Archive for July 3rd, 2010

Brain Cancer Statistics 2009

Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is the most advanced stage (stage 4) of breast cancer. Brain Cancer Statistics 2009Cancer cells have extended past the breast and axillary lymph nodes to other regions of the body where they keep on developing and multiplying. The disease has the possibility to extend to almost any area of the body. The most usual part breast cancer extends to is the bone, followed by the lung and liver. Treatment of MBC in general concentrates on lessening symptoms and extending a woman’s life span.

In 10% of diagnoses, the cancer has already extended to distant areas in the body. A principal diagnosis of Stage 4 breast cancer might point to a fast development of the disease or that the cancer was present but not identified in the breast for some time.

The majority women accept a mixture of treatments. For women with stage 1, 2, or 3, the major objective is to treat the cancer and put off it from coming back. For women with stage 4 cancer, the objective is to recover symptoms and assist them survive longer. In a good number case, the later couldn’t be treated.

Even though patients with stage 4 breast cancer might live for years, it is typically life-threatening in the future. Various factors affect this.

Lung Cancer Secrets Revealed Click here

Here are a number of the customary treatments:

- Chemotherapy, or treatment with cancer drugs, is frequently the major treatment. It could decelerate the development of the cancer. Chemotherapy is frequently utilized in conjunction with hormone therapy or immunotherapy.

- Hormone therapy could be the solution for women with hormone receptor-positive cancers. These are cancers that require hormones to develop.

- Biological therapy is a new method. In roughly 25% of women with breast cancer, an excess of a protein known as HER2 makes the cancer broaden speedily.

- Clinical trials are open to several women with stage 4 cancer. A clinical trial might let you get into to cutting-edge treatments.

- Surgery and radiation are employed in a number of cases. These treatments aren’t employed to treat the cancer. But they might assist treat pain and other symptoms in organs where the cancer has extend.

- Other drugs might assist treat a number of the side effects of breast cancer treatment as well, like nausea, fatigue, and also infections.

lung cancer treatment breakthroughs Click here

Tamoxifen Effective In Curing Breast Cancer

Tamoxifen, known in the trade as Nolvadex, is usually prescribed by specialists in breast cancer and is taken in pill form. A patient will stay on the drug for about five years.

Often the woman’s cancer will be tested to see if it is sensitive to the amount of oestrogen in the system. If the cancer is oestrogen sensitive, tamoxifen will be given.

Because tamoxifen is such a weak estrogen, its estrogen signals don’t stimulate very much cell growth. And because it has stolen the place away from more powerful estrogen, it blocks estrogen-stimulated cancer cell growth. In this way, tamoxifen acts like an “anti-estrogen.”

Tamoxifen may also take the place of natural estrogen in the receptors of healthy breast cells. In that way it holds down growth activity, and possibly stops abnormal growth and the development of a totally new breast cancer. By blocking natural estrogen from getting to the receptors, tamoxifen is helpful in reducing the risk of breast cancer in women at high risk who have never had breast cancer. It also can help women who have already had breast cancer in one breast by lowering the risk of a new breast cancer forming in the other breast.

One study found that radiation plus tamoxifen was much better than tamoxifen alone at reducing the risk of breast cancer coming back after a lumpectomy in women with hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. This was true even for women with very small cancers.

For pre-menopausal women, tamoxifen is the best hormonal therapy. But tamoxifen is no longer the first choice for post-menopausal women. If you’ve been on tamoxifen for two to three years and now you’re in menopause, your doctor may recommend that you switch to an aromatase inhibitor to finish your five years of hormonal therapy. However, you can still get a lot of benefit if you take tamoxifen for up to five years and then switch to an aromatase inhibitor.

Tamoxifen was first used to fight breast cancer at the Christie Hospital in Manchester, England, in 1969. It has since proved its worth as means of stopping the spread or recurrence of the disease in women who have already been treated for it.

But, it was noticed back in the early 1980s that some women who were receiving the drug for cancer in one breast did not develop any tumorous growth in the other. This prompted the suggestion that Tamoxifen might have another preventative role for those women who are at risk of getting breast cancer but have yet to develop any signs of the disease.

Ten Ways to Help Prevent Breast Cancer

1.  Avoid (HRT) Hormone Replacement Therapy.  Synthetic HRT increases the risk of Breast Cancer.In 2002, a huge double blind placebo study called “Women’s Health Initiative” sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) was stopped early because it was proven during the study that HRT causes breast cancer.  

Natural Bio-identical hormones on the other hand are safe.  They are made from botanical plants such as soy and yams. These plants are pharmaceutically processed to produce natural bio-identical progesterone or estrogen derivatives; they may come in cream or oral forms

It is not difficult to determine if one needs some form of hormone balancing – if you feel perfectly well and have no symptoms listed below it is very unlikely that you need to do or change anything. However, a large number of peri-menopausal women that come to our clinic suffer from the following symptoms: fatigue, pre-menstrual breast tenderness, fibrocystic breast condition, short menstrual cycle (less than 28 days), anxiety, headaches, sleep disorders, low libido, depression and PMS.  Women in menopause may have some of these symptoms in addition to hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and memory problems. If some of these complaints are present in a patient it is important to identify any hormonal deficiencies.

We can carefully monitor most hormone levels with blood tests, although they are not as reliable as saliva tests, which measure bio-available free-hormone levels, or 24-hour urine collection, which looks at what is excreted through metabolites over a 24 hour period. Unfortunately, saliva and urine tests are not covered by OHIP at this time. Once identified, single or multiple hormone deficiencies can be corrected by the use of bio-identical hormones, which have an anti-aging action by the nature of their action. 

The effect of these hormones is dose specific, however in nature more is not necessarily better – if the hormones are prescribed in too high a dosage, they can cause adverse effects. Many women hearing of the great effects of progesterone decide to self medicate, a word of caution here needs to be made – some progesterone products on the market have very little on no effect. Compounding pharmacies have a reliable and consistent product; however this would require a prescription from your doctor. One of the best books on the subject was published by Dr. John Lee called “What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer”. For additional information on bio-identical hormones and breast cancer prevention you can visit www.drpettle.com

2. Limit or avoid birth control pills. Even the weakest pill contains seven times the amount of estrogen naturally occurring in your body. Research has determined that the single greatest risk factor for future development of breast cancer is lifetime exposure of the breasts to estrogen. It would appear that controlling the influence of estrogen on the breasts would be the single most important method of primary breast cancer prevention

It was not until 1905 that Theodoor Hendrik Van de Velde, a Dutch gynecologist, showed that women only ovulate once per menstrual cycle. In the 1920s, Kyusaku Ogino, a Japanese gynecologist, and Hermann Knaus, from Austria, independently discovered that ovulation occurs about fourteen days before the next menstrual period. Thus the Knaus-Ogino or the Rhythm (or Calendar) method is one of the ‘biological’ forms of birth control. A couple avoids unprotected sexual intercourse just before, during and just after ovulation. For over 100 years, the Rhythm Method was promoted by the Catholic Church as the only morally acceptable form of family planning. Ovulation occurs about 14 days before the start of a woman’s period. Since sperm can live inside the vagina for up to 3 days, and an egg can stay fertile in the fallopian tubes and vagina for up to 3 days, unprotected intercourse must be avoided for more than just the day of ovulation. To be safe, a woman should abstain from sex (or use a condom) 5 days before ovulation, and 5 days after. The effectiveness of the rhythm method depends on how meticulously it is practiced. The study, published in the June 1998 issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, found the technique had an impressive 96% effectiveness rate in preventing pregnancy, comparing favorably to other methods of contraception. Women must keep track of three things: their core body temperature, the fertile days of their cycle as measured by a calendar, and their cervical secretions. This may prove challenging to those women with irregular menstrual cycles who may have to address this issue first. Let’s face it, it’s a lot easier for a physician to prescribe a birth control pill that will also ‘regulate’ a woman’s cycle than it is to discuss natural forms of birth control, and to treat the underlying cause of menstrual irregularity. Although it is more challenging to discuss this issue, especially with younger women, I have found that it is always worth the effort to get someone off the pill. For further information on the Rhythm Method visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhythm_Method

3. Limit your exposure to xeno-estrogens like Ethinyl Estradiol used in contraceptives, or Methoxychlor a pesticide that replaced the well known DDT, industrial pollutantssuch as Bisphenol-A used as a plasticizer, all man made radiation, pesticides and herbicides, as well as many toxic cleaning products that mimic estrogen with their molecular structure. Since hormone-disrupting chemicals mimic estrogen, it is suspected they are linked to the growing incidence of breast cancer. While researchers are only beginning to understand the health effects of these chemicals, they have already observed that hormone disruptions can result in damage to the brain, immune and reproductive systems. Very few ingredients are tested for reproductive or developmental effects caused by hormone disrupting chemicals

Purchase non-bleached coffee filters, paper, napkins, toilet tissue, etc. The Environmental Protection Agency in the United States has determined that using bleached coffee filters alone can result in a lifetime exposure to dioxin that exceeds acceptable risks. Ask for office paper products whitened without chlorine

Use tampons and sanitary napkins made of organic cotton without chlorine.(The FDA detected dioxins and dozens of other substances in conventional tampons.) Look for ones that contain no chlorine, fragrance, wax, surfactants, rayon, etc

Do not use chlorine bleach for household cleaning or laundry.Hydrogen peroxide is a safe alternative; it breaks down to water and oxygen. Bleaches made from Hydrogen Peroxide are sold in Health Food stores

Use non-toxic household products. Lysol Disinfectant Spray may contain ortho-phenylphenol. This germ killer is carcinogenic, according to both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and IARC. You can find non-toxic products in your health food store. Cancer Prevention Coalition provides well researched information on avoidable exposures to consumers, environmental risks, and many other topic related publications and resources at www.preventcancer.com.

Use only natural underarm deodorants that are free of dangerous chemicals. Avoid antiperspirants, which contain aluminum, as aluminum is toxic. In fact, one should avoid antiperspirants altogether as they inhibit detoxification of the breasts and chest area. Underarm perspiration is an important way the body clears toxins out of the breast area.

Avoid fluoridated toothpaste (toothpaste without fluoride and containing natural ingredients may be purchased at most health food stores). Avoid fluoridated water and all chemically treated tap water. Drink filtered not “city water” that contains chlorine or get a whole house filter. Bathe or shower in “clean” water. Fluoride can be just as poisonous as lead and just slightly less poisonous than arsenic.

For more information on the effects of fluoride visit www.fluoridealert.org an international coalition to end water fluoridation and alert people to fluoride’s health and environmental risks

Many cosmetic products including lipstick contain lead and xenoestrogens. Brands without these suspect chemicals include Aubrey Organics, Dr. Hauschka, Logona and Weleda just to name a few, as well as many health food store brands.

Synthetic hair dyes increase the risk for certain types of cancers. One-fifth of cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma among women are linked to hair-dye use. Researchers conducting the study at the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Barcelona analyzed data from six European countries and found a 19 percent increase of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cases among people who said they used hair dye. The risk increased to 26 percent for those who colored their hair 12 or more times a year.

Indeed, more than a dozen studies link hair dyes with cancer, yet there are no warning labels of this hazard on these products. Certain natural dyes may be safer because they use vegetable colors. “Behind The Label” at http://www.theecologist.org/archive_detail.asp?content_id=485 provides a very comprehensive list of various ingredients used in coloring agents and cosmetics.

4. Regulate your estrogen metabolism.  Since most breast tumors are estrogen receptor positive, it implies that they are partially fed by estrogen. Some estrogens are cancer protective, while some are cancer permissive – they are not all created equal. Keep your E-2/16 ratio in check.  A simple urine test can provide you with this information. The lower the amount of (bad) estrogen, the slower the potential growth. Therapeutic use of I3C or DIM has been clinically shown to be very beneficial to keep your E2/16 ratio in a healthy zone. The most important advice for preventing cancer is to maintain and enhance your liver’s ability to metabolize estrogens from different sources. This can be done through proper nutrition and requires very specific concentrations of nutrients and occasional liver support and detoxification. This is a continuous and life-long prevention program. The ultimate goal here is to improve your estrogen metabolism. Several homeopathic medications come to mind when I think about improving liver function

BRYONIA ALBA (Wild Hops) – A very well know liver aid for centuries. Also happens to be a superb remedy for pain in breasts at menstrual period since it helps with estrogen metabolism. Breasts may be hot and painfully hard pre-menstrually. These patients will often experience menstrual irregularities, with gastric symptoms. Bryonia is often helpful with intermenstrual pain, with great abdominal and pelvic soreness

CARDUUS MARIANUS (St. Mary’s Thistle) – The action of this medication is centered in the liver, and portal system. Has specific relation to the vascular system and varicose veins often seen as a consequence of abuse of alcoholic beverages. Cardus works very well alleviating pelvic congestion usually occurring with endometriosis

CHELIDONIUM MAJUS (Celandine) – A prominent liver remedy, covering many of the direct symptoms of that organ. Patient will have an orange or yellow pigmentation of her skin, and not surprisingly frequent pain under inferior angle of right scapula due to gallstones or inflamed gall bladder. This patient will most likely suffer from spastic pains and lameness in single parts. She will suffer from great general lethargy and will avoid activity of any sort

NATRIUM SULPHURICUM (Sulphate of Sodium) – A liver remedy, especially indicated where the complaints are due to living in damp houses or basements. These patients are worse in rainy weather, water in any form. They feel every change from dry to wet; cannot even eat plants grown near water, nor fish. They always feel best in warm, dry air. They frequently have swollen ankles due to their sluggish liver function.

NUX VOMICA or COLUBRINA (Poison-nut) – Nux is the remedy for many of the conditions frequently associated with modern life. The typical Nux patient is rather thin,

quick, active, nervous, and irritable. This patient will be doing a good deal of mental work; has mental strains and leads a sedentary life, found in prolonged office work, with its cares and anxieties. This indoor life and mental strain seeks stimulants, coffee, and wine, usually in excess.

5. Exercise.  Studies show that three to four hours per week of regular exercise can decrease your risk of Breast Cancer by up to 50%. Lean body mass (muscle) does not generate estrogen like fatty tissue. Swimming laps, aerobics, and running are considered strenuous. Vigorous fitness training of sufficient intensity is an effective modulator of mammary angiogenesis. However any form of exercise will affect the endocrine system by balancing one’s hormone levels, increasing the levels of HGH (human growth hormone) naturally while aiding the lymphatic system in detoxification of your body. Physical exercise represents a simple, non-invasive, non-chemical, inexpensive means of cancer prevention.

6. Nutrition. Eating a low saturated fat – high fiber diet has been shown to be beneficial for breast health. Supplement with ground flaxseed as they contain lignans that bind to estrogens in your digestive tract and cleanse them from your system.Eat foods high in anti-oxidants(vitamins A, C, E, selenium, beta carotene) to protect the body from toxic exposures. (Deeply colored vegetables and fruits like green leafy vegetables, kale, carrots, yams, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower, brussel sprouts, collards, cabbage, citrus, berries, nuts and seeds.)

Avoid excessive amounts of sugar, fat, alcohol, caffeine - all of which decrease immune system function and may contribute to cancer. Obesity, and high levels of insulin in the blood also increase your risk for cancer.  My personal preference for cancer protective diet is a plant based diet. The typical Western diet with its incessant emphasis on protein is one of the major causes of cancer and cardiovascular disease: the two leading causes of death. Animal protein, including dairy is full of hormones, antibiotics and toxic feeds that are given to livestock to make them grow fast – after all we’re not buying cows and chickens based on their personality traits – we purchase them by their weight. Have you ever wondered that the average size of a chicken breast has increased by eight fold in the past fifty years? Surely it is not because we are being nice to chickens – they are grown on steroids and we consume this flesh. Plant based diets are much safer, with less hormonal influence and more minerals, vitamins and fiber that we all need. In his best selling book “The China Study” T. Colin Campbell, PhD makes a very convincing argument with his fifty years of nutritional research regarding plant-based diets. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in this subject; it has certainly opened my eyes.

7. Learn to do your own regular breast self-examinations as a great majority of lumps are found by women themselves.  A health care professional should examine any changes noticed. Women are generally reluctant to do a breast self-exam and for many the experience is frustrating – you may feel things but not know what they mean. However, the more you examine your breasts, the more you will learn about them and the easier it will become for you to tell if something unusual has occurred. Try to get in the habit of doing breast self-examination at least once a month to familiarize yourself with how your breasts normally look and feel. Examine yourself several days after your period ends, when your breasts are least likely to be swollen and tender. If you are no longer having periods, choose a day that’s easy to remember, such as the first or last day of the month.

8. “Other-centered” people, who do things for others before they look after their own needs, must learn to say NO.  Start to look after yourself before giving all to others.  Become assertive in a positive way. The common thread in cancer patients is unfulfilled passion that had been suppressed for many years. This pattern of suppression would repeat itself over their lifetime. Oddly enough, studying piano later in life, or fulfilling another previously unfulfilled passion has an amazing transformational effect.

9. Check your thyroid. Hypothyroidism precedes most breast disease. By correcting this problem as early as the first symptoms develop you will decrease your risk factors and improve your breast health. Women are eight times more likely to suffer from a dysfunctional thyroid during their lifetime than men.  Most thyroid conditions start in the perimenopausal and menopausal stages, when the endocrine system experiences many changes. A woman with an under-active thyroid may experience one or a combination of the symptoms such as: fatigue, dry skin, constipation, cold intolerance including clod hands and feet, puffy face in the morning, swollen or drooping eyes, loss or dry brittle hair, low sex drive, weight gain or inability to loose weight, memory loss, yellow discoloration on skin and palms, PMS, as well as muscle aches. 

Proper assessment will lead to the correct diagnosis and treatment, however this is where things get a little tricky for some people. Conventional blood test looking at your TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) levels may be misleading. Elevated TSH levels indicate an under-active (hypo) thyroid, and low TSH levels indicate an over-active (hyper) thyroid. Canadian ‘normal’ values are between 0.35 – 5.0. When the TSH levels are within this normal range, it is assumed that the thyroid gland is healthy and functioning normally. However, this “normal” range of health is much too broad. In the United States TSH levels over 3.0 are considered hypothyroid. Some physicians suggest that TSH results of less than 1 and over 2, combined with the presence of clinical symptoms, shows that there is a thyroid dysfunction, which may require treatment. In addition, two other tests that may be done are called “T4″ and “T3″. It is not unusual to see T-3 and or T-4 levels to be low or in the low end of ‘normal’ values thus requiring a more detailed look with additional saliva testing.

Keep in mind that pregnancy, estrogen replacement therapy, birth control pills, and especially stress may interfere with these results. Iodine and Selenium are co-factors in thyroid metabolism. A deficiency of these and other essential nutrients may be responsible for certain symptoms, as they all play a role in optimizing the health of the thyroid.  Lacking these essential nutrients perpetuates a thyroid problem at the cellular level although TSH lab values may seem normal. Many people remain undiagnosed and untreated because many health practitioners rely solely on these numerical values. The most important factor – the patient’s symptoms – has to be taken into consideration. 

10. In addition to your regular medical breast examinations, consider regular breast screening with Thermography. Breast Thermography is radiation free, non-invasive and totally safe and painless process of providing women with true screening methods that can warn of a pending problem far in advance. Thermographic imaging is a predictive test, and it can also monitor the effectiveness of treatments to see the effects on the breast tissue.  Proper risk assessment with the use of thermography can help provide you with the early warnings you need to make the necessary changes to become proactive.

Marla Lukofsky, Inspirational Speaker and Cancer Survivor

Brooks International presents Marla Lukofsky. www.brooksinternational.com . The Toronto Sun called her “the reigning queen of comedy in Canada.” The Globe and Mail called her “suave and stylish”. For the last thirty years, Marla Lukofsky has performed in every major city in Canada and the United States. As well, she represented Canada in the International Comedy Festival in Glasgow, Scotland and England. As a writer and columnist, Marla’s credits include CBC radio with such shows as Dayshift with Erika Ritter, Basic Black with Arthur Black and The Vicki Gabereau Show. In July of 1998, Marla was suddenly diagnosed with breast cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes. She had a lumpectomy and lymph node removal, which was followed by an aggressive course of chemotherapy and daily radiation treatments. Marla completed her treatments in January of 1999. Since then, she has written a memoir and a collection of short stories and poems describing her experiences. In them, she talks proudly about her life with cancer with honesty, frankness, and humor. Marla is currently doing inspirational speaking engagements across the country, entertaining and informing people of her personal cancer journey in hopes that it may help others. “If I can touch even one person, and make them feel that they are not alone, then I have succeeded.”

The Most Common Cancer for Women – Breast Cancer

Some of today’s most common cancers are unique only to women, simply because of our genetic make-up. To have a better understanding of your own risk profile, the various prevention strategies and the treatment options available, here is a straightforward discussion of some cancers that are specific to women.

Breast cancer can develop in one of several different areas of the breast, including the ducts that carry milk to the nipple, the breast’s lobules and non-glandular tissue. Risk factors include:
i. Ageing
ii. Having a family history of breast cancer
iii. Having a first menstrual period before age 13
iv. Never having been pregnant or having a first pregnancy after age 30
v. Being overweight (especially after menopause)
vi. Drink alcohol
vii. Having a sedentary lifestyle

Symptoms of breast cancer include a lump or thickening in the breast or under the arm, clear or bloody discharge from the nipple, and persistent crusting or scaling of the nipple. Other symptoms are inverted nipples, redness or swelling of the breast, dimpling on the breast skin resembling the texture of an orange, a change in the contours of the breast, and a sore or ulcer on the skin of the breast that does not heal.

Unfortunately, there is no certain way to prevent breast cancer. However, you can reduce your risk by avoiding smoking, exercising regularly, limiting alcohol consumption, and following a healthy diet. It is also important to examine your own breast every month, have a clinical breast examination every three years if you are under age 40 and every year if you are over 40, and have regular mammograms annually if you are above 40.

Early diagnosis significantly improves that prognosis for women with breast cancer. If the tumour is small and confined to the breast, more than 90 percent of women survive for at least five years after the diagnosis. However, if the disease spreads throughout the body before diagnosis, the five- year survival rate drops to less than 20 percent.

Women are advised to be familiar with their breasts and perform regular self-examination for early detection and treatment of breast cancer.

Fight Cancer by Providing your Cells a Healthy Environment

Doctors say that genetics do play a part in the statistics of your probability of getting breast cancer, but there are other factors in our American lifestyle that contribute to those chances as well. Those things, you have control over.

Your cells are designed to live in a healthy environment, which includes proper hydration levels, a healthy pH balance, proper mineral balance, the absence of toxins, proper oxygen levels, etc. If your internal environment balance is upset and your immune system weakened, your cells become stressed and your body can develop diseases, including cancer.

How does your cell environment become unhealthy? Many components can contribute to this imbalance in your cells’ environment: an acidic pH balance, improper diet, lack of exercise, low water consumption, improper breathing, and high toxic levels.

Be sure you keep track of your pH balance. If you test your saliva pH in the morning before eating or drinking anything, you should have a reading of 7.0. If your system is too acidic, you can suffer from excessive fatigue, weak kidneys, easy weight gain, excessive stress, reluctant weight loss, constipation, aches, pains, headaches, malaise, proneness to catching colds, mental confusion, and even lack of clear thinking. Research is showing that cancer cells thrive in an acidic environment as well.

Wouldn’t you like to take steps to put your body into the best shape possible for fighting this and many other diseases? As you can see, one way you can do that is to keep your body’s pH balance in an alkaline range. Here are a few ways to achieve that goal:

Design your diet to produce an alkaline environment for your cells. Concentrate on alkaline-triggering foods like fruits and vegetables. (Avoid those vegetables grown in mineral depleted soils.) Limit very acid-triggering foods like meats, fish, and poultry. Eat reasonable amounts of acidic eggs, dairy products, and carbohydrates like breads, pasta, and cereals.

Relax! Learn to handle your stress more effectively. Tests have proved that strong negative emotions like pent-up anger and bad reactions to stress cause the body to produce acids that destroy proper pH balances. Get plenty of rest to refresh yourself and exercise to relieve stress’s effects from your body. Remember, even your thoughts contribute to your body’s environment. Research in this area suggests that lack of control over stress has negative effects on immune function and contributes to tumor growth.

Breathe deeply! It’s important to manage your body’s oxygen levels. Another effect of acidic pH balances is that your body falls into an anaerobic condition when body pH balances falls below 7.0, leading to organs becoming acidic. Your body now is susceptible to many diseases, including cancer. The lack of proper oxygen in the body contributes to a cancerous environment.

Nobel Prize winner, Otto Warburg proved half a century ago, that a lack of oxygen respiration in cells causes cancer. His work, “The Prime Cause and Prevention of Cancer” explains that cancer occurs when any cell is denied 60% of its oxygen requirements. Instead of normal oxygen respiration, the cells experience a fermentation of sugar, which feeds cancer cells. Research shows that cancer cells can’t exist when there is enough oxygen.

So, how can you increase your oxygen levels? Start by breathing properly and deeply, increasing oxygen intake, and exercising regularly to increase cardiac flow carrying oxygen to the cells. This changes the internal environment to one that which cancer doesn’t thrive in.

Drink! Drink! Drink! Another contributor to an unhealthy cellular environment is improper consumption of water. I’m sure you’ve heard that a great percentage of the body is made of water, but did you realize that every system in your body depends on water to function properly? Without enough water, you don’t absorb nutrients and vitamins, you become constipated, have more kidney stones and urinary infections, and you can become dehydrated. If you become dehydrated, your blood gets thicker, your heart has to work harder to circulate it, your brain feels sluggish, and you can have trouble concentrating. Can you believe that water, or the lack of it, can affect your body to such degrees?

Incidentally, as you balance these areas of your lifestyle, you could reap other rewards besides maintaining a healthy cell environment. You could lose weight, sleep better, have more energy, have better hair and skin, and enjoy a greater level of wellness than you have ever experienced.

Cancer patients struggle to afford care

Cancer patients struggle to afford care
A new poll illustrates the difficulty that cancer patients, survivors and their families face in affording needed health care and paying for other basic necessities such as food and heat, underscoring the need to strongly implement the Affordable Care Act so that it works for people with cancer.

Read more on The Downey Patriot

A Potential new Breakthrough for Breast Cancer

Get the facts about Zometa, a new bone loss drug that may decrease your chances at breast cancer recurrence. Not yet used by doctors, Zometa is still undergoing clinical trials and may cause certain side effects.

AP News in Brief

AP News in Brief
The Supreme Court held Monday that Americans have the right to own a gun for self-defense anywhere they live, expanding the conservative court’s embrace of gun rights since John Roberts became Chief Justice.

Read more on KCOY Santa Maria

Buying Life Insurance After Being Diagnosed With Cancer

The American Cancer Society estimates doctors will diagnose over 1.4 million new cases of cancer in the U.S. in 2007, with more than 559,650 cancer-related deaths. If you are among the majority of cancer patients and survive for at least five years following your diagnosis, you may face another fight: buying life insurance.

Buying life insurance for cancer patients is challenging, but not necessarily impossible. Your chances for securing a policy depend greatly on the type, stage and grade of the cancer, and even on the treatment plan. There is a relationship between the rate you’ll receive and the curability of your cancer. Certain types of skin cancer, for example, are considered very low risk by life insurance companies and a skin cancer history may not even impact premiums.

Applicants with common and treatable forms of breast and prostate cancer may be able to get a “standard” rating under ideal circumstances. But patients with a history of leukemia or colon cancer may fall into a “substandard” or “high substandard” rating at best, or receive declines. Anyone with cancer that has metastasized likely won’t be able to obtain a policy.

Dr. Charles Levy, senior vice president and chief medical director of AIG American General Domestic Life Insurance Cos., says, “We’re better and better able to differentiate the risks of individual cancers.” Life insurers like AIG American General have sophisticated tables to determine premiums, where they can factor in cancer types and treatments. The end result is better premiums because applicants aren’t lumped together as an “average.”

Most insurers will not offer a policy to someone who is still undergoing treatment for cancer. Depending on your type of cancer, the life insurer may also want to add a surcharge, also called a temporary flat extra. For example, AIG American General sometimes charges temporary flat extras for two to five years, depending on the applicant’s cancer and treatment. The good news is that although these extra premiums can be expensive, they will automatically disappear after a set period of time.

Cancer insurance risk specialists

While a dedicated life insurance agent will search cancer insurance companies to find insurers that will sell you a life insurance policy, in some cases you may be better off seeking out a broker who specializes in finding life insurance for people who have a history of cancer.

These brokers will know the specific questions underwriters will want answered when considering your application. Many brokers have developed relationships with several insurers, so they know which companies offer the best-priced life insurance policies for cancer survivors. Some brokers have experts who specialize in gathering your medical records and organizing them.

By directing your application to life insurers that will view your application most favorably, these brokers will help you find the most accurate price quotes and the lowest premiums for life insurance. Always check the financial strength of the insurer before you buy any policy and be sure that the agent or broker you choose is licensed in your state.

Life insurance strategies for cancer survivors

If you are a healthy cancer survivor, life insurance is even more feasible. There are things you can do to ensure you’re getting the best premium offers possible for your situation.

1. Gather all possible medical records before you apply, from the first pathology report to medical records to treatment records. That ensures medical underwriters have the most complete picture of you, your health, and your cancer history. Having all those records before you apply for cancer insurance will reduce delays in your application process, because your life insurer is going to request them and will wait for them. The information you provide can garner you better premiums in the end: The less life insurer underwriters knows about you, the more likely they are to have to assume you are the highest risk and offer you high premiums accordingly. According to Levy, “If it’s fuzzy, we’re more likely to err on the side of conservatism.”

2. Make sure you have complied with your doctor’s treatment plans. For example, says Levy, if your doctor asked to see you back in one year and you haven’t been back in four years, get to your doctor for your check-up before you apply for life insurance. Your life insurer is not going to offer you a policy without before seeing the results of that check-up. Similarly, if you’ve had breast cancer and you’re due for a mammogram in December and you apply for cancer insurance in October, your life insurer will likely wait for the results of your next mammogram.

3. Get prices from several companies. Policy costs can vary a great deal among companies.

4. See if you can get group life insurance through a professional, fraternal, membership, or political organization to which you belong.

5. Consider a “graded” policy (one with limited benefits) if you cannot get full death benefits. In the first few years of a graded policy, the company pays only the premiums and part of the face value if the insured person dies of a condition, such as cancer, that existed before the policy took effect. If the insured person dies after the specified grading-in period, the company will pay the full face amount of the policy.

If your cancer has been successfully treated, and you are otherwise in good health, you can likely obtain a cancer life insurance policy. If you can show that you are healthy and your treatments have gone well, several insurers may compete for your business.