Vitamin C & Cancer

Nearly 30 years after Nobel laureate US biochemist Linus Pauling
suggested that vitamin C supplements can prevent cancer, researchers
from Johns Hopkins Institute in Baltimore have confirmed that in mice
at least, vitamin C and potentially other antioxidants can inhibit
the growth of some cancer tumours.

Conventional wisdom has it that antioxidants mop up volatile oxygen
free radical molecules and prevent DNA damage associated with
degenerative diseases associated with aging, such as cancers,
cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's disease,
immune dysfunction, cataracts and macular degeneration.

The Hopkins study, however, found that the antioxidants' actual role
is to destabilise a tumour's ability to grow under oxygen-starved
conditions.

The work, led by Dr Chi Dang, professor of medicine and oncology at
Johns Hopkins, is published in the medical journal Cancer Cell.

So far, studies linking antioxidants to cancer prevention have been
conflicting. "Research has conclusively linked diet and lifestyle
with some cancers such as those of the uterus, breast, colon and
stomach, but there is no conclusive proof that antioxidants can be
prescribed for cancer prevention.

"However, vitamin C and other antioxidants are good for health and
boost immunity, we ask cancer survivors to include a lot of fresh
fruits and vegetables in their diet," says Dr Sameer Kaul, senior
consultant in oncology, Apollo Hospital.

When it comes to boost antioxidant intake, food sources of
antioxidants are better than diet supplements, health newsletter Mayo
Clinic Health Letter said, quoting recent research. The best-known
food components with antioxidant activities are vitamins A, C, and E;
i-carotene; the mineral selenium; and the compound lycopene.

"Many antioxidants can be identified in food by their distinctive
colours the deep red of cherries and of tomatoes; the orange of
carrots; the yellow of mangos; and the blue-purple of red cabbage,
plums, blackberries (jamun), brinjal and red grapes. Purple, in fact,
is considered the best source of antioxidants,

" says nutritionist
Rekha Sharma, senior vice president, VLCC Healthcare.

Best Ways to Bump Up Your 'Good' Cholesterol

Q. How do I raise my good cholesterol levels?

A. Glad you asked. HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) helps to prevent our arteries from becoming blocked due to LDL (the bad cholesterol). It does this by "hauling" away the excess cholesterol lining the walls of our blood vessels, then bringing it back to the liver for reprocessing. This in turn helps to keep our arteries clear from a sticky build-up. And, if your levels of HDL are high enough (a level of 40 and above in males, 50 and above in females), it can also decrease your risk for a heart attack.

Raising HDL levels is important and I'll tell you why: For every one-point increase in HDL, there is a 3 percent decrease in a person's risk of suffering a fatal heart attack. There are two main ways to increase these levels: lifestyle modifications and medication therapy.

Lifestyle Modifications

Exercise. Just 20-30 minutes of aerobic exercise on most days of the week can jump-start your HDL in the right direction.

Break the tobacco habit. Quitting smoking can raise your HDL levels by about four points.

Lose weight. Losing 10 pounds can increase your HDL by one and a half points. Aim for a weight loss goal to achieve a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or below.

Choose the better fat. Minimize the saturated and trans fats in your diet. These substances increase the bad cholesterol while decreasing your good cholesterol. Instead, switch to products containing unsaturated fats (olive, canola, flaxseed, etc.). These may raise your HDL levels. However, this is not a free fatty-pass, because we still have to watch the calories!

Cut back on simple carbohydrates. Cakes, cookies and highly processed cereals and breads are high-glycemic foods that can lower your HDL and raise the levels of another fat in your bloodstream, triglycerides.

Drink alcohol in moderation, with a caveat! Alcohol should not be considered medicine—if you don't drink, don't start—but some studies have found mild alcohol consumption (one drink per day for women, two for men) can raise HDL by up to four points. Important caveat: Alcohol may be harmful to those with liver or addiction problems. In these cases, the risks certainly outweigh the benefits.

Feast on cold-water fish. Eating salmon, mackerel or other fish from icy waters several times a week can have a very positive effect on your HDL levels. They contain omega-3 fatty acids, which may help to explain their health benefits.

Add fiber. The soluble fiber found in fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains might boost your HDL.

Avoid anabolic steroids. These decrease your HDL levels, in addition to all their other potential health dangers.

Medication Therapy

Niacin, which is also known as nicotinic acid or vitamin B3. This is by far our best therapy for raising HDL levels. Studies have shown increases of 20 percent to 35 percent. Unfortunately, every rose has its thorn, and niacin has a big one called side effects (flushing, racing heart, etc). We often prescribe low doses in the beginning to minimize these effects. (There is also a non-prescription form of niacin called hexanicotinate, which may be better tolerated but is nowhere near as effective).

Fibrates, including fenofibrate and gemfibrozil. This category of medication has the potential to boost your HDL by up to 20 percent.. Side effects may include upset stomach and diarrhea.

Statins. These are better known for their remarkable ability to lower the harmful LDL cholesterol. However, certain drugs within this class (atorvastatin, rosuvastatin and simvastatin) can raise HDL by up to 15 percent.

I am a big believer in taking charge of your health. Please know your HDL level and remember that simple changes can dramatically improve your health..

Foods That Fight Cholesterol

There's no denying that a healthy diet is the first line of defense against rising cholesterol. "If you eat a predominantly plant-based diet—with lots of fruits and vegetables plus some fish—you are on the right track to keeping your cholesterol at a healthy level," says Lisa Dorfman, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. That said, certain so-called super-foods can actually help lower bad cholesterol and/or increase the good cholesterol. Ideally, you want to shoot for total cholesterol under 200, with LDL (the bad one) under 110 and HDL (the good one) greater than 35.

Try to incorporate more of these foods into your daily diet:

Almonds

Studies have found that eating just a quarter cup of almonds a day can lower your LDL by 4.4 percent, according to dietitian Leslie Bonci, who is also the director of sports nutrition at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "Eating nuts, especially almonds, which are high in good-for-you monounsaturated fat, is better than simply eating a low-fat snack like pretzels," says Bonci. Of course, they can also be high in calories, so stick with a small serving and choose almonds that are dry roasted without oil..

Oatmeal

You've seen the commercials with people proclaiming dramatic drops in their cholesterol numbers thanks to a daily serving of this hot cereal. Those great results are due to the high levels of soluble fiber found in oatmeal. "The soluble fiber binds to the bile acids that are the precursor to the development of cholesterol and help flush it out," explains Bonci. It doesn't matter how you get your oats—those instant, just-add-water packets are just as good for you as traditional, slow-cooked versions.

Fish

Omega-3 fatty acids are widely considered to be the best of the "good" fats, and the best place to find them is in fish—especially fatty fishes like salmon, halibut and tuna. According to Dorfman of the ADA, you want to get 1.5 to 3 grams per day of omega-3. A 4-ounce piece of salmon will give you close to 3 grams, and you can also get these fatty acids from walnuts and flaxseed (two tablespoons of flaxseed provides 3.5 grams) and in fish oil supplements.

Soy

Soybeans, soy nuts and edamame, plus any products made from soy (like tofu, soymilk, etc.) can help to reduce the production of new cholesterol. A little can go a long way—aim for about 25 grams of soy protein a day (the amount in a cup of edamame). And those who are at an increased risk of breast or prostate cancer may want to skip it since too much of soy's phyto-estrogens can act similarly to the body's own estrogen (which has been shown to feed some hormone-dependent tumors).

Now that you know the good stuff to add to your diet, try to reduce—or better yet, eliminate— these bad-for-you foods from your repetoire.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF CHRONIC KIDNEY FAILURE

Your kidneys are vital for the excretory process of wastes in the
body. As you know, these waste buildups are excreted as urine. When
the kidneys job of cleaning blood toxins and waste products
deteriorates, "Chronic Kidney Disease" occurs.

Mostly, kidney failure occurs in asymptomatic patients. Risk of
sudden death is also counted.

In a small market, we gathered blood and urine samples of 100 people
who claim to be healthy. Surprisingly, 22 people were suffering from
chronic kidney disease, and 37 people were in need of special medical
attention for kidney disease! Only 41 people were considered normal!

Why the majority of kidney disease victims did not notice their
declining kidney function?

In the case of Mr. A at 32 years old, he felt sudden severe headache
and palpitation. He seek medical attention and was diagnosed with
kidney disease. He had to go through a strict diet. However, after 6
years of hard life, he is now forced to undergo kidney dialysis. In
most cases of kidney disease, renal impairment is almost irreversible
and has a small chance of recovery.

EARLY SYMPTOMS OF KIDNEY DISEASE
As the kidney function decreases, symptoms will appear like headache,
weakness, dizziness, and low level of urination. Anemia,
hypertension, and frequent urination can also be counted. In many
cases, there are no signs of such symptoms at all.

According to medical information, apart from high blood sugar levels,
high blood pressure, eating fatty and salty foods, stress, cigarette
smoking, and bacterial infections can cause kidney disease. Also,
hard work or hard athletic exercise increases the blood flow and the
kidney cannot accommodate filtering the blood. It's also bad to take
a lot of milk or other sports drinks that might produce too much
protein as it may cause reduced kidney function.

Early detection of kidney disease can be done by urine test. At home,
you can simply use urine test strips. If the result is not as
expected, then, consult your doctor.

We have a news magazine written about two Japanese pro-wrestlers who
never thought that they are suffering from kidney disease.

A popular pro-wrestler, packed with muscle and power, in his final
match, lost and carried to a hospital. His sidekicks and doctors
thought that the wrestler had some internal injuries occurred during
his fight. But medical test showed unexpected kidney disease with
him. The wrestler was sent for immediate surgical operation, but the
damage was too serious. He never regained from kidney disease. After
few days, the wrestler was gone.

Kidney disease is too dangerous, and could lead to death without any
symptoms. Another popular pro-wrestler was losing recently for all
his fights. To regain power, he had to eat a lot of meat and drink a
lot of milk. One day, after his fight, he was also rushed to a
hospital. Medical test showed that he was suffering from an advanced
stage of kidney disease. He and his family never imagined that kidney
disease was killing him. He is now under dialysis.

How Anti Hypertensive drugs act

Hypertensive drugs act in the following manner:

Diuretics: They reduce pressure by eliminating water through urine.
Once volume of circulating blood is reduced, the pressure drops. in the
same manner as releasing air in a truck tyre brings down the air
pressure inside. Unfortunately, the side effect is dizziness, weakness,
increased risk of stroke and impotence.

Calcium Channel blockers(CCB): They work to relax and widen the
arteries thus causing reduction in pressure. Major side effect is
increased risk of heart attack! But these are given in India on a wide
scale.

Beta blockers (BB) :Work by weakening the heart so that it does not pump
the blood so strongly, to reduce the pressure. A major problem with
these pills is the increased risk of congestive heart failure! Despite
this, an article in New England Journal of Medicine, 20th August 1998,
recomended putting every heart attcak survivor on the beta blockers.
Following number of heart failures, these drugs are now lost the
following amongst doctors.

Lastly, the most common choice these days are ACE Inhibitors, which
like CCB drugs, try to relax and widen the arteries. Unfortunately they
produce severe allergic reactions, are deadly to babies in womb and
nursing and can cause severe renal failure. No problem, drug companies
have several immuno-suppresants to tackle allergies and dialysis
machines for kidney failure.

Cure for Nail Biting

More than 500 million people around the world are pathological nail-
biters according to our medical advisers. Is it caused by
nervousness, anxiousness, stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or
what? There are several reasons for chewing or biting your
fingernails, or even your toenails.

During a summer school vacation, our medical groups invited teachers
and guardians of several primary schools to present their pupils who
have nail biting habit for a trip on a resort area in Nara, Japan for
40 days.

Our medical groups were trying to find the cause of nail biting.
However, we suspected that there is only one or two causes, primarily
stress.

40 pupils were gathered and the schools and guardians financed the
entire expenses. After 3 hours of train trip, they arrived to a
temple where they spent their vacation.

No pupils were informed about nail biting. They are free to do
sightseeing and going around, getting wild chestnuts, and chasing
mountain dears, except at 7:00 a.m. for breakfast, 12:00 noon for
lunch and 6:00 p.m. for dinner. Of course, our groups were observing
their nail biting habits.

We see and hear them laughing and shouting. The pupils enjoyed so
much as there were no prohibitions and studies at all.

After a week of vacation, we found their nail biting habits had
lessened. After three weeks of vacation, there were almost zero nail
biting pupils. After 40 days of vacation, there was only one nail
biting student.

With our interview with pupils, they enjoyed the trip without heavy
studies in the school and were able to relate with their classmate or
family. We came to understand that many young pupils have the same
stress we just have. Stress reflected to nail biting habit for young
students.

One of them who couldn't stop nail biting had a family problem. It
was a case of parent relational problem in the family.

In 40 days of observing 40 pupils from various schools, we concluded
that nail biting is mainly caused by stress and some mental fatigue.
We were able to gather valuable information not only on health
matters but also on social and environmental matters. How about your
study?

Colourful sweets mostly health hazard, PAU experts warn

Rampant use of poor quality oil, banned toxic food colours and flavours, boiled potatoes as 'mava' in 'gulab jamuns', and peas in ''pista burfis'' and synthetic milk products could cheat consumers of wealth as well as health this festival season, experts have warned. Sweets with bright pink, green, yellow colour look attractive and fascinate the public but the colours used in such sweets are mostly harmful for human consumption. These cheap artificial colourings used in many food items such as rasgulla, ladoo, jalebi, burfi, chum-chum, karachi halwa and many more can be deceiving and send one straight to a doctor, according to Dr Rupa Bakhshi, Professor, Department of Family Resource Management, PAU.

Toxic colourings are being used because these are easily available, comparatively cheap and above all look attractive and fascinate buyers especially children. But they could be carcinogenic. Toxic effects of these colours may include diseases like paralysis, brain damage, vomiting, diarrhoea, giddiness, food poisoning etc, she warned. Many times valuable components are removed from the food and prohibited items are added to it for making money. Customers need to be extra careful during the festival season as the demand for sweets increases at festival time and consumer could easily be cheated, she cautioned. To make matters worse, the poor hygienic conditions in which most of the sweets are mass-manufactured to cater to the Diwali demand, could take a toll on the consumers health. Consumer is not only cheated of his money's worth but adulterants are a big health hazard, she adds.

Recently, use of refined oil was detected in the ''only pure ghee'' graded sweets being openly sold in the market, says Dr M Sidhu, Associate Professor in the College of Home Science. While buying milk and milk products, consumers should ensure that the products, they are buying, are fresh with good flavour, have good body and texture. They should preferably buy those milk products which do not contain artificial food colours. According to Dr Bakhshi, to avoid such adulteration housewives can go back to good old days of making simple sweetmeats at home using natural colouring matter derived from various fruits, vegetables, spices etc. For example green can easily be produced with the use of spinach, red with use of beetroot, and yellow from saffron.

Otherwise, natural off-white coloured sweets made from milk and milk products are best to consume and one can avoid artificial colour intake. Besides, the sweets produced at home are hygienic, clean and safe, said the home scientists. Milk is commonly adulterated with water and may even be contaminated with urea, vanaspati and starch they said. During festival season, especially during Diwali, demand for khoya and chhena (cottage cheese) increases and many corrupt shopkeepers and sweetmeat manufacturers add starch and synthetic material.

This type of khoya or paneer would be hard at room temperature and would not be smooth and creamy after mashing. ''One can easily detect starch by adding few drops of iodine in the product and if the colour of the food product changes towards blue it depicts the presence of starch in the product.

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (TRY THE KEY WORD) AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHN HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .

Cancer Update from John Hopkins :
1. Every person has cancer cells in
the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests
until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer
patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after
treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer
cells because they have not reached the detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime
3.When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be
destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional
deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and
lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells,
tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
9 When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and
radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence
the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and
complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells
to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can
also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it
with the foods it needs to multiply.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
a. Sugar isa cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food
supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet,
Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A
better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only
in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it
white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b.Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-
intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and
substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being
starved.
c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based
diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken
rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics,
growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to
people with cancer.
d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice,
whole , nuts and a little fruits help put the body into
an alkaline 20% can be from cooked food including
beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily
absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to
nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes
for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most
vegetables including bean sprouts)and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3
times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F
(40 degrees C).
e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine.
Green Tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting
properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid
known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is
acidic, avoid it.
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes.
Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from
or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls
of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the
cancer cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6,
Flor-, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to
enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other
supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or
programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of
damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, and bitterness put
the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a
loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.
16.Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising
daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the
cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy
cancer cells.

FURTHER CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL , U S - PLEASE READ
1. No plastic containers in micro. 2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.
Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its
newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center as chemicals causes cancer, especially
breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our
freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this
releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto,
Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to
explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they
are for us.. He said that we should not be heating our food in the
microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods
that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and
plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells
of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning
Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same
results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners,
instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container
and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what
is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware,
etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food
restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin
problem is one of the reasons. Also, he pointed out that plastic
wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to
be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat
causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and
drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead. This is an
article that should be sent to anyone important in your life.

Note:
The claim of Baba Ramdev that cancer can be cured or prevented by natural healthy living and ypgic (pranayama included)is unproven but appears valid as it is the uncontrolled growth under non oxygenated and acidic environment of existing cancer prone cells in all human cause times over stress(adrenal) and outside chemicals entering body may mutate our defensive cells generation and effectiveness and can be attempted to be cleaned by regimen of diet and level of oxygenation of blood is effective in combating these types of have to help our killer cells to become active and enabled.
Drug or chemotherapy definitely harms healthy tissues and may shorten other diseases and organ flattens out after certain effect and cant cure 100% unless in some cases of initial stage of cancerous growth.
AVOID ALCHOL TOBACCO PAN MASALA BEETLE NUT SMOKING and take rich fibrous to oxygenate your blood.