Health & WellnessS


Health

Is X-Ray Mammography Finding Cancer or Benign Lesions?

Mammograms
© GreenMedInfo

For most of the twentieth century mastectomy was the first line treatment for Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS), and younger patients were more likely to undergo the procedure. Even after lumpectomy and radiotherapy were shown to be at least as effective for invasive cancer as mastectomy, still in 2002, 26% of DCIS patients were still receiving mastectomy.1

The most common scenario today following diagnosis of DCIS is for the oncologist to recommend lumpectomy, followed by radiation and hormone suppressive therapies such as Arimidex and Tamoxifen. The problem here is that women are not being educated about the nature of DCIS or the concept of "non-progressive" breast cancers. There is still the black and white perception out there that you either have cancer, or do not have cancer. In a poll on DCIS awareness published in 2000, 94% of women studied doubted even the possibility of non-progressive breast cancers.2 In other words, these women had no understanding of the nature of DCIS. And why would they? Major authorities frame DCIS as "pre-cancerous," implying its inevitable transformation into cancer. When the standard of care for DCIS is to suggest the same types of treatment used to treat invasive cancer, very few women are provided with the information needed to make an informed decision.

Early detection through x-ray mammography has been the clarion call of Breast Cancer Awareness campaigns for a quarter of a century now. However, very little progress has been made in making the public aware about the crucial differences between non-malignant lesions/tumors and invasive or non-invasive cancers detected through this technology. When all forms of breast pathology are looked at in the aggregate, irrespective of their relative risk for harm, disease of the breast takes on the appearance of a monolithic entity that you either have, or don't have; they call it breast cancer.

The concept of a breast cancer that has no symptoms, which can not be diagnosed through manual palpation of the breast and does not become invasive in the vast majority of cases, might sound unbelievable to most women. However, there does exist a rather mysterious clinical anomaly known as Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS), which is, in fact, one of the most commonly diagnosed and unnecessarily treated forms of "breast cancer" today.

What women fail to understand - because their physicians do not know better or have not taken care to explain to them - is that they have a choice when diagnosed with DCIS. Rather than succumb to aggressive treatment with surgery, radiation and chemo-drugs, women can choose watchful waiting. Better yet, a radical lifestyle change can be focused on eliminating exposure to chemicals and radiation, as well as improved exercise and nutrition. This choice is not being made in most cases because the medical community is not informing their patients that there is such.

Health

Research: Pineapple Enzyme Kills Cancer Without Killing You

Drug
© GreenMedInfo

Every once in a while a study pops up on the National Library of Medicine's bibliographic database known as MEDLINE that not only confirms the therapeutic relevance of natural substances in cancer treatment, but blows the conventional approach out of the water.

Published in 2007 in the journal Planta Medica, researchers found that an enzyme extracted from pineapple stems known as bromelain was superior to the chemo-agent 5-fluorauracil in treating cancer in the animal model. The researchers stated:

"This antitumoral effect [bromelain] was superior to that of 5-FU [5-fluorouracil], whose survival index was approximately 263 %, relative to the untreated control." [view entire study]

Pineapple
© GreenMedInfo
What is so remarkable about this research is that 5-FU has been used as a cancer treatment for nearly 40 years, and has been relatively unsuccessful due to its less than perfect selectivity at killing cancer, often killing and/or irreversibly damaging healthy cells and tissue, as well.

As a highly toxic, fluoride-bound form of the nucleic acid uracil, a normal component of RNA, the drug is supposed to work by tricking more rapidly dividing cells -- which include both cancer and healthy intestinal, hair follicle, and immune cells -- into taking it up, thereby inhibiting (read: poisoning) RNA replication enzymes and RNA synthesis.

Health

Interpol Seeking French Breast Implant Maker's CEO

chanal Guerin implant
© AP Photo/Christophe EnaChantal Guerin, a 46-year-old accountant and mother of three, displays a breast implant made by Poly Implant Prothese, or PIP, that was removed from her left breast
The chief executive of a French company whose questionable breast implants are under international scrutiny is on the Interpol police agency's most-wanted list.

Interpol's website says Jean-Claude Mas is wanted by Costa Rican authorities for crimes involving "life and health." It bears a photo of the 72-year-old Mas but does not elaborate on his alleged crimes or link to Costa Rica.

The international police agency issued a so-called red notice for Mas, who ran Poly Implant Prothese. Officials at France-based Interpol could not be reached for comment late Friday on the notice.

The company is in liquidation. France offered Friday to pay for 30,000 women to have their PIP implants removed because of the risk the products could rupture and leak industrial-grade silicone.

Bomb

Best of the Web: FDA Targets 'Unproven' New Supplements While Allowing Harmful GMOs

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© gaia-health.com
The FDA is seeking to outlaw the majority of supplements created after 1994 until they have been heavily proven to be 100% effective and free of any slight side effects.

Meanwhile, the organization allows for harmful genetically modified ingredients to fill the world's food supply.

While the FDA's NDI (New Dietary Ingredient) regulations seek to remove your right to freely purchase powerful superfoods, they are simply not concerned over the fact that GMO food consumption has been linked with severe organ disruption and other health concerns.

Under the new guidelines, every nutritional supplement company will be required to compose and submit a comprehensive NDI (New Dietary Ingredient) documentation for every single ingredient used in each product they are currently selling.

This tedious and ridiculous process will hinder the sales of legitimate nutraceuticals, and removes your free choice to determine which ingredients you find to be the most beneficial to your health.

Attention

Genetically Modified Mosquitoes to be Released in the US for the First Time

Mosquito
© Natural Society

To those of you who have been eager to hear the latest news concerning the potential release of genetically modified mosquitoes - here it is. It turns out that the genetically modified mosquitoes could be released into the U.S. environment as early as January of 2012. A private firm plans to initiate the release of the GE mosquitoes in the Florida Keys. Florida will be the first beta testing grounds to determine whether or not the mosquitoes lead to detrimental environmental and genetic impact. Residents in this area will also be subjected - without choice - to these genetically manipulated insects, unless the private firm decides to seek permission.

Genetically Modified Mosquitoes | An Unknown Dangerous Experiment

The first mosquito release took place in the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean in 2009. On Sunday, October 27, the release was discussed in a scientific paper by the journal of Nature Biotechnology with the report concluding the releases' success. A second trial occurred in 2010, where 6,000 mosquitoes were released in Malaysia for further experiments. The mosquitoes are genetically modified with a gene designed to kill them unless given an antibiotic known as tetracycline. Offspring of the GM mosquitoes will receive this same lethal gene which will kill the offspring before it can ever reach adulthood. As more genetically modified mosquitoes mate with wild mosquitoes, the idea is that more and more offspring will be produced with the lethal gene, thereby reducing the mosquito population.

Of course the risks these mosquitoes pose both on the environment as well as the health of all living creatures are highly unknown, leaving everyone with many more questions than answers. We have already seen how terribly genetic modification can threaten the environment and human health, yet people are still moving toward a genetically modified world. With the release of genetically modified insects could come the downfall of both local and global ecosystems as well as negative consequences concerning the food chain. There is simply no way of knowing what could happen by replacing the naturally born life forms on planet earth with genetically modified creations.

Megaphone

How to Win a GMO Debate: 10 Facts Why Genetically Modified Food is Bad

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© chickachickaya.blogspot.com
It's happened to the best of us. The topic of genetically modified (GM) food and crops comes up and someone somewhere starts spewing a spate of pro-GMO rhetoric like, "GM food is the only way to feed the poor! GM crops benefit farmers! GM food and crops are safe!" and we are left with a stammering retort of, "but, but, no, but, uhm, no!"

Next time be prepared by bolstering your argument with these 10 Reasons to Avoid GMOs, courtesy of international bestselling author and GMO expert Jeffrey Smith from The Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT). This list of ten facts and supporting text clearly explain just how serious a threat GM food and crops pose to our personal health as well as the health of the planet.

Comment: The following articles were written by author and researcher Jeffery Smith; director of the Institute for Responsible Technology:

The GMO Tipping Point

GMO Researchers Attacked, Evidence Denied, and a Population at Risk

Genetically Modified Soy Linked to Sterility, Infant Mortality in Hamsters

GMOs Linked to Organ Disruption in 19 Studies

Monsanto's Roundup Triggers Over 40 Plant Diseases and Endangers Human and Animal Health

Non GMO Month: An Interview with Jeffery Smith


Magic Wand

Health Benefits of Turmeric

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© healthjockey.com
The active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin. Tumeric has been used for over 2500 years in India, where it was most likely first used as a dye.

The medicinal properties of this spice have been slowly revealing themselves over the centuries. Long known for its anti-inflammatory properties, recent research has revealed that turmeric is a natural wonder, proving beneficial in the treatment of many different health conditions from cancer to Alzheimer's disease.

Bacon

How to Interpret Cholesterol Test Results

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Before we get into the big job of interpreting cholesterol numbers, let's review what cholesterol actually is.

Cholesterol is cholesterol: a waxy steroid of fat that serves as an essential structural component of cellular membranes and in the production of steroid hormones, vitamin D, and bile acids. Contrary to what the terminology indicates, there's actually only one "type" of cholesterol in the human body, and it's called, quite simply, cholesterol. What we think of when we use the word "cholesterol" is actually a lipoprotein - a fatty conglomerate of protein and lipids that delivers cholesterol and fat and fat-soluble nutrients to different parts of the body. It's not just free cholesterol floating around in your blood; it's cholesterol bound up by lipoproteins.

Health

Turmeric: The Return of The Golden Goddess


Ancient Indians believed that turmeric contained the energy of the Divine Mother. Modern science now confirms that it has therapeutic properties relevant to well over 500 health conditions, and may bestow on those who take it, protection from many common causes of suffering.

The author has personally reviewed the majority of 4,000+ biomedical citations on turmeric and its primary polyphenol curcumin, available to view on the National Library of Medicine's bibliographic reference database known as MEDLINE (and searchable through engines like Pubmed.gov), and has been awed by how diverse, powerful and seemingly ideally suited this spice is for addressing the broad range of diseases and/or disease symptoms that commonly afflict our species.

Info

7 Foods Experts Won't Eat

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© wakeup-world.com
1. GMO FOODS (Any of them)

The Expert: Jeffrey Smith, author of Seeds of Deception and founder of Institute for Responsible Technology

The Situation: GMO foods encourage the massive spraying of herbicides on our topsoils, polluting the ground, waterways, animals and humans. Scientific studies have shown the RoundUp Ready genes in GMO foods to transfer to our intestinal flora and the pesticide producing genes, called Bt-toxins, to be present in both unborn fetuses and their mothers. In short, GMO foods pollute our environment and out bodies. No long term health studies of GMO foods have been performed on humans. In addition to polluting our bodies with mutant DNA, eating RoundUp Ready GMO foods insures a hefty dose of herbicide given that GMO crops are even more heavily sprayed than conventional non-organic crops. The environmental, political, economic, and social damage by GMO foods is staggering. GMO foods include corn, soybeans, sugarbeets, potatoes, alfalfa, canola, potato, papaya, rice, honey, squash, rapeseed, tomatoes, sweet corn, tobacco, peas, and more in the pipeline.

The Solution: Check that all the food you purchase is non-GMO. Demand a halt to GMO foods any chance you get. Support mandatory labeling of GMO foods. Buy ORGANIC. Plant a garden.