Um chinês recupera-se da primeira cirurgia que retirou parte de um conjunto de tumores faciais que pesam mais de 20 quilos…

E você reclama de suas espinhas…

News on Breast cancer.Useful.
Story:
Scientists have identified an enzyme that is crucial for turning breast tissue into tumours, according to a study published in the journal Cell.
The Institute of Cancer Research says blocking the enzyme lysyl oxidase (LOX) reduced the size and frequency of tumours in mice.
They say LOX stiffens collagen, a major component of the supportive tissue in the breast.
A cancer charity said the study added to knowledge about how tumours develop.
The supportive tissue surrounding cancer cells is shaped differently to healthy tissue as well as being stiffer and more fibrous.
These properties have helped doctors to detect breast cancers, but until now scientists have not known what was causing these changes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8369377.stm

the waiting room
hygienic with a TV
humming cushy
kids programs to those with
no soul.
thumb worn magazines
littered the only table,
saturating the pine
vaneer with turned
corners and faded bent
gloss covers.  An unatural
smiling woman stares
at the faces of those
who will die before
she develops wrinkles,
thanks to Oil of Ulay.

The few that sit there
either make nervous
conversation, dancing
anecdotes of offspring
successes and in-laws
failings through the
air. broadcasters to the
apathetic. 
fellow waiters
forecast the weather for
the weekend and
hope.

Nurses appear and
dissappear through
countless doors, a run
of consultation rooms.
Ovens of emotion, fear
can roast the roof
of the mouth in these
cubicles where
Consultants stoke
bad news and
good news. Emotion
fuelled by test results
examinations of
itching lumps and
CT scans. 

“This disease will shorten
your life”, a kind way
of eliminating the hope
of pensions and
grandchildren.

Moving the condemned
to a special room with
a comfortable chair.
Cheap tissues 
and a water
colour print in a room
where no one lives.

Navy blue nurses
talk about
chemotherapy,
canulars and
hand out sickly
sweet information
photocopied by
a healthy
pregnant secretary.
she is scared like
the rest of us.

The car park is now
An expansive desert
of tarmac.  The silence
Sheer and cliff like.

We hit the canyon floor
passing the offices of
South West Water.
I grieved for
our dreams.

Originally Written by: Panel at Total Health 99

Catherine Diodati is a Windsor-based researcher who graduated from the University of Windsor with an MA in biomedical ethics in mass immunization. She is involved in ongoing research in immunization, and she is the author of a new book about vaccinations called Immunization: History, Ethics, Law and Health.
Len Horowitz has a doctorate from Tufts University and a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard. He is the author of more than 100 articles in scientific and lay periodicals and ten books including his best-selling book, Emerging Viruses, AIDS and Ebola: Nature, Accident or Genocide. His latest book is Healing Codes for the Biological Apocalypse.
Viera Scheibner is a retired principal research scientist with a doctorate in natural sciences. Since the mid-80’s, she has done extensive research into vaccines and vaccinations. She often provides expert reports for court cases involving immunizations and vaccine-damaged individuals throughout the world. During her distinguished career, she has published three books and 90 scientific papers in prestigious scientific journals.
Edda West is from Winlaw, B.C. She is the co-founder and director of the Vaccine Risk Awareness Network. It is the only Canada-wide vaccination network that provides information to parents about the choice of having vaccine-free children.

INFORMED AND VOLUNTARY CONSENT (see article by Edda West) Our health departments aren’t applying even the most basic medical ethics to the mass vaccination program, and I feel this is one of the greatest ethical violations. We are told that we and our children have to have these vaccines, and that they are safe and effective. We are not told what our rights are. We are not told that there are exemptions. That is very coercive. These forms are readily available through your city’s public health office. (Diodati)

HARMFUL CONTAMINANTS IN VACCINES Some of the chemical components that are used in vaccines are more toxic to white blood cells than they are to the viruses or bacteria. According to the Merck document, these include mercury, formaldehyde and aluminum for sterility and stability (see Physician’s Desk Reference, 1999). The biological components in the vaccines have also managed to introduce animal diseases into a new human host. The disease is relatively innocuous in the animal that it comes from, but when you introduce this into a human who has never had this disease before, it becomes something quite virulent and dangerous. So the principle of non-malfeasance, “Do no harm”, has been clearly violated. (Diodati)

VACCINE RELATED INJURIES OR ADVERSE EVENTS The information that we are generally given about the side effects of vaccines is not complete. This information is usually written by the vaccine manufacturers. The information sheets from the school, say “We are going to give your kids some vaccines and they will have a few minor reactions such as fever, a little fussiness, a little bit of soreness and redness at the injection site, but that’s all. Other events are rare.” But go and pick up a vaccine package insert and you are going to see a number of very serious and severe long-term adverse events. (Diodati)

ACUTE REACTIONS AND LONG TERM EFFECTS Fever up to 104 degrees or 105 degrees, inconsolable crying which may go on even for several days, difficulty breathing, unconsciousness, high-pitched screaming, convulsions or seizures. This acute condition represents a type of encephalitis (also called encephalopathy) which sometimes ends in sudden death. There are 9,000 cases of SIDS in the US every year of which probably 6,000 are vaccine-related. Most babies recover from the acute effects, but the long-term effects of the vaccine start to appear after a month or two; in fact these are the long term effects of encephalitis which include seizures, epilepsy, paralysis, cerebral palsy, mental retardation and autism, and other neurological disorders which can result from any vaccine (see Physician’s Desk Reference, 1999 for list of “adverse events” for each vaccine). (Coulter, Vaccine Risk Awareness Network)

The active ingredients are “foreign RNA and DNA”. That’s a nice way of saying ‘carcinogen’ or ‘mutagen’. The Bible says, “Do not contaminate the blood”; “Do not create hybrid seeds”. When you inject yourself with foreign RNA and DNA and let’s say the chicken pox vaccine or the other vaccines, go into your blood stream, get into your cells and your children’s cells. That DNA causes mutations of your own cells and a weakened immune state, of course weakened worse by the vaccine itself and the contaminants in it. Now you have a potential for that cell becoming a precancerous cell going on to develop full-blown cancers. There is a host of auto-immune system related disorders associated with vaccines, including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, fibromyalgia, lupus, multiple sclerosis, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), chronic crippling rheumatoid arthritis, adult and juvenile Type I diabetes, asthma, hay fever, allergies, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders and autism in our children. Other vaccine related diseases are cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, AIDS, and Gulf War Syndrome (see Physician’s Desk Reference or vaccine inserts for documentatio). (Horowitz)

VACCINE INDUCED IMMUNE DAMAGE I read a study in which healthy adults were given the tetanus vaccine and then their T-cell levels were checked. T-cells are very important because they are the part of our immune system which identifies foreign materials and activates and matures the other cells so that they can defeat whatever virus or bacteria is in the body. These T-cells in healthy adults became so low that they were the same as active AIDS patients. You will find this sort of negative phase after vaccination with all vaccines. The bacterial vaccines seem to be worse, but maybe that’s just because there is more evidence right now. But after the vaccination, you are increasing your chances of becoming ill. (Diodati)

VACCINES AND TYPE I INSULIN-DEPENDANT DIABETES Any vaccine can cause diabetes. It was already established in the 1970’s that injections of the DPT vaccine result in increased or decreased insulin production within eight hours, but any vaccine can cause it. In New Zealand, they established that Hepatitis B vaccination of the newborn children resulted in 60% increase in diabetes. (Horowitz)

HEPATITIS B is a blood-borne pathogen acquired through infected blood, an infected mother or sexual contact. In the US, the Clinton administration said that 12-hour-old infants must get the Hepatitis B vaccine, infants whose immune systems aren’t even mature. They are even giving it to one-hour-old neonates. Hepatitis B is soon to be added to the early infant shots in B.C. and the rest of Canada. Authorities tell you that you must be checked and revaccinated with Hepatitis B vaccine every seven to ten years. If you are going to give it to infants, that means you have to check your children again at age seven. If they are not sexually active and they are still not using IV drugs, what good is it? In the teenage years, you have to get it checked again. All you have to do is look at the side effects associated with the Hepatitis B vaccine: starting at 15% who get a little redness at the site of inoculation, to less than 1% who sustain serious injury from the Hepatitis B vaccine (Physician’s Desk Reference lists arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barre, myelitis, other neurological problems, etc.), and when you count the numbers, you are looking at well over 25,000 to 35,000 infants, children, and teenagers, just in the United States, annually, this decade, who will become brain damaged, crippled, or killed from that one vaccine. 35,000 damaged children for the 4,000 people you say you want to save from Hepatitis B? Thirty-five thousand approximates the number of people who died of AIDS last year in the United States. That is how many people are going to get killed, crippled or brain damaged from that one vaccine of over 20 some odd vaccines that they say are essential or highly recommended. (Horowitz)

TUMOURS AND CANCER IN CHILDREN CONTRACTED THROUGH PARENTAL GENES Recent research demonstrates children succumbing to tumours and cancers in which they are now finding the SV40 virus which was one of the contaminants of the early polio vaccines. Now those little children have never been in contact with that virus through a vaccination, but they are apparently somehow getting it through the genetics of their parents. These contaminants are being passed on from one generation to the next. (West)

COMPENSATION FOR VACCINE INDUCED INJURIES In Canada we do not have a compensation system, except for the province of Quebec. People have lost their lives; children have been injured, and some have died. We are not compensating them. And because we are not keeping track of adverse events, we can’t estimate how many children are going to end up paralyzed, or predict how many children are going to die from a given vaccine. We need to know, based on previous evidence of adverse reactions, what percent of damage we can expect from a given vaccine, and we do not have this information. We need to encourage our government to mandate the monitoring of these adverse events and we want compensation for our children. (Diodati)

UNVACCINATED HAVE PASSIVE IMMUNITY When you look at statistics, it appears that when vaccination was introduced, the incidence of disease went down. In Canada, the earliest we started recording diseases was 1924. However if you look for a longer period of time, for example in England and some of the European areas, there was always an up and down cycle of disease before vaccines were introduced, There was a significant drop in mortality rates long, long before the vaccines were introduced, and in many cases long before there were any appropriate and adequate treatments for the diseases. Through natural passive immunity, our ancestors caught a disease and passed the antibodies to their children. In their children, the disease was less of a problem and caused fewer complications, and subsequent generations will have even fewer problems. Down through generations we have the ability to reduce the impact of disease. In fact, there is an enormous cost to having the diseases removed or changed artificially. Take measles for example. We don’t see measles as much anymore, but we are now seeing it in children less than a year old. Before the vaccine era, the average age of infection was four to five years of age, so something very strange is happening. This is a fairly new phenomenon, and the reason it is happening is that the mothers who are bearing these children are vaccinated and they don’t have the antibodies to pass on to their babies, making their babies susceptible. We are also beginning to see that five to 19-year-olds are being hit the hardest, and the age keeps getting higher and higher. When these diseases occur outside of the pediatric range, there is a greater chance of serious complications. So these changes in the epidemiology of disease are very important, and they have to be taken into consideration when we are deciding just how beneficial these vaccines have been. (Diodati)

DO VACCINES ERADICATE OR EVEN REDUCE DISEASE? There is no such thing as disease eradication, and if you speak to scientists about this you are going to enter very quickly into a hot debate. What tends to happen is that these pathogens, these disease-causing agents, will lay dormant for a while, and when the conditions are favourable, they will re-emerge either in the same or a mutated form. In 1979, the World Health Organization declared smallpox to be eradicated. However, in the past few years a new disease called monkeypox has sprung up. The DNA of smallpox and monkey pox were examined together and were found to be greater than 90% homologous. So there is no question that these are the same disease. Smallpox has not been eradicated, nor have measles and polio been eradicated. (Diodati)

VACCINATIONS FOR OVERSEAS TRAVEL Vaccinations for travel are just as bad as any other vaccines. They are not actually compulsory. I bought a booklet published by the British Health Department, and the first sentence is “It’s not mandatory, it’s your choice.” They warned about many side effects, and cautioned that even if you are slightly sick, you shouldn’t take them. Also, typhoid, malaria and other vaccines like dysentery are officially ineffective vaccines. They failed repeatedly with malaria vaccine. When you travel, take half a kilo of Vitamin C powder with you. (Scheibner)

RISK OF FEBRILE SEIZURES DUE TO FEVER Vaccinations may cause febrile seizures. The best information on fever that I know that is readily and easily available is in Dr. Robert Mendelsohn’s book entitled How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of your Doctor. He has the most fantastic chapter on fevers in that book, and he is very reassuring that febrile seizures do not cause brain damage, that they actually come with the speed with which the fever rises, and that eventually kids grow out of that. I would urge you to get that book. (Diodati) My children have not been vaccinated and my daughter experienced a seizure during an illness. It is a horrible experience if you are a parent holding a child who is in a convulsive seizure and you just pray. Anyway, what we have learned was to break that fever a little bit. See if you can maintain it at 102. My own personal feeling is use cold compresses. That really snapped her out of it almost immediately. I am sure that there are probably also some herbs that you can take, cranial-sacral adjustment, and massage. But when it gets beyond 103, I would be concerned. You want to put your child in an ice bath, in the cold water, something to bring that temperature down. (Horowitz)

MANDATORY SERIES OF HEPATITIS B VACCINES FOR SOCIAL WORKERS, HOSPITAL WORKERS, POLICE OFFICERS, ETC. Educate yourself and then ask for the exemption on philosophical or religious grounds. Say you consider yourself a Jew or a Christian. (Horowitz) It is not mandatory at all. In Australia, a nurse won a major compensation package because she developed arthritis after a Hepatitis B vaccine. Read the product insert for Hepatitis B vaccine. They list multiple sclerosis as one of the observed side effects. Ask them to give you a written guarantee that you will not get these diseases or they must give you five million dollars if you do, and this will solve the problem. (Scheibner) A number of people are running into this problem. You have the vaccine or you lose your job. There is help if you have Internet access. You educate these people and you say, “what you’re telling me is my health or my job. Well, I can’t do my job if I don’t have my health.” In fact, Merck, the Hepatitis B vaccine manufacturers, required all their staff to get the vaccine. Adverse events began to be reported both to Merck and to the LCDC. A doctor who was doing research in this area revealed that quite a number of the Merck staff themselves became permanently disabled, including the nurse who was assigned to administer the vaccines, who is now paralyzed and unable to work. (Diodati)

STEPS YOU MAY TAKE TO PROTECT CHILDREN WHO HAVE ALREADY BEEN VACCINATED: The first thing that I would do is urge you to pray. Secondly, whether they are healthy or sick is to begin with a five-step process. Number one, is detoxification. Step two is de-acidification. Step three is boosting the immune system every way possible, physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, environmentally, and above all, spiritually. Step four is oxygenation therapies, and Step Five involves homeopathics and electromedicine. It is bioelectric therapies. (see Horowitz Vaccines tape or coming newsletter by Len Horowitz) (Horowitz) Homeopathic antidotes to vaccines should start from the latest and then work their way to the earliest. (Scheibner)

Useful.
Story:
Source: Cancer Research/NHS

Completely different types of cancer affect different areas of the womb, or uterus.

The best known, perhaps as a result of a nationwide screening programme, is cervical cancer, which affects the cervix, or neck, of the womb.

Many women, thanks to early detection, find they have abnormal cell changes in their wombs which cannot be classed as fully cancerous.

These “pre-cancerous changes” are far easier to treat, and the number of women presenting with the symptoms of cervical cancer has fallen over recent years.

However, more common is uterine cancer, in its more usual form also called endometrial cancer – which affects the lining of the womb that grows, is shed, and regrows as part of a woman’s monthly cycle.

Professor Hilary Thomas, from the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, said that the key to successfully treating both cervical and uterine cancer was early detection.

Anybody who is sexually active should be having regular smears,

Professor Hilary Thomas, Royal Surrey County Hospital
She said: “Anybody who is sexually active should be having regular smears, and if they have a history of abnormal smears, they may need to go for more frequent smears.

“Cancer of the uterus, or the womb, is actually cancer of the body of the womb, which has a different kind of tissue in it from the neck of the womb.

“This is a disease which tends to affect elderly patients who have passed the menopause.

“Usually they will be advised to have a hysterectomy.”

Another, far less common cancer of the womb is uterine sarcoma, which affects the powerful muscles of the womb.

This is far more similar to other cancers which affect muscles than to either uterine or cervical cancer.

SYMPTOMS
Many cervical cancers are detected by the national screening programme.

Samples of cells from different areas around the womb neck are taken and looked at under a microscope for signs of abnormality.

If a smear is abnormal, the woman may be asked to take a repeat smear, or, particularly if there has been more than one abnormal smear, be sent to a specialist for further checks.

Once cancer is established however, the most common symptom is abnormal (ie non-menstrual) bleeding. This is a sign that the cancer has spread to surrounding tissue.

Menstrual bleeding may be heavier and last longer.

Abnormal bleeding, particularly after the menopause, can also be a sign of uterine cancer.

Women with certain symptoms should always consult a doctor. They are:

any sort of unusual vaginal discharge
pain in the pelvic area
painful or difficult urination
Once there is a suspicion of problems, there are various techniques used by doctors to try and locate the cause.

The first is a pelvic examination, which can be carried out by a family doctor, who will check the vagina, womb, ovaries, bladder and rectum for unusual lumps or changes.

Doctors may carry out another smear test, or Pap test, to gather cells to check for cervical cancer.

A technique called colposcopy, which uses a probe to look in more detail at the cervix, is sometimes used.

The extent of any cancer discovered may be confirmed by taking a deeper slice of tissue in a biopsy.

However, if uterine cancer is suspected, either a “pipelle biopsy”, in which a thin tube is used to take a small sample of tissue, or a dilation and curettage (D and C) may be undertaken. The latter, involves scraping tissue from the lining of the womb for examination.

CAUSES
Scientists have identified a virus which they believe may have some role in the development of cervical cancer.

The human papillomavirus (HPV), is found in most women who have developed cervical cancer.

However, most women who have the virus never go on to develop cervical cancer.

Smoking, as in so many other cancers, appears to increase the risk.

And women with HIV, the virus which causes Aids and weakens the immune system appear to be more prone.

The risk factors for uterine cancer are slightly more clearly understood.

In particular, those taking oestrogen-only hormone replacement therapies to alleviate menopausal symptoms are at higher risk. Most HRT formulations include other hormones such as progestin which appear to reduce that risk.

Overweight or obese women are thought to have more natural oestrogen in their bodies – another reason why they are more vulnerable.

Women who suffer from a condition known as benign endometrial hyperplasia, in which the lining of the womb is naturally thicker, also are more likely to develop endometrial cancer.

TREATMENTS
If caught at their earliest pre-cancerous stage, abnormal cervical cells can be dealt with simply, using either freezing or heat to scour the cells from the cervix.

The action of the deep biopsy, called a cone biopsy, can remove a cervical cancer if it has not spread.

Depending on the spread of the disease, and the age of the woman, a number of options are available, including surgery to remove abnormal tissue or the entire womb, including the cervix.

If there is evidence of spread, then the ovaries and nearby lymph nodes are sometimes removed as well.

If the cancer has spread beyond the wall of the womb, then radiotherapy and chemotherapy may be required to try to clear the disease.

In the case of uterine cancer, it is far more likely that a hysterectomy will have to be carried out, and the ovaries may also be taken out.

If it has not spread beyond the endometrium, then surgery will probably be enough, although other treatments may follow if there is evidence of spread.

It may be possible for the woman to take HRT following the operation, although this is only likely if the cancer has been caught early.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3244379.stm

Facts worth knowing.
Story:
One in three of us will be diagnosed with cancer during our life.

The disease tends to affect older people – but can strike at any time.

Excluding certain skin cancers, there were almost 290,000 new cases of the disease in 2005.

Some cancer, such as breast, are becoming more common, while new cases of lung cancer are expected to fall away due to the drop in the number of smokers.

However, while the overall number of new cancers is not falling, the good news is that successful treatment rates for many of the most common types are improving rapidly.

BBC News has produced, in conjunction with Cancer Research UK, a guide to some of the most common forms of cancer and the treatments used to tackle them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3444635.stm

I haven’t had the most productive of days so far.  I’ve made some good headway in planning my next seminar, done some other reading but I’m having trouble forcing myself to settle down and focus on a given task for very long.  Partly this is due to feeling anxious after visiting the vet earlier today.  One of our dogs recently had a lump cut out of his shoulder which, when biopsied, was revealed to be a type of malignant tumour.  In terms of canine tumours it was probably the “best” kind of malignant tumour he could develop as they don’t tend to metastasise very quickly at all and the biopsy suggested that this one had been caught early.

The other day I was playing a tug game with the dog and noticed what appeared to be some sort of lump on the roof of his mouth.  To be on the safe side we booked him in to see his vet, hence our visit this morning.  It could easily be scar tissue from chewing on a sharp stick or bone, a type of benign canine wart or any other of a number of none serious things, but to be sure the poor creature has to fast tonight and go back tomorrow.  He’ll be fully anaesthetised, have the lump biopsied, get some stitches in the roof of his mouth and come home.  Once his post-anaesthetic drunkenness subsides and the pain and discomfort of the stitches goes he’ll be absolutely fine.  My wife and I, on the other hand, will be somewhat anxious until the results of the biopsy come back from the lab.  Luckily our pets have good insurance.

Obviously all this is weighing on my mind a bit and, as I mentioned, contributing to my general restlessness today.  So far I’ve managed to be fairly good about not undertaking other tasks, specifically household chores, as an avoidance strategy.  No, this posting doesn’t count as a means of keeping myself busy when I should be working on something else entirely.  The sitting room does need tidying.  There are a few mugs that could do with a wash.  I could hoover the stairs or dust the bookshelf.  Somebody desperately needs to clear out the cupboard under the stairs.  I might give in and start on one or two of those tasks once I’m done writing this.  There is, however, one household chore I find so mind-numbingly dull and pointless that I know I won’t be doing it this afternoon: folding laundry.

I like to wear clean clothes.  I prefer my shirts to be relatively wrinkle free.  I insist that my socks are correctly paired.  I don’t mind putting dirty washing into the machine or hanging clean laundry out to dry.  Ironing isn’t an onerous task although I tend to iron as needed rather than doing a mountain of ironing once a week.  By contrast folding laundry makes me feel dead inside at the best of times.  At my worst moments it makes me question the point of my existence.

My wife, by contrast, says she find folding laundry a soothing practice and doesn’t understand why I can’t simply switch the TV or stereo on and happily fold away.  I’ll happily admit that it’s probably due to some character flaw on my part.  The thing is though, folding laundry has always struck me as a never-ending exercise in futility.  Yes, I like clean neat clothes, but when I’m pairing my socks or folding a pair of trousers all I can think about is the fact that I’m performing these actions with the sole intention of taking my carefully tidied clothes out the wardrobe or closet, wearing them, getting them dirty, creased and wrinkled.  Once that process is complete I’ll have the pleasure of washing them again at which point they’ll need to be refolded.  Folding laundry reminds me that soon I’ll be wearing the clothes that I’m currently folding. . .  You get the picture.

Folding laundry gives me a deep insight into how Sisyphus must have felt rolling that stone around.  Repeatedly

Sisyphus

completing a menial task only to have to begin it again deadens the mind and stifles the imagination.  There’s nothing Zen about pushing a rock up a hill only to have it roll back down just as there’s nothing meditative about folding laundry just so you can get it dirty, wash and fold it again.  At least there isn’t for me.

I detest folding laundry so much that part of me suspects that many nudists adopt the practice going unclad simply to avoid the chore.  I have no desire to become a nudist, nor do I live in part of the world where the climate would allow me to wander around naked year round.  So, I’ll just have to keep folding laundry.

Sisyphus was given his futile task as a punishment for refusing to return to the underworld.  What did I do wrong?

First of the bit of sick, thanks to my gf for finding this quite frankly gross article from times online:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article1034129.ece

That’s right folks, just imagine what that must be like….INSIDE YOU!!!

Now for the warm fuzzy glow we go to a delightful little piece from xfactor fan…Derren Brown. Indeed between trying to confound the nation this lovely man watches xfactor with us normal folk. The only difference is that he gets invited behind the scenes for fun and frolicks:

http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2009/11/xfactor-experience/

Enjoy!

TWH

Yes, you did read the headline correctly.  In late September, a news story about the death of a teenage girl shortly after receiving a cervical cancer vaccine flooded the media outlets around Australia.  Fourteen year old Natalie Morton fell ill after being vaccinated at her school under a national immunisation program against the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus (HPV).  She died a few hours later after being admitted to hospital.  This story sent shock waves through the community, did unbelievable damage to the reputation of the company producing the vaccine, GSK and scared parents and their teenage daughters who had received or were still to receive their vaccine.

Where I am most surprised however is that the follow up story does not seem to have released in Australia.  Reuters released a follow up article a few days later reporting a large malignant chest and lung tumour and not a reaction to the vaccine was what killed Natalie Morton.  It is pleasing to see the immunisation program is continuing and that to date more than 1.4 million doses have been administered to women.

In my mind, news is about reporting the stoy, the whole story.  In this case, many media outlets seemed to have moved on to the next sensational story of the day with little regard for their audience or for the integrity of the story.  The online news space has created greater opportunities for journalists and content suppliers to build brand loyalty with a larger audience than ever before.  Maybe the maintenace of that brand loyalty can be achieve through reliable and quality reporting.

News values continue to play an important role in online journalism: interest, timeliness and consequences are three that immediatley spring to mind when considering this story.  I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the quality of online journalism today.

Derry City striker Mark Farren reveals he was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour on Christmas Eve…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: sioux city. The blog is also related to: texas cities.

• B.C. research alters view of breast tumours (CBC News)
• Genetic `typos’ open new doors in breast cancer research (Canada.com)
• Canadian researchers show how a breast tumor evolves (LA Times)
• A cancer evolves: heterogeneity and mutational evolution in a breast tumour (source Nature magazine article)

I am going to die.

I know because I read the newspapers; eight nationals, every morning, each one of them like a menu. Generally you can get a decent selection of the various means of expiration. Every other page would contain some morbid illustration of brutal crime, violent losses in far-off places, health scares, statistical probabilities of contracting terminal illnesses, natural disasters…all pervasive reminders of our mortality.

Here the choice comes in for the discerning readers; they make a mental note of the epitaphs they don’t particularly care for, and try their utmost to avoid having those narratives written into their eulogies.

We know we’ve all got to go some time. But reading the papers gives us hope. With keen eyes and decisive action, we (believe) can pick out the gravest threats to our lives and make the odds work in our favour.

Get crushed in my car because I text while driving in some Welsh backwater? Can’t have that. Nope, no stabbing by random yobs in the street for me. Join the army and see the world, spill my guts and “not grow old”? Erm, I’ll pass.

Voila, three doors slammed shut in the Grim Reaper’s face. Get in.

Sometimes, we get spared the agony of choice. This particular week, for instance, every chef was serving up the same special. Every waiter making the same strong recommendations. “It’s sensational stuff. Believe me, you won’t regret it. You’ve got to NOT go this way. Not by receiving a cervical cancer vaccine.”

On Monday afternoon, a fourteen-year-old schoolgirl died soon after getting one. That night, newsroom editors across Britain were shitting themselves. By Tuesday morning, so was half of the Kingdom.

The cervical cancer vaccine was instantaneously propelled to the top of the pops, and there it stayed for three excruciating days. No one with half a mind on living out her life expectancy was even going to so much as be caught in the same room as one of those murderous little vials, let alone consider the hideous thought that the girl’s tragic death might be the result of some other problem. Across middle Britain, mothers are patting themselves on the back; their teenage daughters saved from an early visit to Saint Peter.

On Thursday evening, the truthiness-mongers were eventually told the inconvenient truth. “A malignant tumour in her chest? Oooooh, reeeally? So that’s what is was? Swell, we sure as hell jumped the gun on that one. Oh, what about the facts? We’ll file it in a tiny side column somewhere in page 15.”

Another day, another dollar.

As for the rest of us, we sit at our breakfast tables, smugly pleased with another well-engineered postponement of our deaths. Life is good.

The ECCO is Europe’s oldest and largest scientific conference on cancer and currently the ECCO 15 – ESMO 34 in Berlin is in full swing.

Here’s a short overview of some of the main highlights. 

Breast cancer

Dr Jetske Ruiterkamp and Dr Miranda Ernst of the Jeroen Bosch Hospital, The Netherlands, found that it is useful to remove the primary tumour in women with metastasized breast cancer (stage IV).

The researchers discovered that those patients who had received surgery survived for considerably longer than those who had not – an average of 31 months as opposed to 14. The five-year survival rates of the two groups also showed significant differences, with 24.5% of the surgery group being still alive five years later, whereas only 13.1% of those did not have surgery were still living five years on.

This is particularly important because most women and oncologists opt for palliative treatment in this stage. 

There are a number of possible explanations for this,” said Dr Ruiterkamp, “but we think that the most likely is that by excising the primary tumour, we reduce the number of circulating tumour cells elsewhere in the body. It is also possible that surgery reactivates the immune system.

Surgical removal of primary tumour improves survival in metastatic breast cancer patients.

Again breast cancer: switching from Tamoxifen to Exemestane provides a considerable advantage in the prognosis of early stage breast cancer:

We found that six years after changing treatment, women who got exemestane were 18% more likely to remain disease free and were 14% less likely to die than those who stayed on tamoxifen.

Switching early breast cancer patients to exemestane improves long-term survival.

It is also important that breast cancer patients continue taking their medication: 

Patients who stopped study treatment (tamoxifen or exemestane) had significantly higher chance of a recurrence; the chance was between four and five times higher among this group than among those who continued their treatment.

Keep taking the medicine: study of adjuvant endocrine treatment for breast cancer reveals the cost of patient non-compliance.

Brain metastases

Researchers also found that whole-brain radiotherapy should not be given routinely to all patients whose cancer has spread to the brain. They found that using it after surgery or radiosurgery in patients with a limited number of brain metastases and stable cancer in the rest of the body did not extend lives or help patients remain functionally independent for longer.

Whole-brain radiotherapy after surgery or radiosurgery not recommended for all patients with brain metastases.

Melanoma

Researchers have made significant advances in the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma – one of the most difficult cancers to treat successfully once it has started to spread. In the phase I extension study, researchers have seen rapid and dramatic shrinking of metastatic tumours in patients treated with a new compound that blocks the activity of the cancer-causing mutation of the BRAF gene, which is implicated in about 50% melanomas and 5% of colorectal cancers.

Dr Paul Chapman, an attending physician on the Melanoma/Sarcoma service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, USA) and one of the leaders of the trial, said:

We are very excited about these results. Of the 22 patients we have been able to evaluate so far, 20 have had some objective tumour shrinkage. This is impressive as they all had metastatic disease and most of them had failed several prior therapies. A lot of these patients were pretty sick but many of them had a significant and rapid improvement in the way they function. We’ve had patients come off oxygen and we’ve got several patients who have been able to come off narcotic pain medication soon after starting treatment.

Trial of new treatment for advanced melanoma shows rapid shrinking of tumours.

See also the article on Science Update Blog of Cancer Research UK.

Pancreatic cancer

For the first time researchers have shown that by inhibiting the action of an enzyme called TAK-1, it is possible to make pancreatic cancer cells sensitive to chemotherapy, opening the way for the development of a new drug to treat the disease. Dr Davide Melisi said that resistance to chemotherapy was the greatest challenge to treating pancreatic cancer:

Pancreatic cancer is an incurable malignancy, resistant to every anti-cancer treatment. Targeting TAK-1 could be a strategy to revert this resistance, increasing the efficacy of chemotherapy. During the past few years we have been studying the role played by a cytokine or regulatory protein called Transforming Growth Factor beta (TGFbeta) in the development of pancreatic cancer. Recently we focused our attention on a unique enzyme activated by TGFbeta, TAK-1, as a mediator for this extreme drug resistance.

Pancreatic cancer: researchers find drug that reverses resistance to chemotherapy.

Cervical cancer

Cervical cancer could be eradicated within the next 50 years if countries implement national screening programmes based on detection of the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes the disease, together with vaccination programmes against the virus, according to professor Jack Cuzick. 

While the current HPV vaccines protect against two cancer-causing strains of the HPV virus, soon there would be vaccines available that protect against nine types. If vaccination were to be combined with HPV screening (which is much more sensitive than the currently used Pap smear test), then eventually the cancer would disappear in those countries that had successfully implemented national programmes. However, this would require political will and effort at both national and European level.

It’s important to say up front that the HPV is responsible for all cervix cancer. If you can eradicate the virus, the cancer will not appear. So the current vaccine holds the promise of eradicating about 70-75% of cervical cancers (caused by HPV types 16 and 18), and there appears to be some additional cross protection amongst types that are closely related to 16 or 18, in particular 31, 45 and a little bit of 33. There are new vaccines being planned that will vaccinate against nine types. If they are successful, there should be no need to screen women that have been vaccinated at all. That’s the long-term future: vaccination and no screening. After about 50 years, we could see cervical cancer disappearing.

As the current HPV vaccine only protects against two of the cancer-causing types, vaccinated women will still require screening for the rest of their lives.

Vaccination and testing for the human papilloma virus could eradicate cervical cancer – but the EU and national governments should be taking action now.

Here’s more on the vaccine

Abstracts

For those of you who want to know more: here’s the list of abstracts.

Dawn lives in Atlanta. She’s an aspiring playwright. And four years ago, she was diagnosed with a rare, but treatable brain tumor.

Dawn’s doctors are ready to treat the tumor, but they can’t. CIGNA, her insurer, refuses to pay for the care she needs because the only hospitals qualified to treat her are out-of-network.  And after years of fighting, Dawn just received her final denial letter.

The scariest thing about Dawn’s story is that it could happen to any of us—to a friend of yours, or someone in your family. After all, Dawn has insurance. But as long as private insurers are the only game in town, they’ll continue to have the power to deny Americans the care they need.

Dawn is fighting back. And while CIGNA may be able to ignore Dawn, they won’t be able to ignore millions of us standing together with her. I’m joining Dawn’s fight to shine a light on Big Insurance’s abusive tactics, get Dawn the care she needs, and make sure they don’t do this to anyone ever again. Will you join me by signing a statement of support?
The statement says, “I stand with Dawn Smith. CIGNA must provide the treatment she needs and stop rejecting legitimate care for all the others who are suffering.“

Unfortunately, Dawn’s story isn’t unique—she’s one of the millions of Americans who are suffering—but what she’s doing about her situation is.  Instead of suffering in silence, she’s sharing her painful, powerful story so that, as she says, “no one else has to go through what I have. “I’ve been really moved by Dawn’s strength, given everything she’s going through. She has terrible pain and sudden seizures that can knock her off her feet. She’s had to move back in with her mom so she can have constant care. But through all that, she’s kept her spirits up.
The heart-breaking part is that her condition is treatable. But CIGNA’s refusal to treat her has brought her to “the end of my rope,” as she puts it. CIGNA gladly accepts Dawn’s premium payments, but when she needed care, they refused to pay for it, coming up with new reasons as they went.

Dawn’s story is a symptom of a much bigger problem. But if we all rally behind her, we can help not just her, but everyone else who’s suffering under our broken system, too. Together, we have the power to make Dawn’s story different, and in the process, to remind Congress and the American people why we so desperately need health care reform.

Clicking below will add your name: http://pol.moveon.org/dawnsmith/

Please share this with your friends. Insurance companies have been doing this to people for years. This must be stopped.  Thousands die each year because Insurance companies refuse the treatment they need. The life you save may be your own.

Or they refuse to insure them at all. Health Insurance Abuses

I never kept a journal of this difficult time, something I deeply regret today. At the time it was the furthest thing from my mind. Les, on the other hand, kept one without realising it. He started this almost by accident when he visited Jason the first time. Jason was sleeping and did not even know Les was there. He decided to draw a picture for Jason and leave it there for him to see when he woke up. This became a daily ritual. Every day that Jason was in hospital (100 days in total) he used draw a picture, date it and also write something relevant about what happened that day. Thank goodness Les still has this precious file and I am now using those entries to jog my memory of that period.

On 21 July they wheeled Jason into the operating theatre for the tumour removal. Les and I once again dealt with the situation totally differently. He could not bear to be at the hospital and I could not stay away. I knew it was going to be a long day and got there early so I could kiss him before they took him away. I was so terrified he would not make the surgery. I then went to one of the waiting areas and that is where I stayed for the next 8 hours, until the surgeon came and told me that they managed to remove the whole tumour! This was the best news ever but it came with a price.

Because it was such a dangerous tumour, they had to go in very deep and in the surgeon’s words – they were ruthless. Jason never stood a chance if they did not remove the whole thing. Unfortunately it is very difficult to differentiate between good brain tissue and tumour and obviously, going so deep, meant removing some of the good brain as well. They could not tell me what the residual damage would be, but they did explain that Jason would take a long time to recover and there could be no guarantees that he would ever be back to the way he was before surgery. Of course, I immediately went to see him in Intensive Care.

What a pitiful site – this little boy lying among so many pipes, machines, respirator, monitors etc. Of course he was still unconscious and would be for at least the next 12 hours. I think this was to keep him still until he could stabilise after the surgery. I remember driving home that night – totally exhausted – but at least the operation was over. The next morning I was back at Red Cross Children’s Hospital as early as possible. They had slowly woken him up and were in the process of removing the respirator. I was allowed to see him as soon as they were sure he could breathe on his own.

Unfortunately, as soon as I got to his bed, he started vomiting. This was very stressful to everyone as Jason kept lifting his head to get sick, only to bang it back down hard again on the bed. I was terrified he would cause bleeding in his brain from all this banging. I eventually managed to hold his hand and asked him if he felt like he was going to be sick again and he squeezed my hand and said “I don’t know”. It was amazing to hear him speak to me so clearly and I could not wait to get home and tell the family that everything was going to be alright (remember there were no cellphones those days!) Because he was in ICU, I could not spend too long with him that day. I kissed him goodbye and left.

The next morning when I got to the hospital I was in for a shock. Jason had totally regressed and could not speak or even hold my hand. He seemed to be in a total vegetative state. The surgeon arrived and Jason was scheduled for a follow up MRI scan to see if there had been any bleeding in the brain. The results showed some slight bleeding after surgery, but nothing serious enough to take him back to theatre. At this stage they explained that Jason’s symptoms were probably from this slight bleeding (similar to a small stroke). As I have explained in my earlier post, in 1988 there was no internet for me to research so I accepted this explanation – what else could I do?

Years later I discovered what had actually happened to Jason – it is called Posterior Fossa Mutism Syndrome. To quote the American Brain Tumour Association: “In a recent study, about 25% of children undergoing surgery for their tumor developed delayed onset (usually 6 to 24 hours after awakening) loss of speech which was often associated with decreased muscle tone, unsteadiness, emotional lability, and irritability. This syndrome, called “posterior fossa mutism syndrome” or “cerebellar mutism” seems to occur predominantly after surgery in children with medulloblastoma, and has not been clearly related to tumor size or surgical approach. Many of these children recover, but the study noted that some children still have significant neurological problems – such as abnormal speech and unsteadiness — a year after surgery”.

Naturally, we were terrified that Jason would never recover from this awful situation. He could not swallow (therefore not eat) or even control his bowel or bladder. They immediately started tube-feeding him through his nose and fitted him with urine bags.

During this time we could not know for sure if Jason could understand anything that was happening to him. We continued to speak to him normally and never showed our fear in front of him. We always tried to be positive, no matter how difficult it was. Over the next few days we definitely noticed that he could “speak with his eyes”. This is difficult to explain, but he at last could acknowledge that he could understand us – and to us this was a miracle.

On the 31st July his previous teacher, Cheryl Zietsman (now Bauer) was visiting him while I was there. Something funny was said and Jason suddenly started to laugh. We were all in such shock from this wonderful laughter that the three of us kept laughing until the tears ran. What a happy day that was. I now knew that my little boy was “still in there”, no matter how damaged his brain was. It was going to take a lot of hard work but I was determined to do whatever it took – no matter what therapy was needed – or even how many months or years – but he would get well again.

Jason spent a week in ICU before returning to the general ward. His stitches were removed on 29 July and he was transferred to Groote Schuur Hospital on 4 August to start the next phase of his treatment – radiation therapy.

I’ve just rang the hospital to get the results of my last ‘Day Curve’ to find out what my Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1) level is.

Bad news. My acromegaly is not fully controlled by Sandostatin LAR.

It’s at a level of 538 mg/ml it should be less than about 290 mg/ml (age-adjusted) for me to be termed as ‘biochemically controlled’. It’s still a whole lot lower than my untreated level of 1244 mg/ml.

 This value is higher than three months ago when it was 499 mg/ml, after which my Sandostatin LAR dose was increased from 20mg to 30mg.

It’s not good news, but I still have other options available, increasing the frequency of my injections to every three weeks, combining with a daily tablet of  Cabergoline.  An option is a daily injection of Pegvisomant which works to control acromegaly is the great majority of people. I’d rather not have an injection every day if I can avoid it, but heh, if it makes me better then I suppose I’ll have to do it.

The other option, is to have the operation sooner than planned. I have been delaying the operation whilst we try for children just incase .

These options are ones that no doubt will be covered next time I see the professor.

In the early hours of 6^th June 1988, 2 days after Jason celebrated his 8^th birthday, he woke up vomiting and crying. He had such a bad headache and could not bear to have the light on in his room. I had the most terrible feeling of doom. I just knew this was something very bad. We were awake most of the night and I remember telling Les how worried I was that Jason might have a brain tumour.

At about 6 am I phoned the doctor and he immediately came out to see Jason. After an examination he called the ambulance and Jason was admitted to hospital – the doctor felt it might be Meningitis and wanted further tests done.

Jason had a series of tests, including a lumbar puncture to draw spinal fluid to test for Meningitis. All tests were negative but X-Rays showed that he had very bad sinusitis and they eventually discharged him the same day, thinking this was the reason for the headaches.

Things never improved. Night after night he would wake up screaming in agony and vomiting. I felt totally helpless. No painkillers helped.

We had planned a holiday to Durban (where we had lived a few years earlier) during the July school holidays. We almost cancelled the trip but Les felt that the children and I should go ahead as it might be just the thing to lift Jason’s spirits.

What a mistake…. it was a terrible holiday, starting with a nightmare of a flight. The minute we took off Jason started crying bitterly and complaining his head was sore. Nothing helped. When we got to Durban, we tried our best to have fun, but things just went from bad to worse. He then started to get so sleepy and would just lie down wherever we were to sleep. He could just not stay awake.  Eventually the holiday was over and we flew back to Cape Town. At that stage I noticed that he was not walking properly anymore, but veering to one side.

On Monday 11th July, after yet another night of trying to comfort him, I decided that I would not return home that day until I found out exactly what was wrong with Jason. I took him to see a Paediatrician at Wynberg Military Hospital and I broke down when speaking to her. I told her I knew my child was dying but no-one would believe me. I had been going from Doctor to Doctor without any results.

She called Jason into her surgery and made him walk up and down (at this stage he was deteriorating by the day and his balance was already bad). When examining him further, she could not see his retina discs at the back of his eyes – which meant that he had raised pressure in his head.

She admitted that the situation looked serious and immediately arranged for Jason to have CT Scan at Red Cross Children’s Hospital. I will never forget that day. I sat next to him, holding his hand while he was having his scan. I looked back through the window at the Radiographers and my worst fears were confirmed just by looking at their faces.

I was led into a room and told to wait for the Specialist. He explained that Jason had a large Medulloblastoma. I can’t remember his exact words – anyone who has been in a similar situation will understand that it all happens in a sort of dream-like manner.

The tumour was in the 4^th ventricle and it was blocking the flow of cerebral fluid down the spine. This resulted in raised pressure in the brain – which was the cause of the terrible headaches. He explained that Jason would need surgery to remove the tumour, but first he would need an operation to insert a VP Shunt, which would relieve the pressure. They would then operate to remove the tumour about 10 days later.

The same afternoon, Jason was sent to Tygerberg Hospital for an M.R.I. so the Surgeon could have a clearer picture of exactly what was going on inside his head.

As terrible as it sounds, it was almost a relief to finally know what was causing Jason’s pain. At least if you know what you are fighting, you have a chance of beating it.

My mate Dave (Becky), the one with the brain tumour, has been back in Barrow this weekend and paid me a visit today, he popped round to my house mid afternoon, he looked and seemed ok, he is also in pretty good spirits all things considered, or appeared so anyway, he drove most of the way from Sunderland over here to Barrow himself, his girlfriend Amy drove a bit of it.

He told me he starts radiotherapy next week, five minutes a day for six weeks and then they will re-assess from there and see if he requires chemo, they have told him the remains of the tumour are about the size of a two pence piece (British coin). I have to say he’s showing some mental fortitude about the whole thing, I reckon I’d be feeling a whole lot more sorry for myself.

Its been a pretty warm day here today, its now 7:20 pm and I’m still feeling warm and moist, today has also been pretty much of a nothing (well apart from the visit from Becky), quiet and uneventful as my Saturdays (and Sundays) normally are.

I got a text from my mate Becky (Dave) tonight, Becky’s my friend who had surgery recently to remove a brain tumour, the news is rather upsetting to say the least, he has been told the tumour is malignant and he is going to have to undergo radio and chemotherapy.

He has been told its treatable but I can’t help but be both worried and scared for him, I’m a bit upset at the moment but I thought I’d let folk who had read the earlier posts regarding my friends condition know the new news.

Cancer is everywhere

Are you the type of person who looks at everyone’s shoes when you are in the market to buy a new pair? Or perhaps you notice a lot of Nissan Sentras on the road when you are looking to replace your current car?

It seems to work the same way with cancer. Once it enters your life, all of a sudden you realize just how many television commercials out there speak directly of the illness. Some are for various organizations that promote their services for patients and their families. Other commercials aim to get your money as they raise funds for awareness or to eradicate the disease.

And if that’s not bad enough, relatives die from aggressive cancers way too young and way too fast.

So what do you do when you want to get your mind off of the tumor? How can you get away from the never ending thoughts that twirl around in your mind at full speed? How do you think happy thoughts?

I obviously don’t have the answer. My mind rarely finds peace from the ill thoughts. But i have taken to muting the television when those TV ads come on. I avoid people who can’t stop bringing up that particular subject, despite being asked to respect my wishes for lighter, happier conversation.

Any thoughts?

Joseph had a brain tumour which was due to be operated on. He stopped off on his way to the hospital where he was due to have a pre-op, to be prayed for by a group of people, who also put Lourdes water on him.  When he was examined at hospital, the brain tumour was gone.

This is one of the stories in my book:  Help from heaven (Answers to prayer)

I got some good news this morning, my friend Becky had his surgery yesterday (see “A Poor Day”), he was in surgery for 6 hours but he seems to have come out of it ok so far. I’ve been told that the tumour was a big one but he was awake last night and knew his girlfriend Amy (they were told he may forget things) so it sounds ok so far. I haven’t heard news yet as to whether they managed to get it all or in fact anything further so I am awaiting more news.

I’m thinking positive thoughts and hoping that all is well and he will make a full recovery, fingers firmly crossed.

Anyway Gareth and I are off to Wigan for the rugby later on, its a big, tough game against Leeds Rhinos so I’m looking forward to a good game and hopefully a good result for the Warriors as well, in the meantime I didn’t sleep too well last night, I’m tired and I won’t be back till turned midnight so I’m gonna try and get a couple of hours nap now.

Germ cell tumours

Germ cell tumours of the ovary make up 3% of malignant ovarian tumours, so they are rare, just one-tenth as common as germ cell tumours of the testis. Hence advances in treatment have largely developed through treatment of the testicular tumours which are of the same origin – from the germ cells of the ovary – in other words the cells that ultimately become eggs.

Germ cell tumours themselves are divided according to their main cell type; they range from embryonal carcinoma at the most undifferentiated end of the spectrum (in other words very immature cells) via immature teratoma through to mature teratoma. The most common type is a dysgerminoma, accounting for 30-40%. A detailed discussion is not realistic within this space but if you have a germ cell tumour of the ovary then you should be managed within a specialist unit with particular experience. They tend to occur in young women (the majority between 10 and 30 years) and adolescents and if managed correctly usually have a good prognosis

The rare forms include:

• Dysgerminoma
• Endodermal sinus tumours
• Teratoma, immature, mature or mixed
• Embryonal carcinoma
• Choriocarcinoma
• Sex-cord stromal tumours (5-8%)
• Granulosa cell tumours
• Sertoli-Leydig tumours
• Sarcomas

Information is reproduced with kind permission from Ovacome:

http://www.ovacome.org.uk/about-ovarian-cancer/types-of-ovarian-cancer.aspx