Health Articles

Despite progress of medical science, breast cancer continues its destructive effects in all social class, poor and rich, black and white. It is estimated that breast cancer will affects one woman in eight will develop cancer during their lifetime. With around 42 000 new cases each year, this disease is a real trouble in the feminine world; cancer is the most feared disease in the 21st century. However, if curing breast cancer is hypothetic, its prevention can be different; there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of its development or its reoccurrence (if you are already a victim):

Avoid Hormone therapy for menopause symptoms – menopause itself is not a disease, it is a natural hormonal change in your body that often occurs after age 45; but some hormonal treatment against the symptoms of menopause can have serious effects on your health. Long-term use of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) may lead to breast cancer. According to WHO (world Health Organization), MHT is a risk factor for breast cancer especially when taken for more than 5 years. In addition, Studies show that hormone therapy can also increase the risk of colorectal cancer.

Practice Prolonged Breastfeeding – it can sound old fashion, but studies have showed that prolonged breastfeeding reduces considerably the risk of developing breast cancer. Breastfeeding provides many benefits in the physical and mental development of the infant. By breastfeeding you increase the chance of your infant to be healthy, and decrease your risk of developing breast cancer. It’s not archaic to breastfeed; if times have changed, the causes leading to breast cancer remain the same, reduce your risk of breast cancer by breastfeeding your child.

Avoid contraceptive containing estrogen – as far as possible, use birth control (contraceptive) medications that do not contain synthetic estrogen hormones. In some women, estrogen tends to block the ovarian activity, and involves in the development of breast cancer or cancer of the uterus.

Treat Obesity – obesity (being overweight) increase the risk of breast cancer. Being overweight, especially after menopause, is associated with carcinogenesis of the normal cells of the breast. This risk is higher among women with high levels of estrogen (hormone). It is estimated that the fight against obesity could prevent more than 10,000 new cases of breast cancer per year. Therefore, eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly.

Melasma (Chloasma)
Melasma is a common, acquired hypermelanosis that primarily affects sun-exposed areas in women. It appears as irregular, light brown-to-gray macules on the cheeks, forehead, upper lip, nose, and chin. This disease is most apparent in Latinos, blacks, and Asians, but all races can be affected. Men represent 10% of cases. Despite a few familial cases, melasma is not considered a true heritable disorder. Postulated causes include pregnancy, oral contraceptive use, endocrine dysfunction, cosmetics, genetic factors, medications (phenytoin), nutritional deficiencies, and hepatic dysfunction. The cause of melasma in one third of women and most men is unknown. Both combination and sequential oral contraceptive use can produce melasma. A study of 212 patients taking oral contraceptives found that 29% developed melasma after starting the medication. Patients should consider changing to other birth control methods, but it is significant to point out that neither delivery nor discontinuation of oral contraceptive use resolves all clinical melasma. It is not recommended to treat melasma during pregnancy or breast-feeding. Estrogen by itself does not seem to cause melasma because postmenopausal women on estrogen replacement do not routinely become afflicted.

Epidermal hypermelanosis in patients with melasma appears tan-to-brown on physical examination, and the macules are accentuated by a Wood’s lamp. Dermal melanosis appears blue-gray because of increased scattering and reemission of blue light when examined with natural light (Tyndall effect). There is no accentuation with Wood’s lamp examination. The mixed type of melasma has elements of both epidermal and dermal patterns and appears as a deep brown color with Wood’s lamp accentuation of the epidermal component. The centrofacial pattern is the most common pattern of disease and involves the cheeks, forehead, upper lip, nose, and chin. The malar pattern involves the cheeks and nose, whereas the mandibular variety affects the mandibular ramus. In a study of 67 Puerto Rican women, 63% had the centrofacial pattern, 21% malar, and 16% mandibular.
Disorders and medications information
Sunscreen, hydroquinone, and time are the triad found to be most effective in controlling epidermal melasma. Hydroquinone is a hydroxyphenolic compound that inhibits the conversion of dopa to melanin by inhibiting the tyrosinase enzyme. It is available as 2% to 4% creams and gels and a 3% solution. Side effects include allergic and irritant contact dermatitis, nail discoloration, depigmentation of surrounding normal skin, and postinflammatory hyperpigmentation. The dopa reaction of melanocytes is increased on exposure to UV radiation, which results in enhanced melanization with sun exposure. Patients who are using bleaching agents can expect a recurrence of disease on exposure to sunlight as well as artificial UVA and UVB light. Broad-spectrum sunscreens (SPF >30) are essential to decrease or eradicate this risk. A rare occurrence in black women is exogenous ochronosis, a reticulated, ripplelike sooty pigmentation of the face affecting the cheeks, forehead, and periorbital regions, caused by excessive use of hydroquinone. Topical tretinoin cream (0.025% to 0.1%) potentiates the effects of hydroquinone therapy. Nonphenolic bleaching products such as azelaic acid, kogic acid, and alpha-hydroxy acids are other treatments reported to be effective in melasma. Chemical peels are recommended only in light-skinned individuals because of the risk of postinflammatory hyperpigmentation, and monobenzone therapy is not recommended because of the risk of chemical leukoderma. Dermal melasma is difficult to treat because of the depth and pattern of melanin. Camouflage makeup (i.e., Dermablend) is often helpful in masking melasma.

In fact, hydrogen peroxide is so effective in rendering viruses “noninfectious” that a US patent application was recently filed for “methods for producing a vaccine composition containing a pathogen that is rendered noninfectious by exposure to hydrogen peroxide. The methods disclosed herein are suitable for the preparation of vaccines for a wide variety of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria and parasites.” Interestingly, hydrogen peroxide replaces the currently used ingredient, formaldehyde, in this process. (See USPTO Application #: 20070031451. Title: Inactivating pathogens with hydrogen peroxide for vaccine production)

If you wonder why hydrogen peroxide, which is readily available for little cost, has not been used in combating modern viruses, you don’t need to look very far to find out. As any good investigative reporter will tell you, “Follow the money.” If there are “hidden motives” or conflicts of interest in public health policy, this is how to find them.

According to Wikipedia, “Many nations, as well as the World Health Organization, are working to stockpile anti-viral drugs in preparation for a possible pandemic. Oseltamivir (trade name Tamiflu) is the most commonly sought drug, since it is available in pill form… Tamiflu was originally discovered by Gilead Sciences and licensed to Roche for late-phase development and marketing… Donald Rumsfeld, a shareholder in Gilead Sciences, has profited from the US government stockpiling of oseltamivir in case of an influenza pandemic.”

Peter Kang reports on Forbes website, in an article dated 02.01.06, that “Gilead’s marketing partner Roche reported 2005 Tamiflu sales of $1.2 billon with approximately half of that amount related to pandemic stockpiling.”

It will not surprise anyone who has sufficiently researched the field of alternative health to learn that pharmaceutical corporations, and their shareholders, are making enormous profits because of the fear of pandemics. While it may be going too far to suggest that this fear is actually encouraged by these corporate interests, it is certainly undeniable that fear is very good for their bottom line.

What is also well known to such researchers is that there are effective natural substance that you can use to build your defenses so as to prevent swine flu viruses, and most others, from infecting you, and your loved ones. Thanks to the Internet, you now have access to information about safe, low cost alternative remedies that can help you prevent swine flu, as well as protecting you from an astonishingly “wide variety of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria and parasites.”

I encourage you to do your own research to find the information that can empower you to take control of your own healthcare choices. The best antidote to media fostered hysteria is accurate knowledge of all your alternatives.
Mary Helen Sutherland

Is it possible to prevent swine flu from infecting you when, around the world, public health authorities are on high alert against the threat of a global swine flu pandemic as I write this. If you wonder what you can do to protect yourself, and your family, you’ll want to read this article very carefully.

Twenty people have already died in Mexico of “Influenza A H1N1 swine virus“, a new strain that has never been seen before. For some time scientists have been predicting a new flu virus that could cause a global pandemic, and authorities are already suggesting that this is the long awaited new virus that will cause it.

Health authorities are concentrating on containing this outbreak with targeted pharmaceuticals. Early tests indicate that this particular virus is sensitive to two antiviral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, which several countries have stockpiled for just such an emergency.

In addition, there may be calls for mass vaccinations to contain the spread of the disease, as there were in 1976. In that year the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of The United States Public Health Service recommended vaccinating the entire population to prevent a pandemic.

However, vaccinations pose considerable threats because they contain toxic ingredients, including formaldehyde. The list of possible side effects can even include death. In fact, in 1976, the vaccine manufacturers insisted that the federal government indemnify them against claims of adverse reactions, as a requirement for release of the vaccines. You may wonder why they would do that if the vaccines were safe? According to Marc Siegel MD, an associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, the 1976 vaccination program probably led to almost 1,000 cases of ascending paralysis (Guillain Barre Syndrome).

It’s no wonder that more and more people have become distrustful of such vaccines, despite dire warnings from governments that they are necessary to protect us. We will come back to the possible “hidden motives” for such warnings in a moment.

The first concern is whether there is anything you can do to safely protect yourself, and your loved ones, from these inevitable viral threats, without resorting to questionable vaccines? Is there a natural way to fortify your body’s defenses against both known and unknown viruses, including the latest swine flu?

Most people are not aware that, long before the modern era of patented pharmaceuticals, natural substances were used to effectively combat influenza epidemics. For example, in the worldwide influenza pandemic of 1918-20, two British military physicians, Oliver and Cantab, were treating Indian Gurkha soldiers. They encountered an 80% mortality rate among the soldiers who developed pneumonia. In desperation, they administered intravenous infusions of hydrogen peroxide and reported more than 50% reduction in mortality.
Blog posts about swine flu

It is also noted that swine flu symptoms are relatively general and nonspecific. “So many different things can cause these symptoms. it is a dilemma,” says one doctor interviewed by CNN. “It is a challenge that we are wrestling with. There is not a perfect test right now to let a doctor know that a person has the Swine Flu.” It has been noted that most individuals with Swine Flu had an early on set of fever. Also it was common to see dizziness, body aches and vomiting in addition to the common sneezing, headache and other cold symptoms.

If you become sick and notice early onset of body aches, vomiting and dizziness you should consult with your doctor immediately. Although it is very unlikely that you have the Swine Flu virus, you should get medical confirmation just to be safe.

This Swine Flu virus outbreak could be a very dangerous epidemic or just another bump in the road. Health officials are still trying to figure out where exactly the virus originated, how transmissible it is and why it is mild in some cases and deadlier in others. In the mean time. Wash your hands, use common sense and be on a heightened alert to signs and symptoms of the Swine Flu virus. See you doctor if any unusual flu like symptoms occur.
David P. Lee

News results for Swine Flu virus
A Swine Flu virus has health officials around the world working to contain the growing outbreak. One out of every five residents of Mexico’s most populous city wore masks to protect themselves against the virus as Mexico City seems to be the epicenter of the outbreak. As many as 103 deaths have been attributed to the swine flu so far with many more feared to be on the horizon. The health department of Mexico said an additional 1,614 reported cases have been documented.
Diseases articles
So far, however, only 18 of the deaths in Mexico have been confirmed by laboratory tests to be from swine flu virus and reported to the World Health Organization as such.
Swine Flu virus
In the US preparations have been upgraded for a possible swine flu virus outbreak after 20 cases were reported, also the first cases of the virus was reported in Canada on Sunday – six mild cases.

Swine flu or Swine Influenza is a contagious respiratory sickness that is normally only found in pigs. It is caused by a type-A influenza virus. Outbreaks in pigs occur year-round. The current strain is a new variation of an H1N1 virus, which is a mix of human and animal versions.

Normaly the swine flu virus only spreads from animal to person containing the spread but When the flu spreads person-to-person, it can continue to mutate, making it harder to combat because people have no natural immunity.

The symptoms are similar to the common flu. They include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Learn more about swine flu and how to treat it in the link below.

The swine flu virus spreads when an infected person coughs or sneezes around another person. People can become infected by touching something with the flu virus on it and then touching their mouth, nose or eyes.

Calling it a “public health emergency of international concern” the World Health Organization (WHO) is very concerned. The WHO also says a public health emergency is an occurrence or imminent threat of illness or health conditions caused by bioterrorism, epidemic or pandemic disease, or highly fatal infectious agents or toxins that pose serious risk to a significant number of people.

Swine Flu Virus Protection?

Advice of health experts is to follow common-sense instructions: Wash your hands, stay home if you’re sick and listen to your local health authorities. Advice from the CDC about the situation is, “Very frequent hand-washing is something that we talk about time and time again and that is an effective way to reduce transmission of disease,”. They also advise, “If you’re sick, it’s very important that people stay at home. If your children are sick, have a fever and flu-like illness, they shouldn’t go to school. And if you’re ill, you shouldn’t get on an airplane or another public transport to travel. Those things are part of personal responsibility in trying to reduce the impact. “

One of the most interesting things about modern medicine is the road of pharmaceuticals and surgery that we have taken. Have you ever considered that there might be alternative pathways of development?

To illustrate my point, I’m going to bring up a debate with ancient origins. At some point in ancient medicine there was a split. At the time of that split, there were two camps that emerged.
One camp believed in the concept of mechanism. That is that every part of the body can be broken down and understood in terms of simple mechanics or simple biological understandings.
Can you guess what the other camp believed? They believed in something that was called “Vitalism”. In the Vitalist camp was the idea that the body is regulated by an intelligent force that was capable of healing the body. This camp believed in working with the body and working with nature.

Later, the mechanists found that they could extract the ‘active’ ingredients in plants, synthesize them in a laboratory and then patent the synthesized chemical structure – which would be slightly altered in the process so that it was no longer the ‘natural’ chemical that could not be patented.

So, in the end, the mechanists stole from the vitalist camp. So, does that mean the vitalists won the fight in the end? Well, not really because the mechanists are still the predominant medical establishment today.
The vitalists are still around but they have been forced in to roles and professions that are more or less subservient to the mechanists.
But these natural remedies that come from plants in their natural form in nature still exists today. They use them for natural cancer treatments that work.
They use them to treat ailments other than cancer too. You have probably heard of some of them.
Next, learn more about natural cancer treatments that work.
Cancerstreatment.com provides research and opinion on the screening, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancers.

CHORIONIC VILLUS SAMPLING
Indications for CVS are essentially the same as those for amniocentesis, except for analyses that require amniotic fluid rather than amniotic fluid cells. The primary advantage of CVS is that results are available much earlier in pregnancy, which decreases parental anxiety when results are normal and, when they are abnormal, allows earlier and safer methods of pregnancy termination. Earlier diagnosis may also be required for prenatal treatment (eg, prevention of female virilization in fetuses affected with 21-hydroxylase deficiency by administration of dexamethasone to the mother). Chorionic villus sampling is generally performed at 9-12 weeks of gestation. Before CVS is performed, fetal viability and gestational age should be confirmed by ultrasonography.

Placental villi may be obtained through transcervical, transabdominal, and transvaginal access to the placenta. Active infection is a contraindication to transcervical CVS. Later in pregnancy, when a fetal malformation or IUGR is associated with severe oligohydramnios, transabdominal CVS is an alternative method of invasive sampling.

There have been three major collaborative studies comparing CVS and amniocentesis. Trials at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and in Canada had similar results, with more than 99% cytogenetic analysis success and total pregnancy loss rates of 0.6-0.8% in excess of amniocentesis. There is probably a slightly higher risk of pregnancy loss from CVS than from amniocentesis, especially with the transcervical approach.

PERCUTANEOUS UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD SAMPLING

Percutaneous umbilical cord blood sampling is also known as cordocentesis. During cordocentesis, the umbilical vein is punctured and blood is withdrawn under ultrasound guidance. Cordocentesis has also been used to obtain fetal blood cells for prenatal diagnosis when a rapid diagnosis is important. For example, the PUBS technique can be performed when a fetal malformation or severe IUGR is detected late in pregnancy. A procedure-related pregnancy loss rate of 1.4% has been reported.

FETOSCOPIC TISSUE SAMPLING

Some conditions not diagnosable by conventional means of invasive prenatal diagnostic testing may be detected by fetal tissue sampling. Fetal tissue sampling can be performed either by fetoscopy, with its rather high (1-3%) procedure-related pregnancy loss rate, or by ultrasound-guided biopsy. Other procedures include fetal skin sampling for the diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa and congenital ichthyosis and fetal liver biopsy to detect certain hepatic enzyme deficiencies.

AMNIOCENTESIS

Amniocentesis for prenatal diagnostic testing is usually offered between 15 and 20 weeks of gestation. Under ultrasound guidance, a 20-22-gauge spinal needle is passed into the amniotic fluid. The initial aspirate of 1-2 mL of fluid should be discarded to decrease the chance of maternal cell contamination. A total of 20-30 mL of fluid is aspirated, and the needle is removed.
Esophageal Cancer
Amniocentesis has greater than 99% cytogenetic diagnostic accuracy and a fetal loss rate of approximately 0.5%. The most common complications have been transient vaginal spotting or amniotic fluid leakage in approximately 12% of all cases. The incidence of chorioamnionitis is less than 1 in 1,000. Needle injuries to the fetus have been reported but are very rare. Culture failure is uncommon.

Amniocentesis with twins is possible in 95% of pregnancies. Amniotic fluid is aspirated from the first sac. Before the needle is removed, 2-3 mL of indigo carmine (methylene blue is not recommended) diluted 1:10 in bacteriostatic water is injected into the first sac. Amniocentesis is then performed on the second sac at a location that is selected after visualization of the separating membrane. Aspiration of clear fluid confirms that the second sac has been sampled.

Ninety percent of NTDs are associated with intracranial abnormalities or varying degrees of hydrocephaly. The value of amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein determination with an ultrasound evaluation has become increasingly controversial as ultrasound resolution has improved. Through amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein analysis, diagnosis of an NTD is possible in all except the 5% of fetuses whose spinal defect is covered by skin. The amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein level may be spuriously elevated if the amniotic fluid is contaminated with fetal blood. This potential error can be eliminated, however, if amniotic fluid acetylcholinesterase is assayed simultaneously. Its presence verifies that the elevated amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein level is likely due to an NTD or other fetal defect. If fetal hemoglobin is present but acetylcholinesterase is absent, the elevated amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein level can be deduced to result from either the presence of fetal blood or from an anomaly other than an NTD. Failure to detect an anomaly by ultrasonography does not necessarily indicate that the elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein level was spurious. A subtle anomaly may still exist. Alternatively, an unexplained elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein level may reflect placental dysfunction and indicate increased risk for certain pregnancy complications (eg, preterm labor, IUGR, stillbirth).

Vitamin Supplements

While home remedies seem to be “hit and miss” and vary from one person to another, Vitamin supplements seem to work consistently.

• Vitamin C is high in antioxidants. The average recommended dose is 98mg. To get the benefits of vitamin C, try taking a higher than average dosage of Vitamin C – 200 mg. Studies show that this lowers asthma attacks by 30%. Vitamin C seems particularly effective for exercise-induced asthma.

• B6 has also shown dramatic decrease in the frequency and severity of wheezing attacks.

• Magnesium, has a bronchodilating effect and helps relieve asthma symptoms. It has been shown that asthma sufferers have low Magnesium stores.

Herbal Supplements

Herbal remedies have been used for thousands of years. Pick up some of these at your local health food store and try them. Be careful to only try one new herb at a time and start with low doses. The amount needed of a particular herb varies from one person to the next.
Comfrey – Decreases swelling and repairs tissue
Jimson – Relieves spasms of the bronchi
Mullein, Garlic and peppermint all work as an expectorant

Look through these suggestions and try the ones that look appealing to you. Hopefully, by trying some of these remedies, you will find relief from your asthma symptoms.
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