_ Pancreatic Cancer Thunder God Vine Helps Kill Pancreatic Ca Cells By Sondra Forsyth article A diagnosis of pancreatic cancerΓÇöthe fourth most common cause of cancer death in the U.S.ΓÇöcan be devastating. Due in part to aggressive cell replication and tumor growth, pancreatic cancer progresses quickly and has a low five-year survival rate of less than 5 percent.
Aging Well A Drug to Slow Aging By Sondra Forsyth article A drug called rapimycin may mimic the effect of dietary restriction, one of the most-researched methods for slowing the aging process, according to an article published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences/em> in June 2014.
_ 7 Colonoscopy Myths Debunked By Jane Farrell article By Digestive Health Team, Cleveland Clinic Everyone has reasons for not getting a colonoscopy. Often, itΓÇÖs based on misunderstandings ΓÇô both about the procedure and about colon cancer, says Carol A. Burke, MD, Director of the Center for Colon Polyp and Cancer Prevention in Cleveland ClinicΓÇÖs Digestive Disease Institute. People may not realize that colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers ΓÇô and that a colonoscopy is a short, mildly uncomfortable test that can save their life.
_ Breast Cancer Many Elderly BC Patients Are Taking Hormone Therapy By Jane Farrell article Women over 65 with non-metastatic breast cancer are likely to follow recommendations for preventive hormone treatment. But non-white women were much less likely to have that therapy. The women who had the therapy suffered from estrogen-positive breast cancer and were given either an aromatase inhibitor or tamoxifen. Those hormones prevent tumors from using estrogen to fuel growth. The study was reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
_ Digestive Health Possible Breakthrough for IBD Tx By Jane Farrell article A microRNA cluster believed to be important for suppressing colon cancer plays a critical role in wound healing in the intestine, according to researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. The findings could provide a fresh avenue for investigating chronic digestive diseases and for potentially repairing damage in these and other disease or injury settings. A release from the medical center quotes Dr. Joshua Mendell as saying, "We identified a novel role for microRNAs in regulating wound healing in the intestine.
_ How to Have Healthy Air At Home By Jane Farrell article One of the best things about warmer weather: throwing open the windows to let in some fresh air. But that doesnΓÇÖt automatically mean that the air in your house is healthy, or even safe. If you want to keep your house a healthy place for you, your family and your pets, the American Lung Association has some suggestions: If you havenΓÇÖt already, make your home a smoke-free zone. DonΓÇÖt let anyone smoke inside; if they want to inhale, they can go a safe distance away from the house, so smoke wonΓÇÖt blow in through your windows. Have a radon test, the ALA says.
_ Healthy Diet & Nutrition The Importance of Prebiotics and Probiotics By Sondra Forsyth article By Sondra Forsyth Both prebiotics and probiotics are essential components of a healthy diet. Prebiotics are indigestible carbohydrates that act as food for probiotics, which contain live bacteria. Together, they help promote the growth of the good bac- teria in your intestines and maintain your gut’s ecosystem. When a food contains both substances, it is called synbiotic: a synergistic combination of the two. Prebiotics
Vision Health Plugging Blood Vessels to Save Vision By article The growth of malformed blood vessels that can burst is a leading cause of vision loss in North America. Retinopathy and retina degeneration are associated with premature birth, with diabetes, and with increasing age. Now a new drug approach has been developed by a research team led by Dr. Andras Nagy at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto for safer clean-up of deformed blood vessels in the eye. The study was published in May 2014 in EMBO Molecular Medicine.
_ Skin Skin Health Skin Tags and Cysts: When You Should Worry By article The Family Health Teamat the HealthHub of the Cleveland Clinic offers expert advice about skin tags and cysts:
Skin Skin Health Skin Disorders and Aging By Jane Farrell article Your skin changes with age. It becomes thinner, loses fat, and no longer looks as plump and smooth as it once did. Your veins and bones can be seen more easily. Scratches, cuts, or bumps can take longer to heal. Years of sun tanning or being out in the sunlight for a long time may lead to wrinkles, dryness, age spots, and even cancer. But there are things you can do to protect your skin and to make it feel and look better. Here are tips from the National Institute on Aging: Dry Skin And Itching
_ Viral Invasions And Your Blood Sugar By Jane Farrell article A crucial discovery about the relationship between viruses and cells could lead to treatment for conditions as disparate as cancer and the common cold. The findings, by scientists from UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, represent the first detailed study explaining exactly how viruses reprogram the metabolism of the cells they invade to promote continued viral growth. The study results were published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
_ Grow Your Own Organic Produce By article By Bob McClendon Growing your own food can be a fun project that yields healthy results. Here are my tips to help you to start or make the best of your own garden at home:
_ Exercise The Zero Gravity Lesson We Learned from Astronauts By article By Roger Landry, MD, MPH “Houston, we have a problem.”
Breast Cancer Mammogram Risks for Age 70+ Outweigh Benefits By article Researchers from Leiden University Medical Centre in The Netherlands report that their study suggests that breast cancer screening programs for older women results in a large proportion of women being over-treated, and at risk from the harmful effects of such treatment, because these women were more likely to die from other causes than from any tumors detected in the early stages of growth. The team presented the findings the European Breast Cancer Conference in Glascow UK.
Men's Health A Potentially Life-Saving Molecule By Jane Farrell article Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center may have discovered a way to potentially shut down the growth of prostate cancer cells. Dr. Ralf Kittler, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, studies ERG, a protein that facilitates the transformation of normal prostate cells into cancer cells. He and fellow investigators found that a molecule called WP1130 can ultimately lead to the destruction of ERG. “We now have a target that we could potentially exploit to develop a drug for treatment,” Kittler said in a statement.
_ BP Drug Enhances Chemotherapy By article Chemotherapy treatment for cancer work by inducing lesions in the DNA of tumor cells in order to inhibit their proliferation. However, according to a release by INSERM (Institut National de de la Santé et la Recherche Médicale), the body naturally tries to repair these lesions,and thus reduces the efficacy of chemotherapy. Blocking the mechanisms for DNA repair would help to improve chemotherapy by reducing the resistance of cells to treatment.
Natural Ingredients to Replace Synthetic Ones in Food By article The food industry is making a major shift in response to the fact that label-conscious grocery shoppers are increasingly shunning synthetic ingredients and food additives such as Blue No. 1, BHT, and aspartame. Extracts from algae, rosemary and monk fruit could soon replace those substances, according to reports in Chemical & Engineering News in 2014.
_ Curcumin Improves Chemotherapy Treatment By article A special form of the spice curcumin may improve cancer treatment, both directly with its activity against cancer cells and indirectly by sensitizing cancer cells to the effects of chemotherapy. That is the finding of a study done at Baylor University Mdical Center in Dallas and published in the journal PLoS ONE. A release from the university notes that the researchers also showed that BCM-95 Curcumin reduces cellular DNA damage that can lead to cancer.