What the Newspapers Don’t Tell You About Breast Cancer

I generally avoid items in the mainstream press, as they get a lot of coverage, but some things need an alternative response and the item that ran last Monday in the Daily Mail is certainly one of them.

It suggests that women at risk of breast cancer could be given daily dose of pills to ward off disease, and that recommendation comes from an expert review published in the journal Lancet Oncology. That recommends all women with a greater than 4 per cent above average risk of developing breast cancer in the next ten years should be offered preventative drugs and closer monitoring. At present there are 44,000 new cases of breast cancer every year but this new initiative would equate to one in ten women being offered drug treatment and could double the number of women over-50s advised to take preventative action. In reality this means the drug Tamoxifen which is already linked to serious health risks.

Of course any women at serious risk needs to take every precaution, but this new trend of ‘preventive’ health care which has also seen women prescribed HRT as a ‘preventive’ for symptoms of menopause is not one I can endorse. This sounds perilously like the policy that has seen the widespread prescription of statins to people who may be at risk of heart problems, but are certainly at risk of the side effects of being on a continuous drug regime for a condition they may not have.

Women with higher than average odds of breast tumours already have access to regular checks and some are given drugs to cut their chances of contracting the disease and in extreme cases are offer both mastectomies and hysterectomies. But these are extreme cases, and Tamoxifen in trials has shown that it may reduce the risk of the most common kind of breast cancer by around a third in women of the highest vulnerability. These women know the price they will pay for having breast cancer and that treatment may be appropriate for them but to extend out to less vulnerable women a drug that has raised doubts in many is not a good idea in my view

The known, serious side effects of tamoxifen are blood clots, strokes, uterine cancer, and cataracts and less serious side effects are similar to the symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and vaginal discharge. Tamoxifen is licensed in the U.S., but is not widely used, mainly due to concern about potential side-effects, and an inability to predict cancer risk accurately.

A more natural approach includes using natural hormones such as progesterone which counteracts and balances oestrogens potentially carcinogenic effect, going on an anti-cancer diet, having a healthy weight and taking more exercise. Tony Coope, a doctor who works with natural hormones in his practice had this comment to make:

“There are several problems with this approach, part of a trend in medicine that I think is very counter-productive. Firstly, there is the focus on intervening at this level with drugs which have known and serious side effects, when there are bio-identical alternatives that perform this function more efficiently, at lower cost, and without harmful side effects.

Secondly, it distracts us from exploring the root cause of the problem, which is at the level of the Unconscious, the storehouse of beliefs and attitudes that create our perception of the world we live in, and drive the mutations and expression of our genes.

As Dr Vincent Felitti of San Diego has commented, a person unfamiliar with fire would be initially tempted to treat the smoke, – the most visible aspect of the problem. Fortunately for us our fire departments have learned to distinguish cause and effect long ago; if they hadn’t, they would be using fans instead of water hoses.

Unfortunately in modern medicine it seems that we are still often investing in fans.”

If you wish to read articles by Dr Coope and others who work in the field of natural hormones then please visit my women’s health website at www.bio-hormone-health.com

Pain Control and Help for Nausea in Cancer Treatment Without Needles

I have often extolled the value of acupuncture having benefited hugely from it myself for back pain and seen its value with friends for pain control during childbirth. It has also been successfully tried for treating nausea in cancer patients, however, I know that needles are not the answer for everyone, however attracted they may be to try it out.

Just for them there is great news from the Karolinska Institutet and Linköping University in Sweden that shows that ‘simulated’ needles are apparently just as effective as ‘real’ acupuncture.

Cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy often suffer debilitating nausea and a trial of 277 patients found that when the group were randomly assigned traditional or placebo (without needles) acupuncture or just the standard medications for nausea the results surprised them.

Patients in both the acupuncture groups, real or simulated, suffered significantly less nausea than patients, who received only standard medications. Anna Enblom, researcher at the Osher Centre for Integrative Medicine at Karolinska Institutet commented: “The beneficial effects seem not to come from the traditional acupuncture method, but probably from the patients’ positive expectations and the extra care that the treatment entails.”

Which is indeed one of the standard arguments used against most ‘alternative’ therapies as it is perceived only as a placebo effect. However I would argue that the interaction, concern and care act physiologically as well as emotionally on the immune system and stimulates the patient’s own healing process.

This is borne out by the statistics of the research which show that of the patients who had had some form of acupuncture, only 37 felt nausea and seven per cent vomited, compared with 63 per cent and 15 per cent of the standard care group. The patients’ expectations seemed to be important for the effect: 81 per cent of those who expected to feel ill did so, in contrast to only 50 per cent of those who did not.

Dr Emblom makes an valuable observation here that I would love to see other doctors take on board: “It’s important to remember that the effects of the treatment are valuable to the patients, even if they can be said to have been caused by unspecific factors, such as the manner in which the patients were taken care of and their positive expectations.”

One of the constant refrains I have is that your attitude affects your health, and this study seems to confirm that it also affects your treatment and how you respond to it.

Keeping Your Water Intake Healthy – Without Using Potentially Hazardous Plastic Bottles

I have mentioned often enough the dangers of plastics, particularly water bottles and Bisphenol A. It is a common conflict that faces us in that we want to carry water around to keep our fluid intake up, but we don’t want to resort to getting in containers that can be harmful to health. Lo and behold, SIGG has come up with a solution and it is a healthy, practical and – though I know you don’t really care about this – a stylish and fashionable one too with their reusable and 100% recyclable aluminum water bottles.

Worldwide, over 60 billion tons of plastic waste is produced every year and plastic is particularly damaging because it is not biodegradable and plastic particles eventually become part of the food chain – as they have for example in our oceans. In some parts of the sea, there is five times more plastic than plankton. So avoiding plastic water bottles helps our planet, but it not just the health of the ocean that is affected.

So what is the risk to you? Well, plastic polycarbonate bottles releases the chemical bisphenol A (BPA). 90% of US government studies found harmful health effects on children and it has impact on both male and female sexuality and reproduction. Basically, BPA acts as a xenoestrogen, so it mimics the effect of natural oestrogen, but is foreign to the body.

High levels of xenoestrogens are linked to breast cancer, birth defects and miscarriages, disruption of beta cell function in the pancreas, which creates a pre-diabetes type condition of high blood insulin and insulin resistance.

The dangers of plastic water bottles also include producing another xenoestrogen called phthalates which leach into the water and this is increased if the bottle is exposed to heat – such as being in the sun or in the car. Also if you are using the same bottle over and over and refilling it then you will probably have noticed the fine line scratches that occur with frequent use. These increase the surface area exposed to the liquid inside and release more of the xenoestrogens into the water so it is time to ditch the plastic and go for a healthier alternative.

One stylish one is made by SIGG, a company founded in Switzerland over 100 years ago and that I have been fully converted to using because it is beautifully and seamlessly shaped from a single piece of pure aluminium, one of the most environmental friendly packaging materials that is easily be recycled and loses none of its high qualities when reused, and shallow that I am, it looks great.

SIGG bottles have plenty of high profile users such as stars like Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher and for the artistically minded they launch a new design collection of SIGG bottles, every year. They are certainly beautiful, in fact two designs are on permanent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, and include 19 designs to choose from, including one by Vivienne Westwood for the fashionistas among you and the intriguingly named Wuthering Polka – never knew Heathcliff was a dancer, did you?

You can buy direct from the website at www.sigg.com

Naturally Lovely Gift Sets for Mothers Day

It comes round every year, and it is the 3rd of April in case you were wondering, and if you want to give something really lovely then divert from the well trodden chocolate and flowers path.

What mothers really want is some pampering and so I have found some lovely natural skin and body care gift sets from Living Nature, the New Zealand manufacturer of 100% pure, certified natural skin care and cosmetics. Obviously containing only 100% natural preservatives, fragrances and ingredients and no animal testing the company was one of the world’s first to produce skin care without the use of synthetic preservatives or parabens, and all products are tested rigorously to assess their purity, safety and efficacy for certification by BDIH Germany, a world-leading independent auditor of natural skin care and cosmetics.

All very well, but what are they like? Well I have tried them and apart from a packaging glitch where I kept trying to open the bottom of the moisturizer rather than the top (the printing is reversed so it is readable when the package is upside down) I was impressed. The quality and texture of the creams are lovely and their natural botanical ingredients such as Active Manuka Honey, antibacterial Manuka Oil, antioxidant-rich Totara ( a tree prized by the Maoris), ultra-hydrating and soothing Harakeke a native lily, and the cleansing Kumerahou shrub, deliver a wide array of skin-rejuvenating benefits. Which any harassed mother (is there any other kind) will find very soothing. Other ingredients include pure essential oils, citrus oils and flower extracts which help purify, hydrate and nourish the skin and you have a complete ‘MotherCare’ package.

There are three Living Nature’s Skin Essentials gift packs for different skin needs and one for the body so you have no excuse for not finding the perfect gift. In fact they would make an ideal travel set for any woman, mother or not. They are available from salons, pharmacies and health stores, by mail order and online. Skin Essentials packs are £25.55 and the Body Essentials pack is £20.45. In case of difficulty contact Living Nature (UK) on 0845 2508455, or visit the company website livingnature.com.

Keep Mobile Calls To A Minimum to minimise radiation risk

It is a rare person these days who does not have a mobile – if only for emergencies – and among the young they are practically an extended limb. The health risks of mobiles has been flagged up before, but a new study raises new concerns, particularly related to the length of time you are on the phone.

For several years, doctors, scientists and activists have been raising concerns about the possible connection between cell phones and brain cancer and recent research by scientists at NIH and the U.S. Department of Energy conclusively determined that a cell phone’s electromagnetic field can indeed cause changes in brain activity – and not in a good way.

Brain activity means that the cells are using glucose to create energy and a test group of 45 individuals who were on their mobile phones for 50 minutes had ‘significantly higher’ brain activity in the area closest to the telephone antenna. After this period the emitted radiation from the phone increases the activity in your brain cells and causes biological changes. The study has also raised the concern that if acute cell phone radiation is impacting glucose in the brain, an established marker of brain activity, might it also be impacting neurotransmitters and other brain biochemistry?

We know that increased glucose also occurs with infections and other inflammatory processes, and leads to the production of potentially damaging reactive oxygen radicals that can alter the ways that cells and genes work. The researchers called for a better understanding of how radiofrequency radiation might contribute to increased risk for brain tumours as well as other alterations in brain functions.

How to minimise radiation from your phone:
There are some very simple ways to reduce your exposure to cell phone radiation:

1 Use a wired headset instead of holding the phone to your ear or use the loudspeaker as both these will keep the antenna far away from your skull.

2 Get used to texting as also keeps the handset away from your brain, reducing the radiation risk.

3 Don’t use your cell phone as an alarm clock or ‘reminder’ as you will probably need to keep it close to your head and even when it’s not taking calls there’s still radiation being emitted.

4 Don’t carry your phone in your pocket as there’s preliminary research to indicate that men who carry a phone in their pocket all day could be putting their fertility at risk,

5 Use a radiation-blocking case

6 Use a radiation protector that can be fitted directly to your phone as a shield

If all these methods are employed you can reduce cell phone radiation by two-thirds.

Why Statins Are Not Good for You and Why High Cholesterol Does Not Cause Heart Disease

As well as my abiding interest in alternative health, I also run a website specifically on hormone health, and one of my regular contributors is Jeffrey Dach MD. He has wide ranging experience and was originally trained in clinical medicine, worked as an Emergency Room doctor spent 25 years as a hospital based physican and is a member of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. He now runs his own clinic seeing a variety of patients so when he speaks I for one tend to listen.

He has sent me information on why he believes it is so important to get patients off statin drugs and I know a number of my readers are concerned about this and I do update you regularly, but Dr Dach has specific concerns that I want to share with you.

Jeffrey Dach illustrates his points with actual case histories so: “Case Number One, Martha who is 55 years old, healthy and no history of heart disease. Nonetheless, Martha has been taking a statin drug for “high cholesterol” under the care of “the top cardiologist” in South Florida for the past five years. Martha has also been under my care taking a bioidentical hormone program for menopausal symptoms, and doing very well. Every six months, we run a lab panel which always shows low cholesterol of 170, courtesy of her statin anti-cholesterol drug.

Every time Martha comes into the office to review her lab results, I print out a 2004 JAMA article by Judith Walsh, MD who reviewed thirteen statin drug clinical trials from 1966 to 2003 and from which Dr. Walsh concluded that cholesterol lowering drugs provide no health benefit for women. I give her this article and, at the same time, explain to her that no woman should be on a statin drug. Lowering cholesterol with a statin drug has no health benefit for women, that’s a fact, and public information readily available.

Every six months I recommend to Martha stopping the statin drug, and every six month, her cardiologist puts her back on the statin drug. This has been going on for three years now.
On her last visit she is sitting in my office recounting multiple health problems for which she sees numerous doctors: back pain, asthma, sinus infections, skin problems, and allergies. I suggested to Martha the possibility that many of her health problems are caused by the low cholesterol from the statin drug. Martha finally sees the light, goes home and tosses the bottle of pills into the garbage can.
About a week later, Martha called me and reported, “I feel so much better off that statin drug, thank you so much! “. Apparently, the statin drug was causing adverse health effects, and Martha was now feeling much better. This case illustrates the difficulty in convincing patients to stop their statin drug. It is difficult to counter the drug company propaganda, and convince these patients they are harming their health with the statin drugs. Many continue to believe in the myth that cholesterol causes heart disease, and they go on to become statin drug medical victims. I see them every day. When we have a success like Martha who finally gets off her statin drug, this is a cause for celebration.

In case you think the non-benefits of statins only apply to women, here is Case Number Two – Roger who is a seventy one year old retired executive, and an avid tennis player. He has no history of coronary artery disease and has always been healthy. Two years ago, his cardiologist said his cholesterol of 210 was “too high”, and prescribed a statin anti-cholesterol drug. A year later, Roger’s tennis game deteriorated, he found his timing and balance was off, and he lost every game to players who could never beat him before.

I suggested to Roger that the decline in his tennis game was most likely an adverse effect of the statin drug on his muscle and nerve function. He was losing his balance and coordination. I recommended stopping the statin anti-cholesterol drug. Sadly, many people – and their doctors – still believe that lower cholesterol means less heart disease.

In order to counter the drug company cholesterol propaganda, I gave Roger a copy of the book, Fat and Cholesterol are Good for You, by Uffe Ravnskov MD PhD. This book reviews the medical studies which supposedly show that cholesterol is the cause of heart disease, and reveals that they do no such thing. This is a medical myth. Neither cholesterol consumption nor cholesterol blood levels cause heart disease. Similarly, many medical studies demonstrate that anti-cholesterol drugs work very well to reduce blood cholesterol levels, however, this treatment does not prolong life and makes most people sick with adverse side effects.

Two weeks later, off the statin drug, Roger was back to his old self, prancing about the tennis court like a gazelle, and winning every game with ease.”

AnnA’s comment:
Statins have been shown to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality among individuals with clinical history of coronary heart disease, but it is the prescribing of statins as a ‘preventive’ for those without such history that is the issue here. They are routinely being given to people who are deemed at risk due to age and to lower cholesterol levels but there is so far no proof that they are of benefit for such people.

If you are still thinking of taking statins, then take a look at this study published July 2010 in the Archives of Internal Medicine by Dr. Ray. He reviewed 11 statin drug clinical trials with 65,229 participants followed for approximately 244,000 person-years. The astounding results showed the statin drug group all-cause mortality was THE SAME as the placebo group and there was no benefit from the statin drugs. This article was published in the mainstream medical literature but don’t be surprised if your doctor hasn’t read it.

Curbing Cholesterol Helps More Than Your Heart

Keeping cholesterol levels low is something that most doctors are very hot on – mine certainly is – and despite my recent piece on chocolate helping with cholesterol he remains unconvinced. However I have found a new product to help lower cholesterol and that it seems will also help the body’s immune system fight viral infections, according to researchers at the University of Edinburgh.

They have shown a direct link between the workings of the immune system and cholesterol levels and as high cholesterol is linked to heart disease, which is the most common cause of death in the UK, this is an important connection. What they have discovered is that when the body succumbs to a viral infection a hormone in the immune system sends signals to blood cells that causes cholesterol levels to be lowered.

Cholesterol produced by our cells is needed for viruses and certain bacteria to grow and so it is logical that limiting our body’s production of cholesterol would therefore curb the opportunity for viruses to thrive. According to Professor Peter Ghazal who led the research: “Drugs currently exist to lower cholesterol levels, and drugs such as antibiotics are used to fight infections by targeting the bug directly. The next step would be to see if such drugs would also work to help bolster our immune systems.”

How to help yourself reduce cholesterol:
The researchers hope to find new ways to manipulate the body’s immune system by targeting cholesterol metabolism. This could involve mimicking immune signals sent to lower the production of cholesterol.

In the meantime, you could do much to help yourself naturally lower your cholesterol levels, and avoid having to take drugs at all for the condition – particularly the use of antibiotic or statin drugs can be avoided by adopting some natural strategies.

High cholesterol levels usually start with the diet so opting for a Mediterranean diet rich in fruit, vegetables and fish is an excellent place to start. Add in a daily glass of red wine and a brisk walk and then look at some healthy additions such as reduction in saturated fats by switching to skimmed rather than full fat milk, but please stick with butter but in reduced quantities as margarines are unhealthy for many other reasons.

A new supplement specifically aimed at reducing cholesterol has been tried by one of my ‘guinea pig’ volunteers and seems to have done the trick in bringing down his levels. Works with Water Nutraceuticals has produced help:cholesterol which is a fairly self explanatory name. It contains only natural ingredients including barley beta glucan which has been proven to help reduce LDL cholesterol levels after a minimum period of six weeks.

Clinical research has shown that taking 3 to 8g of barley beta glucan a day, the key ingredient in help: cholesterol, reduces the ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) by an average of 10-14%. These results have been confirmed by the EFSA (European Food Standards Agency) in 2009 after analysis of the clinical research into the cholesterol-lowering benefits of beta glucan.

Beta glucan is the soluble fibre naturally found in the cell wall of cereal grains and the easiest and most effective solution to ensure you get your necessary daily intake of barley beta glucan is to take a supplement such as help:cholesterol twice a day. You mix a sachet with water or juice and the only drawback my tester mentioned is that you have to drink it immediately you have put it in water and stirred vigorously as its textures changes when it hits the liquid. You should find it in health stores and Boots, but in case of difficulty visit the website at www.workswithwater.co.uk

Allergies Affect More Than Your Physical Health

If you live in Britain you are more likely to be allergic to plums than your neighbours in Italy and Spain where peaches and apricots are responsible for a high number of allergic reactions. Apples are more likely to be a problem in France and Germany while celery and fennel make more “victims” in Switzerland and Holland. The differences depend on the various degrees of exposure to pollen or on dietary habits, but also on the diversity of allergens found in fruits and vegetables in different countries.
Allergic reactions of course affect your health but new research by The European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology is showing that there is an emotional impact as well.

The Academy is a non-profit organisation active in the field of allergic and immunologic diseases such as asthma, rhinitis, eczema, occupational allergy, food and drug allergy and anaphylaxis and was founded in 1956 in Florence. It is now the largest medical association in Europe in the field of allergy and clinical immunology with 6100 members from 107 countries and they were interested to study the emotional response to allergies in children.

What they found was that children who are allergic to food are found to be suffering from anxiety and are increasingly more lonely; with one allergic child out of five never attending peers’ parties, while one in four always brings along “safe” food. This level of anxiety and isolation has a dramatic impact on their quality of life as their normally active and sociable lifestyle can be severely limited and frustrated by the effort to keep them away from potentially dangerous food.

It is not just food they are giving up, but also physical activity as around 5 to 15 per cent of cases of anaphylactic shock can be triggered by physical activity following the consumption of small amounts of allergenic food that would otherwise be harmless, so one allergic child out of ten also stops every kind of exercise altogether. A study done in the hospital of the University of Padua in Italy found a staggering 17 percent of allergic children, regardless of their age, never go to a party or a picnic with friends, while 24 percent are forced to bring along something to eat.

Nor does this just apply to children: allergies are often downplayed as a minor problem, but the life of an allergic person can be hell. It is estimated that over 8.5 million people every Spring by reactions to pollen for instance. Those affected tend to be more afraid of being sick and have a higher level of anxiety about food and this constant alarm surrounding their health is taking a toll on their development and well-being.”

Another concern is that one out of three allergic patients leave home without their medication, despite the fact that it can immediately reverse any symptoms in most cases.

What Can You Do?
The Institute recommends that to prevent the spread of allergies in children their parents and any adults who come into regular contact with the child should stop smoking and improve their immunity by boosting their immune system. This is as simple as avoiding processed foods and eating good quantities of fruit and vegetables, together with supplements of antioxidants and vitamin D and herbal remedies like Echinacea can be highly effective.

Also there is hope that yoghurt can help food allergies for both prevention and treatment, but it needs to be a live probiotic yoghurt. Probiotics have an effect on the immune system and restore optimal intestinal flora and this may help the body to properly recognize the allergens, without triggering a response to food that is, in itself, harmless. Lactic acid bacteria have a well-known anti-inflammatory effect, which means that they can help ease the symptoms of food allergies.

Not all types of probiotics have been shown to prevent or ease allergic symptoms though so yoghurt alone may not do the trick, but it certainly would be a good ingredient to add to the diet of anyone with food allergies – and if the allergy is to lactose then goat or sheep yoghurt could do the trick – personally I find sheep yoghurt very smooth and mild though goat is an acquired taste!

Maca for Menopause

Lucky women, usually vegetarians and the stress-free, find that they can sail through menopause but for many women there are unwanted and unwelcome side effects. Hot flashes for example are the bane of many women’s lives at this time and I wrote a whole report on how to alleviate them so a new product that can help is always welcome.

Maca comes from Peru and is an amazing superfood that was first used by the Inca more than 2000 years ago for energy and endurance. Cultivated for thousands of years at elevations over 14,000 feet, no other food plant on earth can survive the extreme weather conditions and intensive sunlight that this amazing super food grows in. The rich soil located at these high plateaus accounts for the high levels of trace minerals found in Maca and it is still in widespread use as a medicine and energy giving herb throughout Peru today.

Creative Nature’s Maca Root Powder, or Lepidum meyenii to give it its botanical name, is known as the Peruvian miracle herb and is actually a rare member of the radish family. Used by people as diverse as professional athletes and the elderly, among its health claims are that it helps people recover from depression, addictions, traumas, or disease as well as boosting energy.

Maca root increases energy, enhances stamina, mental clarity and athletic endurance and for women its potential balancing effect on the endocrine system alleviates menstrual symptoms and is also also high in calcium which is known to promote healthy bone formation. Maca contains substantial amounts of essential nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, zinc, Vitamin B1, B2, B12, C, E, Riboflavin, thiamine, ascorbic acid and essential fatty acids. It is also rich in sterols, alkaloids, tannins and saponins.

Whatever your menopausal, or non-menopausal, symptoms it would be worth giving Creative Nature’s Maca Root Powder a trial to see if it helps with hot flashes and palpitations as well as increasing energy levels. I would certainly be interested to hear what results you experience with it.

Try It For Less!
Creative Nature’s Maca root powder can be added to smoothies, soups, or taken in capsule form. If you have any trouble locating it then visit the website at www.creative-nature.co.uk/maca.html and they are offering Healthy News readers a 10% discount on any of the healthy products on their website – just type in the code HEALTHANDWELLNESS if you order.

B+ for Broccoli – Especially the Sprouts

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