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June 2006 Vol. 11 No. 6

 “I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States.
Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory.
I can see that the end is worth more than all the means…”
—John Adams

Table of Contents:Fish Oil can Stop Prostate Cancer’s Spread
High Doses of Vitamin C Good for Cancer
Ginger and Pepper: A Cancer-Fighting Combo?
Why Raise Your Cancer Risks by Drinking Tap Water?
Underselling the Obesity Epidemic in America
Atkins Wasn’t Right About Carb Restriction
Adieu, la Difference!
Obesity Decreases Chance of Surviving Breast Cancer
NIH Supplement Panel ‘One-Sided’, Says Natural Health Research Institute
Conventional Medicine’s Ignorance About Autism

 

Fish Oil can Stop Prostate Cancer’s Spread

Consuming high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, such as those found in fish oil, may help stop cancerous prostate cells from spreading and becoming potentially lethal, a new British study finds. Published in the British Journal of Cancer, the study’s findings are cause for hope among some public health researchers, who estimate that 543,000 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed every year. In the current study, researchers at England’s Paterson Institute found that men with prostate cancer who ate a diet high in omega-3 fatty acids were less likely to suffer from the spread of tumor cells outside of the prostate gland. As a result, prostate cancer among such men was easier to control and treat through either surgery or chemotherapy.

High Doses of Vitamin C Good for Cancer  

Giving cancer patients high-dose intravenous vitamin C can dramatically improve survival rates, even among those with advanced-stage malignancies. That hopeful finding comes courtesy of a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. According to the study’s authors, providing advanced cancer patients with 15-65 grams of vitamin C daily can significantly prolong survival times. The finding is based on vitamin C trials involving middle-aged cancer patients diagnosed with tumors of the bladder, kidneys, lungs, and lymph nodes. Researchers believe that vitamin C in high doses helps to stimulate production of hydrogen peroxide in the body.

Ginger and Pepper: A Cancer-Fighting Combo? Cancers of the ovaries and pancreas are two of the most dangerous malignancies known to medicine, but they may both face formidable foes in an unlikely form: ginger root and pepper. According to research conducted at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, compounds found in both plant foods can help kill cancerous cells. Researchers have found in the laboratory setting that ginger appears to kill ovarian cancer cells to which it has been exposed, while the pepper compound capsaicin targets pancreatic cancer cells. Public health officials estimate that ovarian cancer is responsible for 16,000 deaths nationwide each year, while pancreatic cancer claims an additional 31,000 lives.

Why Raise Your Cancer Risks by Drinking Tap Water? 

Six recent studies, examining a combined total of almost 8,000 people, have indicated that higher consumption of tap water can increase the risk of bladder cancer in men.  Men who drank more than 2 liters of tap water a day ran a 50 percent higher risk of bladder cancer than those who drank half a liter or less. Both straight tap water and tap water from other sources, such as coffee, were examined in the study.  Other beverages were not found to have the same associated risks.

International Journal of Cancer April 15, 2006; 118(8): 2040-2047
Yahoo News May 5, 2006

Underselling the Obesity Epidemic in America 

The problem of obesity in the United States is much greater than the results of some official health surveys would imply, according to a new study.  States used telephone surveys to estimate obesity rates, with the result that women tended to underestimate their weight and men tended to overestimate their height.

National estimates, which are calculated using a different methodology, are likely accurate, and put about a third of U.S. adults in the obese category. However, the obesity levels determined by individual states are grossly underestimated.  Phone survey responses indicated that nearly all U.S. states had an obesity rate below 24 percent. In fact, many states have an obesity rate well above 30 percent.

Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine May 2006; 99(5): 250-257
Yahoo News May 9, 2006

Atkins Wasn’t Right About Carb Restriction 

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition demonstrates that the complete, ketone-producing carb restrictions popularized by Dr. Robert Atkins in his weight-loss program are not necessary for weight loss.

Other Diets Just as Effective

Severe carb restrictions cause the formation of ketones, which result when your body burns fat for fuel due to inadequate carb reserves. Researchers found that weight loss could be achieved just as effectively without this level of carbohydrate avoidance.

Metabolic and Emotional Effects

In addition, ketone-producing carb restrictions resulted in higher LDL cholesterol levels, and also adverse metabolic and emotional effects, when compared to low-carb diets that did not restrict carbohydrate intake to the point of ketone production.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition May 2006; 83(5): 1055-1061

Adieu, la Difference!  

Obesity and diabetes epidemics that began in the United States 20 years ago are now emerging in France, traditionally home to one of the lowest obesity rates among westernized countries. The Kaiser Permanente study followed 3,770 normal-weight French men and women for six years. Twenty-one percent of participants gained 19.8 pounds or more and developed metabolic syndrome, a combination of conditions, including abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, and insulin resistance. The blame lies with the adoption of the American lifestyle—fast foods, processed foods, soft drinks, and little or no exercise.

Hillier TA, Fagot-Campagna A, Eschwege E, Vol S, Cailleau M, Balkau B; the D.E.S.I.R. Study group. Weight change and changes in the metabolic syndrome as the French population moves towards overweight: the D.E.S.I.R. cohort. Int J Epidemiol. 2006 Feb;35(1):190-196.

Obesity Decreases Chance of Surviving Breast Cancer 

In a study in Shanghai, China, investigators followed a group of 1,455 women with breast cancer. They found that being overweight at or soon after diagnosis of breast cancer was related to a decrease in chance of survival and disease-free survival. This is one of only a few studies to look at weight’s effect on breast cancer in an Asian population. Most Asian women are slim by Western standards. After a five-year follow-up, the survival rates were higher for those with the lowest body mass index (BMI), a measure of body weight adjusted for height. The lowest BMI group had an 86.5 percent survival rate, while the highest BMI group had an 80.1 percent survival rate. Corresponding disease-free rates were 81.9 percent for the lowest BMIs and 76.6 percent for the highest. Excessive adipose tissue, which increases hormonal activity and stimulates cell growth, may be what promotes the tumor development and metastasis. The results support previous findings that weight control can have a substantial effect on incidence and survival of breast cancer.

Tao MH, Shu XO, Ruan ZX, Gao YT, Zheng W. Association of overweight with breast cancer survival. Am J Epidemiol. 2006;163:101-107.

NIH Supplement Panel ‘One-Sided’, Says Natural Health Research Institute 

The Conference on Multivitamin/Mineral Supplements and Chronic Disease Prevention held by the National Institutes of Health last week illustrates the problem of using selective scientific information to arrive at one-sided conclusions that misinform the public about the risks and benefits of taking multivitamins.

This is according to the Natural Health Research Institute (NHRI, http://www.naturalhealthresearch.org ), which promotes research on the role of natural products as cost-effective means to reduce leading causes of chronic disease and death.

Natural Health Research Institute
http://www.prnewswire.com
http://www.naturalhealthresearch.org www.prnewswire.com
http://www.medaus.com/?p=239,7833

Conventional Medicine’s Ignorance About Autism 

Very few pediatricians screen children for autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), possibly due to a lack of familiarity with the appropriate screening tools.  A study of more than 250 pediatricians in Maryland and Delaware found that while 82 percent screen their patients for general developmental delays, only 8 percent regularly screen for ASD. Most of those who did not screen for ASD were unfamiliar with the screening tools.

Screening is important because a delay in diagnosis and treatment often leads to poorer results for children with developmental disorders. Slightly more than five out of every 1,000 children are harmed by autism, according to the latest CDC report, although boys are four times more likely to be autistic than girls.

 Yahoo News May 12, 2006
Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics April 2006; 27(2): S88-S94
(CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report May 5, 2006; 55(17): 481-486

Unfortunately the evidence is quite strong that most pediatricians who practice conventional medicine simply have no clue about autism.  Besides being unaware about the presence and effects of the mercury-based chemical thimerosal in vaccines, many don’t even know how to screen for the disorder. Fortunately, the autism rates have been diminishing since the thimerosal is finally being removed from many childhood vaccines.

Mercury in Vaccines: The Appalling Truth Revealed
http://www.mercola.com/2005/jul/23/mercury_vaccines.htm

Autism Rates Fall With the Removal of Mercury
http://www.mercola.com/2006/mar/21/cdc_fights_mercury_removal_in_vaccines.htm

I cannot stress this enough: if you are a parent, keep any vaccine containing thimerosal well away from your child, including useless flu vaccinations, as most are still loaded with mercury. The link between autism and vaccines is certainly not a new idea. In fact, suggestions of this link have been in the national news for at least seven years now. Two years ago, a study that reviewed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Vaccine Data Link concluded that children who receive thimerosal-containing vaccinations are 27 times more likely to develop autism than children who do not.  That’s a 2,700 percent increase. The numbers just don’t lie.

Selected segments are reproduced from Dr. Mercola’s excellent website:
http://www.mercola.com/index.htm 

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
http://www.pcrm.org