Category: Cancer

Dalai Lama speaks in Minneapolis

23/2/2016

A most dangerous idea

The Dalai Lama travelled from Rochester, NY, to Minneapolis to speak to the Tibetan community there. They had arranged for him to speak to about 3000 people in the Minneapolis Convention Center.

The Dalai Lama, now 80 years old, is in the US for treatment of his prostate. He spoke to well-wishers this past Sunday assuring them that he is doing well. In his own inimitable style he is quoted:

Most of the time, I just eat, sleep, and rest. I do my regular prayers for four hours in the morning and one hour in the evening, and in between I read my Buddhist texts and have a good time,” he said.

He entered the facility in January.

The Buddhist beliefs state that each Dalai Lama is a reincarnation. Interestingly the Chinese government which has persecuted people for merely possessing a photo of him denies the reincarnation beliefs as nonsense, while at the same time forbidding him to do so and if he does reincarnate he must do it in China.

His lecture to the US Tibetan community centered on striving to achieve harmony with others. He also spoke about religious tolerance. His third main topic was the state of Tibet’s environment. He expressed concern that its fragile nature be respected.

Meanwhile in Tibet, the persecution of monks continues. A monk in Tibet was arrested seven months ago for possessing and distributing a photo of the Dalai Lama. He was sentenced to two years in prison. The PRC authorities forbid pictures of the Dalai Lama in the Tibetan area. The monk was charged with undermining social stability and actions aimed at splitting the country. China took over the formerly independent country in 1951.

A series of self-immolations started in Tibet in 2009. Harsh crackdowns on witnesses and restricted reporting of the practice has restricted accurate information. Word sometimes leaks out. As of September 2015, 143 people have set themselves on fire to protest the ongoing occupation of their country.

Sources:
Radio Free Asia
Dalai Lama homepage
Radio Free Asia
International Campaign for Tibet

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Vitamin C may cure some cancers

15/11/2015

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vitamin C for good health

When Linus Pauling, Nobel Prize for Chemistry, postulated that Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) could be useful in fighting cancer, he was shuffled off to the sidelines of mainstream medicine. I was fortunate to attend a lecture by the two time winner. I didn’t know anything much about chemistry and even less about blood chemistry, but when Dr. Pauling explained things it all made sense.

Of course I forgot most of it upon leaving the lecture hall.

In 1971 Pauling collaborated with a Scottish doctor who was treating some people for cancers. They administered large doses of Vit. C . Some people got better and some did not. Clinical trials failed to show improvement with vitamin C therapy. The therapy was pretty much shelved until recently.

More knowledge and better tools have revived interest in the vitamin therapy. Some tumour cells mutate to produce more ‘gates’ for glucose into their cells. The same ‘gates’ also allow vitamin C into the tumour cells. It reacts with the glucose and makes it unavailable to the cancer cell, starving it to death.

Mouse studies show a promising co-relationship between high intravenous doses of Vit. C and tumour shrinkage of some cancers. As in many early medical announcements, this is early days.

Recent human trials have shown that quality of life may be improved in some cases. Patients with pancreatic and ovarian cancers showed improvement in quality of life and an extension of life for some months. That was not the case in all cancers. With some cancer types, the patient got worse with the vitamin therapy.

Cancer directly affects the patient but also impacts on the world economy. It is the leading cause of death around the world. The loss of productivity by the cutting short of lives is the single largest drain on the global economy. In 2008 it was estimated to cost the world 1.5% of the global GDP. In 2010 the dollar amount spent to deal with and treat cancers was an estimated USD $2.5 trillion.

Recently interest in treating some cancerous tumours with injections of bacteria have been revived and refined. Perhaps Vit. C therapy will be added to the oncologists’ tool kit as well.
Sources:
Science Magazine
National Cancer Institute
American Cancer Society

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Bacteria may be key in fighting cancer

9/11/2015

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Gut bacteria may be silent helpers in fighting cancers. A new approach to an old therapy is showing exciting new promise in the fight against cancerous tumours. Gut bacteria are essential for the development of a healthy immune system. The bacteria that live in our guts manufacture vitamin K essential for blood clotting. They also stimulate our immune system into high gear when ‘rogue cells’ are detected.

Recent investigations using checkpoint inhibitors have shown a marked difference in the growth of tumours in mice without gut bacteria and those with a normal microbiome. It is early days in the investigations, but if the work continues along the promising lines, probiotics may be added to the oncologists’ tool box.

Bacteria have also been used directly to attack cancerous tumours in pet dogs with encouraging results. Pet dogs with cancerous tumours were injected with a bacterium that can only live away from oxygen. Cancerous tumours are usually very poorly supplied with oxygen. The bacteria kill the tumour cells and grow and multiply. When the tumour cells are killed off so are the bacteria because they are then exposed to a rich supply of oxygen.

It sounds far fetched, but of the 16 pet dogs treated at a facility in Kansas City, USA, twelve were either cured of their tumours or much improved.

The search for a cancer cure led Doctor William Coley to investigate the relationship between bacterial infection and cancer remission. Dr. Coley practised medicine in New York City. In his search he found several anecdotal reports of remissions after a fever or infection. In 1891 he injected a patient with a streptococcal bacterium. The cure didn’t work on all his patients, but for those with bone cancer, remission often happened.

Coley’s toxins acquired popularity for a short while, but documentation and follow up was sometimes lacking. Newer therapies like chemotherapy and radiation were gaining popularity and by the time he retired in 1933 the therapy was all but abandoned.

Now sophisticated new techniques are building on Coley’s foundation of immunotherapy.

Sources:
News Science Magazine
US National Library of Medicine

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Glyphosate probably cancer promoter

21/3/2015

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Agent Orange was safe too-- not

The world’s most used weed killer probably contributes to cases of human cancer. The active ingredient in Roundup, Monsanto’s signature product is glyphosate. Since the introduction of this widely popular herbicide, the patent protection has expired and many companies now produce glyphosate laced products.

Numerous genetically modified (GM) plants have been engineered to resist the effect of the glyphosate based herbicide. Another widespread use for the herbicide is to “knock down” leaves on crops like squash and pumpkins to make for easier harvesting.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer held a meeting of 17 oncology experts from 11 countries to assess the possible carcinogenic effect of certain widely used pesticides. None of the experts were employed by the chemical corporations that produce the pesticides investigated. One of the pesticides investigated was glyphosate. The conclusion was to say that it was probably a contributor to cancer cases.

Glyphosate is currently used in more than 700 different commercial products. Traces of it can be found in drinking water and the blood of agricultural workers. Traces of it have become widespread due to its popular use. Animal studies are considered sufficient to pronounce the product as a probable carcinogen.

Glyphosate and glyphosate formulations induced DNA and chromosomal damage in mammals, and in human and animal cells in vitro. The Lancet

Animal studies have shown a connection between glyphosate and kidney, skin and pancreatic cancers.

Monsanto, the leading producer of GM plants engineered to survive a spraying with their Roundup product has published a lengthy statement on their website refuting the studies by the independent studies and criticizes the work of the IARC.

The annual production of glyphosate based herbicide is estimated to bring in about $6bn to those companies making it.

Sources:
GM Watch
Monsanto

2 Comments

Dalai Lama speaks in Minneapolis

Vitamin C may cure some cancers

Bacteria may be key in fighting cancer

Glyphosate probably cancer promoter

Barbara McPherson

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