Cancer Experiences

Abortions cause breast cancer
More than 20 studies show that women who have abortions have a higher risk of breast cancer. New research has discovered the mechanism. In the first few weeks of pregnancy certain changes occur in a woman's breasts. Those changes are completed at the end of the pregnancy. When the pregnancy is artificially terminated, those changes are never completed. The cells involved in the incomplete changes have a higher risk of breast cancer.
Entered September 3, 1999
Self-fulfilling cancer attitude
What we believe about our health is in some ways self-fulfilling. During a study of HIV patients, only 42% of those who were optimistic developed full-blown AIDS. However, 56% of HIV men who were pessimistic about their fate developed the full-blown disease. This difference only occurred, however, among those who had had a friend die of AIDS. With those who hadn't had a friend die of AIDS, 47% of both the optimists and pessimists developed AIDS. Researchers feel that having a friend die increased the inner strength of the optimists, but reduced it for the pessimists. (Health Psychology 1999;18:1-10)
Entered from Zest South Pacific Division health newsletter September 3, 1999
Amazing new cancer treatment
The French have developed an amazing new way to battle brain tumours. They have made microscopic balls impregnated with the chemotherapy compounds that kill cancer. The balls are so small they can be inserted in the brain without causing damage. They then release small amounts of the chemotherapy compound directly into the surrounding brain tissue. The tests have been successful in treating glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer that's usually fatal and that makes up almost a quarter of all brain tumours. After surgery removes the tumour, the microscopic balls are placed around the area where it was. The cancers of a quarter of the test group have gone into remission. The others, on average, lived twice as long as those receiving conventional treatment. (Cancer 1999;86:197-199, 324-329)
Entered from Zest South Pacific Division health newsletter September 3, 1999
Finding out too late about cancer
Women who are less conscientious have a greater breast cancer death risk. A survey showed that women who don't complete tasks are less likely to have a mammogram to detect breast cancer. A study of at-risk women concerned about breast cancer gave them standard tests to measure how conscientious they were. The study showed that 90% of the conscientious women had had a mammogram in the last year. However, only 63% of the less-conscientious women had had one. This means that this group of women is more likely to find out too late that they have breast cancer. (Health Psychology 1999;18:1-6)
Entered from Zest South Pacific Division health newsletter September 3, 1999
New key to cause of cancer
Dutch researchers have uncovered a new way to find out if people have high cancer risks. Cancer is often caused when chromosomes in cells are broken. The researchers have found that it is easier to break the chromosomes of some people. The easy-breaking chromosomes are inherited, which explains why cancer tends to run in families. The finding also explains, for example, why some smokers get lung cancer far quicker than others. The researchers hope their finding will lead to tests which show people their risk of cancer. Those in high-risk groups will then be advised to especially avoid factors known to cause cancer. In the meantime, people with cancer in their families should take measures to reduce their cancer risk. (Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1999;91:1125-1130, 1097-1098)
Entered from Zest South Pacific Division health newsletter September 3, 1999
Alternate cancer cure research
United States health authorities are going to investigate `alternate' cancer cures. There are a large number of alternate cancer therapies, but until now, very little research has been done into them. Members of the 15-member panel come from both conventional and alternative medicine. They will guide and encourage research into alternate cancer therapies, sorting out the sheep from the goats.
Entered from Zest South Pacific Division health newsletter September 3, 1999
Exercise reduces cancer
Doing exercise while young reduces the risk of endometrial cancer, the most common cancer of a woman's reproductive tract. A study of 11,000 twins in Sweden also found that being overweight increased the risk. Eating small amounts of fruit and vegetables also increased the risk. However, The risk was reduced by having children, especially three or more. (International Journal of Cancer 1999;82:38-42)
Entered from Zest South Pacific Division health newsletter September 3, 1999
Drinking water reduces cancer
New research shows that drinking water reduces the risk of cancer. Men who drink six glasses of water a day have half the bladder cancer of those who drink only one glass. Bladder cancer is the fouth most common cancer among men. The Harvard research is the first time that drinking water has been shown to have such a dramatic effect at reducing a cancer. (New England Journal of Medicine May 6, 1999)
Entered from Zest South Pacific Division health newsletter September 3, 1999
Surprise cancer cure
German research has found that becoming a vegetarian can cure cancer. The research looked at the lives of people who had "spontaneous remission" of cancer. It found that 90% of them had become vegetarians since contracting cancer. Source: Vic Trotsky at a Brisbane SDA health meeting
Entered from Zest South Pacific Division health newsletter September 3, 1999
Tomatoes cut cancer risk
Tomatoes can help prevent some forms of cancer, says South Pacific Division health director Dr Percy Harold. Tomato and tomato products (salsa, tomato sauce, etc) may lower the risk of prostate, lung and stomach cancer. "The substances causing the lower incidence of these cancers have not yet been identified," he says. "This research does not indicate that we should eat tomatos three times a day. It does indicate tomatoes should, where possible, be part of a balanced diet, along with other fresh fruit and vegetables that are associated with prevention of other types of cancer."
Entered The Record April 27, 1999
Soy reduces cancer
Studies on rats show that eating soy beans early in life reduces the risk of prostate and breast cancer. In the case of breast cancer, the soy changes the immature tissue making it making it more resistant to developing cancer cells.
Entered The Record April 27, 1999
Cancer diet analyst
I worked as a cancer data analyst nearly 10 years reading medical charts every day looking for significant cancer signals. Believe me, it cannot be emphasized too strongly: It's YOUR body, and you are the only one most effected by anything that goes wrong. EVERYONE should take a course in human anatomy and physiology and learn everything possible about their body. Also, be aware of the particular idiosyncracies of YOUR body: Know where your skin moles, etc. are and check often for changes; LISTEN to your body and when things don't seem normal for you or right, DEMAND that everything be done to follow it up. Go to another physician if you are not satisfied with the concern. In my years' experience, I learned more than I wanted, but also discovered doctor's mistakes, that at times they overlooked obvious signs or symptoms or test results that should have been followed up. They are NOT INFALLIBLE, only humans with a little more training and experience. YOU are the one that pays for their oversight. You must be aggressive in your diagnosis and treatment. Elaine
Entered Elaine Nelson ageis@ix.netcom.com March 31, 1999
Aussie skin cancer
Aussies have the highest incidence of melanoma (the BAD skin cancer) in the world. Reason? not sure, someone can furnish further info. Elaine Aussie Editor's note: We Aussies are one of the few European countries in the tropics. So we are exposed to more sun than any other group of Europeans.
Entered March 31, 1999
Importence danger
Our daughter is a RN in a juvenile facility and often gives health information talks to the inmates. She discusses the hazards of drugs and tobacco, but the most effective deterrent for the teenage males: Possible impotence (which she usually has to explain in their street language. Their eyes get big and it really SCARES them! Elaine
Entered Elaine Nelson ageis@ix.netcom.com March 31, 1999
Pain in left side
How are you now and what had they done for you. I had my female organs removed in 1991 and I often get a pain in my left side and they say it is an Irritable bowel. I also have a large stomach but I am overweight. How can you get ovairan cancer with no overies.
Entered Djspav@aol.com March 31, 1999
Cancer cannot...
Cancer is limited ..... It cannot lessen the poer of the resurrection.
Entered Daryl Martin darylpm@geocities.com March 31, 1999
Protein stops tumors
English scientists believe they have found a "master switch" that allows tumors to use tricks to evade the body's immune system. It's a protein called PML, Reuters says. Its report says: If it works, killer T-cells in the body's immune system go into battle against cancerous cells. If it doesn't, the tumor takes over with devastating consequences. "The master switch controls whether killer cells recognize the tumor," Dr. Yang Liu, an immunologist at Ohio State University Medical Center, said. PML controls several genes that produce and transport a major histocompatibility complex - comprising a peptide and molecules - to the surface of the cell. They act as a marker for the T-cells, alerting them to the tumor. See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557304154-8c6
SDAhealth email from Rose Bowen, bowenten@swva.net Entered on Dec 14, 1998
Blood for leukemia and anemia
Reuters reports: Researchers have found that using umbilical cord blood may offer new hope for people with leukemia, anemia and a half-dozen genetic diseases, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. The U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute study discovered using umbilical cord blood was as successful a technique for saving lives as conventional bone marrow transplants. Bone marrow transplants can sometimes save lives, but a compatible bone marrow donor is not always available. Only recently have doctors realized umbilical cord blood could be used to rebuild a blood supply tainted by tumor cells or knocked off kilter by a genetic defect.
SDAhealth email from Rose Bowen, bowenten@swva.net Entered on Dec 14, 1998
Cancer not diagnosed
The following was from an email message in the email service SDAhealth:

I have Primary Peritoneal Cancer. This cancer has only recently been identified as its OWN type of cancer; but it is essentially Ovarian Cancer. Both types of cancer are diagnosed in the same way (with the "tumor marker" CA-125 blood test), and they are treated in the same way (surgery to remove the primary tumor and then chemotherapy with Taxol and Carboplatin). Having gone through this ordeal, I want to save others from the same fate. That is why I am sending this message to you and hope you will print it and give it or send it via e-mail to everybody you know. One thing I have learned is that each of us must take TOTAL responsibility for our own health care. I thought I had done that because I always had an annual physical, had my annual mammogram and PAP smear, did monthly Self Breast Exam, went to the dentist at least twice/year, etc. I even insisted on a sigmoidoscopy and a bone density test last year. When I had a total hysterectomy in 1993, I thought that I did not have to worry about getting any of the female reproductive organ cancers. LITTLE DID I KNOW! I don't have ovaries (and they were HEALTHY when they were removed!), but I have what is essentially ovarian cancer. Strange, isn't it? These are just SOME of the things our Doctors never tell us. ONE OUT OF EVERY 55 WOMEN WILL GET OVARIAN OR PRIMARY PERITONEAL CANCER! The "classic" symptoms are an abdomen that rather suddenly enlarges and constipation and/or diarrhea. I had these classic symptoms and went to the Doctor. Because these symptoms seemed to be "abdominal," I went to a gastroenterologist. He ran tests that were designed to determine whether there was a bacterial infection; these tests were negative, and I was diagnosed with "Irritable Bowel Syndrome." I guess I would have accepted this diagnosis had it not been for my enlarged abdomen. I swear to you, it looked like I was 4-5 months pregnant! I, therefore, insisted on more tests. They took an X-Ray of my abdomen; it was negative. I was, again, assured that I had Irritable Bowel Syndrome and was encouraged to go on my scheduled month-long trip to Europe. I couldn't wear any of my slacks or shorts because I couldn't get them buttoned, and I KNEW something was radically wrong. I INSISTED on more tests, and they (reluctantly) scheduled me for a CT-Scan (just to shut me up, I think). This is what I mean by taking charge of our own health care. The CT-Scan showed a lot of fluid in my abdomen (NOT normal!). Needless to say, I had to cancel my trip and have FIVE POUNDS of fluid drawn off at the hospital (not a pleasant procedure, I assure you, but NOTHING compared to what was ahead of me). Tests revealed cancer cells in the fluid. Finally, finally, finally, the Doctor ran a CA-125 blood test and I was properly diagnosed. I HAD THE CLASSIC SYMPTOMS FOR OVARIAN CANCER AND, YET, THIS SIMPLE CA-125 BLOOD TEST HAD NEVER BEEN RUN ON ME ... NOT AS PART OF MY ANNUAL PHYSICAL EXAM AND NOT WHEN I WAS SYMPTOMATIC. THIS IS AN INEXPENSIVE AND SIMPLE BLOOD TEST!!! PLEASE, PLEASE, P-L-E-A-S-E tell all your female friends and relatives to insist on a ca-125 blood test every year as part of their annual physical exams. Be forewarned that their doctors might try to talk them out of it, saying "It isn't necessary." Believe me, had I known then what i know now, we would have caught my cancer much earlier (before it was a stage 3 cancer)!!! insist on the CA-125 blood test; don't take "No" for an answer. The normal range for a ca-125 blood test is between zero and 35. (Minewas 754 ... that's right, 754!) If the number is slightly elevated, you can have another one done in three or six months and keep a close eye on it just like women do when they have fibroid tumors or when men have a slightly elevated PSA TEST (Prostate Specific Antigens) that helps diagnose prostate cancer. Having the CA-125 test done annually can alert you early, and that's the goal in diagnosing any type of cancer-catch it early. I hope I haven't bored you with all of this. But I hope I HAVE scared you enough to motivate you to action. Do YOU know 55 women? If so, at least one of them will have this VERY AGGRESSIVE cancer-and maybe, just maybe, it will be YOU. I hope not. Please, go to your Doctor THIS WEEK and insist on a CA-125 test and have one EVERY YEAR for the rest of your life. And forward this message to every woman you know and tell all of your female family members and friends. As the Nike ads say, "JUST DO IT!" Please don't think youth will protect you, either. Though the median age for this cancer is 56 (and, guess what, I'm exactly 56, women as young as 22 have it. Age is not a factor. Thank you for your time. My best wishes for your continued good health. Carolyn Benivegna.
Entered from email by Maxine E. Sarjeant, btimes@ui.uis.doleta.gov, Nov 25, 1998
SDA study shows meat linked to cancer
Loma Linda, California, USA ... [ANN] Researchers at Loma Linda University in California say that their study of Seventh-day Adventists confirms the links between meat-eating and colon cancer, and additionally that white meat is just as likely a cause as red meat. In an article published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, Drs. Gary Fraser and Pramil Singh identify higher meat consumption with an excess risk of colon cancer. "Our study is not the first to establish a link between the consumption of red meat and colon cancer," says Fraser. "However the study also shows that increased levels of consumption of white meat (chicken and fish) also lead to higher risks of colon cancer. The evidence is that both red and white meat have similar risks, which are around three times those who do not eat meat." The study draws on the wide array of dietary habits of Seventh-day Adventists, many of whom are vegetarians. The researchers concluded that the more meat consumed, the higher the risk of contracting colon cancer. Those eating red or white meat 3-4 times a week had a 200% increased risk. "This study adds confirmation to concepts that Adventists have believed for many years," says Stoy Proctor, associate director in Health Ministries at the Adventist Church Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. "It shows the advantages of a plant diet as part of a healthy lifestyle." Proctor pointed out that in 1896, Ellen G. White, one of the co-founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church wrote that "From the light God has given me, the prevalence of cancer and tumors is largely due to gross living on dead flesh." "Adventists continue to promote a vegetarian diet and these studies are a welcome addition to the evidence that you can live longer and with a better quality of life by avoiding the consumption of meat." [Jonathan Gallagher]
Entered by Phil Ward from ANN News- Oct 26, 1998
Vitamin A reduces skin cancer growth
Research on mice suggests that a high intake of Vitamin A may reduce the risk of malignant melanoma. Vitamin A appeared to slow the growth of the skin cancer cells.
Entered by Phil Ward - Oct 26, 1998
Vitamin E prevents colon cancer
Research by the University of Washington showed that a multi-vitamin supplement reduced colon cancer 51%. The 10-year study also showed a Vitamin E supplement reduced colon cancer by 57%.
Entered by Phil Ward - Oct 26, 1998
Share your Cancer Experiences
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Entered by Phil Ward - Oct 26, 1998
This forum is presented on this website to encourage people to realise that they are individually responsible for their own good health. Obviously, not all material presented in this forum is medically sound. But if what is written here challenges and clarifies your thinking, it has done its job.