The Mesothelioma Advisor – Cancer, Health, Wellness, and Medical Information

Even though they receive equal treatment, black patients with liver cancer have lower survival rates than patients of other races, a new U.S. study finds.

Researchers analyzed data from 20,920 patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) registry who were diagnosed with liver cancer between 1973 and 2004. The researchers also examined data from 4,735 United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) liver cancer patients who had liver transplantation between 1987 and 2008.

Over time, survival for liver cancer patients in all racial, ethnic and income groups has improved due to advances in screening, diagnosis and treatment. Among patients in the SEER registry, black and low-income liver cancer patients had the poorest long-term survival. Compared to whites, black patients had a 15 percent increased risk of death, while Asians had a 13 percent reduced risk, the researchers found.

The study findings are published online Jan. 25 in the journal Cancer.

The reasons for the survival disparities aren’t clear, but may be due to differences in patients’ underlying disease and in access to appropriate care, study author Dr. Joseph Kim, of City of Hope in Duarte, Calif., said in a news release from the journal. But even when the researchers adjusted for the type of therapy received by patients, blacks did worse than patients of other races.

Among patients who had liver transplants, blacks had poorer survival than all other groups of patients. This shows that racial and ethnic survival disparities can’t be explained by differences in access to care alone. Further investigation is needed to identify other factors, the researchers said.

French researchers said Tuesday they had found a promising new target in the fight against Alzheimer’s, the debilitating brain disease that causes irreversible memory loss and dementia.

In laboratory experiments, a team led by Etienne-Emile Beaulieu of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) uncovered what could prove a critically important interaction between two types of proteins.

The telltale symptoms of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases have been linked to an overabundance in the brain of the tau protein.

Beaulieu and colleagues discovered that another protein known as FKBP52, which also helps regulate immune responses, may slow or prevent that damaging accumulation.

“It’s an ‘anti-tau’ weapon located within the cells,” Beaulieu said at a press conference in Paris.

“We want to boost the efficiency of this weapon and find pharmaceutical ammunition — new drugs — to accelerate its action so that it can destroy unwanted tau,” he told journalists.

The study was published this week in the US Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Developing such a drug may take a long time, he said, “but in two or three years we should be able to find a way to at least make an early diagnosis.”

Certain biochemical markers of the illness probably appear 10 or 15 years before clinical symptoms, he added.

Further experiments based on the results reported Tuesday will begin soon with geriatrics patients at the Charles Foix d’Ivry Hospital outside of Paris, he announced.

Beaulieu is best known as the inventor of the RU-486 “abortion pill”, first developed in 1980.

Other researchers said the link between the two types of proteins was important, but remained skeptical of an early breakthrough for treatment.

“Everything reported here was done in the laboratory,” said Philippe Amouyel, director of France’s National Scientific Foundation for Alzheimer?s disease.

“This lead must be followed up, but for the moment there is no direct link to Alzheimer’s, and no demonstration that it works on patients,” he told AFP.

There are hundreds of proteins that interact with tau, and further research is needed to see how the interaction between FKBP52 and tau fit into the larger puzzle of the disease, he added.

Alzheimer’s has also been associated with amyloid beta proteins that accumulate around neurons in the brain, forming plaques.

An estimated 37 million people worldwide, including 5.3 million in the United States, live with dementia, with Alzheimer’s disease causing the majority of cases, according to the World Health Organization.

As populations age, this figure is projected to increase rapidly over the next 20 years.

People with high blood pressure who want to drop some pounds may want to choose a low-carb diet, a new study shows.

In the study, overweight or obese individuals who went on a low-carb diet lost about the same amount of weight as those who cut down on their fat intake and took the weight-loss aid orlistat (sold as Xenical or Alli). However, the low-carb diet produced more favorable effects on blood pressure.

Most studies of weight loss methods have enrolled overweight or obese volunteers who were healthy, aside from weighing too much. The current study, in contrast, enrolled “real patients” with common conditions like diabetes and heart disease, William S. Yancy Jr. of the VA Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, told Reuters Health. People with these health issues are often excluded from weight loss studies, Yancy said.

He and his colleagues assigned 146 patients to either receive instruction on eating a low-carbohydrate diet, and to start out by eating fewer than 20 grams of carbohydrate daily, or to take 120 mg of orlistat three times a day and receive instructions on eating a lower calorie, lower-fat diet. All of the study participants received diet instructions at group meetings, which were every two weeks for the first six months of the study, and monthly thereafter.

After 48 weeks, the low-carb group had lost about 9.5 percent of their body weight, compared to 8.5 percent for the orlistat group, which wasn’t a significant difference. There also were similar improvements in cholesterol levels between the two groups. But the low carb diet did offer an advantage in terms of blood pressure reduction.

The low-carb group showed about a 6 percent drop in their systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) and a 4.5 point drop in their diastolic pressure (the lower number). In contrast, the orlistat group did not see a drop in blood pressure; the corresponding changes for the orlistat group were 1.5 (systolic) and 0.4 (diastolic).

The two “fairly powerful weight loss treatments were equally effective, and one of them was more effective for lowering high blood pressure,” Yancy said.

Orlistat works by blocking the body’s absorption of fat from food so people who use the drug need to cut down on their fat intake or risk unpleasant side effects like gas and even incontinence.

Patients using orlistat in the current study were more likely to report gas, bowel incontinence, and diarrhea than those in the low-carb group. However, only one person stopped taking the drug due to these side effects. “Orlistat can work quite well if it’s used correctly,” Yancy said.

The group meetings for diet advice were a key element of success, Yancy added, with those who came to 80 percent or more of these visits losing an average of 14 percent to 15 percent of their body weight.

“I don’t think that too many insurance (policies) would cover this,” he said, “but I think it’s something that needs to happen.”

People with early lung cancer who quit smoking could double their chances of surviving, a new study says.

Until now, there has been little proof that quitting smoking after developing lung cancer makes any difference to survival.

British researchers analyzed previous data from 10 studies examining how long smokers survived after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

People with lung cancer who continued smoking had a 29 to 33 percent chance of surviving five years. But those who kicked the habit had a 63 to 70 percent chance of being alive after five years. The research was published Friday in the BMJ, formerly known as the British Medical Journal.

Lung cancer is the top cancer worldwide, and the prognosis is usually poor. Only about 7 percent of patients make it to five years, though about 20 percent of patients are diagnosed early enough to be treated.

“The message is you should never give up on giving up (smoking),” said Amanda Parsons, of the U.K. Centre for Tobacco Control Studies at the University of Birmingham, who led the study. “Even at the stage where you have been diagnosed with early stage lung cancer … if you give up smoking, your body can still partially recover and your risk is reduced,” she said.

While some doctors recommend lung cancer patients quit smoking, not all do. Some doctors and nurses “think it is inhuman to dwell on the matter — that it adds to feelings of guilt and takes away a lifelong comfort from the dying patient,” wrote Tom Treasure of University College London and Janet Treasure of King’s College London in an accompanying editorial in the BMJ.

They said patients and their families should now be told about the study results, “because the potential benefit is great.”

The research might also provide some clues on how smoking causes cancer. Scientists aren’t sure if tobacco smoke or nicotine affect lung cancer once it has developed, though there is some evidence they may speed up the disease. Knowing how cigarettes impact cancer could potentially lead to new treatments, Parsons and colleagues wrote.

The study was paid for by the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research U.K. and other governmental bodies.

Helen Phillips tried every quick-fix diet known to mankind.

She ate cabbage soup for a week. She went on the vanilla ice cream and hot dog diet, and she popped diet pills like candy, hoping for that miracle body. The results? She’d lose weight, then gain it back.

“I was a yo-yo dieter for 13 years,” said Phillips of Sterling Heights.

Eventually Phillips swelled up to 257 pounds and ended up on the national television show “The Biggest Loser.” Now she does things the right way. The days of the quick fix are over. She is now a motivational speaker for Henry Ford Hospital and is working on changing the nutritional menu for Warren Consolidated Schools.

We met this weekend during the Curtis Granderson celebrity basketball game. Phillips is 140 pounds lighter, lost 54.47 percent of her body weight — and making it up and down the court was not the hardest thing she’s done. Phillips has run a marathon, won “The Biggest Loser” and has agreed to join our cause in promoting 40 days and 40 nights.

We are entering the final third of 40 days and 40 nights. Phillips recognizes the importance of our program and others that encourage good, healthy living. Phillips is intrigued by the concept and has agreed to share some of her experiences during our next phase of good living. (Next month we will begin 40 days and 40 nights of exercise.)

“Quick fixes do not work,” she said. “It makes things worse. It is quick fixes that really messes you up and creates havoc with your metabolism.”

The message is we must do things the right way. Phillips’ stint on “The Biggest Loser” was excessive. She worked on her body for six to eight hours a day.

But when she came home, reality hit. The same lifestyle that caused her to gain weight was still there. She needed to work and take care of her family, and did not have endless hours to work on losing weight. “Nothing else changed. I changed,” she said. “And I needed to introduce it to my friends. I wanted to come in and be accessible to everybody. You can do this at home. You won’t lose like you did on “Biggest Loser.”

“When you gain weight your self esteem gets lower,” Phillips said. “You get tired and exhausted and you are always looking for a quick fix. It is not a diet. It is a lifestyle change. You can lose 50 pounds with a quick fix. Then what? What happens after that?”

What happens? You normally gain the weight right back.

Posting calories on a fast food menu can make a difference.

In a small study printed in the journal Pediatrics, parents ordered about 20 percent fewer calories for their children when they chose from a menu that offered nutrition information.

According to a new survey, nearly seven in 10 Americans think that having better choices in the drive-thru would encourage them to eat better. Executives at Taco Bell are testing that theory with a new campaign called the “Drive-Thru Diet,” which has received a lot of attention thanks to Christine Dougherty, Taco Bell’s new marketing weapon.

“When I decided to trim down, I knew I had to be realistic with myself,” Dougherty says in a Taco Bell ad. “I didn’t want to cut out my fast food. I lost 54 pounds by reducing my daily calories and replacing my usual fast food with Taco Bell’s Drive-Thru Diet.”

Her weight-loss success eating tacos and burritos has brought customers to Taco Bell in droves.

“I’m having one crispy taco, fresco style,” said Jannice Griffin of her Taco Bell diet choice. Both Griffin and her daughter are on Weight Watchers.

“The fresco style fits right into our point values,” she said. “There’s no cheese on the fresco style, just the tomatoes and lettuce.”

The Drive-Thru Diet includes seven options, including fresco-style, which means served without the sauce and cheese. All choices are under eight grams of fat, with fewer calories than other menu items.

“You absolutely can lose weight in any way that helps you decrease your calorie intake,” said Lona Sandon, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and a registered dietitian at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

As long as one’s overall calorie intake is low, Sandon said people have a lot of options when it comes to eating — including chocolate.

“What they’re offering is a way to decrease your calorie intake, but it’s very limited,” she said. “You only get one or two tacos for about 400 calories. That’s not going to fill you up for long.”

Sandon also said salt is a concern when it comes to the diet.

“If you’re talking about someone who needs to lose weight to improve their health, if they have high blood pressure or maybe they have high cholesterol and other heart health problems, they don’t need the extra salt,” she said.

According to Taco Bell, their new fresco menu is “healthier,” not healthy. It also states it can help “calorie reductions,” but not actual weight loss.

“Now, these results aren’t typical,” Dougherty says in the commercial. “But, for me, they’re fantastic.”

However, even she confessed that when she ate at Taco Bell it was part of a 1,250-calorie-a-day diet. It also took her two years to drop the 50 pounds.

“I can’t see that it’s going to hurt me any,” said Spence Andrews while eating a fresco-style taco.

Taco Bell is counting on customers to buy into that philosophy, too.

KEY NUTRIENTS | Eating right can help cut risks of cardiovascular disease

No single food can ward off heart disease, especially if you don’t get enough physical activity. But a diet rich in foods that contain these heart-healthy nutrients can minimize some of the risk factors linked to cardiovascular disease.

Here’s a look at key nutrients and how to get them:

Omega-3s are polyunsaturated fats that lower trigylceride levels, increase “good” cholesterol and reduce inflammation. Fish, especially salmon and tuna, and walnuts are some of the best sources. Try to get two 6-ounce servings of fatty fish every week. If you prefer a fish oil supplement, aim for 1,000 milligrams of DHA and EPA — the omega-3s most beneficial to heart health — a day, said Jennifer Ventrelle, a clinical nutritionist at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center.

Three of four Americans don’t get enough of it, but magnesium helps regulate blood pressure, said Elizabeth Somer, a registered dietician and editor of the newsletter Nutrition Alert. The best way to get it is by eating whole grains, leafy greens and beans. Try to get 350 to 400 milligrams a day.

While insoluble fiber, like the kind in bran, aids digestion, soluble fiber lowers cholesterol. Oatmeal, berries and beans are great sources. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends getting at least 25 grams of fiber a day.

Folate and its fellow B vitamins help lower levels of a compound called homocysteine in the blood. High homocysteine levels can damage arteries and promote blood clots. Folate is in leafy green vegetables, orange juice and fortified grains. Beef liver, bananas and watermelons are rich in vitamin B6. Vitamin B12 comes from protein-rich foods such as chicken and eggs. Adults need 400 micrograms of folate a day.

Vitamins A, C, E and other antioxidants protect the body from free radicals, which can play a role in heart disease. You can get what you need by eating at least five servings of colorful fruits and vegetables a day.

Low Vitamin D levels have been linked to increased risk of heart disease, though it’s not clear why. Scientists also don’t know how much Vitamin D is enough. The Institute of Medicine recommends 200 international units a day for people under 50, while many doctors suggest about 1,000 units. The “sunshine vitamin” — your body makes it when skin is exposed to sunlight — is hard to find in food; a supplement may be your best bet.

Being diagnosed with Mesothelioma cancer is serious. As a life threatening disease, Mesothelioma cancer should be handled with care. Not only is it about the medical treatments you will undergo, but also the mental trauma. Hence, it is important to learn some important information about the disease and the ways to handle it.

What you should ask your Mesothelioma Doctor?

Getting the advice and medical support of your medical practitioner is important in order make sure your progress is along expected lines. You need to know:

* What is the nature of my Mesothelioma cancer?
* What is the specific reference used to describe my problem?
* What is the stage of my cancer?
* What is the life expectancy of my disease?
* Is my Mesothelioma disease in a curable stage?
* Can you explain the treatments and their course applicable to my stage of Mesothelioma?
* What is your area of experience in treating Mesothelioma cases?
* How comfortable are you in treating my Mesothelioma stage of cancer?
* Can you name the specific mesothelioma treatment applicable to my stage of the disease?
* What is the course of this treatment and how long will it take to complete the course?
* Are there any specific side effects I will come across during the course of my treatment?
* What is the possible outcome of the treatment recommended?
* What will happen to my disease and what kind of a relief can I expect?
* Where can I have my treatment done and will you perform the treatment?

While these are an illustrative set of questions you could ask your medical advisor, nothing can stop you from listing anything that comes to mind. It is definitely better to list your questions before hand, so as not miss them while talking to your doctor.

By: K James

Researchers have found a low-carbohydrate diet helps people lose weight as effectively as a popular weight loss drug, and trumps the drug at lowering cholesterol.

Researchers of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Duke University Medical Center have shown low-carb diets are more successful in lowering blood pressure than the weight-loss drug orlistat.

“If people have high blood pressure and a weight problem, a low-carbohydrate diet might be a better option than a weight loss medication,” lead study author William S. Yancy, Jr., M.D., was quoted as saying.

The study included 146 overweight participants who had typically associated health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and arthritis. Over the year-long study, patients improved their cholesterol and glucose levels and lost an average of almost 10 percent of their body weight.

Most importantly, almost half of the participants who followed the low-carb diet decreased or discontinued their high blood pressure medication compared to 21 percent of the orlistat plus low-fat diet group.

“I expected the weight loss to be considerable with both therapies, but we were surprised to see blood pressure improve so much more with the low-carbohydrate diet than with orlistat,” Dr. Yancy said.

Mesothelioma is technically considered a symptom, not an actual illness. Mesothelioma can eventually lead to mesothelioma cancer. This kind of cancer affects the lungs and breathing functions in the human body. In a few cases, it can also be found lining the abdominal cavity. Mesothelioma can also cause liver and intestinal cancers.

The root cause of Mesothelioma, is the extended exposure to asbestos. Asbestos was a standard building material in the twentieth century. Army personnel were exposed to asbestos in the 1940s-1970s. Many of those vets are just now experiencing symptoms from the exposure. Many people were exposed to asbestos without even knowing it. Some folk can develop mesothelioma after only being exposed to asbestos for a short period of time.

The asbestos releases air borne particles that may be breathed into the respiratory system. Asbestos is a naturally occurring material, made up of tiny fibers. These tiny fibers break down under any kind of pressure and turn into invisible dust particles. These dust particles can be inhaled into the human respiratory systems and eventually lead to mesothelioma. These fibers imbed themselves in the intestinal and chest linings. In the early 1960s, it was found the asbestos was damaging. It wasnot till 1986, the use of asbestos in building materials, was completely stopped. Many ceilings are made with asbestos and are still around today,

Mesothelioma lawsuits are common today. The symptoms associated with mesothelioma can take 10-40 years to start showing up. People that are just now realizing they were exposed, and are suing firms for neglectfulness. If an individual knows they have been exposed to asbestos, they need to let their doctor know, and pay awfully close attention to any symptoms associated with mesothelioma. There is no remedy for mesothelioma, but it can be dealt with if caught sufficiently early. There’s relentless research being conducted to attempt to uncover a cure for this deadly disease.