Green Tea Extract

Appears to Keep Cancer in Check

in Majority of CLL Patients

Science (June 4, 2010) — An extract of green tea appears to have clinical activity with low toxicity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients who used it in a phase II clinical trial, say researchers at Mayo Clinic.

The findings were presented June 7 during the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). They are the latest in a series of Mayo studies to show promise for use of the chemical epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) — the major component of green tea — in reducing the number of leukemia cells in patients with CLL. Mayo first tested EGCG in a variety of laboratory assays about eight years ago, and it was found to reduce the survival of CLL leukemic cells. This laboratory finding was followed by a successful phase I clinical trial — the first time green tea extract had been studied in CLL patients.

“Although only a comparative phase III trial can determine whether EGCG can delay progression of CLL, the benefits we have seen in most CLL patients who use the chemical suggest that it has modest clinical activity and may be useful for stabilizing this form of leukemia, potentially slowing it down,” says Tait Shanafelt, M.D., a Mayo Clinic hematologist and lead author of the study.

“These studies advance the notion that a nutraceutical like EGCG can and should be studied as cancer preventives,” says Neil Kay, M.D., a hematology researcher whose laboratory first tested the green tea extract in leukemic blood cells from CLL patients. “Using nontoxic chemicals to push back cancer growth to delay the need for toxic therapies is a worthy goal in oncology research — particularly for forms of cancer initially managed by observation such as CLL.”

Drs. Shanafelt and Kay caution that EGCG is not a substitute for chemotherapy. All of the patients Mayo tested with EGCG were early stage, asymptomatic CLL patients who would not otherwise be treated until their disease progressed. The extract was supplied by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Polyphenon E International for these initial clinical trials.

CLL is a blood cancer that is a hybrid between leukemia and lymphoma. Progression of the disease is measured by the quantity of leukemia cells in the blood and bone marrow as well as enlargement of lymph nodes due to infiltration by the leukemia cells. In the phase I study, published in May 2009 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, researchers found that the blood lymphocyte (leukemia cell) count was reduced in one-third of participants, and that the majority of patients who entered the study with enlarged lymph nodes due to involvement by CLL saw a 50 percent or greater reduction in their lymph node size.

Using the highest dose tested in the phase I study, the researchers launched their phase II clinical trial in an additional 36 patients. The results presented at the ASCO meeting evaluate the effects in these 36 patients as well as the six patients from the phase I trial treated at the same dose (total 42 patients). Results from 41 patients who have completed the study show that 31 percent of patients had a 20 percent or greater sustained reduction in blood leukemia count, and 69 percent of patients with enlarged lymph nodes saw a reduction of node size of 50 percent or greater.

In all, 69 percent of CLL patients had a biological response to EGCG as evidenced by a 20 percent or greater sustained reduction in blood lymphocyte count and/or a 50 percent or greater reduction in lymph node size, the researchers say.

Because EGCG was being studied in patients who did not otherwise need treatment, the researchers took a rigorous approach toward studying side effects. Most clinical trials of therapeutic agents only report grade 3 and higher side effects, but the researchers looked at and reported grade 1 and grade 2 as well. While a number of patients had transient grade 1 or 2 side effects, only three of 42 experienced a grade 3 side effect during their six months of treatment.

“All in all, the treatment was well tolerated with very mild side effects in most patients,” Dr. Shanafelt says.

The researchers say that the prior publications on the effects of EGCG on CLL leukemia cells in the laboratory and the data from the published phase I study have been widely disseminated via the Internet by patient advocacy groups. Based on information from patients and colleagues throughout the country, the Mayo researchers have become aware that many CLL patients nationwide have started to use EGCG supplements, which are readily available over the counter.

“Without a phase III clinical trial, we cannot make a recommendation that EGCG be used by CLL patients, but those who want to take supplements should consult with their oncologists and need to receive appropriate monitoring using laboratory tests,” Dr. Kay says.

The study was funded by grants from the NCI, the Mayo Comprehensive Cancer Center and from donors and patient advocacy foundations.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Toxic ingredients in common soaps

Common antimicrobial soap ingredients can kill sperm and damage the female babymaking equipment – and now, a lawsuit-happy environmental group is suing the feds over it.

After all, they first proposed regulating these antimicrobial chemicals – triclosan and triclocarban – 30 years ago. They promised to act once they completed a study… but I’ll bet you can guess what happened next. They never bothered to study it.

That’s your government (not) at work.

So they ‘washed’ their hands of it, and today these completely unregulated toxic chemicals are free to go to town on your endocrine system, reproductive system, and more every single time you lather up.

As I’ve told you before, triclosan is actually a pesticide — not a soap. And when it gets in the water, fish die. With a chemical that powerful, your poor little sperm never even have a chance.

The group that filed the suit, the National Resources Defense Council, is the same organization that recently sued the feds over their lack of regulations on BPA. The FDA’s bureaucrats may do a whole lot of nothing, but the agency’s lawyers sure are keeping busy.

Don’t wait for the lawyers, bureaucrats, and environmental groups to sort this one out, because while these things might be bad news for people, fish and sperm, they’re not exactly terrorizing bacteria. Studies have found that antimicrobial soaps are actually no better at killing germs than the plain old soap – and the FDA has even admitted as much.

What’s more, the overuse of these soaps is helping to create drug-resistant superbugs… and boy do we overuse them: Triclosan residue is believed to be on 75 percent of Americans over the age of 6.

So do yourself and the rest of us a favor: Keep clean… but stick to plain old soap.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Disabled man eaten to death

by maggots

Nanotechnology and stem cells rejuvenate arteries

A combination of nanotechnology and adult stem cells has been shown to destroy arterial plaque atherosclerosis in the hearts of pigs. Animals that received stem cells also showed signs of new blood vessel growth and restoration of artery function, according to the study reported at the American Heart Association’s Basic Cardiovascular Sciences 2010 Scientific Sessions.

The study was conducted at the Department of Internal Medicine and Research Center of Regenerative Medicine, Ural State Medical Academy in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Nanoparticles were infused into the heart of pigs, along with adult stem cells, then heated by laser light until they burned away arterial plaque. The volume of plaque shrunk an average of 28.9 percent immediately after treatment across the three treatment groups, and six months later it had declined 56.8 percent on average. In the control group, plaque volume increased an average of 4.3 percent.

“Biophotonics (light therapy), plasmonics (plasma therapy), stem cell therapy and nanotechnology might someday offer a completely novel treatment to reduce artery plaque build-up,” said lead author and research manager Alexandr Kharlamov. “Nanoburning in combination with stem cell treatment promises demolition of plaque and functional restoration of the vessel wall.”

This new approach may one day replace angioplasty, a common treatment for atherosclerosis, in which a balloon-tipped catheter is threaded into a blocked artery and the balloon is inflated to restore blood flow. The balloon squeezes plaque against the artery wall, but does not eliminate it.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Officials warn of ocean bacteria

MIAMI (UPI) — Wading in the ocean to let salt water heal cuts and scrapes is not always a good idea, health experts say, as bacteria can proliferate in summer months.

A little known, deadly bacteria called Vibrio vulnificus can infect open wounds of beach goers and cause a life-threatening illness in those with weakened immune systems, The Miami Herald reported Friday.

he bacteria, which occur naturally in warm coastal waters, infected 138 people in Florida between 2005 and 2009 and 31 of them died, the Florida Department of Health said.

“The high mortality rate makes it a big deal,” Juan A. Suarez, an epidemiologist for FDH, said.

The bacteria proliferate in waters where temperature and salinity are increasing, particularly between the months of April and November, Suarez said.

“It’s a particularly difficult organism because it doesn’t affect everyone.” he said. “Most healthy people will not respond to the organism. They are probably not at risk.”

But he advised all people to heal their cuts and scrapes through other means, not ocean water.

“It’s probably not a good idea, even if you’re healthy, to go into the water with an open wound,” Suarez said.

Copyright 2010 by United Press International

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Do Cleaning Products & Sprays

Cause Breast Cancer?

Science (July 21, 2010) — Women who report greater use of cleaning products may be at higher breast cancer risk than those who say they use them sparingly. Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Environmental Health asked more than 1500 women about their cleaning product usage and found that women who reported using more air fresheners and products for mold and mildew control had a higher incidence of breast cancer.

Julia Brody, from the Silent Spring Institute, USA, worked with a team of researchers to carry out telephone interviews with 787 women diagnosed with breast cancer and 721 comparison women. She said, “Women who reported the highest combined cleaning product use had a doubled risk of breast cancer compared to those with the lowest reported use. Use of air fresheners and products for mold and mildew control were associated with increased risk. To our knowledge, this is the first published report on cleaning product use and risk of breast cancer.”

The researchers questioned women on product use, beliefs about breast cancer causes, and established and suspected risk factors. They found that cleaning products, air fresheners, and insect repellents were associated with breast cancer, but little association was observed with overall pesticide use. Women with breast cancer who believed that chemicals and pollutants contribute ‘a lot’ to the risk of developing the condition were more likely to report high product usage.

Speaking about this potential bias to the study, Brody said, “When women are diagnosed with breast cancer, they often think about what happened in the past that might have contributed to the disease. As a result, it may be that women with breast cancer more accurately recall their past product use or even over-estimate it. Or, it could also be that experience with breast cancer influences beliefs about its causes. For example, women diagnosed with breast cancer are less likely to believe heredity contributes ‘a lot’, because most are the first in their family to get the disease.”

In order to avoid possible recall bias, the researchers recommend further study of cleaning products and breast cancer using prospective self-reports and measurements in environmental and biological media.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

Brushing lowers risk of heart disease

LONDON (UPI) — Brushing your teeth twice a day can lower your risk of heart disease, British researchers said.

The researchers studied the brushing habits and medical histories of more than 11,000 adults and found that people who brush less than twice a day were 70 percent more likely to develop heart disease.

Inflammation in the body, mouth and gums included, plays a key role in the buildup of clogged arteries, which can lead to heart attacks.

“If you don’t brush your teeth, your mouth can become infected with bacteria, which can cause inflammation,” Judy O’Sullivan, a cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation told the BBC in a story published Friday.

More studies are needed to determine the exact cause and effect between oral hygiene and heart disease, said Damien Walmsley, scientific adviser to the British Dental Association.

Received and published by Henry Sapiecha 7th June 2010

When Drugs Do Bad Things

If your organs had a personality, your liver would be the strong, silent type. No matter how hard it works at filtering out toxins like alcohol and drugs, it doesn’t complain until it’s on the verge of collapse. And when we say drugs, we don’t mean the illegal kind. We’re talking about the dozens of meds with liver-damage potential. The weight-loss aid called orlistat — aka Xenical and Alli — is the latest med that has to include liver cautions on its label.

Luckily for us and you, the liver has a remarkable ability to give itself a makeover. So if you do have a DILI (drug-induced liver injury), stopping the med and treating your liver right — no alcohol, for starters — usually will restore it to health, as long as it was in good shape to begin with.

But since the liver isn’t a whiner, the trick is to spot the damage before it makes your skin itch and turns your eyeballs yellow, your pee dark and your poop pale. Some DILI-defending tips:

Read the fine print. You know those package inserts with the tiny type. Get out your magnifier and read it. Cautions about liver damage will make you more alert to warning signs (below).

Don’t ignore vague symptoms. Nausea, poor appetite, malaise and just not feeling great — especially shortly after starting a medication — can precede the obvious symptoms.

Get the tests. Liver-function tests are advised even before treatment begins with some meds, such as terbinafine (e.g., Lamisil), the nail fungus drug. Don’t blow them off.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha 7th June 2010

If You Don’t Lower Cholesterol Through Diet Now,

You’ll Hate Yourself Later

a. The Myth of Good and Bad Cholesterol

For some people, cholesterol is bad because they do not know there are two types of it. These two types are LDL and HDL – the bad cholesterol is called LDL, while the good one is called HDL. Plaques can form on one’s arteries if you have a lot of LDL in the bloodstream. Eventually, your arteries will get narrow as a result of being clogged up and it will block off blood flow. The truth is, your high cholesterol is not caused by dietary cholesterol but by other things. This is caused by excessive amounts of Tran’s fat and saturated fat. Exercise and eating a lot of fiber and unsaturated fats will do a lot to keep cholesterol down.

b. What Numbers Mean in Cholesterol

Every adult should have their cholesterol checked at least every 5 years. When you get a cholesterol test, you’ll usually get back four different results. Here are the 4 categories and the healthy range you want to be in.

Total Cholesterol – less than 200 mg/dL (5.2 mmol/L)

LDL Cholesterol – less than 100 mg/dL (2.6 mmol/L)

HDL Cholesterol – greater than 40 mg/dL (1.0 mmol/L)

Triglycerides – less than 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L)

If you are over or under the desired level on any category, it is usually indicative that a diet or exercise change is needed.

c. Vitamin E and How it Can Protect the Heart

Vitamin E is an important vitamin found in leafy vegetables, nuts, and vegetable oils. It was previously believed that a Vitamin E supplement could reduce the risk of heart disease, but several studies in the last few years have shown that this supplement does little to prevent heart attacks or strokes.

d. Five Fabulous Foods to Decrease Cholesterol Levels

1. Oatmeal and Oat Bran: These contain a high amount of soluble fiber, which can lower LDL.

2. Fish: Fish is a great source of omega 3 fatty acids, which lowers LDL and raises HDL.

3. Nuts: Not only are nuts high in fiber, but they contain the healthy fats you need to keep LDL in check.

4. Plant Sterols: This is found in foods like margarine, salad dressing, orange juice, and functional cookies. 2 grams per day will lower your LDL by 10-15%.

5. Soy: This popular meat replacement can lower LDL by up to 3%.

e. Health Benefits of Plant Sterols

Plant sterols can be found in foods such as Benecol Spread, granola bars, VitaTops Muffin Tops and fat free milk. To help your heart, you should eat a lot of plant sterols-packed food and stop eating foods with saturated fat. You should know that this does not balance out a diet rich in saturated fats. To be in control of your cholesterol, you should still eat healthy and exercise often.

About the Author – Deborah H. Land writes for the   http://www.cholesterolloweringdiets.net blog,

her personal hobby website she uses to help people eat healthy to lower bad cholesterol levels.

Received and published by Henry Sapiecha 6th May 2010

Today there has been a great deal of concern placed on global warming, ozone layer depletion and the overuse of chemicals and pesticides in our world. Each of these environmental issues plays a large role in our health and many times our body’s immune system is the last line of defense. Our immune system is a complex unit that protects our bodies from many different harmful and toxic conditions. Without maintaining and promoting the health of our immune system it can be impossible to fight the different environmental issues that we are currently being faced with.

What many people do not realize is that global warming and the chemicals we use today so freely are greatly affecting the food we eat and our quality of water. Proper nutrition is vital to maintaining your immune system and today many people are missing out on the nutrients they need by eating fast foods too regularly and not understanding the importance of proper nutrition. There are many toxic minerals in our environment today and some are necessary for our health and others can harm us. It is important to understand the difference.

Copper, calcium and zinc are all minerals that are required for our body to function properly. Minerals such as aluminum, lead and mercury can be absorbed throughout the environment and can be very dangerous for your health. Pesticides and herbicides many times contain these types of dangerous minerals and can be found in traces on your fruit and vegetables and of course in the air you breathe. Indoor pollution should not be ignored either as it can cause just as many serious conditions as the environment can. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has stated that the pollution levels within homes, schools and workplaces are often 2-5 times higher than outdoors. When most people spend up to 90% of their time indoors, this can be extreme exposure.

Types of indoor pollutants include dust, disinfectants, household cleaning products, carbon monoxide and electromagnetic fields. These are items that are used in absolutely every household today. Ionizers can be effective in clearing the air of bacteria, pollen and smoke. To help build up your immune system you should also consider the natural side of treatment.

• Supplements such as Coenzyme 10 are used regularly to help build and promote a strong immune system. This particular supplement can also help detoxify the body and eliminate pollutants.
• Vitamin C is another option, this supplement can be taken daily in dosages of 3,000-10,000 mg and it aids in removing toxins from the body such as heavy metals.
• Herbs such as burdock root and red clover help cleanse the body as well through the blood stream and lymphatic systems.
• Garlic is a powerful immunostimulant and should be consumed daily. I recommend the brand Kyolic from Wakunaga of America, which is an odorless organic garlic supplement.
• Turmeric’s main constituent is curcumin, which enhances the liver’s ability to remove toxins from the body and stops tumor growth.

Naturapaths are great professional people in assisting you to cleanse your system

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 3rd April 2010