Fourteen Articles on Natural Health News Related to Pancreatic Cancer and...

Here is number 15, dating back to 2007, that may not have been brought to your attention. Methionine is a sulfur bearing molecule necessary to health and healing.

Methionine may ward off pancreatic cancer

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Higher methionine intake is apparently associated with a reduction in pancreatic cancer risk, according to a report in the January issue of Gastroenterology.

Impaired methyl group metabolism may contribute to pancreatic diseases and carcinogenesis, the authors explain, suggesting that methyl group donors like methionine could influence the risk of pancreatic cancer.

Dr. Susanna C. Larsson from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, and associates examined intakes of methionine and vitamin B6 in relation to the incidence of pancreatic cancer in the Swedish Mammography Cohort and Cohort of Swedish Men. The study comprised nearly 82,000 men and women aged 45 to 83 years.

During a mean follow-up of 7.2 years, 147 incident cases of pancreatic cancer were diagnosed.

The multivariate rate ratio for pancreatic cancer was 0.44 for individuals in the highest quartile of methionine intake compared with those in the lowest quartile, the researchers found.

The inverse association between methionine intake and pancreatic cancer was more pronounced in smokers than nonsmokers, the investigators note. There was no interaction between alcohol consumption and methionine intake and pancreatic cancer risk.

There was no significant association between vitamin B6 intake and pancreatic cancer risk, the report indicates.

"The results from this prospective study suggest that higher intake of methionine may reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer," Larsson and colleagues conclude. "Foods rich in methionine include fish, poultry, meat, legumes, and dairy products," they add.

"The results could be important because pancreatic cancer, now the 4th most common cause of cancer mortality in the United States, has an extremely high mortality rate," write Dr. Albert B. Lowenfels and Dr. Patrick Maisonneuve from New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York in a related editorial.

"Even though the authors adjusted for many pancreatic cancer risk factors," the editorial goes on, "there is still the possibility that the apparent protective function of methionine is related to confounding by another dietary or nondietary protective factor."

Lowenfels and Maisonneuve conclude: "Before suggesting that our patients increase their intake of methionine, we need substantial additional data concerning efficacy and safety issues."

Gastroenterology 2007;132:113-118,441-443.

Soft Drinks and Pancreatic Cancer

Most soda today is made with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and it seems as if this, along with the very toxic artificial sweeteners used in soda, causes many health problems often not discussed in the media.  It comes as no surprise that soda consumption can lead to this serious disease.  However, don't overlook the use of green tea and risk of pancreatic cancer.

Most HFCS is made from GMO corn and this genetic modification may also be a contributing factor.

The better news is that there are things you can do for pancreatic health, and also for pancreatic cancer naturally.

See also: www.leaflady.org/sweet_but_not_so_innocent.htm
www.leaflady.org/fructose.htm
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/12/dangers-of-hfcs.html

Monday Feb 8,2010 WASHINGTON (Reuters) – People who drink two or more sweetened soft drinks a week have a much higher risk of pancreatic cancer, an unusual but deadly cancer, researchers reported on Monday.
People who drank mostly fruit juice instead of sodas did not have the same risk, the study of 60,000 people in Singapore found.
Sugar may be to blame but people who drink sweetened sodas regularly often have other poor health habits, said Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota, who led the study.
"The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth," Pereira said in a statement.
Insulin, which helps the body metabolize sugar, is made in the pancreas.
Writing in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, Pereira and colleagues said they followed 60,524 men and women in the Singapore Chinese Health Study for 14 years.
Over that time, 140 of the volunteers developed pancreatic cancer. Those who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87 percent higher risk of being among those who got pancreatic cancer.
Pereira said he believed the findings would apply elsewhere.
"Singapore is a wealthy country with excellent healthcare. Favorite pastimes are eating and shopping, so the findings should apply to other western countries," he said.
But Susan Mayne of the Yale Cancer Center at Yale University in Connecticut was cautious.
"Although this study found a risk, the finding was based on a relatively small number of cases and it remains unclear whether it is a causal association or not," said Mayne, who serves on the board of the journal, which is published by the American Association for Cancer Research.
"Soft drink consumption in Singapore was associated with several other adverse health behaviors such as smoking and red meat intake, which we can't accurately control for."
Other studies have linked pancreatic cancer to red meat, especially burned or charred meat.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, with 230,000 cases globally. In the United States, 37,680 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in a year and 34,290 die of it.
The American Cancer Society says the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer patients is about 5 percent.
Some researchers believe high sugar intake may fuel some forms of cancer, although the evidence has been contradictory. Tumor cells use more glucose than other cells.
One 12-ounce (355 ml) can of non-diet soda contains about 130 calories, almost all of them from sugar.
(Editing by John O'Callaghan)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100208/hl_nm/us_cancer_pancreas_sodas/print

Patrick Swayze and Cancer Thoughts

I am not much of a TV watcher and for the most part I have one so I can watch movies or play the workout videos I use as part of my daily fitness plan.

Last evening I made a deviation from the norm by watching the Patrick Swayze interview with Barbara Walters.

I was really most interested in what Patrick had to say, and his wife of almost four decades.

I also wanted to hear about the treatment he chose.

I admit I'm a Swayze fan of many years. I too enjoyed some youthful romantic escapades in the Catskills, and I hope his "ghost" hangs around from time to time.

He's been most courageous in his ability to be open and public through his illness and hopefully this stand will help many others. One thing he said that resonated with my work was what he said about how the chemo tore up his insides.

This is important on several levels. First of all this is such a common issue in chemotherapy and its one that is too frequently not addressed.

I have a friend who was just recently diagnosed with AML, a form of leukemia. I sent his wife a abstract I put together on nutrient deletions of chemotherapy drugs. This is a critical issue because of the wasting that so often is related to lack of nutrition and toxic body states caused by the chemo.

I also sent his wife another article written by Dr. H. Kenneth Schueler from New York. Dr. Schueler recently had one of his articles, "Clinical Trial of Pancreatic Enzymes: One View" included in Ralph Moss's newsletter.

This treatment used by Dr. Gonzalez, is based on the work of a dentist, Dr. William D. Kelley. Dr. Kelley was diagnosed in 1962 with pancreatic and liver cancer. He passed away in 2005.

Dr. Kelley's method is soundly based in nutrition. It is also brilliant in its understanding of physiology and biochemistry in the human body. It is one in which I have been educated, and I've seen the good results.

Gonzalez addresses the issue of toxic overload resulting from chemo and how current treatment models do not allow the body to process this waste. He also addresses nutrition and just how important this is in any cancer treatment plan. His research has shown about an 83% cure rate.

As Dr. Schueler says, we need to look again at this program, especially for pancreatic cancer. I couldn't agree more!

Nutrient Depletion in Chemotherapy- general to all chemo drugs in relation to side effects: dysbiosis, stomatitis, pancreatitis, adynamic ileus, gastric mucosa damage and realted damage to microvilli in small intestine, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation.

All of the above side effects relate to malabsorption issues and to a high state of inflammation. The end result is malnutrition. Natural approaches can help substantially with all of the above. (GE)

Consider too the impact of over use of acid reflux drugs and the rising incidence of gluten allergy. There's more to it than smoking.

And you do not have to lose your hair! There is a natural supplement that not only can fight cancers but it protects you from losing hair.

More articles -

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/cancer-nutritional-and-environmental.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/09/finding-gene-is-only-one-part-of.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/supplements-reduce-adverse-effects-of.html

http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2009/04/black-cumin-and-pancreatic-cancer.html

Many more articles may be found by putting "cancer" in the search box in the header.

Today's Drug Promoting Insanity

As I've been saying lately, what we have in the US is medical care, not health care. And the medical care we have ranks very low in comparison to many other countries.

There are many reasons for this poor state of affairs, and here are a few reasons why things are as they are -

1. Older people should take anti hypertensive drugs even if they do not have hypertension.

This idea seems to be the brainchild of some medical researchers in the UK. They believe a "polypill" made up of the standard drugs used currently as the cookie cutter treatment for blood pressure will prevent heart disease and stroke.

My choice would be vitamin E and magnesium, plus a more customized individual plan for anyone concerned about these issues.

2. The anti-cholesterol drug fenofibrate (Tricor or Triglide)appears to reduce risks of amputation for diabetics by as much as 36 percent, a study has found. This drug runs about $75 for 90 pills. And it has some great side effects I know everyone wants to experience, especially when hit with their impact by surprise because the prescriber overlooked explaining them, as required by law.

The study was published in a special edition on diabetes by The Lancet, which included another study on how rigorous monitoring and control of blood sugar reduces heart attacks.

Well, just for starters, how is amputation directly related to controlling blood sugar and reducing heart attacks?

Perhaps these medical whiz kids need to go back to the drawing board to read the research that says anti-cholesterol drugs do not reduce risk of heart attack, and they don't really do much for LDL or blood sugar lowering either.

However, if a person with diabetes takes adequate amounts of vitamin E daily, they will find that they can prevent neuropathy and the reduce the risk of losing toes, feet, or limbs.

And because vitamin E is an oxygenator it can act to lower blood pressure as doing is increased over time.

A little Alli-C thrown in the mix easily increases the benefits, and garlic has some blood sugar lowering effect as well.

Then there is Kufner's Powder, heavily laden with B vitamins and trace minerals, shown in the very first hospital based study to reverse gangrene in a limb of an older man with diabetes. And consider enzymes, especially lipase, it might be beneficial.

Seems to be another indication we need more open minds and more creative thinking in medicine now days...

3. "A study by Cancer Research UK found that pancreatic cancer can spread quickly to a tumor, despite a healthy blood supply, and gave evidence why conventional cancer treatments such as Eli Lilly and Co's Gemzar were often ineffective.

The study found that combining cancer treatment Gemzar with Infinity Pharmaceutical's experimental drug IPI-926 made the treatment work better in mice with pancreatic cancer."

Yes, the treatment works better in mice!

And the statistics are not good: "Pancreatic cancer is diagnosed in 230,000 people across the world each year, with 7,600 new cases in Britain and 37,000 new cases in the United States, according to Cancer Research UK."

So what might you do?

Well, there is a natural treatment that has been proven in an FDA funded study that seems to get up to an 83% cure rate.

It has lots of vitamins and enzymes, plus a different nutritional approach.

And after you've looked over just these three items consider that in 1999, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued an alarming report titled "To Err is Human," detailing the toll of preventable medical errors in the U.S; it estimated that up to 98,000 Americans die annually from them.

Comments on this study show that now a decade later as more than 100,000 people are dying from the same cause, as the CDC reports, why aren't the "right" questions being asked.

Are we really hoping for reform in medical care?

Green Tea Downside Possible

I am aware that there are many studies supporting the use of ECGC from green tea for cancer and other health concerns.

I am also aware of the many serious side effects of cancer drugs which commonly this information is not provided those patients receiving them. This distresses me more when dealing with recombinant pharmaceuticals known as genetically engineered drugs.

What most people who strongly stand behind the use of green tea do not know is that it has the potential to cause pancreatic cancer.

I am sure the FDA has not tested all the possible interactions between drugs and I am also fairly certain that the same goes for herbal products.

Probably a good study would be to show how herbs and other nutritional approaches to cancer do more good than harm. And how they often offer cure, without long term damaging side effects, when pharmaceuticals do not.

Green tea may block activity of common cancer drug

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Some components of green tea may counteract the beneficial effects of a widely used anti-cancer agent called Velcade, also known as bortezomib.

"We know that cancer patients look to green tea extracts among other natural supplements to complement their therapeutic regimens," Dr. Axel Schonthal, said in a statement. "We wanted to better understand how the compounds in green tea interact with a cytotoxic chemical therapy and how that may affect patient outcomes."

In lab studies, Schonthal, from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, and colleagues evaluated the impact of green tea compounds on the efficacy of bortezomib against multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, and glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor.

Bortezomib normally fights cancer by inducing tumor cell death. However, Schonthal and colleagues were surprised to find that some of the green tea polyphenols and other components actually prevented bortezomib from killing tumor cells.

"Our surprising results indicate that green tea polyphenols may have the potential to negate the therapeutic efficacy of bortezomib," Schonthal said.

"The current evidence," Schonthal said, "is sufficient enough to strongly urge patients undergoing bortezomib therapy to abstain from consuming green tea products, particularly the widely available, highly concentrated green tea and EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) products that are sold in liquid or capsule form."

The findings of this study, the investigators emphasize, are specific for patients taking bortezomib as opposed to any other common cancer drug.

"Although the study has exposed detrimental effects of great tea in specific combination with Velcade, this should not minimize the previously reported potentially beneficial effect of this herb," Schonthal said. "Related studies with other types of cancer therapies are promising and green tea extract may actually improve the anticancer effects of other drugs."

SOURCE: Blood, online February 3, 2009.

Justice Ginsburg, Randy Pausch, and others

A news report this morning relaying the dismal statistics about pancreatic cancer survival identified that it is the 4th cause of death of all cancer today.

The report included all the issues of mainstream treatment such as surgical removal of tumours, chemotherapy and radiation.

As the reporter added about the colon cancer Justice Ginsburg recovered from not so long ago, one has to wonder what effect that chemo and/or radiation had on her recent situation.

What this reporter failed to include in her story is a cancer treatment developed for pancreatic and liver cancer about 50 years ago. This more natural approach seems to offer an 83 per cent cure rate according to the most recent study.

This is a far sight greater than the 10 percent chance of cure offered by current allopathic methods.

And, by the way, is any one asking what might be the cause this rash of pancreatic cancer cases? Is it the food, is it cancer treatment, is is wheat allergy or just what is the stimulating factor? Or perhaps I should ask just where is a good epidemiologist with an inquiring mind.

Here are a few related articles from Natural Health News -
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/04/chemo-continues-to-damage.html
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/05/grapes-for-good.html
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/07/effective-cancer-therapy-dates-back-to.html
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/08/benefits-of-vitamin-c-for-cancer.html
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/09/finding-gene-is-only-one-part-of.html