Experimental Technique Lights Up Breast Cancer Tumors

New Treatment Allows for More Precise Detection of Tumors
Experimental Technique Lights Up Breast Cancer Tumors

By JOHN MCKENZIE
Sept. 4, 2008

Mammograms have long been the gold standard for detecting breast cancer, but they still miss as much as 15 percent of tiny tumors, usually located in dense breast tissue.

"We need a better way to detect cancer in the 25 percent of women over the age of 40 who have dense breasts," said Dr. Edward Coleman of Duke University Medical Center.

Molecular breast imaging, or MBI, is the latest experimental approach.

On a mammogram, a type of X-ray, too much healthy dense tissue lights up, limiting doctors' ability to see small tumors. But with molecular breast imaging, women receive an injection of a short-acting, "radioactive tracer" that travels through the body and "latches on" to cancer cells. The revolutionary new cameras can then detect small tumors that mammograms often miss.

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Why Strawberry Jam Is More Regulated Than Cigarettes

ScienceDaily (Sep. 3, 2008) — While jams and other consumer products are strictly regulated and are required to pass stringent tests before they can be sold, tobacco has no restrictions and manufacturers can, and do, add anything they want into the product.

A new editorial discusses the issues surrounding tobacco regulations and how the industry could be more effectively governed.

“The establishment of regulation is a political process and occurs slowly. However, with the gradual but prolonged and massive epidemic of tobacco-related diseases, regulation of the industry’s products – specifically the constituents of tobacco smoke – has to begin now”, says author Dr. Nigel Gray, member of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Tobacco Regulation Study Group.*

Despite the complexities of regulating cigarette manufacturing, the Tobacco Regulation Study Group, or TobReg, has proposed practical means to begin the progressive process of tobacco regulation. As a first step, it has suggested setting mandatory levels for some of the major carcinogens and toxicants in cigarettes. In addition, regular reviews must also be conducted as initial toxin levels are considered generous by industry standards for many countries.

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Smoking riskier for women's hearts than men's

Tobacco wipes out natural difference between the sexes, doctors say

Associated Press
updated 12:04 p.m. ET, Tues., Sept. 2, 2008

MUNICH, Germany - Women who smoke may develop heart disease at almost the same age as male smokers, wiping out the natural difference between the sexes, doctors said Tuesday.

In research presented to the European Society of Cardiology, Norwegian researchers said that women who smoke have heart attacks nearly 14 years earlier than women who don't smoke. For men, the figure is about six years.

"This is not a minor difference," said Dr. Silvia Priori, a cardiologist at the Scientific Institute in Pavia, Italy. "Women need to realize they are losing much more than men when they smoke," she said. Priori was not connected to the research.

Dr. Morten Grundtvig and colleagues from the Innlandet Hospital Trust in Lillehammer, Norway, looked at data from 1,784 patients admitted for a first heart attack at a hospital in Lillehammer.

They found that the men on average had their first heart attack at age 72 if they didn't smoke, and at 64 if they did.

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10 Myths About the Common Cold and Flu

Experts Examine Misconceptions About Colds and Flu

By JOSEPH BROWNSTEIN
ABC News Medical Unit
Sept. 4, 2008

The sun may still be shining most of the day, the temperatures may still be above 70 degrees, and the pro football season hasn't kicked off yet. But around the country, some doctors are already receiving their shipments of flu vaccine.
Dr. Tim Johnson offers some great ways to protect your family.

With the start of flu season less than a month away, we took a look at 10 common bits of advice about colds and flu. Some of these common wisdom gems are, indeed, things you can and should do (it turns out that it's not too early for a flu shot -- and you might want to pick up some chicken soup). Others, however, are things you might want to pass on (the zinc and echinacea -- at least for now).

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Garlic Wart Cure - A Natural Remedy

By Lesa Bolt
If you have a nasty wart and have tried all the home remedies available you can consider one more option before you throw in the towel.

Garlic is a well known homeopathic cure for many ailments and warts is one of them. The big secret is to get fresh garlic and use it, however, minced garlic from a jar can work but just will not be as effective as quickly.

To use the fresh garlic you will want to buy at least a head of garlic or go to a wholesale type of store like Sams or Costco and get a full sleeve of garlic heads. These will store in the refrigerator for some time.

The power of garlic comes from the fresh crushed version and the qualities it provides when just cut and crushed.

To use on a wart you will want to get some band aids or gauze with medical tape.

Take a head of garlic and separate these into the cloves. You can store these in the refrigerator. The great thing about the head and cloves is that they are still in their paper skins so separating the head will not make the cloves bad.

Now take just one of the garlic cloves and lay it on a cutting board and with a large knife or metal blade or surface lay the metal piece flat on top of the clove. Take your fist or the heel of your hand and smash down directly on top of the cloves. This will cause the clove to crush and expose the inside of the clove. Take the paper skin off the clove and proceed to chop the smashed clove further with the knife.

After chopping a bit take a meat tenderizer and use the top of it which has a flat metal base to mash the garlic. Now take this mashed garlic and place some on the middle part of your band aid which has the sterilized gauze portion and adhere this onto your wart. Leave this on overnight or during the day if you are not doing anything that the tape under pants would not interfere. You can remove the gauze and tape in the morning and reapply the next evening. After about a week you should see the wart diminish. At about two weeks your wart should be almost totally gone.

If you experience any burning with the garlic only leave it on the skin for 15 minutes and remove. Some people are sensitive or the wart is in a sensitive skin area and caution should be adhered to for sensitive skin. If the area is on a hand or knee the skin is more tough and you may not have a problem leaving the garlic on overnight.

This home remedy for removing a wart has helped many people eliminate the disfiguring spots.

Oxalic Acid - The Cure For Cancer

By Jennifer Prescott

Daily, certain foods and beverages are revealed as great antioxidants. For example: carrots, spinach, broccoli, tea, nuts, berries, garlic, onions, grapes, red wine, herbs, spices, and chocolate are foods known to be great antioxidants. We hear about flavonoids and vitamins. It is estimated there are 4,000 identified flavonoids. Isolating each one and determining what effect each, or a combination of each, has on a specific disease is an endless pursuit without an answer. However, common sense and research reveals there is one common denominator in the foods known as great antioxidants. They are all high in oxalic acid.

Are you aware that every mammal on earth has oxalic acid as a normal blood value? Ask any doctor or researcher what its purpose is and the best answer they will give you is that it aides in bowel movement. So here we are with a surprisingly high quantity of oxalic acid running through our blood with no real purpose?

There isn't a place on earth that a plant containing oxalic acid can't be found. Weeds are the most tenacious of all plants and are rich in oxalic acid. This is no accidental occurrence. There is purpose.

Research oxalic acid and you'll discover it's a deadly poison. So, we have a deadly poison in all the foods that are great antioxidants. Huh? Stop and simply think. Rather than isolating the smallest compounds within foods and researching each, analyze each food known to be a great antioxidant and find the common compound in each. This is exactly what has been done by an amazing 85 year old warrior of a man deep in the hills of Arkansas. This man is Colonel Joe Hart.

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Some Lip Gloss May Promote Cancer

There's No Proof Yet But Beware Gloss With No SPF

By Aina Hunter
May 2,2008

Spring is here, legs have been reacquainted with the razor and women are buying lots of shimmery lip gloss on impulse.

But have you heard the buzz that cheap, fun, non-SPF gloss can possibly increase your skin cancer risk?

Here's the theory: Some dermatologists have said that the translucent sheen helps ultraviolet rays penetrate the already fragile skin of the lips -- thereby increasing your risk. These dermatologists may be on to something, according to some of the top experts in the field.

Dr. Jessica Fewkes, a face and neck skin cancer specialist at Harvard, draws a cautious analogy between wearing non-SPF (sun protection factor) lip gloss in the sun and using baby oil to promote tanning. "You might be able to infer that they both enhance UV exposure," she says.

Dr. Kevin Cooper, chairman of the dermatology department at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, explains that any increased penetration of ultraviolet rays would be due to "enhanced optical passage" of the dangerous rays. But the increase, he qualifies, would be small.

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