A novel nanowire device that is able to non-invasively detect microscopic levels of cancer markers in the urine, has been developed by Japanese researchers and could aid in improving diagnosis and treatment of the deadly disease.
The device was found with potential to efficiently capture extracellular vesicles (EVs) from urine and potentially use them to screen for cancer.
“The ongoing challenge for physicians in any field is to find a non-invasive diagnostic tool that allows them to monitor their patients on a regular basis — for example, a simple urine test,” said lead author Takao Yasui, from the Nagoya University in Japan.
However, the content of EVs in urine is extremely low, at less than 0.01 per cent of the total fluid volume, which becomes a major barrier to their diagnostic utility.
The new device — embeded with zinc oxide nanowires into a specialised polymer — was found highly efficient at capturing these vesicles.
“Our findings suggest that the device is indeed quite efficient. We obtained a collection rate of over 99 per cent, surpassing ultracentrifugation as well as other methods that are currently being used in the field,” Yasui added.
Using the device, the scientists were able to net over a thousand types of microRNAs, which are short pieces of ribonucleic acid that play diverse roles in normal cellular biology.
The presence of certain microRNAs in urine might serve as a red flag for serious conditions such as bladder and prostate cancer, the study reported in Science Advances showed.
To test the device, the team compared the microRNAs of EVs isolated from healthy patients with those isolated from patients who were already diagnosed with bladder, prostate, and other forms of cancer.
Compared with the standard approach, they found a substantially greater number and different types of microRNAs with just 1 milliliter of urine, the researchers said.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-29 06:54:422020-07-29 06:54:42New device to detect cancer with urine test is here
Ovarian cancer may cause several signs and symptoms. Women are more likely to have symptoms if the disease has spread, but even early-stage ovarian cancer can cause them. The most common symptoms include:
Bloating
Pelvic or abdominal (belly) pain
Trouble eating or feeling full quickly
Urinary symptoms such as urgency (always feeling like you have to go) or frequency (having to go often)
These symptoms are also commonly caused by benign (non-cancerous) diseases and by cancers of other organs. When they are caused by ovarian cancer, they tend to be persistentand a change from normal − for example, they occur more often or are more severe. These symptoms are more likely to be caused by other conditions, and most of them occur just about as often in women who don’t have ovarian cancer. But if you have these symptoms more than 12 times a month, see your doctor so the problem can be found and treated if necessary.
Others symptoms of ovarian cancer can include:
Fatigue (extreme tiredness)
Upset stomach
Back pain
Pain during sex
Constipation
Changes in a woman’s period, such as heavier bleeding than normal or irregular bleeding
Abdominal (belly) swelling with weight loss
Ovarian Cancer Risk Factors
A risk factor is anything that changes your chance of getting a disease like cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. Some risk factors, like smoking, can be changed. Others, like a person’s age or family history, can’t be changed.
But having a risk factor, or even many, does not mean that you will get the disease. And some people who get the disease may not have any known risk factors. Researchers have discovered several risk factors that might increase a woman’s chance of developing epithelialovarian cancer. These risk factors don’t apply to other less common types of ovarian cancer like germ cell tumors and stromal tumors.
Factors that increase your risk of ovarian cancers
Getting older
The risk of developing ovarian cancer gets higher with age. Ovarian cancer is rare in women younger than 40. Most ovarian cancers develop after menopause. Half of all ovarian cancers are found in women 63 years of age or older.
Being overweight or obese
Obesity has been linked to a higher risk of developing many cancers. The current information available for ovarian cancer risk and obesity is not clear. Obese women (those with a body mass index [BMI] of at least 30) may have a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer, but not necessarily the most aggressive types, such as high grade serous cancers. Obesity may also affect the overall survival of a woman with ovarian cancer.
Having children later or never having a full-term pregnancy
Women who have their first full-term pregnancy after age 35 or who never carried a pregnancy to term have a higher risk of ovarian cancer.
Using fertility treatment
Fertility treatment with in vitro fertilization (IVF) seems to increase the risk of the type of ovarian tumors known as “borderline” or “low malignant potential” (described in What Is Ovarian Cancer?). Other studies, however, have not shown an increased risk of invasive ovarian cancer with fertility drugs. If you are taking fertility drugs, you should discuss the potential risks with your doctor.
Taking hormone therapy after menopause
Women using estrogens after menopause have an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. The risk seems to be higher in women taking estrogen alone (without progesterone) for many years (at least 5 or 10). The increased risk is less certain for women taking both estrogen and progesterone.
Having a family history of ovarian cancer, breast cancer, or colorectal cancer
Ovarian cancer can run in families. Yourovarian cancer risk is increased if your mother, sister, or daughter has (or has had) ovarian cancer. The risk also gets higher the more relatives you have with ovarian cancer. Increased risk for ovarian cancer can also come from your father’s side.
What Causes Ovarian Cancer?
We don’t yet know exactly what causes most ovarian cancers. As discussed in Ovarian Cancer Risk Factors, we do know some factors that make a woman more likely to develop epithelial ovarian cancer. Much less is known about risk factors for germ cell and stromal tumors of the ovaries.
The most recent and important finding about the cause of ovarian cancer is that it starts in cells at the tail ends of the fallopian tubes and not necessarily in the ovary itself. This new information may open more research studies looking at preventing and screening for this type of cancer.
There are many theories about the causes of ovarian cancer. Some of them came from looking at the things that change the risk of ovarian cancer. For example, pregnancy and taking birth control pills both lower the risk of ovarian cancer. Since both of these things reduce the number of times the ovary releases an egg (ovulation), some researchers think that there may be some relationship between ovulation and the risk of developing ovarian cancer.
Can Ovarian Cancer Be Prevented?
Most women have one or more risk factors for ovarian cancer. But most of the common factors only slightly increase your risk, so they only partly explain the frequency of the disease. So far, what is known about risk factors has not translated into practical ways to prevent most cases of ovarian cancer.
There are several ways you can reduce your risk of developing the most common type of ovarian cancer, epithelial ovarian cancer. Much less is known about ways to lower the risk of developing germ cell and stromal tumors of the ovaries, so this information does not apply to those types. It is important to realize that some of these strategies lower your risk only slightly, while others lower it much more. Some strategies are easily followed, and others require surgery. If you are concerned about your risk of ovarian cancer, talk to your health care professionals. They can help you consider these ideas as they apply to your own situation.
Avoiding certain risk factors
Some risk factors for ovarian cancer, like getting older or having a family history, cannot be changed. But women might be able to lower their risk slightly by avoiding other risk factors, for example, by staying at a healthy weight, or not taking hormone replacement therapy after menopause. See Risk Factors for Ovarian Cancer to learn more.
Oral contraceptives
Using oral contraceptives (birth control pills) decreases the risk of developing ovarian cancer for average risk women and BRCA mutation carriers , especially among women who use them for several years. Women who used oral contraceptives for 5 or more years have about a 50% lower risk of developing ovarian cancer compared with women who never used oral contraceptives. Still, birth control pills do have some serious risks and side effects such as slightly increasing breast cancer risk. Women considering taking these drugs for any reason should first discuss the possible risks and benefits with their doctor.
Gynecologic surgery
Both tubal ligation and hysterectomy may reduce the chance of developing certain types of ovarian cancer, but experts agree that these operations should only be done for valid medical reasons — not for their effect on ovarian cancer risk.
If you are going to have a hysterectomy for a valid medical reason and you have a strong family history of ovarian or breast cancer, you may want to consider having both ovaries and fallopian tubes removed (called a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy) as part of that procedure.
Even if you don’t have an increased risk of ovarian cancer, some doctors recommend that the ovaries be removed with the uterus if a woman has already gone through menopause or is close to menopause. If you are older than 40 and you are going to have a hysterectomy, you should discuss the potential risks and benefits of having your ovaries removed with your doctor.
Another option for average risk women who do not wish to have their ovaries removed because they don’t want to lose ovarian function (and go through menopause early) is to have just the fallopian tubes removed (a bilateral salpingectomy) along with the uterus (a hysterectomy). They may choose to have their ovaries removed later. This has not been studied as well as removing both the ovaries and fallopian tubes at the same time, but there is enough information that it may be considered an option to reduce ovarian cancer risk in average risk women.
Treating Ovarian Cancer
If you’ve been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, your cancer care team will discuss your treatment options with you. It’s important that you think carefully about each of your choices. Weigh the benefits of each treatment option against the possible risks and side effects.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-23 18:52:532020-07-23 18:52:53Ovarian Cancer
An article by our Director Raksha Pai, explains how a family members suffer when loved one gets diagnozed with cancer…
When we were first told my aunt has cancer we could not believe it. Although cancer had struck our extended families before we always thought of it as something that will not come back again. This was the third aunt.
She had no symptoms, no pain until the cancer had advanced to stage 4. That is when we found out she was suffering from breast cancer. There wasn’t much hope or time for that matter but still she chose to take the treatment for whatever was in her way. She had a new grandchild few days old. She wanted to live for everyone that she owned. Like many other’s she too was in denial. She couldn’t digest that she would soon be forced to leave the physical body when she wasn’t prepared for it. The condition was kept in closed circle for the initial days of consultation so that she need not face the burden of talking to everyone about it but with the first round of chemotherapy when she started to develop bald patches on her head it seemed impossible to hide the harsh truth. When she adorned a scarf and smiled, we saw her cheeks had sunk in. She was growing weak but was still tolerant. Her voice still had authority on her soul though her body didn’t.
Five months from the time of diagnosis, after more chemo therapies and radiotherapy treatments she was admitted at the hospital. When we visited her, she was still smiling. She told us she couldn’t taste her food but she knew those recipes from the back of her tongue. She passed them on to us. She let us videotape her. She was in pain but she had reached in her own terms. She was ready to give up the worldly desires. So much so that she was ready to give her body up. Within a couple of days we witnessed her absense. Absence from us forever. She might have given up on her body but not on us. We felt she was continuing living her life from the heavens above. We feel her presence on special occasions and know that she might still be smiling.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-23 17:34:202020-07-23 17:34:20When someone gets cancer in family…
The world’s ancient systems of healing have prevailed despite the saturation of modern conventional medicine for one reason… they work. And because of this, they have been incorporated into the everyday lives, spiritual philosophies, health habits, and cultural customs of billions of people on the planet. Perhaps in no other healing tradition is this more evident than in the ancient practice of Ayurveda.
Let’s explore what Ayurveda has to say about the very modern dis-ease of cancer and look at the ayurvedic treatment for cancer. Ayurveda’s Herbs Are Already Being Studied A quick look through the National Institutes of Health research database at studies that have investigated the most common Ayurvedic herbs tells the tale. To date there have been close to 500 studies conducted on cumin, 650 on fennel, and 2,500 on ginger.
Interestingly, there have been just under 10,000 research studies done on turmeric and curcumin − including 3,500 studies on how turmeric alone and in combination with other herbs can help fight cancer.
Most health-conscious individuals are aware of the healing power of these Ayurvedic spices and may even be aware of some of the other principles around Ayurveda. However, few grasp how these individual modalities are part of a cohesive and complex system of medicine that has been in existence for over 5,000 years. The Basic Principles of Ayurveda The term Ayurveda translates to “the science of life.” Thus, Ayurveda does not just deal with the treatment of the physical body. It also focuses on balancing and harmonizing all aspects of a person’s mind, body, and spirit as well as that of society as a whole.
In Ayurveda, a person is seen as being made up of five primary natural elements: ether (or space), fire, water, air, and earth. These elements manifest and combine in the body in certain physiological ways. How these elements express themselves are called Doshas − Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Dosha-balancing is at the very heart of the Ayurvedic healing system.
In basic terms, each Dosha is responsible for specific functions in the body. Vata, for example, is associated with the air and ether. It is responsible for movement − including circulation, respiration, elimination, and nerve impulses. Pitta is said to be associated with water and fire and is responsible for metabolism, including cellular metabolism. Finally, the Kapha Dosha is governed by water and earth. It is responsible for growth and protection, including the protection of the cerebral and spinal fluid and the mucosal lining of the stomach. It is also responsible for the growth of new tissue. How Ayurveda Sees Cancer In Ayurveda, any imbalance in the body system is caused by the overexpression or under expression of one or more of the Doshas. Hence, all disease begins with them. Dosha imbalance can lead to dis-ease according to the following basic stages:
Accumulation − where one or more of the Doshas has increased Aggravation − as levels increase for one Dosha, this causes the remaining Doshas to become imbalanced Overflow − the accumulated Dosha spreads into the body carrying Aama, or toxic waste products Localization − the Dosha settles at a weak site in the body Manifestation − i.e. symptoms Disease − this would be the point where a conventional doctor would make a diagnosis of dis-ease, such as a particular kind of cancer According to Ayurveda, unbalanced physiology (Doshas) leads to faulty inherent intelligence leading to malfunctioning of genes and gene behavior leading to diseases like cancer,” says Dr. Virender Sodhi (MD, ND) of the Ayurvedic and Naturopathic Medical Clinic in Washington State.
“We all make cancer cells every day but our immune system is very sharp and not only recognizes the bad faulty cells but also sends its own army to destroy it. That is why the balance of mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health is a very important part of healing.” For Ayurvedic Treatment of Cancer, Prevention is Key Of course, the concept of prevention is not strictly relegated to Ayurveda. Changing your lifestyle to include more live foods, vegetables, and organic, grass-fed meats while reducing processed foods is part of it. In addition, reducing stress, getting adequate amounts of sleep and exercise, reducing your toxic burden, and fortifying the body with quality supplements are all good practices for health and vitality no matter who you are.
These days, more people are learning about ancient systems such as Ayurveda in order to provide an overall game plan for preventing cancer. They are doing this not only for their physical health, but for a quality life in general. Today in the U.S. and all over the world, thousands of people practice yoga and take healing herbs associated with Ayurveda every day.
There may be some Ayurvedic modalities you may not be as familiar with, however:
Abhyanga: Abhyanga means massage and is a key part of Ayurvedic therapy. It usually involves oils prepared with specialized Ayurvedic herbs and essential oils for lymph drainage, detox, and relaxation. Shirodhara: Shirodhara is a kind of massage that is done by gently pouring warm herbalized oil over the forehead. Shirodhara is said to synchronize brain waves patterns and help to coordinate and calm the body as well the mind. For those who wish to prevent breast cancer, Stanya Shodhana massage uses castor, coconut, olive, or other herbalized or non-herbalized oils to gently massage the breast area. This is for detoxification and to help immobilize accumulated toxins in the mammary glands. Swedana: Swedana is an herbalized steam bath. In this procedure, the head and heart are kept cool while gentle hyperthermia is applied to the rest of the body. This procedure is said to remove both physical and emotional toxins lodged deep within the tissues. Garshana: This is dry lymphatic skin brushing. This procedure helps increase circulation and cleanses the pores of the skin. Basti: Basti is an enema using Ayurvedic herbs in order to pull toxins out of the colon. Panchakarma: Panchakarma means “five treatments.” It is designed to use up to five of the above modalities (and others not mentioned) in order to engage all five senses for a deeply detoxifying experience for mind, body and soul. Panchakarma is individually tuned to each individual’s health needs. Check with an Ayurvedic center near you to see if they offer this service. Basti (enema) is usually performed at the end of a Panchakarma treatment in order to get rid of loosened impurities. It is also used to introduce Ayurvedic medicines into the blood and tissues in the most effective way possible.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-22 20:40:282020-07-22 20:40:28Could You Benefit From Ayurvedic Treatment For Cancer?
Many North Americans have never heard of it, but could an evergreen tree from India offer powerful health benefits… including the ability to fight cancer? The Neem Tree – whose biological name is Azadirachta indica (also known as Indian Lilac) – is an evergreen tree that belongs to the mahogany family. While neem is often used to make furniture, this tree also offers powerful anti-cancer and healing benefits.
Neem grows freely in the tropical and semi-tropical regions of India and the Indian subcontinent, including Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. A. indica can also be found growing in Africa, the Americas, Australia, and the South Pacific islands. Its fruits and seeds are the source of medicinal neem oil.
In the ancient Indian language Sanskrit, the neem tree is called “Aristha” or “reliever of sicknesses.” In the Vedas (a large body of texts originating in ancient India, which make up the oldest known scriptures of Hinduism), neem is known as “Sarva Roga Nivarini” meaning “One that cures all ailments and ills.”
Neem is referred to as the “Miracle Tree” and because of its tremendous medical properties, the neem tree is also considered to be a “village pharmacy” in India. Extracts of neem leaves, twigs, bark, seeds, and flowers are integral components of many traditional remedies in the Indian medical system of Ayurveda. These remedies date back, by some accounts, nearly 5,000 years.
More than 60 different biologically active neem tree compounds have been identified and used for a wide variety of health and medical applications. Some of these include nimbin, nimbolide, azadirachtin A, nimbidiol, quercetin, and nimbidin.
The Many Uses of Neem According to Ayurveda, the neem tree offers numerous health benefits. Let’s take a look at the specific uses and health benefits offered by various parts of the neem tree.
Neem Leaves Neem leaves are reputed to possess antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal, and anti-malarial properties – which is why their extracts are used to treat skin infections, acne, boils, burns, and many other skin problems.Some traditional uses for neem leaves include:
he Anti-Cancer Benefits of Neem Excitingly, naturally-occurring bioactive compounds obtained from various parts of the neem tree have been shown to induce “apoptosis” or programmed cell death in different types of tumor cells in laboratory conditions. Some of these compounds stimulate the immune system to fight cancer cells better. Neem compounds may also prevent cancer development by generating high levels of antioxidants and carcinogen-detoxifying enzymes.
Overall, neem compounds show impressive anti-cancer potential against many human cancer cell lines and animal models for human cancers. Among these are colon, stomach, pancreas, lung, liver, skin, oral, prostate, and breast cancers.
Anti-Carcinogenic and Anti-Mutagenic Effects of Neem Over the last two decades, cancer researchers have convincingly shown that cancer formation as a result of exposure to certain specific mutagens and pro-carcinogens can be prevented by neem extracts.
As a result, these extracts and bioactive neem compounds may one day play a key role in the future development of chemopreventive anti-cancer agents.
Neem Stops Cancer Cell Growth and Migration Researchers in India, Europe, and Japan have shown that bioactive compounds present in neem bark, leaves, and seed oil could be used to treat a wide variety of cancers.
For instance, a recently published study showed that nimbolide – a bioactive neem compound – was able to induce apoptosis in pancreatic cancer cells, to the extent that the size and number of cancer cell colonies was reduced by 80%.
Apoptosis or programmed cell death is a genetically driven process that happens naturally all the time in the body. It’s a safe way to get rid of diseased and dying cells without affecting nearby healthy cells and tissues.
Anti-cancer practitioners are also trying to eliminate cancer cells by inducing apoptosis selectively in them, without affecting normal cells. In this regard, neem is an excellent choice as neem extracts as well as purified neem compounds have been shown to cause apoptosis in cancer cells.
Nimbolide also reduced the ability of pancreatic cancer cells to migrate and invade other areas of the body by an astonishing 70%. Migration and invasion – known scientifically as “metastasis” – of cancer cells to other areas of the body is the main reason why pancreatic and other cancers are so lethal.
Pancreatic cancer is the most lethal of all, with 94% of patients dying within the first five years of diagnosis, with no conventional treatment in sight.
One of the most promising aspects of this study was that nimbolide did not harm healthy cells. In other words, using nimbolide to treat pancreatic and perhaps other forms of cancer in the near future may not result in the toxic side effects that chemotherapy and radiation typically do.
Neem Potentiates Anti-Cancer Drugs and Protects Against Their Toxicity Neem preparations have been shown to potentiate (enhance the effect of) the actions of anti-cancer agents. They also provide protection against the life-threatening side effects of some of these very toxic drugs.
For instance, Cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) are well-known anti-cancer drugs with devastating side effects, especially because they also massively kill normal blood cells. Normally, another drug known as granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF) is given along with these two anti-cancer drugs to try and minimize their toxic side effects.
Interestingly, pretreatment with neem leaf preparation (NLP) has been found to protect blood cells in laboratory mice treated with Cisplatin and 5-FU. This means NLP could potentially be a safer and cheaper substitute than granulocyte colony stimulating factor. GCSF is not only expensive, but is also known to promote angiogenesis and tumor development on its own!
Neem Enhances the Actions of Detoxifying Enzymes Extracts of neem leaves have been shown to enhance the actions of so-called “phase-II hepatic enzymes” such as Glutathione S-transferases and DT-diaphorase. Both these enzymes are known to be involved in detoxification of chemical carcinogens.
Additionally, neem leaf extracts enhance the activity of various liver antioxidant enzymes. Amongst these are glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase, which are known to help in detoxifying the body.
Neem: Bioimmunotherapy Against Cancer Boosting the body’s own immune system to target specific health risks is known as bioimmunotherapy. Anti-cancer practitioners have begun to incorporate this strategy to fight cancer. Recent studies show that neem may exert some of its anti-cancer effects by enhancing the body’s immune response.
Recently published peer-reviewed studies carried out at the Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute in Kolkata, India, showed that a bioactive protein from leaves of the neem tree prevents cancer cells from growing in mice by doing exactly this. Instead of targeting the cancer cells directly, this protein – known as Neem Leaf Glycoprotein (NLGP) – acts on immune cells present within the tumor’s immediate surroundings, known as the “tumor microenvironment”.
Normally, immune cells attack and destroy cancer cells. However, as some tumors grow, immune cells in their microenvironment become “enslaved” by cancer cells. In a bizarre role-reversal, these immune cells now begin to promote the growth and proliferation of cancer cells in the tumor instead of fighting them.
In a dramatic twist straight out of a thriller, NLGP seemingly returns immune cells in the tumor microenvironment to a more normal state. It makes them hostile again to cancer cells and prevents them from growing any further.
A good example can be found in one group of cancer-killing immune cells known as the CD8+ or “killer” T cells. When triggered by NLGP, the number of these T cells was seen to rise significantly, helping to restrict cancer growth. What’s more, these killer T cells also showed a greater cancer cell killing capacity when compared to killer T cells that were not treated with NLGP.
A Word of Caution About Neem Various parts of the neem tree and its extracts have been used by humans for medicinal purposes for hundreds of years.While the uses of neem seem limitless, precautions need to be taken and neem products should be used with care. Indiscriminate consumption of higher than necessary doses may sometimes cause unpleasant side effects.
Some people are allergic to neem compounds – leading to itching, swelling of the mouth and throat, wheezing, and breathing difficulties. In very rare instances, some neem compounds may also damage the liver and kidneys.
Therefore, it is always advisable not to medicate yourself with any products containing neem extracts or neem compounds. Always consult a trustworthy alternative healthcare provider first, and be sure to apply or consume these products under properly qualified supervision.
Conclusion The neem tree has been a source of safe and powerfully effective solutions for human health problems for many hundreds of years. Over the past few decades, modern scientific researchers have purified some of the active ingredients from this ancient “reliever of sicknesses” – and they are gradually beginning to understand their healing mechanisms.
There is now compelling scientific evidence that many neem compounds possess promising anti-cancer properties. In the near future, combinations of bioactive neem compounds, either on their own or given along with anti-cancer drugs, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy seem likely to become a reliable standard treatment of choice for many cancer patients.
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Your body is made up of 100 million milion cells. Cancer can start when just one of them begins to grow and multiply too much. The result is a growth called a tumour. Benign tumours are localised growths – they only cause problems if they put pressure on nearby tissues, such as the brain. A number of forces can cause gene mutations, such as smoking, radiation, viruses, cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens), obesity, hormones, chronic inflammation and a lack of exercise.
Most cancers don’t hurt at first. Cancers are often found by the detection of a painless lump, or some other symptom such as coughing or bleeding. … Most advanced cancers have the potential to cause pain. The good news is that our ability to control that pain is dramatically better than it was in the past.
There is nobody who can claim cure for cancer as such. But few people have successfully completed chemotherapy and lived life, even though the numbers are in single digits. Instruction to cancer patients: 1. Stop Milk, Soy and Wheat 2. Stop sweets, cookies, candies, soda, canned and processed food 3. Stop Smoking 4. No microwave cooking , Cook on low flame, open vessel 5. Don’t warm coffee or anything in microwave 6. Use brown or unpolished rice 7. Use only organic vegetables 8. Use good quality liquid ghee or virgin coconut oil or virgin olive oil for cooking 9. Use ginger, garlic, turmeric, mint, Rosemary abundantly in cooking 10. Drink more warm water, cells need water 11. Green tea instead of coffee/ tea 12. Eat grapes with seeds, papaya, ripened banana every day 13. Take barefoot walk on beach or soil 15 minutes a day 14. No Active electronic gadgets in bed room including phones, Wifi during night. 15. If you can, don’t use plastic bottles for storing water, plastic spoons, plastic containers to store food 16. Oxygen kills cancer – have deep breathing exercises and medidate if you can every day. 17. Eat Til (sesame) Laddu or til once a week. How turmeric helps cure cancer? 1. Curcumin [Turmeric] protects lungs 2. Kills cancer stem cells (root cause of cancer) – Research report 3. Shrinks tumour with 80% success rate – Research report 4. Cuts breast cancer rate in half 5. Shrinks pancreatic tumour by 42% 6. Activates cancer killing mechanism in human saliva – Research report 7. Eat Neem leaves – photo chemical obtained by name Nimbolide has used in cancer treatment These are everyday consumable food and we all can use these more in our daily diet to be healthy!
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-22 10:05:272020-07-22 10:05:27Cancer and controlling it
Washington D.C: Consuming flavonoid-rich items such as apples and tea protects against cancer and heart disease, particularly for smokers and heavy drinkers, suggests a recent research.
Researchers from Edith Cowan Universit’s School of Medical and Health Sciences analysed data from the Danish Diet, Cancer and Health cohort that assessed the diets of 53,048 Danes over 23 years.
According to the study published in the journal — Nature Communications — researchers found that people, who habitually consumed moderate to high amounts of foods rich in flavonoids, compounds found in plant-based foods and drinks, were less likely to die from cancer or heart disease.
Lead researcher Dr Nicola Bondonno said while the study found a lower risk of death in those who ate flavonoid-rich foods, the protective effect appeared to be strongest for those at high risk of chronic diseases due to cigarette smoking and those who drank more than two standard alcoholic drinks a day.
“These findings are important as they highlight the potential to prevent cancer and heart disease by encouraging the consumption of flavonoid-rich foods, particularly in people at high risk of these chronic diseases. But it’s also important to note that flavonoid consumption does not counteract all of the increased risks of death caused by smoking and high alcohol consumption. By far the best thing to do for your health is to quit smoking and cut down on alcohol,” she said.
“We know these kinds of lifestyle changes can be very challenging. So encouraging flavonoid consumption might be a novel way to alleviate the increased risk, while also encouraging people to quit smoking and reduce their alcohol intake,” she added.
It is important to consume a variety of different flavonoid compounds found in different plant-based food and drink. This is easily achievable through the diet: one cup of tea, one apple, one orange, 100g of blueberries, and 100g of broccoli would provide a wide range of flavonoid compounds and over 500mg of total flavonoids.
Dr Bondonno said while the research had established an association between flavonoid consumption and lower risk of death, the exact nature of the protective effect was unclear but likely to be multifaceted.
“Alcohol consumption and smoking both increase inflammation and damage blood vessels, which can increase the risk of a range of diseases. Flavonoids have been shown to be anti-inflammatory and improve blood vessel function, which may explain why they are associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease and cancer,” she said.
Dr Bondonno said the next step for the research was to look more closely at which types of heart disease cancers were most protected by flavonoids.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-20 12:26:512020-07-20 12:26:51Flavonoid-rich diet protects against cancer, heart disease: Study
Scientists have invented a pen-like device that can identify cancerous tissue during surgery and deliver over 96 % accurate results in just 10 seconds. The MasSpec Pen is more than 150 times faster than existing technology.
It is an innovative disposable hand-held instrument that gives surgeons precise diagnostic information about what tissue to cut or preserve, helping improve treatment and reducing chances of cancer relapse.
“If you talk to cancer patients after surgery, one of the first things many will say is – I hope the surgeon got all the cancer out,” said lead researcher Livia Schiavinato Eberlin, Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at Austin. “It’s just heartbreaking when that’s not the case. But our technology could vastly improve the odds leading surgeons to really remove every last trace of cancer during surgery,” Eberlin added.
For the study, described in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the team conducted tests on tissues samples, which included both normal and cancerous ones in the breast, lungs, thyroid and ovaries, removed from 253 human cancer patients.
Using the MasSpec Pen, the researchers extracted and analysed the metabolites – small molecules – in the tissues and obtained a molecular fingerprint of the tissue, which was then instantaneously evaluated by software called ‘statistical classifier’. When the MasSpec Pen completes the analysis, the words ‘Normal’ or ‘Cancer’ automatically appears on a computer screen. It requires simply holding the pen against the patient’s tissues, triggering the automated analysis using a foot pedal, and waiting a few seconds for the result.
The pen releases a drop of water onto the tissue, and small molecules migrate into the water. Then the device drives the water sample into an instrument called a mass spectrometer, which detects molecular fingerprints of thousands of molecules. The researchers expect to start testing this new technology during oncologic surgeries in 2018.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-14 10:16:282020-07-14 10:16:28‘Pen’ to identify cancer in 10 seconds, 150 times faster than existing technology
Cancer cells are relentless, possessing the vexatious ability to develop resistance to current therapies and making the disease hugely challenging to treat. However, an exciting new study may have identified cancer’s weak spot; the discovery has already led to the near-eradication of the disease in cell cultures. The study — which was recently published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering — reveals how altering the structure of chromatin in cancer cells could make them easier to destroy.
In the cell nucleus, DNA is wrapped around proteins called histones. Together they form chromatin.
Chromatin’s job is to package the genetic code neatly into the cell’s nucleus. Chromatin can also regulate which genes are switched on and off. In cancer cells, however, chromatin helps them to evolve and adapt to cancer therapies, thereby allowing them to survive.
“If you think of genetics as hardware,” explains study co-author Vadim Backman, of the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, “then chromatin is the software.”
“Complex diseases such as cancer,” he adds, “do not depend on the behavior of individual genes, but on the complex interplay among tens of thousands of genes.”
So, Backman and his colleagues set their sights on chromatin as the key to combating cancer drug resistance, and an imaging technique they developed last year helped them to learn more about this intricate set of macromolecules.
Predicting cancer cell death with chromatin
The new technique is called Partial Wave Spectroscopic (PWS) microscopy, and it enables real-time monitoring of chromatin in living cells.
Additionally, the researchers explain that PWS allows them to assess chromatin at a length scale of 20–200 nanometers, which they say is the precise point at which cancer formation influences chromatin.
They used PWS to monitor chromatin in cultured cancer cells. They found that chromatin has a specific “packing density” associated with gene expression that helps cancer cells to evade treatments. The analysis revealed that a more heterogeneous and disordered chromatin packing density was related to greater cancer cell survival in response to chemotherapy. A more conservative and ordered packing density, however, was linked to greater cancer cell death in response to chemotherapy.
“Just by looking at the cell’s chromatin structure, we could predict whether or not it would survive,” says Backman. “Cells with normal chromatin structures die because they can’t respond; they can’t explore their genome in search of resistance. They can’t develop resistance.”
Targeting chromatin to kill cancer
Based on their discovery, the researchers hypothesized that altering the structure of chromatin to make it more orderly could be one way of boosting cancer cells’ vulnerability to treatment.
On further investigation, the team found that they could modify chromatin’s structure by altering electrolytes in the nucleus of cancer cells.
The team tested this strategy using two drugs that are already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Celecoxib and Digoxin.
Celecoxib is currently used for pain relief, while Digoxin is used to treat atrial fibrillation and heart failure. Both drugs, however, are also able to change the packing density of chromatin.
The researchers combined these drugs — which they refer to as chromatin protection therapeutics (CPTs) — with chemotherapy and tested them on cancer cells in the laboratory. According to Backman, they witnessed “something remarkable.” Within 2 or 3 days, nearly every single cancer cell died because they could not respond. The CPT compounds don’t kill the cells; they restructure the chromatin. If you block the cells’ ability to evolve and to adapt, that’s their Achilles’ heel.” Vadim Backman While the researchers are excited by their findings, they caution that animal and human studies are needed before any firm conclusions can be made.
“There is a big difference between cell cultures and humans,” says Backman. “You never know how the environment inside the human body will affect cancer’s behavior or if there will be unforeseen side effects.”
That said, the researchers note that they have replicated their findings in seven different cancer types so far, which Backman says is “very promising.”
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-13 10:07:232020-07-13 10:07:23Cancer cells destroyed in just 3 days with new technique
Anti-inflammatory, anti-stress drugs taken before surgery may reduce metastatic recurrence The body’s stress inflammatory response is an active agent of cancer metastasis, researchers say.
Most cancer-related deaths are the result of post-surgical metastatic recurrence. In metastasis, cells of primary tumors travel to other parts of the body, where they often proliferate into inoperable, ultimately fatal growths.
A new Tel Aviv University study finds that a specific drug regimen administered prior to and after surgery significantly reduces the risk of post-surgical cancer recurrence. These medications, a combination of a beta blocker (which relieves stress and high blood pressure) and an anti-inflammatory, may also improve the long-term survival rates of patients. The treatment is safe, inexpensive — two medications similar in price to aspirin — and easily administered to patients without contraindications.
The research was led by Prof. Shamgar Ben-Eliyahu of TAU’s School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience in collaboration with Prof. Steven Cole of UCLA; Prof. Oded Zmora of Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer; Prof. Eran Sharon of Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson; and Prof. Tanir Ellweiss of Kaplan Medical Center. It was published in Clinical Cancer Research.
Deviating from dogma
“We’ve taken an unconventional approach, deviating from the current medical dogma that refrains from intervening during the short period surrounding a cancer surgery — no chemo, radio or immune therapy for at least three weeks before or after surgery,” Prof. Ben-Eliyahu said. “Even within the medical establishment, we encountered some levels of disbelief and antagonism. But after conducting ample studies in animal models of cancer, and reviewing the medical literature, we came to the firm conclusion that maybe this is the most important period in the prevention of cancer recurrence.”
For the study, 38 breast cancer patients at Sheba Medical Center, Kaplan Medical Center and Rabin Medical Center were given a pharmacological treatment — Deralin (used to reduce blood pressure and anxiety) and Etopan (used to reduce inflammation) — five days before their surgeries, the day of their surgeries and five days after their surgeries. Blood and tumor tissue samples were then analyzed using whole genome gene expression profiling to identify all the RNAs expressed in malignant cells and leukocytes.
“We found that the drugs were very efficient in reducing biomarkers of metastatic processes,” Prof. Ben-Eliyahu said. “For example, we found that the drug treatment reverses EMT — the process that tumor cells go through to slip out of the primary tumor and enter another organ. It is a crucially important step in the metastatic process. We also looked at indices related to the immune system and were able to improve immune competence and reduce inflammation with the drugs.”
The research team has conducted a similar study, which has not yet been published, on colorectal cancer patients and has found similar results.
The researchers are currently considering a larger-scale clinical trial to establish the clinical long-term beneficial effects of this treatment. “Positive outcomes should validate this treatment and lead to its becoming available for most cancer patients,” Prof. Ben-Eliyahu concluded.
00seshunarayanahttps://imedworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/MedWorks-Logo-02-300x300.pngseshunarayana2020-07-13 09:45:152020-07-13 09:45:15A New study findings reduces the risk of post surgical cancer recurrence
