Can Standard Cancer Treatments Cause Metastasis?
In an article in the May 2007 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, discovered a protein known as transforming growth factor beta (TGF-bets) which can increase the likelihood of developing additional tumors after the use of traditional cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation. While TGF-beta is normally found in healthy individuals, its presence in cancer patients can present a problem if this mouse study is confirmed in human studies. The future may be brighter for cancer victims if methods to lower the prescence of TGF-beta while treatment is ongoing.
Men, Migraines and Heart Attack Risk
According to the Archives of Internal Medicine, men between the ages of 40-84 who have migraines are 24 percent more likely to have a heart attack than non-sufferers. While the reason is unknown to researchers, I have an idea.
I believe that a large number of migraine sufferers suffer from an inflammatory reaction to foods and food additives. This is borne out by the positive results from Signet Diagnostics and their LEAP MRT blood test which looks for the pro-inflammatory reaction of foods on people. Their success rate with migraine sufferers is a astonishing 67%. Basically, they check to see which of 150 items your body reacts to in an inflammatory manner and has you change your diet accordingly.
Heart disease is really not so much about cholesterol and fat as it is about inflammation. If we reduce inflammatory processes, we will probably reduce heart disease as well as many other diseases and syndromes. Just something to think about.
Are Your Food Packages Harmful to your Health?
According to researchers reporting in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, the answer is yes. A coating put into food packaging called polyfluoroalkyl phosphate surfactants (PAPS) that acts as a oil and water repelent may convert into the toxic substance known as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), This chemical which helps make TeflonTM, is a known carcinogen and is being found with increasing regularity in people around the world.
What is disturbing about the revelation is that the researchers found that our bodies are converting the PAPS into PFOAs and the chemicals created in the intermediate steps between the two may be even more toxic. This is also found in the detoxification pathway of Xylene and Toluene where the intermediate of 2- or 3-methylhippurate (final stage of those solvents detoxification and excretion) is 2- or 3- methylbenzoate which is highly toxic.
What the researchers led by Dr. Scott Marbury and Jessica C. D’eon of the University of Toronto are now doing is finding out how prevalent and widespread PAPS are in our environment. My guess is that it is all over and in higher quantities than expected.