Cancer prevention and optimum health checklist

Cancer prevention and optimum health checklist. Five basic things you must do.

(1.) The first thing you must do is maintain a healthy blood oxygen level. Why is your oxygen level so important? According to a research conducted by John Hopkins Cancer Research Centre, cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated medium. That research also stated that the lack of oxygen is the root cause of many diseases.

Not maintaining a healthy blood oxygen level can be very costly to your health and to your finances.

Matthew Pusey is a 32-year-old fitness enthusiast who has never smoked. He has terminal lung cancer. His oxygen levels were desperately low and he had lost 10% of his body weight. Terminal lung cancer is a costly price for not maintaining a healthy blood oxygen level. Mr. Pusey is taking a drug called Avastin which helps restore oxygen to the body. It is also very expensive. Avastin cost s up to $5,700 per treatment.

Don’t wait until your oxygen level falls to dangerous levels and will be very expensive to remedy. There are oxygen supplements that you can take to help prevent your oxygen level from plummeting to dangerous levels.

(2.) The second thing you must do for cancer prevention and optimum health is to refrain from smoking. If you are already a smoker, QUIT. There is no doubt in my mind that my cancer which started in my tonsils was a direct result of my smoking non filter cigarettes for over 50 years.

“When you light up a cigarette and inhale it, you’re not just inhaling the nicotine but also replacing some oxygen molecules with the byproduct.” Joyce Davidson, registered nurse and facilitator for the smoking cessation course.

You may think that first item on this checklist should have been to quit smoking and the checking your blood oxygen level the second item. They are in this order because, although smoking definitely lowers your blood oxygen level, you do not have to smoke in order to have a low blood oxygen level.

(3.) Be sure you are eating foods that help prevent cancer. Listing a cancer prevention diet is beyond the scope of this article. A simple healthy diet includes high fiber and fruits and vegetables. Check with your health care professional for a cancer prevention diet that is right for you. Cancer prevention diets are not “One size fits all.”

For instance, Brazil nuts are a rich form of selenium. The University of Arizona showed that 200 micrograms of selenium daily — the amount in two unshelled Brazil nuts - resulted 39 percent overall decrease in cancer deaths.

However, Brazil nuts, or any type of nut, is not good for me. As a result of having a colostomy during my cancer treatment, nuts, corn, and other small kernel foods are not for me. Again, check with your health care professional for a cancer prevention diet that is right for you.

(4.) Exercise. The American Cancer Society recommends exercising 30 or more minutes, at least 5 days a week! There are many ways to exercise without lifting weights, buying an exercise machine or joining a gym. Walking, dancing, Tai Chi or Yoga are all recommended.

Just as in selecting the right diet for you as an individual, your exercise plan must be unique for you. Again, check with your health care professional before starting an exercise program.

30 minutes of vigorous exercise daily may be perfectly alright for one person and a death sentence for another. You can use some common sense when it comes to exercise.

(5.) Last but not least. Detecting cancer early increases survival rates. You should have a complete cancer-related exam every three years if you are between 20 and 40 years of age. Once you reach 40, you should have a complete cancer-related exam yearly. These exams are not cancer screening tests. They can help you doctor recommend what screening tests would be right for you.

Screening means checking your body for cancer before there are signs or symptoms of the disease. The routine performance of screening tests may find many kinds of cancer early, when treatment is likely to work best. Unfortunately, there are no screening tests for many types of cancer. There are very reliable screenings for these types of cancer; Bladder cancer, Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer, Colon Cancer, Lung Cancer, Ovarian Cancer, Prostate Cancer, and Skin Cancer.

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Healthy Newsletter

Health News

Prior to being diagnosed with cancer, almost three years ago, (Aug 2005), I did not pay any attention to health issues. Soon after my diagnosis, that all changed. I started researching and reading everything I could concerning health issues. This included diets and eating habits, vitamins, nutritional supplements and exercise.

I kept a journal and wrote down everything. I spent up 16 hours a day on the computer gathering information about health issues. I don’t spend that much time on the computer any more. It isn’t healthy. However, during that intensive research, I took meticulous notes. I still read and study about health issues daily; just not 16 hours a day.

I know that people visiting this blog are also concerned about their health. So, I decided to share with my blog visitors the valuable information learned. I will be doing this with a free newsletter. I invite you to subscribe and keep up on this life enhancing and even life saving information.

Go to the Health News Page.

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More About Smoking

I have something in common Liz Dawn, one of the UK’s best-loved actresses. We both smoked for 50 years. Unlike me; Liz did not get cancer. Her smoking led to an equally deadly disease. Emphysema.

Also, unlike me; Liz immediately quit smoking. I didn’t quit smoking right away; not even after a 32 day hospital stay, most of which I was attached to an oxygen tank. I lit a cigarette as soon as my foot hit the sidewalk after being discharged from the hospital. I didn’t quit smoking until the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor that diagnosed my cancer said to me, “If you don’t stop smoking, the cancer will come back.” He continued, “I’m not saying it may come back, I’m saying it WILL come back.” That got my attention. I quit.

Liz’s emphysema was caused predominantly from smoking.

A cancer such as I battled, that started in my tonsils, is also predominantly caused from smoking.

Every cigarette pack purchased has a warning that “smoking is dangerous to your health.” I never believed it. I rationalized by thinking of the old people I knew who were healthy and still smoked. Today I know there are over 4,000 chemical compounds present in the inhaled smoke, many are known carcinogens.

I’ve talked about how smoking causes emphysema and cancer. Do you think they are the primary diseases caused by smoking? Wrong! Heart disease is the number one killer of smokers.

What other parts of the body does smoking dangerously affect? I don’t think I could count them all. Here is a partial list: Bladder, Bones, Hands, Heart, Immune System, Kidneys, Legs and Feet, Liver, Mouth and Throat, Reproduction, Respiration and Lungs, Skin, Stomach, Teeth. Need I go on? There are many more areas and ways that smoking is dangerous to your health.

One of the reasons that smoking causes so many health problems and life threatening diseases is the simple fact smoking interferes with the primary function of our lungs. It is the lungs that bring in the oxygen that every cell in our bodies need. Smoking reduces the effectiveness of breathing which brings oxygen to the blood. It’s bad enough that pollution reduces the amount of oxygen we get through normal breathing. Smoking intensifies this dangerous condition.

It took Stage IV cancer for me to accept the plain simple fact that, just as your cigarette pack says, “Smoking Is Dangerous To Your Health.”

Ok, so you are becoming a believer. You want to quit. How do you do it? There are many options. Cold Turkey may be the best way. Some studies show that cold turkey produces the best results. The Center For Disease and Prevention has a wealth of plans and programs for you to choose from. If you really want to quit you will find a way at the The Center For Disease and Prevention’s website.

I think the first ten words of the very last sentence holds the key;” if you really want to quit you will find a way.”

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Breakthrough Brings Hope for Leukemia Treatment

From The Medi Lexicon

Scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research together with colleagues at The University of Oxford and Great Ormond Street Hospital, funded by Leukaemia Research and the Medical Research Council (MRC), have compared cells in the blood of three-year-old identical twins Olivia, who is being treated for leukaemia, and Isabella who is healthy. They found that both twins had the same genetically abnormal primitive cells in their blood. These ‘pre-leukaemic’ stem cells reside in the bone marrow and either ‘lay dormant’ or go on to develop into full-blown leukaemia stem cells.

Read the full story

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Cancer Patients, Caregivers, And Survivors Loose A Good Friend

I live on Cape Cod, Ma. As a cancer survivor I was very much aware of Dr. Folkman’s tireless work for cancer. Dr. Folkman passed away Monday. All who knew him or knew about him will be grieving his passing. What a legacy he left.

The following story is from the Boston Globe

The revolutionary doctor

JUDAH FOLKMAN

By Robert Cooke January 17, 2008

THE HARDEST PART of holding a conversation with Judah Folkman was getting past his beeper. Every couple of minutes, he’d get beeped and would offer advice to someone, somewhere about how to deal with cancer, find a doctor, look for something that might save a life.

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As a physician, Folkman, who died Monday, was patient-oriented. When he was a master surgeon at Children’s Hospital, Folkman gave his home phone number to patients. “They never abused it,” he once said.

Similarly, when traveling, Folkman carried patients’ phone numbers so he could call at least 10 per night to answer questions and offer advice. They were not his patients - he wasn’t practicing medicine anymore - but he called to help anyway.

As a teacher, he was the best. Several times Folkman won the medical school’s annual award for quality teaching, and his lectures were always crowded. Countless physicians recall his mentoring ability. Many of them are now deans and department heads at medical centers around the country and abroad. He could be blunt when necessary, warning medical students “you have chosen a service profession. Get used to it.” If they didn’t like long hours, coping with patients, and being on call, “then do something else. You could be a banker.”

As a researcher pursuing what many colleagues considered a screwy idea - angiogenesis - Folkman faced severe opposition. One rejection notice from a review committee said, “This is just dirt.” Another said his results “exist only in the mind of the principal investigator.” A few years ago he posted a notice from the National Institutes of Health - announcing angiogenesis would be a major research topic in several institutes - right next to a rejection note that earlier dismissed his ideas as worthless. He liked the irony.

Folkman’s central idea was that a tumor, like any living thing, requires nutrients and oxygen to survive and grow. But these supplies cannot seep through tissue fast enough to support an expanding tumor, so new blood vessels must grow near to deliver a rich supply. This means a tumor has to somehow induce a new network of capillaries to grow close, and keep growing as the tumor expands in size.

Folkman suggested the tumor must release a signal - a hormone-like growth factor - that stimulates blood vessel growth, mimicking the way blood vessels react to repair a wound. And if that is true, he said, then opposing factors must also exist that the body uses to shut off blood vessel growth once wound repairs have been made. All those ideas turned out to be true - but very complicated and hard to prove.

Finding the proof was extraordinarily difficult, in part because Folkman was working long hours as head of surgery at Children’s Hospital, and trying to run a laboratory chasing this idea about halting cancer growth by drying up its blood supply. Worse, his willingness to discuss the idea generated enthusiasm for treatments that didn’t exist, and he was accused of raising false hopes. Much ridicule followed. He later gave up his surgery duties to work on research full time.

Dr. Harold Varmus, Nobel laureate and former head of the NIH, once recalled that Folman “was described as this guy in a hair shirt working on an island in Boston Harbor.” Thus Folkman was viewed by many as an isolated, obsessed man pursuing an illusion. “Judah was thought of as a sort of renegade scientist, trained as a surgeon, pursuing a phenomenon most of us thought of as peripheral to the central issues of cancer,” Varmus explained.

But Folkman persevered, despite having to find, modify, and even invent the tools and techniques needed to prove his point. His research team surmounted barrier after barrier, learning to grow blood vessel cells in culture, finding ways to stimulate and/or block their growth. In the mid-1990s they showed that natural agents - such as angiostatin and endostatin - do exist, and cause tumors to shrink as he predicted. But they haven’t yet been tested well enough to win approval.

However, this work did lead directly to new drugs - the best known is Avastin - that are now being used by more than a million cancer patients worldwide, actually extending lives. Similar drugs are also, for the first time, helping restore some vision in people blinded by the “wet” kind of macular degeneration. It’s a revolution in eye care.

And the bottom line? The Nobel committee at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm moved too slowly. It doesn’t give the cherished prize posthumously.

Robert Cooke is author of “Dr. Folkman’s War, Angiogenesis and the Struggle to Defeat Cancer.”

© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.

Learn more about the importance of oxygen

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$6.5 million federal grant support research for two new anti-cancer drugs.

Cancer Center Receives Grant To Continue Research On 2 Drugs

From The KOLD News 13 Newsroom
Posted: Jan 14, 2008 08:09 PM

The Arizona Cancer Center’s Therapeutic Development Program is getting a five-year, $6.5 million federal grant that will support research projects involving two new anti-cancer drugs.

PX-12 and Imexon are drugs that target cancer-causing proteins.

They are in early phase clinical trials.

Robert Dorr is co-director of the center’s Therapeutic Development Program and principal investigator for the grant.

He says, “The new drugs are designed to kill tumor cells by creating stress related to oxygen levels inside cancer cells, which is a novel mechanism for new anti-cancer drugs.”

In a news release, the Arizona Cancer Center says “PX-12 targets a cancer-causing protein that is overexpressed in colon, pancreatic, gastric and lung cancers.”

The cancer center says Imexon “first showed activity against multiple myeloma and is being tested in patients with melanoma, lung, breast and prostate cancers. The grant’s second project, led by Dorr, will test Imexon in a clinical trial in combination with another drug, Gemcitabine, for effectiveness against pancreatic cancer and will develop new drugs similar to Imexon.”

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Can the Mediterranean Diet Help Prevent Cancer?

One of my hospital stay lasted 32 consecutive days. During that time I lost 60 pounds. Not the best way to loose weight. Actually, even though I was overweight I never tried to diet. I used to say, “I could live on steak and potatoes for the rest of my life.” I also enjoyed very rich deserts.

Most of my regular readers know, that prior to my cancer, I did not pay any attention to health issues. Not only did I have a very unhealthy diet, I also smoked 2 packs of non filter cigarettes ad day for over 50 years.

Even after being declared “Cancer Free” I continued to smoke. I told you I was not too bright when it came to my health. The fact that my primary cancer was in my tonsils, you would think have I associated my cancer with smoking. I didn’t.

On one of my follow up visits with my Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor, he said to me. “John, if you don’t quit smoking. The cancer will come back.” He added. “I’m not saying it may come back, I’m saying it WILL come back.” That scared me” I quit smoking.

Shortly there after I started gaining back the 60 pounds I had lost. I decided I would have to go on a diet if I wanted to loose that weight. However, by now I was keenly aware of the importance of having good nutritional eating habits. I knew certain foods were proven to help protect against cancer. Could I find a diet that would be healthy and help protect me from a recurrence of cancer, and at the same time help me loose weight?

I searched and found one, Mediterranean Diet. One of the things I like about the Mediterranean diet is that it allows you to have a glass of wine with dinner and I really enjoy my glass of wine with dinner.

I confirmed my commitment to this diet buying the Mediterranean Diet Cook. This is an ebook that you candownload.

I suspect that many people starting out on a new diet wonder if they made the right choice. I was thinking about that while watching the evening. WBZ-TV’s Dr. Mallika Marshall was talking about the Mediterranean Diet. She confirmed for me that I had made the right choice. She directed the viewers to go to WBZ’s website for mor information on the Mediterranean Diet, I did and fount the following to very informative videos.

WBZTV Video1

WBZTV Video2

Just what is the Mediterranean Diet?

This is from Stanford University
http://www.stanford

The ideal Mediterranean diet is based on the dietary patterns of the people of Crete in the early 1950s and late 1960s. The Mediterranean diet, as the name expresses, is characteristic of the foods that are commonly available in this region.

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Does garlic prevent cancer?

Does garlic prevent cancer?

Key Points

> A host of studies provide compelling evidence that garlic and its organic allyl sulfur components are effective inhibitors of the cancer process.

> Several compounds are involved in garlic’s possible anticancer effects. Garlic contains allyl sulfur and other compounds that slow or prevent the growth of tumor cells.

Garlic is the edible bulb from a plant in the lily family. Garlic, onions, leeks, scallions, shallots and chives are classified as members of the Allium genus. Thus, they are commonly described as Allium vegetables.

1. Does garlic prevent cancer?

A host of studies provide compelling evidence that garlic and its organic allyl sulfur components are effective inhibitors of the cancer process. These studies reveal that the benefits of garlic are not limited to a specific species, to a particular tissue, or to a specific carcinogen. Of 37 observational studies in humans using garlic and related allyl sulfur components, 28 studies showed some cancer preventive effect. The evidence is particularly strong for a link between garlic and prevention of prostate and stomach cancers. However, all of the available information comes from observational studies comparing cancer incidence in populations who consume or do not consume garlic (epidemiologic studies), animal models, or observations with cells in culture. These findings have not yet been verified by clinical trials in humans.

Although health benefits of garlic are frequently reported, excessive intake can have harmful effects. Studies have reported symptoms including garlic odor on breath and skin, occasional allergic reactions, stomach disorders and diarrhea, decrease in serum protein and calcium levels, association with bronchial asthma, and contact dermatitis, and possible associations with production of sperm in males. Garlic preparations vary in concentration and in the number of active compounds they contain. Thus, quality control is an important consideration when foods such as garlic are considered for use as a cancer-fighting agent.

2. How might garlic prevent cancer?
Several compounds are involved in garlic’s possible anticancer effects. Garlic contains allyl sulfur and other compounds that slow or prevent the growth of tumor cells. Allyl sulfur compounds, which occur naturally in garlic and onions, make cells vulnerable to the stress created by products of cell division. Because cancer cells divide very quickly, they generate more stressors than most normal cells. Thus, cancer cells are damaged by the presence of allyl sufur compounds to a much greater extent than normal cells.

The chemistry of garlic is complicated. As a result, the quality of garlic products depends on the manufacturing process. Peeling garlic and processing garlic into oil or powder can increase the number and variety of active compounds. Peeling garlic releases an enzyme called allinase and starts a series of chemical reactions that produce diallyl disulfide (DADS). DADS is also formed when raw garlic is cut or crushed. However, if garlic is cooked immediately after peeling, the allinase is inactivated and the cancer-fighting benefit of DADS is lost. Scientists recommend waiting 15 minutes between peeling and cooking garlic to allow the allinase reaction to occur.

Processing garlic into powder or garlic oil releases other cancer-fighting agents. The inconsistent results of garlic research may be due, at least in part, to problems standardizing all of the active compounds within garlic preparations. Some of the garlic compounds currently under investigation are: allin (responsible for the typical garlic odor), alline (odorless compound), ajoene (naturally occurring disulfide), diallyl sulfide (DAS), diallyl disulfide (DADS), diallyl trisulfide (DAT), S-allylcysteine (SAC), organosulfur compounds and allyl sulfur compounds.

A study conducted at the School of Chinese Medicine also shows that a crude extract of garlic induces a caspase -3 gene expression that leads to apoptosis (cell death) of human colon cancer cells.

References:

(1) Amagase, H., Petesch, B.L., Matsuura, H. et al. (2001) “Intake of garlic and its bioactive components.” J. Nutr. 131: 955S-926S.

(2) Fleischauer, A.T. and Arab, L. (2001) “Garlic and cancer: a critical review of the epidemiologic literature.” J. Nutrition 131: 1032S-1040S.

(3) Milner, J.A. (2001) “Mechanisms by which garlic and allyl sulfur compounds suppress carcinogen bioactivation. Garlic and carcinogenesis.” Adv. Exp. Med. Biol 492: 69-81.

(4) Milner, J.A. (2001) “A historical perspective on garlic and cancer.” J. Nutrition 131: 1027S-1031S.

How to be sure you are fully benefiting from garlic and other cancer preventing effective inhibitors.

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Foods To Improve The pH Levels In Your Body

In a previous article I wrote about the importance of maintaining proper pH levels in your body. I pointed out that the right pH levels in your body are a necessity for optimum health. If you took chemistry classes in high school, you studied about pH levels. You probably forgot almost everything about pH levels upon graduation. I know I did.

Up until I was diagnosed and successfully treated for Advanced Head and Neck cancer, I couldn’t tell you what the PH stood for. I’m ashamed to say that health issues were not a major concern for me. That’s very unfortunate. Had I take better care of my health there is a very good chance that I would not have gotten cancer. At least that’s what my doctors told me. Almost immediately after being diagnosed with cancer, I decided I wanted to know everything about this dreaded disease as possible. I continue to be a student of health issues.

In my last article I promised to research the best foods for maintaining proper pH levels in your body and what foods would help correct pH levels. You will find the results of that research below.

The following foods that can help lower your pH levels and improve your health when your pH levels are too high (alkalosis):

For slightly high pH level:

Bacon
Barley
Brown Rice
Eggs
English Walnuts
Fresh Corn
Honey
Lamb Chops
Pork Chops
Salmon
Steak
Turkey
Veal
Wheat Bran
White Bread
Whole Wheat Bread

For moderately high pH level:

Chicken
Codfish
Corned Beef
Haddock
Lobster
Oatmeal
Pasta
Peanut Butter
Peanuts
Shrimp
Soda Crackers
Wheat Germ

For extremely high pH level:

Dried Lentils
Oysters
Sardines
Sausage
Scallops

The following foods that can help raise your pH levels and improve your health when your pH levels are too low (Acidosis):

For slightly low pH level:

Apples
Apricots
Bananas
Blueberries
Grapefruits
Grapes
Lemons
Onions
Oranges
Peaches
Pears
Peas
Potatoes (sweet or white)
Raspberries
Strawberries
Tangerines
Tomatoes
Watermelons

For moderately low pH level:

Avocado
Beets
Brussels Sprouts
Cauliflower
Cherries
Cucumbers
Dried Dates
Green Beans
Green Soy Beans
Limes
Mushrooms
Pineapple
Radishes
Raisins
Rutabagas

For extremely low pH level:

Beet Greens
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Celery
Chard
Dried Beans
Dried Figs
Lettuce
Lima Beans
Molasses
Raw Spinach
Rhubarb
Sauerkraut
Watercress

When you pH levels are low, raising them can improve your energy level. It will also help improve the health of patients with many different diseases, including cancer and diabetes. These and many other diseases are dependent on an acidic, low oxygen environment for survival. Disease can not survive in a well oxygenated environment..

“Starved of oxygen our bodies will become ill, and if this persists it will die.” Dr. John Muntz, Nutritional Scientist.

When I was diagnosed with cancer my pH level and my oxygen level were both low. Today, I make sure I maintain healthy pH and oxygen levels in my body. You should too.

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Do you know what your PH level is?

Your health is affected by your PH Level. Do you know what your PH level is? Do you even know what PH means? Do you care? Before my battle with cancer I didn’t have the foggiest idea what PH levels were. I didn’t really care. I used to brag that I could live on steak and potatoes for the rest of my life.

So what is PH? It simply stands for “potential for hydrogen.” A PH level is the amount of acidity or alkalinity of a substance in your body. Too little is bad and too much is bad. The optimal pH of the human body is between 7.35 and 7.45

PH levels below 7.35, can cause a condition called acidosis. PH levels above 7.can cause a condition called alkalosis

When I was diagnosed with cancer my PH level was low. Since overcoming cancer I have become very health conscious. I have learned that proper PH is an absolute requirement for good health. Proper PH levels can help increase energy. It can also benefit patients with any number of diseases, including cancer.

Cancer and other diseases are dependent on an acidic, low oxygen environment for survival. Had my PH level not been low could I have avoided cancer? I don’t know. I do know that I should have paid attention to things like healthy diets and eating foods that help maintain proper and safe PH levels.

I am researching what foods will help raise you PH level if needed, what foods will lower your PH level and what foods are recommended for maintaining a good PH level. I will publish that list when it is completed.

The body is an amazing thing. It tries to balance the overall PH. in our bodies. If we are not helping our body with the proper diet, the result can be too much acid or alkali in one part of the body and not enough in another. What should you do if your pH is not where it should be? You can do this by eating foods that increase or decrease our bodies’ pH levels. As I mentioned, I am researching what foods will help raise you PH level and what foods will lower your PH level and will publish it soon.

In the meantime you need to know what your PH level is. Your doctor can perform blood pH tests. Most local pharmacies sell test kits where you can test your pH at home. You can also get a free test kit online.

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