Tag Archives: cancer

Secretary Sebelius, stop hiding behind bureaucratic rules and save a child’s life

Many are calling on Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to allow Sarah Murnaghan, a 10-year-old girl dying of cystic fibrosis, to be allowed on the adult organ transplant list.  According to current federal policy, the minimum age for her to be included on the list is 12. Currently, Sarah cannot receive an adult lung transplant until the available organs are offered to adult patients first. Of course, Secretary Sebelius could always make an exception by allowing this girl to be put on the transplant list.  Exceptions to federal regulations are made every day by the Department of Health and Human Services, whether you’re talking about the use of non-FDA approved drugs to treat cancer or the use of new technical equipment for surgical therapies. In this specific case, however, we’re talking about saving a child whose only hope is to compete among other patients for a transplant.  It is a perfect example of how rules are sometimes meant to be changed – or broken completely – especially when you’re talking about saving a person’s life. Secretary Sebelius has only ordered a revision of the policy, which could take a lengthy amount of time – something Sarah does not have.  To me, this shows lack of leadership and, certainly, lack of compassion.  Doctors and nurses make instant decisions when it comes to helping others in need, and I believe that someone who is in charge of the largest health care agency on the planet should have a more proactive approach when dealing with these kinds of emergency situations. The field of medicine has changed dramatically when it comes to the surgical techniques that transplant surgeons use.  From minimally invasive therapy to partial organ transplants, new technical miracles continue to develop. Therefore, the argument that an adult organ may not be usable in a 10-year-old is no longer valid, and certainly open for discussion in our clinical community.  As reports have told us, Sarah’s surgeons do agree that in her case, an adult transplant just might work. The rule not allowing a child to be eligible for a transplant from an adult organ until the age of 12 is archaic, and it should not have taken a case like this for Secretary Sebelius – whose tenure has lasted for the past four years – to ask for a revision today. I agree with many who have said that this child is a victim of age discrimination.  But I also agree that Sarah has been ignored by our federal health leaders and has been placed in a bureaucratic Neverland.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/04/secretary-sebelius-stop-hiding-behind-bureaucratic-rules-and-save-childs-life/

Tests reveal 66-year-old who lived as a man actually is a woman

A 66-year-old who lived his whole life as a man was given a surprising diagnosis after visiting the doctor in Hong Kong with a swollen abdomen - he was a woman. Doctors realized the patient was female after they found the swelling came from a large cyst on an ovary, the Hong Kong Medical Journal reported. The condition was the result of two rare genetic disorders. The subject had Turner syndrome, which affects girls and women and results from a problem with the chromosomes, with characteristics including infertility and short stature. But he also had congenital adrenal hyperplasia, increasing male hormones and making the patient, who had a beard and a “micropenis”, appear like a man. “Were it not due to the huge ovarian cyst, his intriguing medical condition might never have been exposed,” seven doctors from two of the city's hospitals wrote in the study published on Monday. The doctors said there have been only six cases where both genetic disorders have been reported in medical literature. Turner Syndrome on its own affects only one in 2500 to 3000 females. Click for more from news.com.au. source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/04/hong-kong-man-66-finds-out-woman/

Company sells breast milk flavored lollipops

Mothers looking to give their children a unique, yet familiar, candy treat are in luck.  A lollipop company based in Austin, Texas called Lollyphile is offering new Breast Milk Lollipops, meant to mimic the flavor of a mother’s milk. According to Lollyphile’s website, numerous mothers shared their breast milk with the company’s “flavor specialists,” until they were able to turn the flavor into a candy. “I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, but it seems like all of my friends are having babies these days,” Jason Darling, the owner of Lollyphile, said in a statement. “Sure, the kids are all crazy cute, but what slowly dawned on me was that my friends were actually producing milk so delicious it could turn a screaming, furious child into a docile, contented one. I knew I had to capture that flavor.” Lollyphile maintains that the lollipops do not contain any actual breast milk, joking that it would require “armies of pumping women.”  Other eccentric lollipops available from Lollyphile include Absinthe Lollipops and Chocolate Bacon Lollipops. “Any company can make up nostalgic flavors,” said Darling of the breast milk lollies. “We'd like to think that we're tapping into a flavor our customers loved before they even knew how to think.” For more information on Lollyphile, visit their website.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/04/company-sells-breast-milk-flavored-lollipops/

5 ways to keep your salad skinny

Salad is the secret to a having beach-ready body, right?  Not necessarily.   Sure, salad greens and chopped vegetables are low in calories and great for weight control.  But what else you toss into your salad can keep it light or load it up with as many calories as a cheeseburger and fries!   It’s easy to go overboard on toppings – especially at a well-stocked salad bar – so choose with care:   Eat a colorful salad    Instead of adding nuts, cheeses, seeds, and crispy tortillas, get a variety of flavors with a colorful mix of veggies that fill you up on very few calories. A cup of raw, chopped veggies has just 25 calories compared to a handful of nuts at 250 calories or more. Great salad veggies include broccoli, carrots, cucumber, bell peppers and red onion. And by eating a colorful mix, you get greater variety in vitamins and minerals, too.   Choose lean proteins    Tasty as they may be, crispy chicken, tuna salad and crunchy bacon can make your salad a fatty disaster.  You can lighten up without sacrificing flavor by going with lean proteins such as grilled chicken, fish, egg whites, ham, turkey, shrimp and edamame. Go easy on cheese    Your bikini bottom will thank you for skipping toppings like goat cheese, cheddar cheese, and crumbled blue cheese – which are high in fat and have over 100 calories per ounce. Instead, opt for shredded, part-skim mozzarella or grated parmesan cheese – just a little bit adds a lot of satisfying taste. Pick fresh fruit rather than dried    No question dried cranberries and raisins add a sweet note to your salad, but at 60 calories for two measly tablespoons are they worth it

Chef Lidia Bastianich on why eating lunch is so important

Most people know that following the Mediterranean diet is one of the best ways to gain health benefits, because of the lean proteins, vegetables and olive oil it contains. But there’s another tradition we should be taking from that region: eating a proper lunch. Lidia Bastianich, executive chef and co-owner of the marketplace Eataly in New York City, spoke with Dr. Manny Alvarez about the importance of the afternoon meal. “I think that lunch is one of the most enjoyable and important things in the day,” Bastianich said. “But you need to create the space and the time to do just that.  And in Italy we do that.” Bastianich said it’s important to treat breakfast like a “king,” lunch like a “prince,” and dinner like a “pauper,” meaning portion sizes for each meal should decrease throughout the day.   For Italians, lunch time servings are often filled with different types of pasta. “I think that's a great time to eat pasta,” Bastianich said. “You know if…at night, you have a big bowl of pasta, then a steak…that doesn't work because that's not in balance.” She also said it’s important to savor the foods you eat during lunch and take the time to focus on the meal. “If we don't focus on when we eat – like let’s say we watch television or something – you eat much more.  If you focus on the food – you smell it, you cook it – you're enjoying it already.” In order to bring the feel of an Italian lunch to Americans, Bastianich has opened a new restaurant called Pranzo, which is located inside Eataly in New York.  It offers a quick, wholesome meal for lunchtime. “Every month the menu reflects one of the regions of Italy, so all of the recipes are of that region,” Bastianich said. “ And they are made with that kind of Italian flavor and the portions are just right for lunch -- and the price is right too.” For more go to EatalyNY.comsource : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/06/03/chef-lidia-bastianich-on-why-eating-lunch-is-so-important/

Allergic and autoimmune diseases linked, mouse study suggests

The results of previous research had shown that people with minor variations in the BACH2 gene often develop allergic or autoimmune diseases, and that a common factor in these diseases is a compromised immune system. In this study in mice, the Bach2 gene was found to be a critical regulator of the immune system’s reactivity. The study, headed by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), both part of NIH, and their colleagues appeared online in Nature, June 2, 2013. …

Genetic signature of deadly brain cancer identified

"This study identifies a core set of genes and pathways that are dysregulated during both the early and late stages of tumor progression," said University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) neurologist Steven Goldman, M.D., Ph.D., the senior author of the study and co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine. "By virtue of their marked difference from normal cells, these genes appear to comprise a promising set of targets for therapeutic intervention." As its name implies, gliomas arise from a cell type found in the central nervous system called the glial cell. Gliomas progress in severity over time and ultimately become highly invasive tumors known as glioblastomas, which are difficult to treat and almost invariably fatal. …

Potential new way to suppress tumor growth discovered

Writing in this week’s online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Willis X. Li, PhD, a professor in the Department of Medicine at UC San Diego, reports that a particular form of a signaling protein called STAT5A stabilizes the formation of heterochromatin (a form of chromosomal DNA), which in turn suppresses the ability of cancer cells to issue instructions to multiply and grow. Specifically, Li and colleagues found that the unphosphorylated form of STAT promotes and stabilizes heterochromatin, which keeps DNA tightly packaged and inaccessible to transcription factors. …