading cause of lung carcinoma is cigarettes. In the united-states alone, approximately seventeen thousand people which is about 10 % of lung carcinoma patients fall within this category. It has been discovered that smoking suppress certain genes which regulate cell proliferation. Non smokers who stay near cigarette smoke are also at risk of lung cancer. This passive smokers develop lung cancer at a lower pace compared to active smokers. With low tar cigarettes, however, no risk as been associated.
Another cause of cancer of the lungs is asbestos. Asbestos are non-combustible natural mineral mined from the earth-crust. They are useful in building and construction in industries, houses and ships. Asbestos easily disintegrates and are air-borne when they become old. These tiny, microscopic fibers are deposited in the lining of the lungs where they remain for several years before undergoing malignant transformation to become cancer.
Genetics play a factor in lung carcinoma because a family history of the disease posses as a big risk factor in developing the condition.
Other causes of lung carcinoma includes: high levels of air pollution, some types of gases such as radon gases, and high levels of radiation such as one administered during therapy.
Symptoms include: pleural effusion, abnormal coughing, decreased lung functions, abdominal swelling, facial paralysis and nail problems.
Three main treatment options used in cancer treatment is radiotherapy, surgery and chemotherapy.
Radiotherapy is the use of powerful radiations in the treatment of lung cancer. It is associated with severe side-effects such as loss of hair, nausea and vomiting, and so on. Ionizing radiation used consist of electromagnetic wave and accelerated particles. Radiotherapy involves the use of implants in the treatment of cancer of the tongue, breast or rectum. It is a short distance treatment such that the patient is in contact with the radiation source.
Cancer In The Bladder: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment
Bladder cancer is a type of cancer that occurs in your bladder, a balloon-shaped organ in your pelvic area that stores urine. It is the fourth most common type of cancer in men and the eighth most common type in women. Tumors can develop on the surface of the bladder wall or in more severe cases, within the wall and into the underlying muscles. Cancer in the bladder typically affects older adults, though it can occur at any age. Bladder tumors are 2 to 3 times more common in men.
Causes of Bladder Cancer
Smoking, gender, and diet can affect the risk of developing bladder cancer. Bladder carcinomas are also associated with industrial exposure to aromatic amines in dyes, paints, benzedine, nitrates, solvents, leather dust, inks, combustion products, rubber, and textiles. The period between exposure to the carcinogen and development of symptoms is about 18 years.
There is currently limited evidence that diet plays a part in the development of bladder cancer, but a diet high in fruit and vegetables and low in fat may help reduce the risk. Urinary infections, kidney and bladder stones, and other causes of chronic bladder irritation have been linked with bladder cancer (especially squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder), but they do not necessarily cause bladder cancer.
Signs of Bladder Cancer
In early cases around 25% of patients have no symptoms. Commonly the first sign of bladder tumours is blood in the urine, pain after urination, urinary frequency and dribbling. However, these signs and symptoms are not specific to bladder cancer, and may also be caused by non-cancerous conditions, including prostate infections and cystitis.
Types of Bladder Cancer
Cancers are divided into superficial and invasive disease. Superficial bladder cancer is limited to the innermost linings of the bladder. Invasive bladder cancer has at least penetrated the muscular layer of the bladder wall. Less than 5% of bladder cancers in the United States are squamous cell carcinomas, however, worldwide this is the most common form, accounting for 75% of bladder carcinoma in underdeveloped nations. Urothelial carcinoma (transitional cell carcinoma) is by far the most common type of bladder cancer in the United States.
Diagnosis of Bladder Cancer
Cancer in the bladder is usually curable if it is diagnosed while the cancer is still contained in the bladder, and up to 80% of tumors are diagnosed at this early stage. A biopsy for bladder cancer is usually done during cystoscopy. CT and Ultrasound scans, urinalysis and arteriography may also be done.
Treatment for Bladder Cancer
Treatments include bladder cancer surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and biologic therapy. The stage and grade of the cancer provides important information and can help guide treatment. Superficial bladder tumors are surgically removed with chemotherapy being added to the treatment regime to help prevent recurrence. Radical cystectomy and urinary diversion (an external bag) is usually undertaken for invasive bladder cancer.
Several new compounds have shown activity against transitional cell bladder cancer and are now being tested in combination chemotherapy trials. BCG immunotherapy is the most effective intravesical therapy and involves a live attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis. Immunotherapy in the form of BCG instillation is also used to treat and prevent the recurrence of superficial tumors. Alternative bladder cancer treatments such as herbal treatment may also be of some benefit.
Risk Reduction
Stopping smoking can reduce the risk of getting bladder cancer and if you have been diagnosed with superficial bladder cancer, stopping smoking will reduce the risk of developing more tumours in the future. Bladder cancer has a recurrence rate of 50%-80% and therefore, doctors recommend cystoscopy screening every three months for the first two years after treatment. People who drink a lot of fluids each day have a lower rate of bladder cancer.
Survival Rates
The prognosis depends on the stage of the cancer, whether it is superficial or invasive bladder cancer, and whether it has spread to other places in the body. Superficial bladder cancer has a good prognosis, with 5-year survival rates of 82-100%. If a tumor has grown into the wall of the bladder but has not spread to other organs, treatment usually involves surgical removal of the tumor, or combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy, with a five-year survival rate of 60% to 75%. Patients with more deeply invasive tumors,which are also usually less well differentiated, and those with lymphovascular invasion experience 5-year survival rates of 30% to 50% following radical cystectomy.
Causes of Bladder Cancer
Smoking, gender, and diet can affect the risk of developing bladder cancer. Bladder carcinomas are also associated with industrial exposure to aromatic amines in dyes, paints, benzedine, nitrates, solvents, leather dust, inks, combustion products, rubber, and textiles. The period between exposure to the carcinogen and development of symptoms is about 18 years.
There is currently limited evidence that diet plays a part in the development of bladder cancer, but a diet high in fruit and vegetables and low in fat may help reduce the risk. Urinary infections, kidney and bladder stones, and other causes of chronic bladder irritation have been linked with bladder cancer (especially squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder), but they do not necessarily cause bladder cancer.
Signs of Bladder Cancer
In early cases around 25% of patients have no symptoms. Commonly the first sign of bladder tumours is blood in the urine, pain after urination, urinary frequency and dribbling. However, these signs and symptoms are not specific to bladder cancer, and may also be caused by non-cancerous conditions, including prostate infections and cystitis.
Types of Bladder Cancer
Cancers are divided into superficial and invasive disease. Superficial bladder cancer is limited to the innermost linings of the bladder. Invasive bladder cancer has at least penetrated the muscular layer of the bladder wall. Less than 5% of bladder cancers in the United States are squamous cell carcinomas, however, worldwide this is the most common form, accounting for 75% of bladder carcinoma in underdeveloped nations. Urothelial carcinoma (transitional cell carcinoma) is by far the most common type of bladder cancer in the United States.
Diagnosis of Bladder Cancer
Cancer in the bladder is usually curable if it is diagnosed while the cancer is still contained in the bladder, and up to 80% of tumors are diagnosed at this early stage. A biopsy for bladder cancer is usually done during cystoscopy. CT and Ultrasound scans, urinalysis and arteriography may also be done.
Treatment for Bladder Cancer
Treatments include bladder cancer surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and biologic therapy. The stage and grade of the cancer provides important information and can help guide treatment. Superficial bladder tumors are surgically removed with chemotherapy being added to the treatment regime to help prevent recurrence. Radical cystectomy and urinary diversion (an external bag) is usually undertaken for invasive bladder cancer.
Several new compounds have shown activity against transitional cell bladder cancer and are now being tested in combination chemotherapy trials. BCG immunotherapy is the most effective intravesical therapy and involves a live attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis. Immunotherapy in the form of BCG instillation is also used to treat and prevent the recurrence of superficial tumors. Alternative bladder cancer treatments such as herbal treatment may also be of some benefit.
Risk Reduction
Stopping smoking can reduce the risk of getting bladder cancer and if you have been diagnosed with superficial bladder cancer, stopping smoking will reduce the risk of developing more tumours in the future. Bladder cancer has a recurrence rate of 50%-80% and therefore, doctors recommend cystoscopy screening every three months for the first two years after treatment. People who drink a lot of fluids each day have a lower rate of bladder cancer.
Survival Rates
The prognosis depends on the stage of the cancer, whether it is superficial or invasive bladder cancer, and whether it has spread to other places in the body. Superficial bladder cancer has a good prognosis, with 5-year survival rates of 82-100%. If a tumor has grown into the wall of the bladder but has not spread to other organs, treatment usually involves surgical removal of the tumor, or combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy, with a five-year survival rate of 60% to 75%. Patients with more deeply invasive tumors,which are also usually less well differentiated, and those with lymphovascular invasion experience 5-year survival rates of 30% to 50% following radical cystectomy.
March 8, 2013
Why Only Some Smokers Get Lung Cancer?
Smoking is the most potent known cause of lung cancer. The question is: Why do some longtime smokers come down with the deadly disease whereas others escape it? New research points to a genetic culprit that also was fingered as upping a person's likelihood of becoming hooked on cigarettes.
Two new studies link a variation in a gene residing on chromosome 15 (of a person's 23 pairs of chromosomes) to a heightened risk of developing lung cancer; a third study suggests that the same mutation affects a person's tendency to become addicted to smokes and, by extension, develop the dreaded disease. Lung cancer is diagnosed in some 200,000 Americans and kills more than 150,000 each year.
The new research—published in both Nature and Nature Genetics—suggests that people with this genetic flaw have a 30 percent greater chance of developing the often-fatal illness. But the studies differ on the potential added risk of addiction. The findings offer insight into how this particular genetic variation and smoking interact to cause lung cancer. They provide "new targets for starting to think about how to treat drug addiction and, also, of course, for the prevention or treatment of lung cancer," says Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in Bethesda, Md., who was not involved in the study.
The research teams scanned a catalog of 300,000 minute changes in the genome in which a base (unit of genetic material) was either deleted, duplicated or substituted. (Such alterations are known as single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs.) In one study, scientists from Iceland-based biotechnology company deCODE genetics tried to correlate these genetic variants with a person's smoking habits; the other research efforts attempted to tie them to lung cancer.
The deCODE group surveyed 50,000 Icelandic smokers about their habits; using information gleaned from that survey as well as from genomic scans of 40,000 admitted smokers in the bunch, the researchers zeroed in on a variant of the gene CHRNA, which codes for a receptor on nerve cells that can be stimulated by nicotine. The altered version of the gene was more common in the heaviest smokers than it was in the rest of the population. "Nonsmokers have a higher frequency of this variant than smokers that smoke between one to 10 cigs per day," notes neurologist Kári Stefánsson, deCODE's CEO, "because if you smoke and you have this variant, you tend to smoke more than 10 cigs per day."
When Stefánsson's team applied the stats to the incidence of lung cancer, it found that individuals with two copies of the altered gene had a whopping 70 percent greater chance of developing lung cancer; those with one copy had a 30 percent higher risk.
These findings are virtually identical to those of the other studies—one (in Nature) conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France (which was based on examinations of some 11,000 volunteers, 7,500 of whom were smokers) and the other (in Nature Genetics) by a team at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, which examined 9,000 individuals, some 4,000 of whom were smokers.
Paul Brennan, who led the IARC study, says he initially believed that the risk of getting lung cancer was elevated by the genetic predisposition to become addicted. "The genes made you more likely to smoke, made you likely to smoke more, made you less likely to give up, and therefore more likely to develop lung cancer," he says. But his research showed that, in fact, the gene appeared to independently increase a person's risk of developing the disease—with no link to addiction.
NIDA's Volkow suggests that the gene variant may lead certain individuals to smoke more due to its effect on the brain's reward centers (associated with addictive behavior) and may increase the risk of cancer, too, because it also plays a role in lung tissue function. Epidemiologist Christopher Amos, who led the Texas study, notes that the same nicotine receptor implicated in this study was shown in previous research to prompt tumor growth in other areas of the body, most notably the thymus (an organ located near the lungs that produces immune cells). "Nicotine or its derivatives can stimulate cells to proliferate, participate in new blood vessel development, and also not undergo cell death," he says, which are all characteristics of tumor formation and growth. "So that raises the possibility that there's a direct effect through nicotine in activating cells to go on to become cancerous."
Brennan says more research is needed before the findings can be put into play.
"There's not a public health message here that you can find out what version of the gene you have and decide whether to keep on smoking or not," he says. "You have to bear in mind that there are so many other disease[s] that are caused by smoking."
Two new studies link a variation in a gene residing on chromosome 15 (of a person's 23 pairs of chromosomes) to a heightened risk of developing lung cancer; a third study suggests that the same mutation affects a person's tendency to become addicted to smokes and, by extension, develop the dreaded disease. Lung cancer is diagnosed in some 200,000 Americans and kills more than 150,000 each year.
The new research—published in both Nature and Nature Genetics—suggests that people with this genetic flaw have a 30 percent greater chance of developing the often-fatal illness. But the studies differ on the potential added risk of addiction. The findings offer insight into how this particular genetic variation and smoking interact to cause lung cancer. They provide "new targets for starting to think about how to treat drug addiction and, also, of course, for the prevention or treatment of lung cancer," says Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in Bethesda, Md., who was not involved in the study.
The research teams scanned a catalog of 300,000 minute changes in the genome in which a base (unit of genetic material) was either deleted, duplicated or substituted. (Such alterations are known as single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs.) In one study, scientists from Iceland-based biotechnology company deCODE genetics tried to correlate these genetic variants with a person's smoking habits; the other research efforts attempted to tie them to lung cancer.
The deCODE group surveyed 50,000 Icelandic smokers about their habits; using information gleaned from that survey as well as from genomic scans of 40,000 admitted smokers in the bunch, the researchers zeroed in on a variant of the gene CHRNA, which codes for a receptor on nerve cells that can be stimulated by nicotine. The altered version of the gene was more common in the heaviest smokers than it was in the rest of the population. "Nonsmokers have a higher frequency of this variant than smokers that smoke between one to 10 cigs per day," notes neurologist Kári Stefánsson, deCODE's CEO, "because if you smoke and you have this variant, you tend to smoke more than 10 cigs per day."
When Stefánsson's team applied the stats to the incidence of lung cancer, it found that individuals with two copies of the altered gene had a whopping 70 percent greater chance of developing lung cancer; those with one copy had a 30 percent higher risk.
These findings are virtually identical to those of the other studies—one (in Nature) conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France (which was based on examinations of some 11,000 volunteers, 7,500 of whom were smokers) and the other (in Nature Genetics) by a team at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, which examined 9,000 individuals, some 4,000 of whom were smokers.
Paul Brennan, who led the IARC study, says he initially believed that the risk of getting lung cancer was elevated by the genetic predisposition to become addicted. "The genes made you more likely to smoke, made you likely to smoke more, made you less likely to give up, and therefore more likely to develop lung cancer," he says. But his research showed that, in fact, the gene appeared to independently increase a person's risk of developing the disease—with no link to addiction.
NIDA's Volkow suggests that the gene variant may lead certain individuals to smoke more due to its effect on the brain's reward centers (associated with addictive behavior) and may increase the risk of cancer, too, because it also plays a role in lung tissue function. Epidemiologist Christopher Amos, who led the Texas study, notes that the same nicotine receptor implicated in this study was shown in previous research to prompt tumor growth in other areas of the body, most notably the thymus (an organ located near the lungs that produces immune cells). "Nicotine or its derivatives can stimulate cells to proliferate, participate in new blood vessel development, and also not undergo cell death," he says, which are all characteristics of tumor formation and growth. "So that raises the possibility that there's a direct effect through nicotine in activating cells to go on to become cancerous."
Brennan says more research is needed before the findings can be put into play.
"There's not a public health message here that you can find out what version of the gene you have and decide whether to keep on smoking or not," he says. "You have to bear in mind that there are so many other disease[s] that are caused by smoking."
Liver Cancer – Signs and Symptoms of Liver Cancer
Liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) is a cancer arising from the liver. It is also known as primary liver cancer or hepatoma. The liver is made up of different cell types (for example, bile ducts, blood vessels, and fat-storing cells). However, liver cells (hepatocytes) make up 80% of the liver tissue. Thus, the majority of primary liver cancers (over 90 to 95%) arises from liver cells and is called hepatocellular cancer or carcinoma.
Primary liver cancer is rarely discovered early and often doesn't respond to current treatments — thus, the prognosis is often poor. Even when treatments fail to provide much improvement in the liver cancer itself, pain and other signs and symptoms caused by liver cancer can be aggressively treated to improve quality of life. But the most important news about primary liver cancer is that you can greatly reduce your risk by protecting yourself from hepatitis infection and cirrhosis, the leading causes of the disease.
Secondary Liver Cancer Most of the time when cancer is found in the liver it did not start there but spread to the liver from a cancer that began somewhere else in the body. These tumors are named after the place where they began (the primary site) and are further described as metastatic. For example, cancer that started in the lung and spread to the liver is called metastatic lung cancer to the liver. The rest of the information given here covers only primary liver cancer, that is, cancer that starts in the liver.
Signs and Symptoms of Liver Cancer
Most people don't have signs and symptoms in the early stages of liver cancer, which means the disease may not be detected until it's quite advanced. When symptoms do appear, they may include some or all of the following:
Abdominal pain, especially in the upper right part of your abdomen, that may extend into your back and shoulder. Pain that occurs in the right upper area of the abdomen. The liver is a very nerve rich organ and can be sensitive to changes.
Appetite - People with liver cancer may experience a continuous loss of appetite or feel very full after a small meal.
Worsened hepatitis or cirrhosis symptoms - More severe symptoms in people who have chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis are signs of liver cancer. These symptoms could include fluid in the abdomen, a symptom known as ascites, or the need for more and more water tablets (diuretics) to control the amount of fluid in the abdomen.
Abdominal pain is a very common symptom, and also common in children. Unfortunately, because there are so many possible causes of abdominal pain, and many cases are not serious, many cases of acute appendicitis are misdiagnosed each year as gastroenteritis or some other similar condition, especially in children and infants. Although appendicitis is an uncommon condition, it can be fatal. And there are many other serious conditions that may cause abdominal pain.
Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes caused by an accumulation of bile pigment -bilirubin- in the blood).
Esophageal varices (occurs when the tumor invaded and blocked the portal vein and the blood drains through esophageal veins).
Rarely: bleeding problems. Many of the proteins required for proper blood clotting are created in the liver. Remove these proteins and blood clotting decreases.
Chronic weight loss or wasting. The liver processes all the building blocks. If it fails to process, the body fails to maintain itself.
Primary liver cancer is rarely discovered early and often doesn't respond to current treatments — thus, the prognosis is often poor. Even when treatments fail to provide much improvement in the liver cancer itself, pain and other signs and symptoms caused by liver cancer can be aggressively treated to improve quality of life. But the most important news about primary liver cancer is that you can greatly reduce your risk by protecting yourself from hepatitis infection and cirrhosis, the leading causes of the disease.
Secondary Liver Cancer Most of the time when cancer is found in the liver it did not start there but spread to the liver from a cancer that began somewhere else in the body. These tumors are named after the place where they began (the primary site) and are further described as metastatic. For example, cancer that started in the lung and spread to the liver is called metastatic lung cancer to the liver. The rest of the information given here covers only primary liver cancer, that is, cancer that starts in the liver.
Signs and Symptoms of Liver Cancer
Most people don't have signs and symptoms in the early stages of liver cancer, which means the disease may not be detected until it's quite advanced. When symptoms do appear, they may include some or all of the following:
Abdominal pain, especially in the upper right part of your abdomen, that may extend into your back and shoulder. Pain that occurs in the right upper area of the abdomen. The liver is a very nerve rich organ and can be sensitive to changes.
Appetite - People with liver cancer may experience a continuous loss of appetite or feel very full after a small meal.
Worsened hepatitis or cirrhosis symptoms - More severe symptoms in people who have chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis are signs of liver cancer. These symptoms could include fluid in the abdomen, a symptom known as ascites, or the need for more and more water tablets (diuretics) to control the amount of fluid in the abdomen.
Abdominal pain is a very common symptom, and also common in children. Unfortunately, because there are so many possible causes of abdominal pain, and many cases are not serious, many cases of acute appendicitis are misdiagnosed each year as gastroenteritis or some other similar condition, especially in children and infants. Although appendicitis is an uncommon condition, it can be fatal. And there are many other serious conditions that may cause abdominal pain.
Jaundice (yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes caused by an accumulation of bile pigment -bilirubin- in the blood).
Esophageal varices (occurs when the tumor invaded and blocked the portal vein and the blood drains through esophageal veins).
Rarely: bleeding problems. Many of the proteins required for proper blood clotting are created in the liver. Remove these proteins and blood clotting decreases.
Chronic weight loss or wasting. The liver processes all the building blocks. If it fails to process, the body fails to maintain itself.
March 6, 2013
Kidney Cancer Causes, Symptoms, Risks Factors and More
Kidney cancer or renal carcinoma usually occurs in older people and accounts for about 2 to 3% of cancers in adults, affecting about twice as many men as women. In adults, the most common type of kidney tumor is renal cell carcinoma, which begins in the cells that line the small tubes within your kidneys. Kidney cancer rarely strikes children and young adults; the exceptions are a pediatric kidney cancer called Wilms tumor and some forms of hereditary kidney cancer syndromes, such as von Hippel-Lindau disease.
Causes of Kidney Cancer
The causes are not known, however external factors, such as smoking and obesity, have been related to a higher incidence of kidney cancer and changing environmental factors as well as population aging has seen an increase in the presentation of this form of cancer.
Signs and Symptoms
Kidney cancer symptoms are often overlooked because tumours are usually slow growing and not suspected until the patient begins to experience symptoms such as blood in the urine, pain, tiredness and a palpable mass. Since back pain is common among people over 40 years of age, such pain is often ignored and the presence of kidney cancer can go undetected. Kidney cancer may also cause high blood pressure.
Risk Factors
The risk of developing kidney cancer is four times higher if a close relative has had kidney cancer. Being on dialysis for many years is a risk factor for kidney cancer.
People who have had bladder cancer are more likely to develop kidney cancer, and vice versa. About three per cent of kidney cancer patients have inherited a damaged gene that will make it likely the cancer will also be found in their second kidney.
Prevention
Not smoking is the most effective way to prevent kidney cancer and it is estimated that the elimination of smoking would reduce the rate of renal pelvis cancer by one-half and the rate of renal cell carcinoma by one-third.
Other factors that may decrease the risk of developing kidney cancer include: maintaining a normal body weight, a diet that is high in fruits and vegetables, especially in bananas and root vegetables such as carrots, maintaining normal blood pressure and limited exposure to environmental toxins.
Diagnosing Kidney Cancer
Cancer of the kidney is most commonly detected with either computed tomography (CT) scan, ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Cystoscopy can rule out associated bladder cancer. Kidney cancer cells may also break away from the original tumor and spread (or metastasize) to other parts of the body such as the lymph nodes, bones or lungs, with about one third of cases showing metastasis at the time of diagnosis.
Types of Kidney Cancer
Almost 85% of this tumor are renal cell carcinomas. A less common type of kidney is Papillary carcinoma. Other rare kidney cancers include: Renal sarcoma, Collecting Duct carcinoma, Medullary and Chromophobe carcinomas.
Treatment
Radical nephrectomy with or without the removal of lymph nodes offers the only cure but treatment of kidney cancer may include: surgery, arterial embolization, radiation therapy, biological therapy or chemotherapy depends upon the stage of the disease and the patient's overall health.
Nephrectomy or removal of the entire organ including the adrenal gland, adjacent lymph nodes and surrounding normal tissue has been the norm, but recent research shows that removal of just the tumor, produces similar survival rates and offers less chance of subsequent renal failure in selected cases.
Scientists have also isolated the gene responsible for VHL disease, and this discovery offers exciting future possibilities for improved diagnosis and treatment of some kidney cancers. Various combinations of interleukin-2, interferon, and other biologic agents and even vaccines developed from cells removed from the kidney cancer are also being investigated.
Survival Rates
With prompt and appropriate treatment, the kidney cancer mortality rate is fairly low, unfortunately kidney cancer has a tendency to spread early, especially to the lungs, sometimes before symptoms develop. The five year survival rate is around 90-95% for tumors less than 4 cm. For larger tumors confined to the kidney without venous invasion, survival is still relatively good at 80-85%. If it has metastasized to the lymph nodes, the 5-year survival is around 5 % to 15 %. If it has spread metastatically to other organs, the 5-year survival rate is less than 5 %.
An important factor for those with this form of cancer and for that matter with all cancers is that assertive patients who actively work to overcome cancer often increase the odds of survival, live longer, and enjoy life more.
Causes of Kidney Cancer
The causes are not known, however external factors, such as smoking and obesity, have been related to a higher incidence of kidney cancer and changing environmental factors as well as population aging has seen an increase in the presentation of this form of cancer.
Signs and Symptoms
Kidney cancer symptoms are often overlooked because tumours are usually slow growing and not suspected until the patient begins to experience symptoms such as blood in the urine, pain, tiredness and a palpable mass. Since back pain is common among people over 40 years of age, such pain is often ignored and the presence of kidney cancer can go undetected. Kidney cancer may also cause high blood pressure.
Risk Factors
The risk of developing kidney cancer is four times higher if a close relative has had kidney cancer. Being on dialysis for many years is a risk factor for kidney cancer.
People who have had bladder cancer are more likely to develop kidney cancer, and vice versa. About three per cent of kidney cancer patients have inherited a damaged gene that will make it likely the cancer will also be found in their second kidney.
Prevention
Not smoking is the most effective way to prevent kidney cancer and it is estimated that the elimination of smoking would reduce the rate of renal pelvis cancer by one-half and the rate of renal cell carcinoma by one-third.
Other factors that may decrease the risk of developing kidney cancer include: maintaining a normal body weight, a diet that is high in fruits and vegetables, especially in bananas and root vegetables such as carrots, maintaining normal blood pressure and limited exposure to environmental toxins.
Diagnosing Kidney Cancer
Cancer of the kidney is most commonly detected with either computed tomography (CT) scan, ultrasound or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Cystoscopy can rule out associated bladder cancer. Kidney cancer cells may also break away from the original tumor and spread (or metastasize) to other parts of the body such as the lymph nodes, bones or lungs, with about one third of cases showing metastasis at the time of diagnosis.
Types of Kidney Cancer
Almost 85% of this tumor are renal cell carcinomas. A less common type of kidney is Papillary carcinoma. Other rare kidney cancers include: Renal sarcoma, Collecting Duct carcinoma, Medullary and Chromophobe carcinomas.
Treatment
Radical nephrectomy with or without the removal of lymph nodes offers the only cure but treatment of kidney cancer may include: surgery, arterial embolization, radiation therapy, biological therapy or chemotherapy depends upon the stage of the disease and the patient's overall health.
Nephrectomy or removal of the entire organ including the adrenal gland, adjacent lymph nodes and surrounding normal tissue has been the norm, but recent research shows that removal of just the tumor, produces similar survival rates and offers less chance of subsequent renal failure in selected cases.
Scientists have also isolated the gene responsible for VHL disease, and this discovery offers exciting future possibilities for improved diagnosis and treatment of some kidney cancers. Various combinations of interleukin-2, interferon, and other biologic agents and even vaccines developed from cells removed from the kidney cancer are also being investigated.
Survival Rates
With prompt and appropriate treatment, the kidney cancer mortality rate is fairly low, unfortunately kidney cancer has a tendency to spread early, especially to the lungs, sometimes before symptoms develop. The five year survival rate is around 90-95% for tumors less than 4 cm. For larger tumors confined to the kidney without venous invasion, survival is still relatively good at 80-85%. If it has metastasized to the lymph nodes, the 5-year survival is around 5 % to 15 %. If it has spread metastatically to other organs, the 5-year survival rate is less than 5 %.
An important factor for those with this form of cancer and for that matter with all cancers is that assertive patients who actively work to overcome cancer often increase the odds of survival, live longer, and enjoy life more.
March 5, 2013
Kids and Lung Cancer
In 2004 the UK solitary had 153, 397 deaths caused by tumor lonesome. Every year around 38,000 bags of lung scourge are diagnosed in the UK lonesome.The entire population in the UK around that time was estimated at 60.2 million people. A closer look will disclose the valid boundary of the disease that is slowly being tackled by seek. Cancer gear was increasing by 1% per year. Cancer mainly property people in later life, but is also seen to build in children and adolescents. More than 75% of deaths from bane happen in the elderly from the age of 65 and above. With such a high ratio of deaths occuring in the elderly, blight is responsible for 1 in 4 or 25% of all deaths across all age groups throughout the world. This numeral is main in adults under 65 being old, where 1 in every 3, or 33%, of all plague caused deaths.
There are more than 200 different types of disease but only four of these types were responsible for 48% of all blight allied deaths. Lung canker was the song chief capture of scourge diagnosed which accounts for 22% of all menace deaths in 2004. Bowel, breast and prostrate tumor were responsible for between 11% and 8% of other scourge deaths. Why is the value of lung menace sufferers so high? Simply because of the number of people who smoke cigarettes. Around 80% of all lung plague deaths are caused by smoking.
Cutting down on smoking or stopping all together would seriously reduce the number of melanoma deaths. World-broad, over 1.3 million cases of lung evil are diagnosed each year. Prolonging smoking is responsible for the supreme number of lungs connected blight deaths, with it prominent most commonly among those aged 65 living and over. It is very seldomly diagnosed in those under 40. Scotland has the peak evaluate of lung bane sufferers in the UK. Scotland has the memoirs of high smoking and Scottish men and women have among the maximum duty of menace in the world. Why is the duty so high in Scotland? Exposure to industrial carcinogens and humble diet are said to contribute to the high figure of sufferers. Asbestos exposure is responsible for around 6% of chap lung melanoma cases diagnosed. If we look at the complete world, the main rates of lung melanoma in the world are found to be in men in eastern Europe as well as men in North America. The blueprint is similair for women with the premier number of sufferers occuring in Denmark, Hungary and Iceland.
In the US, incedences of lung blight are upper in the black population for men and women while contrastingly, Hispanics and Asians have lower number of cases than the pasty population.
Children are not immune to smoking with near 1 in 4 smoking by the age of 15. How lifetime smoking practice are urbanized occurs in adolescent time, and by 19 they are steadily addicted to smoke. There evince that points to the truth that how early on in life someone begins smoking has more of brunt on the likelihood of them untaken onto upgrade lung growth. So the immature the fondness is produced, the greater the attempt of lung disease. This reasoned is more prominent than the number or extent the role smokes from then on after developing the fondness or right addicted to nicotine.
Some factors that trigger children to smoke are having a mother that is a smoker or siblings or friends. Being exposed to cigarrette advertising is also a cause that leads children to smoke. Passive smoking by someone, also puts them at gamble of developing lung cancer. It could also clue to respiratory disease in children. Children budding up with parents that smoke are also at venture of asthma, middle-ear infections and cot deaths.
The stage of chance in the UK becomes more alarming when you take into account the verity that one in every three children grow up in a household with at slightest one father that smokes. Smokers that consume up to 14 cigarrettes a day are eight epoch more possible to upgrade lung cancer than non-smokers. Alarmingly, smokers consuming 25 or more, a day are 25 epoch more prone to form lung cancer.
For the sake of your children, if not for your strength, give up smoking and you will have more appreciation for life in your later days, with enhanced special wellbeing and children liberated from the menace of respiratory diseases that may transport to an early end a great life. If not for yourself, for the sake of your children.
There are more than 200 different types of disease but only four of these types were responsible for 48% of all blight allied deaths. Lung canker was the song chief capture of scourge diagnosed which accounts for 22% of all menace deaths in 2004. Bowel, breast and prostrate tumor were responsible for between 11% and 8% of other scourge deaths. Why is the value of lung menace sufferers so high? Simply because of the number of people who smoke cigarettes. Around 80% of all lung plague deaths are caused by smoking.
Cutting down on smoking or stopping all together would seriously reduce the number of melanoma deaths. World-broad, over 1.3 million cases of lung evil are diagnosed each year. Prolonging smoking is responsible for the supreme number of lungs connected blight deaths, with it prominent most commonly among those aged 65 living and over. It is very seldomly diagnosed in those under 40. Scotland has the peak evaluate of lung bane sufferers in the UK. Scotland has the memoirs of high smoking and Scottish men and women have among the maximum duty of menace in the world. Why is the duty so high in Scotland? Exposure to industrial carcinogens and humble diet are said to contribute to the high figure of sufferers. Asbestos exposure is responsible for around 6% of chap lung melanoma cases diagnosed. If we look at the complete world, the main rates of lung melanoma in the world are found to be in men in eastern Europe as well as men in North America. The blueprint is similair for women with the premier number of sufferers occuring in Denmark, Hungary and Iceland.
In the US, incedences of lung blight are upper in the black population for men and women while contrastingly, Hispanics and Asians have lower number of cases than the pasty population.
Children are not immune to smoking with near 1 in 4 smoking by the age of 15. How lifetime smoking practice are urbanized occurs in adolescent time, and by 19 they are steadily addicted to smoke. There evince that points to the truth that how early on in life someone begins smoking has more of brunt on the likelihood of them untaken onto upgrade lung growth. So the immature the fondness is produced, the greater the attempt of lung disease. This reasoned is more prominent than the number or extent the role smokes from then on after developing the fondness or right addicted to nicotine.
Some factors that trigger children to smoke are having a mother that is a smoker or siblings or friends. Being exposed to cigarrette advertising is also a cause that leads children to smoke. Passive smoking by someone, also puts them at gamble of developing lung cancer. It could also clue to respiratory disease in children. Children budding up with parents that smoke are also at venture of asthma, middle-ear infections and cot deaths.
The stage of chance in the UK becomes more alarming when you take into account the verity that one in every three children grow up in a household with at slightest one father that smokes. Smokers that consume up to 14 cigarrettes a day are eight epoch more possible to upgrade lung cancer than non-smokers. Alarmingly, smokers consuming 25 or more, a day are 25 epoch more prone to form lung cancer.
For the sake of your children, if not for your strength, give up smoking and you will have more appreciation for life in your later days, with enhanced special wellbeing and children liberated from the menace of respiratory diseases that may transport to an early end a great life. If not for yourself, for the sake of your children.
March 4, 2013
Natural treatment for stomach cancer
Stomach cancer (gastric cancer) is uncommon in the usa and actually decreasing in occurrence, although it is much more prevalent in certain areas, As with other cancers, stomach cancer is seen as a the uncontrolled growth of your body's cells, in this case cells within the wall of the stomach. Most stomach cancers are adenocarcinomas, which form one of the stomach's glandular cells.
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) presence within the stomach is a major element in stomach cancer occurrence, out of the box poor diet, tobacco use, and gender (male). However, a stomach most cancers is very survivable if caught early. Unfortunately, late stage stomach cancer includes a low survival rate, and early symptoms are minimal and difficult to differentiate from other typical types of stomach distress.
Natural Cures: Natural treatments for stomach cancer are restricted, though some evidence exists to aid Indian Gooseberry and Lu Feng Fang, a Chinese herb, as anti-cancer natural treatments.
Stomach cancer is far more common than people think. Ideas answer some frequently asked questions about Stomach Cancer symptoms, causes and coverings.
Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is among the cancers that occurs much less often than the others. It's a hard cancer to diagnose since it is asymptomatic, showing no symptoms, until within the later stages. If based in the early stage, as with most cancers, the prognosis is way better with a high degree of cure possible.
Stomach cancer is basically a tumor in the tissue from the stomach, known as adenocarcinoma. This type of cancer happens in over 90% of all of these cancers. Exact causes are unknown but probable causes are
Use of highly acidic and preserved foods, including smoked and salted food, pickled food
Infections from the stomach such as ulcers that create chronic inflammation, often diagnosed as chronic gastritis
Smoking cigarettes
Diets low in healthy foods for example fruits and vegetables
Treatment overview
In cancer care, various kinds of doctors often work together to produce a patient's overall treatment plan that combines various kinds of treatments. This is called a multidisciplinary team. For stomach cancer, they of doctors may include a gastroenterologist (a physician who specializes in the gastrointestinal tract, such as the stomach and intestines), a surgeon, a medical oncologist, along with a radiation oncologist.
Stomach cancer might be treated with surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy. Descriptions of those common treatment options for stomach cancer are highlighted below. Often, a combination of these treatments can be used. It can be difficult to cure stomach cancer since it is often not detected until it's at an advanced stage. Treatments and recommendations depend on several factors, such as the type and stage of cancer, possible negative effects, and the patient's preferences and all around health. Learn more about making treatment decisions.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy is the use of high-energy x-rays or other particles to kill cancer cells. A doctor who specializes in giving radiation therapy to treat cancer is called a radiation oncologist. A radiation therapy regimen (schedule) usually consists of a specific number of treatments given over a set period of time. Patients with stomach cancer usually receive external-beam radiation therapy, which is radiation given from a machine outside the body. Radiation therapy may be used before surgery to shrink the size of the tumor or after surgery to destroy any remaining cancer cells.
Surgery
Surgical treatment is the removal of the tumor and surrounding tissue throughout an operation. A surgical oncologist is really a doctor who specializes in treating cancer using surgery. The kind of surgery will depend on the stage from the cancer (see Staging).
In the beginning (stages 0 or I), once the cancer is still contained inside the stomach, treatment usually includes surgery to remove the affected area of the stomach and nearby lymph nodes. For any very early stage (T1a) cancer, some doctors may recommend a non-surgical treatment called endoscopic mucosal resection (elimination of the tumor with an endoscope; see Diagnosis).
When the cancer has spread towards the outer stomach wall in order to more than three lymph nodes (stages II or III), surgery plus either chemotherapy or radiotherapy may be used. The surgeon can perform a subtotal or partial gastrectomy (elimination of part of the stomach) or a total gastrectomy (elimination of all of the stomach). During a gastrectomy, choices attaches the esophagus straight to the small intestine. In a partial gastrectomy, choices connects the remaining part of the stomach towards the esophagus or small intestine. Following this surgery, the patient will only be in a position to eat a small amount of food at any given time.
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) presence within the stomach is a major element in stomach cancer occurrence, out of the box poor diet, tobacco use, and gender (male). However, a stomach most cancers is very survivable if caught early. Unfortunately, late stage stomach cancer includes a low survival rate, and early symptoms are minimal and difficult to differentiate from other typical types of stomach distress.
Natural Cures: Natural treatments for stomach cancer are restricted, though some evidence exists to aid Indian Gooseberry and Lu Feng Fang, a Chinese herb, as anti-cancer natural treatments.
Stomach cancer is far more common than people think. Ideas answer some frequently asked questions about Stomach Cancer symptoms, causes and coverings.
Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is among the cancers that occurs much less often than the others. It's a hard cancer to diagnose since it is asymptomatic, showing no symptoms, until within the later stages. If based in the early stage, as with most cancers, the prognosis is way better with a high degree of cure possible.
Stomach cancer is basically a tumor in the tissue from the stomach, known as adenocarcinoma. This type of cancer happens in over 90% of all of these cancers. Exact causes are unknown but probable causes are
Use of highly acidic and preserved foods, including smoked and salted food, pickled food
Infections from the stomach such as ulcers that create chronic inflammation, often diagnosed as chronic gastritis
Smoking cigarettes
Diets low in healthy foods for example fruits and vegetables
Treatment overview
In cancer care, various kinds of doctors often work together to produce a patient's overall treatment plan that combines various kinds of treatments. This is called a multidisciplinary team. For stomach cancer, they of doctors may include a gastroenterologist (a physician who specializes in the gastrointestinal tract, such as the stomach and intestines), a surgeon, a medical oncologist, along with a radiation oncologist.
Stomach cancer might be treated with surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy. Descriptions of those common treatment options for stomach cancer are highlighted below. Often, a combination of these treatments can be used. It can be difficult to cure stomach cancer since it is often not detected until it's at an advanced stage. Treatments and recommendations depend on several factors, such as the type and stage of cancer, possible negative effects, and the patient's preferences and all around health. Learn more about making treatment decisions.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy is the use of high-energy x-rays or other particles to kill cancer cells. A doctor who specializes in giving radiation therapy to treat cancer is called a radiation oncologist. A radiation therapy regimen (schedule) usually consists of a specific number of treatments given over a set period of time. Patients with stomach cancer usually receive external-beam radiation therapy, which is radiation given from a machine outside the body. Radiation therapy may be used before surgery to shrink the size of the tumor or after surgery to destroy any remaining cancer cells.
Surgery
Surgical treatment is the removal of the tumor and surrounding tissue throughout an operation. A surgical oncologist is really a doctor who specializes in treating cancer using surgery. The kind of surgery will depend on the stage from the cancer (see Staging).
In the beginning (stages 0 or I), once the cancer is still contained inside the stomach, treatment usually includes surgery to remove the affected area of the stomach and nearby lymph nodes. For any very early stage (T1a) cancer, some doctors may recommend a non-surgical treatment called endoscopic mucosal resection (elimination of the tumor with an endoscope; see Diagnosis).
When the cancer has spread towards the outer stomach wall in order to more than three lymph nodes (stages II or III), surgery plus either chemotherapy or radiotherapy may be used. The surgeon can perform a subtotal or partial gastrectomy (elimination of part of the stomach) or a total gastrectomy (elimination of all of the stomach). During a gastrectomy, choices attaches the esophagus straight to the small intestine. In a partial gastrectomy, choices connects the remaining part of the stomach towards the esophagus or small intestine. Following this surgery, the patient will only be in a position to eat a small amount of food at any given time.
March 3, 2013
Enhancing Your Knowledge About Breast Cancer
It is a fact that today hundreds of people are suffering from serious body pains due to breast cancer and some are even fighting for their life. Every year we observe individuals that die from this disease. In some instances they may have had breast cancer and do not discover it until the fourth phase. It is a fact that people can discover breast cancer through mammography or any clinical breast examination. Why does it take so long to find out and recognize that someone had breast cancerin their body for so many years? It can be due to lack of awareness or lack of signs of cancer being developed within the body.
Individuals can reduce the chances of breast cancer by having a breast exam each year and reading about it on TheBreastCancerLibrary.com. Additionally, The Breast Cancer Library has developed several apps to keep the community aware of breast cancer. These apps are available in the android market and can be downloaded if the user has an android phone 2.1 version or higher. The user can download one or all of the three apps:
A customized application designed for The Breast Cancer Library. When using this application, user can download or email an eBook, cover page or even animated wallpaper. While reading an eBook, user can use zoom in and out functionality to accommodate the view.
A short and concise ebook with information about breast cancer and other types of cancer on a global basis. Download this e-book to Enhance Your Knowledge About Breast Cancer. Download this ebook, ebook coverpage and/or the logo for your phone!!
There is an additional app available in the iPhone market. This app can be located on itunes.com, app store and then search: The Breast Cancer Library. This app is designed so the user can download or email an eBook, cover page or even animated wallpaper. While reading an eBook, user can use zoom in and out functionality to accommodate the view.
Lastly, individuals can alleviate breast cancer and other types of cancer by taking precautionary measures before it even develops. The Breast Cancer Library is here to assist you and others who may suffer from any type of cancer
Individuals can reduce the chances of breast cancer by having a breast exam each year and reading about it on TheBreastCancerLibrary.com. Additionally, The Breast Cancer Library has developed several apps to keep the community aware of breast cancer. These apps are available in the android market and can be downloaded if the user has an android phone 2.1 version or higher. The user can download one or all of the three apps:
A customized application designed for The Breast Cancer Library. When using this application, user can download or email an eBook, cover page or even animated wallpaper. While reading an eBook, user can use zoom in and out functionality to accommodate the view.
A short and concise ebook with information about breast cancer and other types of cancer on a global basis. Download this e-book to Enhance Your Knowledge About Breast Cancer. Download this ebook, ebook coverpage and/or the logo for your phone!!
There is an additional app available in the iPhone market. This app can be located on itunes.com, app store and then search: The Breast Cancer Library. This app is designed so the user can download or email an eBook, cover page or even animated wallpaper. While reading an eBook, user can use zoom in and out functionality to accommodate the view.
Lastly, individuals can alleviate breast cancer and other types of cancer by taking precautionary measures before it even develops. The Breast Cancer Library is here to assist you and others who may suffer from any type of cancer
March 2, 2013
Healing Cancer with Proper Diet
Avoid all chlorine and fluoride in your diet. This includes avoiding tap water and foods made with tap water. Chlorine and fluoride destroys many phytonutrients and other nutrients, thus the damage done to the food during processing, if chlorine is used, is permanent and cannot be reversed. This means, for example, not drinking soda pop or any other drinks that have been made by mixing tap water with something else. You should not buy bottled grape juice because during processing, the chlorine in the tap water destroyed many phytonutrients. The damage cannot be reversed.
All vegetables should be organic, if possible. Green vegetables, including juiced grasses and sprouts, must be the foundation of a good cancer diet. The fiber, enzymes, chlorophyll, minerals, and many nutrients are essential for your cancer diet. Juicing vegetables and grasses will help get more nutrients into the body. However, some whole vegetables should be eaten in order to get the fiber. Fiber is critical to a cancer treatment. As with all juices, if you make the juice from the actual foods, the juice should be drunk immediately after they are prepared. In cases where many small doses of a fresh vegetable juice are needed to be taken, the juice can be refrigerated during the day.
You should have organic, fresh salads/vegetables/juiced grasses/sprouts for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Many of the other foods that are allowed on this diet should be mixed in with the salad, except for the vegetable juices.
Vegetables that are known anti-cancer foods include broccoli, asparagus, beets, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, egg-plant, green and yellow squash, fresh green beans and peas, peppers, spinach, mustard greens, collards, kale, lettuce, okra, parsley, scallions, radishes, Swiss chard, watercress, sea vegetables, such as nori, wakame and niziki, wheat grass juice, barley grass powder, turnips, and sprouted grains or beans. Also eat lots of garlic and onion.
A warning about sprouts. Even sprouts purchased in health food stores have been shown to have very dangerous bacteria in them. Wash them very well, but it is even better to make them yourself.
Only whole almonds, whole macadamia nuts and whole walnuts are allowed on a cancer diet. Cashews are strictly prohibited. Almonds and macadamia nuts both have laetrile, and both are acceptable. Walnuts have the very critical omega 3. Other nuts should be used very sparingly. Peanuts (which are not really nuts) and cashews both have too much fungus and should not be used at all. Nuts should be used sparingly.
By a very wide margin, the best foods in the world are wheatgrass juice, barley grass juice, spirulina and chlorella. Only a small number of vegetables can even come close to these superfoods. However, most people are not going to sprout grass (search the Internet for the phrase: "wheatgrass kits" if you want to do it). Thus, many vendors make a variety of qualities of parsley powder, kale powder, barley powder or powder made from a wide variety of vegetables, herbs, and grasses. Such foods are absolutely required for a cancer treatment.
Legumes, are allowed to be eaten by cancer patients, but only in moderation and only to stabilize the weight of the patient or to provide protein.
Soy products are a highly controversial issue among alternative health experts. Some experts love some soy products, and others hate all soy products. It is up to your own judgment on this issue. All soy products should be avoided except fresh soy sprouts. Soy sprouts have an impressive number of anti-cancer nutrients and are acceptable as part of your salads, if you can make your own soy sprouts.
Whole grains can be used only when a cancer patient is fighting dangerous weight loss. If the weight loss is uncontrolled, they should consider a cachexia treatment plan, based on Hydrazine Sulphate. Yeast, which every cancer patient has throughout their body, converts complex carbohydrates into simple carbohydrates, so even whole grains should be avoided when possible. In any case, avoid commercially stored grains and potatoes. Another reason to avoid even whole grains is that over the decades the soil has become acidic and because of the soil many whole grains have more fungus than they did many decades ago. Corn and rice (because of the way they are stored) are grains that should be totally avoided.
Yeast (Baker's and Brewer's) should be completely avoided. This is another reason for avoiding processed bread and other bakery products. Japanese research links breast cancer with the ingestion of goods baked with yeast. The problem is mycotoxins, which are waste products of yeast. There are many health problems that can be directly attributed to yeast, including arteriosclerosis, obesity, and AIDS. No flour (using yeast) can be used in a cancer diet, not even if whole grains are used!
All beef, all pork, all fish, all turkey, all chicken, all dairy, and eggs, should be forbiden during a cancer treatment. The only exception is that if a person is fighting weight loss, some fresh, freshwater fish can be eaten if that is the only thing the cancer patient will eat (e.g. they won't eat beans or other legumes). Avoid all dairy products, including butter, all cheeses and all malts, except cottage cheese or skim milk when used in the Budwig Diet. One exception is that pregnant and nursing women should eat two eggs per day because the choline is necessary for the baby's brain development and the baby takes precedence since two eggs a day is not life-threatening to a cancer patient. If a person must have milk, the only acceptable variety is unprocessed goat's milk, from organically grown and grazing goats.
Meat also uses up the two critical enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin, which are critical to allowing the immune system to kill cancer cells, though more potent enzymes have now been found. Vegetable proteins do not use up those enzymes. Another reason to avoid meat is the accumulation of fecal matter in the colon. The colon should be relatively clear during a cancer treatment so that the body can absorb as many nutrients as possible. "All foods which ferment in the bowel should be avoided. Absolutely no meat or fish!
Diethylstilbestrol has been shown by the FDA to cause cancer of the uterus, breast and other reproductive organs. This is an artificial sex hormone widely used in food production. Dangerous residues of stilbestrol are in 85% of all the meat sold in the United States. This is the main reason why 15 countries around the world now refuse to import American meat. 21 nations have a total ban on the use of stilbestrol in food production or processing. Nitrosamines cause cancer of the liver, stomach, brain, bladder, kidneys and several other organs. When chemical preservatives and color enhancers are ingested, they cause the body to produce nitrosamines. Another source is nitrates and nitrites, which are heavily added to meat during processing.
Meat is a dead matter, low in minerals, and produces uric acid in excess which is a waste product. The incidence of cancer is in direct proportion to the amount of animal proteins, particularly meat, in the diet. However it is true that devitalized, processed, and sugared food can also cause cancer even in vegetarians. Far more often though, when cancer strikes, those eating the junk foods are also eating meat. Nations and groups which consume less meat have less cancer. Hospital records show that Seventh-day Adventists, who eat little or no meat, suffer far less from cancer than the average meat-eating American. Dr. Willard J. Visek, research scientist at Cornell University, stated that the high protein diet of Americans is linked to the high incidence of cancer in the U.S. Another cancer physician, who also worked with hundreds of cancer patients, said that anyone who does not eat meat, eats only good food, and does all he can to protect his liver, may never get cancer. Cancer would be almost unheard of if no devitalized food or meats were eaten. Cancer cannot exist where there is a pure bloodstream.
Cancer cells are able to grow by making the amino acids of protein available for their growth at the expense of the body as a whole. Meat, especially red meat, being the most readily assimilable protein, becomes a banquet for cancer cells. Emphasizing the use of plant sources of vegetable protein such as legumes and beans that contain cancer-fighting compounds should be a prominent part of an anti-cancer diet.
Meat does have some nutrients that help prevent and deal with cancer. Meat does have nutrients that are good for your immunity system. Meats have a low glycemic index, which is good. The problem is that meat overall does far more harm that good to your cancer treatment. However, there are situations where eating meat, especially turkey or chicken, is not only acceptable, but advised. For example, if a person has been on a very restrictive liquid diet for two weeks or more, it would be advisable to eat some meat to rebuild the protein in the person's body. Also, consider a person who weighs very little (i.e. less than 120 pounds) when they begin a cancer diet. A cancer diet typically causes a person to lose weight, but by eating some meat while on the diet, the weight of the person may stabilize before it gets too low.
All man-made sweeteners (e.g. aspartame, NutraSweet, Equal) and fat substitutes should be avoided. These items are most often associated with brain cancer, but everyone should avoid them. This is one of many reasons soda pops are out of the question. Soda pops are also acidic. here is only one acceptable sweetener in a cancer diet, Stevia, which is an herb.
You should absolutely avoid eating refined sugar and refined grains and anything else refined. These things not only feed the fungus and yeast in your body, they also feed the cancer cells. The yeast in flour makes things even worse. Do not eat anything where yeast, fungus or mould is used, added or is a part of. Refined sugar and other simple sugars also interfere with your immunity system. These substances also interfere with getting Vitamin C and oxygen into the cancer cells. Sugar also depletes the body of key minerals and other nutrients because of its acidity. It is not the acidity that directly destroys the minerals, the acidity causes the body to use the minerals to regulate the pH level in the body. The same is true of all acidic foods.
The chain reaction caused in the body by acidic foods (due to the body's attempts to keep the blood at a level pH) is the cause, or a major contributing factor, to almost all chronic diseases, including cancer. It would take an entire book to describe how the body keeps its pH normal, and the ramifications of these processes.
Honey is a case of both the good and the bad. Honey contains simple sugars, the fructose (38 percent) and glucose (31 percent) feed cancer cells. The good news is that honey contains powerful phenolic antioxidants. However, like grape juice, it should be avoided.
The only fruits that are allowed on this diet, without restrictions, are unsweetened lime, unsweetened lemon, and avocados. That is it. Lemons are actually a required part of any cancer treatment because of their beneficial effect on the liver and because they get oxygen into the body. Lemon juice and lime juice should be taken primarily just before bedtime. One exception to this general rule is special fruit "fasts," such as the Johanna Brandt Grape Cure. When the body gets nothing but a potent fruit mush, it is a potent cancer healing program. Another exception to these general rules are for those on a cesium chloride protocol. They are allowed to eat fruits rich in potassium in order to meet their potassium quota.
There are some mushrooms that are used in cancer treatments, generally as supplements. Realizing that some mushrooms kill cancer cells, but are at the same time primarily a fungus, take heed. Mushrooms are one of the good and bad foods. Use with caution. The good news about mushrooms is that they do contain polysaccharides, which are essential to the immunity system. Mushroom supplements such as beta glucan are certainly acceptable to a cancer diet.
Seaweed is also high in polysaccharides, and anti-cancer properties. It is highly recommended. Brown seaweed has at least 3 nutrients that kill cancer cells; furanone, fuecoiden, and algenic acid.
Refined salt may be a major cause of cancer. Refined salt, the wrong fats, margarine and butter are the main causes of red blood cells sticking together, causing them to absorb less oxygen and making hemoglobin a free meal for yeast and fungus. The clumped together red blood cells do not get as much oxygen into the cells of the body. Also, the clumped together red blood cells cannot pass through the smaller arteries/capillaries, meaning much less (if any) oxygen gets to cells in these areas of the body, and some of these cells may be turned to anaerobic (i.e. cancerous). On the other hand, natural sea salt has a very similar mineral content as human blood. It is truly a health food as long as you don't eat too much of it. Sea water salts are actually a complex blend of trace minerals, as well as calcium and magnesium salts. This complex blend is essential to life.
Other foods you should absolutely avoid are trans fats, meaning trans fatty acids or partially hydrogenated oils. Trans fatty acids may be one of the major causes of cancer. They become part of the cell's wall (replacing cholesterol) and make the cell wall rigid or sticky and can make the cell anaerobic (i.e. the first step to becoming cancerous) because large oxygen clusters cannot get into the cells. Like refined salt, these fats also destroy the electrical charge of red blood cells, causing them to "stick" together. When this happens, among other things, the red blood cells do not get to many cancer cells, meaning the cancer cells get far less oxygen (if any), meaning they thrive because they are anaerobic.
Another bad food for cancer patients is polyunsaturated oils. Polyunsaturated oils (e.g. corn oils sold in supermarkets everywhere) promote the growth of small blood vessels (by promoting the production of "bad" prostaglandins). This is bad for cancer because it allows tumors to grow new blood vessels. However, these small blood vessels are good for preventing strokes. Thus, while on a cancer diet avoid polyunsaturated oils.
All herbs and spices are acceptable, except black pepper and other highly acidic spices. Several herbs, such as Sheep Sorrel and Black Walnut, are known to be strong anti-cancer foods. Turmeric, which contains curcumin, is a spice that is a potent anti-cancer food. As with all foods, the storage of herbs can cause them to be high in fungus.
You can forget about eating at a restaurant, big or small, formal or informal, unless it has a menu specifically for organic, raw foods.
Condiments are absolutely forbidden. One of the most acidic foods on earth is black pepper (black pepper is a major cause of acid reflux disease). Avoid soy sauce, pickled vegetables, relish, green olives, sauerkraut, and cucumber pickles.
Basically, any "refined" or processed food that contains sugar, refined salt, aspartame, MSG, trans-fatty acids, coloring, other additives, or refined flour should be avoided. The cooking of food kills critical enzymes needed for digestion.
While it is true that cooking does release some vitamins, by a very wide margin, overall it is better to eat food raw, if it can be safely eaten raw.
Stop smoking (no matter what kind of cancer you have), because smoking puts more than 100 carcinogens in your body. Tobacco is also very high in sugar, fungi and yeasts. Part of this is due to they way tobacco leaves are processed. Alcohol (which is a "primary mycotoxin"), which interferes with all treatment plans. Completely avoid caffeine because it restricts the blood vessels, meaning less oxygen gets to the cancer cells. It is also acid-forming and mucoid-forming.
Peanuts are perhaps the number one food that should be avoided because they are so high in fungus. Foods that have little resistance when they are growing, are frequently high in fungus. Corn, rice (because of the way it is stored) and potatoes, and any foods with corn, rice or potatoes, should be avoided, also because of fungus and the way they are stored. Cashews are another food high in fungus.
Avoid processed apple juice. Avoid oranges, tangerines, and dried fruits, for a variety of reasons. Do not microwave any foods during a cancer diet.
Every cancer patient should drink as much natural water (i.e. natural spring water or natural artesian water, processed with ozone) as they can, up to a gallon a day. Also, a cancer patient should get as much exercise as reasonable. Exercise pumps the lymph system and helps get toxins out of the body. Even if a person can do no more than lift 3 pound weights for 10 minutes while sitting in a chair, it will help.
All vegetables should be organic, if possible. Green vegetables, including juiced grasses and sprouts, must be the foundation of a good cancer diet. The fiber, enzymes, chlorophyll, minerals, and many nutrients are essential for your cancer diet. Juicing vegetables and grasses will help get more nutrients into the body. However, some whole vegetables should be eaten in order to get the fiber. Fiber is critical to a cancer treatment. As with all juices, if you make the juice from the actual foods, the juice should be drunk immediately after they are prepared. In cases where many small doses of a fresh vegetable juice are needed to be taken, the juice can be refrigerated during the day.
You should have organic, fresh salads/vegetables/juiced grasses/sprouts for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Many of the other foods that are allowed on this diet should be mixed in with the salad, except for the vegetable juices.
Vegetables that are known anti-cancer foods include broccoli, asparagus, beets, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, egg-plant, green and yellow squash, fresh green beans and peas, peppers, spinach, mustard greens, collards, kale, lettuce, okra, parsley, scallions, radishes, Swiss chard, watercress, sea vegetables, such as nori, wakame and niziki, wheat grass juice, barley grass powder, turnips, and sprouted grains or beans. Also eat lots of garlic and onion.
A warning about sprouts. Even sprouts purchased in health food stores have been shown to have very dangerous bacteria in them. Wash them very well, but it is even better to make them yourself.
Only whole almonds, whole macadamia nuts and whole walnuts are allowed on a cancer diet. Cashews are strictly prohibited. Almonds and macadamia nuts both have laetrile, and both are acceptable. Walnuts have the very critical omega 3. Other nuts should be used very sparingly. Peanuts (which are not really nuts) and cashews both have too much fungus and should not be used at all. Nuts should be used sparingly.
By a very wide margin, the best foods in the world are wheatgrass juice, barley grass juice, spirulina and chlorella. Only a small number of vegetables can even come close to these superfoods. However, most people are not going to sprout grass (search the Internet for the phrase: "wheatgrass kits" if you want to do it). Thus, many vendors make a variety of qualities of parsley powder, kale powder, barley powder or powder made from a wide variety of vegetables, herbs, and grasses. Such foods are absolutely required for a cancer treatment.
Legumes, are allowed to be eaten by cancer patients, but only in moderation and only to stabilize the weight of the patient or to provide protein.
Soy products are a highly controversial issue among alternative health experts. Some experts love some soy products, and others hate all soy products. It is up to your own judgment on this issue. All soy products should be avoided except fresh soy sprouts. Soy sprouts have an impressive number of anti-cancer nutrients and are acceptable as part of your salads, if you can make your own soy sprouts.
Whole grains can be used only when a cancer patient is fighting dangerous weight loss. If the weight loss is uncontrolled, they should consider a cachexia treatment plan, based on Hydrazine Sulphate. Yeast, which every cancer patient has throughout their body, converts complex carbohydrates into simple carbohydrates, so even whole grains should be avoided when possible. In any case, avoid commercially stored grains and potatoes. Another reason to avoid even whole grains is that over the decades the soil has become acidic and because of the soil many whole grains have more fungus than they did many decades ago. Corn and rice (because of the way they are stored) are grains that should be totally avoided.
Yeast (Baker's and Brewer's) should be completely avoided. This is another reason for avoiding processed bread and other bakery products. Japanese research links breast cancer with the ingestion of goods baked with yeast. The problem is mycotoxins, which are waste products of yeast. There are many health problems that can be directly attributed to yeast, including arteriosclerosis, obesity, and AIDS. No flour (using yeast) can be used in a cancer diet, not even if whole grains are used!
All beef, all pork, all fish, all turkey, all chicken, all dairy, and eggs, should be forbiden during a cancer treatment. The only exception is that if a person is fighting weight loss, some fresh, freshwater fish can be eaten if that is the only thing the cancer patient will eat (e.g. they won't eat beans or other legumes). Avoid all dairy products, including butter, all cheeses and all malts, except cottage cheese or skim milk when used in the Budwig Diet. One exception is that pregnant and nursing women should eat two eggs per day because the choline is necessary for the baby's brain development and the baby takes precedence since two eggs a day is not life-threatening to a cancer patient. If a person must have milk, the only acceptable variety is unprocessed goat's milk, from organically grown and grazing goats.
Meat also uses up the two critical enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin, which are critical to allowing the immune system to kill cancer cells, though more potent enzymes have now been found. Vegetable proteins do not use up those enzymes. Another reason to avoid meat is the accumulation of fecal matter in the colon. The colon should be relatively clear during a cancer treatment so that the body can absorb as many nutrients as possible. "All foods which ferment in the bowel should be avoided. Absolutely no meat or fish!
Diethylstilbestrol has been shown by the FDA to cause cancer of the uterus, breast and other reproductive organs. This is an artificial sex hormone widely used in food production. Dangerous residues of stilbestrol are in 85% of all the meat sold in the United States. This is the main reason why 15 countries around the world now refuse to import American meat. 21 nations have a total ban on the use of stilbestrol in food production or processing. Nitrosamines cause cancer of the liver, stomach, brain, bladder, kidneys and several other organs. When chemical preservatives and color enhancers are ingested, they cause the body to produce nitrosamines. Another source is nitrates and nitrites, which are heavily added to meat during processing.
Meat is a dead matter, low in minerals, and produces uric acid in excess which is a waste product. The incidence of cancer is in direct proportion to the amount of animal proteins, particularly meat, in the diet. However it is true that devitalized, processed, and sugared food can also cause cancer even in vegetarians. Far more often though, when cancer strikes, those eating the junk foods are also eating meat. Nations and groups which consume less meat have less cancer. Hospital records show that Seventh-day Adventists, who eat little or no meat, suffer far less from cancer than the average meat-eating American. Dr. Willard J. Visek, research scientist at Cornell University, stated that the high protein diet of Americans is linked to the high incidence of cancer in the U.S. Another cancer physician, who also worked with hundreds of cancer patients, said that anyone who does not eat meat, eats only good food, and does all he can to protect his liver, may never get cancer. Cancer would be almost unheard of if no devitalized food or meats were eaten. Cancer cannot exist where there is a pure bloodstream.
Cancer cells are able to grow by making the amino acids of protein available for their growth at the expense of the body as a whole. Meat, especially red meat, being the most readily assimilable protein, becomes a banquet for cancer cells. Emphasizing the use of plant sources of vegetable protein such as legumes and beans that contain cancer-fighting compounds should be a prominent part of an anti-cancer diet.
Meat does have some nutrients that help prevent and deal with cancer. Meat does have nutrients that are good for your immunity system. Meats have a low glycemic index, which is good. The problem is that meat overall does far more harm that good to your cancer treatment. However, there are situations where eating meat, especially turkey or chicken, is not only acceptable, but advised. For example, if a person has been on a very restrictive liquid diet for two weeks or more, it would be advisable to eat some meat to rebuild the protein in the person's body. Also, consider a person who weighs very little (i.e. less than 120 pounds) when they begin a cancer diet. A cancer diet typically causes a person to lose weight, but by eating some meat while on the diet, the weight of the person may stabilize before it gets too low.
All man-made sweeteners (e.g. aspartame, NutraSweet, Equal) and fat substitutes should be avoided. These items are most often associated with brain cancer, but everyone should avoid them. This is one of many reasons soda pops are out of the question. Soda pops are also acidic. here is only one acceptable sweetener in a cancer diet, Stevia, which is an herb.
You should absolutely avoid eating refined sugar and refined grains and anything else refined. These things not only feed the fungus and yeast in your body, they also feed the cancer cells. The yeast in flour makes things even worse. Do not eat anything where yeast, fungus or mould is used, added or is a part of. Refined sugar and other simple sugars also interfere with your immunity system. These substances also interfere with getting Vitamin C and oxygen into the cancer cells. Sugar also depletes the body of key minerals and other nutrients because of its acidity. It is not the acidity that directly destroys the minerals, the acidity causes the body to use the minerals to regulate the pH level in the body. The same is true of all acidic foods.
The chain reaction caused in the body by acidic foods (due to the body's attempts to keep the blood at a level pH) is the cause, or a major contributing factor, to almost all chronic diseases, including cancer. It would take an entire book to describe how the body keeps its pH normal, and the ramifications of these processes.
Honey is a case of both the good and the bad. Honey contains simple sugars, the fructose (38 percent) and glucose (31 percent) feed cancer cells. The good news is that honey contains powerful phenolic antioxidants. However, like grape juice, it should be avoided.
The only fruits that are allowed on this diet, without restrictions, are unsweetened lime, unsweetened lemon, and avocados. That is it. Lemons are actually a required part of any cancer treatment because of their beneficial effect on the liver and because they get oxygen into the body. Lemon juice and lime juice should be taken primarily just before bedtime. One exception to this general rule is special fruit "fasts," such as the Johanna Brandt Grape Cure. When the body gets nothing but a potent fruit mush, it is a potent cancer healing program. Another exception to these general rules are for those on a cesium chloride protocol. They are allowed to eat fruits rich in potassium in order to meet their potassium quota.
There are some mushrooms that are used in cancer treatments, generally as supplements. Realizing that some mushrooms kill cancer cells, but are at the same time primarily a fungus, take heed. Mushrooms are one of the good and bad foods. Use with caution. The good news about mushrooms is that they do contain polysaccharides, which are essential to the immunity system. Mushroom supplements such as beta glucan are certainly acceptable to a cancer diet.
Seaweed is also high in polysaccharides, and anti-cancer properties. It is highly recommended. Brown seaweed has at least 3 nutrients that kill cancer cells; furanone, fuecoiden, and algenic acid.
Refined salt may be a major cause of cancer. Refined salt, the wrong fats, margarine and butter are the main causes of red blood cells sticking together, causing them to absorb less oxygen and making hemoglobin a free meal for yeast and fungus. The clumped together red blood cells do not get as much oxygen into the cells of the body. Also, the clumped together red blood cells cannot pass through the smaller arteries/capillaries, meaning much less (if any) oxygen gets to cells in these areas of the body, and some of these cells may be turned to anaerobic (i.e. cancerous). On the other hand, natural sea salt has a very similar mineral content as human blood. It is truly a health food as long as you don't eat too much of it. Sea water salts are actually a complex blend of trace minerals, as well as calcium and magnesium salts. This complex blend is essential to life.
Other foods you should absolutely avoid are trans fats, meaning trans fatty acids or partially hydrogenated oils. Trans fatty acids may be one of the major causes of cancer. They become part of the cell's wall (replacing cholesterol) and make the cell wall rigid or sticky and can make the cell anaerobic (i.e. the first step to becoming cancerous) because large oxygen clusters cannot get into the cells. Like refined salt, these fats also destroy the electrical charge of red blood cells, causing them to "stick" together. When this happens, among other things, the red blood cells do not get to many cancer cells, meaning the cancer cells get far less oxygen (if any), meaning they thrive because they are anaerobic.
Another bad food for cancer patients is polyunsaturated oils. Polyunsaturated oils (e.g. corn oils sold in supermarkets everywhere) promote the growth of small blood vessels (by promoting the production of "bad" prostaglandins). This is bad for cancer because it allows tumors to grow new blood vessels. However, these small blood vessels are good for preventing strokes. Thus, while on a cancer diet avoid polyunsaturated oils.
All herbs and spices are acceptable, except black pepper and other highly acidic spices. Several herbs, such as Sheep Sorrel and Black Walnut, are known to be strong anti-cancer foods. Turmeric, which contains curcumin, is a spice that is a potent anti-cancer food. As with all foods, the storage of herbs can cause them to be high in fungus.
You can forget about eating at a restaurant, big or small, formal or informal, unless it has a menu specifically for organic, raw foods.
Condiments are absolutely forbidden. One of the most acidic foods on earth is black pepper (black pepper is a major cause of acid reflux disease). Avoid soy sauce, pickled vegetables, relish, green olives, sauerkraut, and cucumber pickles.
Basically, any "refined" or processed food that contains sugar, refined salt, aspartame, MSG, trans-fatty acids, coloring, other additives, or refined flour should be avoided. The cooking of food kills critical enzymes needed for digestion.
While it is true that cooking does release some vitamins, by a very wide margin, overall it is better to eat food raw, if it can be safely eaten raw.
Stop smoking (no matter what kind of cancer you have), because smoking puts more than 100 carcinogens in your body. Tobacco is also very high in sugar, fungi and yeasts. Part of this is due to they way tobacco leaves are processed. Alcohol (which is a "primary mycotoxin"), which interferes with all treatment plans. Completely avoid caffeine because it restricts the blood vessels, meaning less oxygen gets to the cancer cells. It is also acid-forming and mucoid-forming.
Peanuts are perhaps the number one food that should be avoided because they are so high in fungus. Foods that have little resistance when they are growing, are frequently high in fungus. Corn, rice (because of the way it is stored) and potatoes, and any foods with corn, rice or potatoes, should be avoided, also because of fungus and the way they are stored. Cashews are another food high in fungus.
Avoid processed apple juice. Avoid oranges, tangerines, and dried fruits, for a variety of reasons. Do not microwave any foods during a cancer diet.
Every cancer patient should drink as much natural water (i.e. natural spring water or natural artesian water, processed with ozone) as they can, up to a gallon a day. Also, a cancer patient should get as much exercise as reasonable. Exercise pumps the lymph system and helps get toxins out of the body. Even if a person can do no more than lift 3 pound weights for 10 minutes while sitting in a chair, it will help.
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