Cancer And Lifestyle

Over 40% of cancers due to lifestyle
Nearly half of cancers diagnosed in the UK each year - over 130,000 in total - are caused by avoidable life choices including smoking, drinking and eating the wrong things, a review reveals.Tobacco is the biggest culprit, causing 23% of cases in men and 15.6% in women, says the Cancer Research UK report.

Next comes a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables in men's diets, while for women it is being overweight. The report is published in the British Journal of Cancer. Its authors claim it is the most comprehensive analysis to date on the subject.

In total, 14 lifestyle and environmental factors, such as where you live and the job you do, combine to cause 134,000 cancers in the UK each year. About 100,000 (34%) of the cancers are linked to smoking, diet, alcohol and excess weight. One in 25 of cancers is linked to a person's job, such as being exposed to chemicals or asbestos. Some risk factors are well established, such as smoking's link with lung cancer.



But others, like gall bladder cancer, are largely unrelated to lifestyle. The researchers base their calculations on predicted numbers of cases for 18 different types of cancer in 2010, using UK incidence figures for the 15-year period from 1993 to 2007.

In men, 6.1% (9,600) of cancer cases were linked to a lack of fruit and vegetables, 4.9% (7,800) to occupation, 4.6% (7,300) to alcohol, 4.1% (6,500) to overweight and obesity and 3.5% (5,500) to excessive sun exposure and sunbeds.

In women, 6.9% (10,800) were linked to overweight and obesity, 3.7% (5,800) to infections such as HPV (which causes most cases of cervical cancer), 3.6% (5,600) to excessive sun exposure and sunbeds, 3.4% (5,300) to lack of fruit and vegetables and 3.3% (5,100) to alcohol.

You can read the full report here.

Bowel cancer screening ‘does cut deaths’

A bowel cancer screening programme in England is on course to cut deaths by a sixth, say researchers studying results from the first million people tested. When results from the first 1.08 million taking part were collated, it was found that 2.5% of men and 1.5% of women had received an abnormal result, and were sent for further tests, usually colonoscopy, in which a tube with a camera on the end is passed into the colon. Among the men with abnormal results, 43% turned out to have either cancer or pre-cancerous growths in their colon. The figure for women was 11.6%. However, the test appeared to be less effective at spotting cancers in the upper section, or "right side" of the colon. 

You can read the full article here.

Cancer 'drives families into debt'

Two-thirds of parents of children with cancer surveyed by a UK cancer charity say they have been forced to borrow money to make ends meet. Of the 245 families interviewed, 76% said that their child's illness had had a major impact on finances with two in three parents experiencing a loss of earnings. The survey was carried out by children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent.

Found And Lost

Yesterday, a cancer friend emailed me the URL of a cancer blog written by and on behalf of his mother's new generation (NG) PDT treatment. I was looking into the viability of NGPGT as an alternative treatment for my lung metastasis.  In fact, when the first page load, the first thought that arose my mind was "What? The patient is now embarking on the 3rd cycle of NGPDT" Why so many cycles? As I read the details from the blog, several questions arose in my mind and I began to have doubts. I am not a doctor and I don't have the finer technical details of this treatment and even if I had the details, I am not sure I could digest those technical details. But on a much higher level as disclosed in the blog, based on those information given, I am presenting my views and I stand corrected of course.

NGPDT Process:  This NGPDT process uses a 2 stage process: 1) an agent is inhaled + drank into the body which contains extracted chlorophyll from plants.  The chlorophyll molecules will attach to tumor cells as "food".  Cancer cells are hungry for any food or nutrition.  Normal cells does not have affinity to the chlorophyll molecules which gets flushed out of the body.  2) Three type of laser (different frequencies) is shined externally onto the body to cause the chlorophyll to generate singlet Oxygen (like in photosynthesis process in plants).  These Oz will burst the tumor cells or break the cell membrane of the tumor cells.  Since normal cells does not have the chlorophyll attached, they are not damaged by this light process.

The above information was obtained from the blog and I just extracted them out verbatim. Sounds very logical. An agent which is a chlorophyll extracted from plant is inhaled and ingested. This statement "Cancer cells are hungry for any food or nutrition." Is this true? Many cancer patients like me uses diet to starve cancer cells. I have been quite successful keeping the cancer at bay. When chlorophyll is ingested or inhaled, it will go to the stomach and then be digested and absorbed into the blood stream. I don't know whether the original chlorophyll molecule is still intact after digestion. I know cancer feeds on glucose but gets attracted to chlorophyll? Even if this is the case, my next question is: Can the singlet oxygen do it? i.e. "These Oz will burst the tumor cells or break the cell membrane of the tumor cells."  According to CancerTutor.org in The Hydrogen Peroxide Therapy, "The issue in curing cancer with hydrogen peroxide boils down to getting enough hydrogen peroxide inside the cancer cells. Every cancer cell has a thick protein (i.e. enzyme) coating on its surface. The protein coating blocks many substances, and perhaps much of the hydrogen peroxide, from getting to the surface of the cell and thus from getting inside the cell. So what can be done to get a higher percentage of the hydrogen peroxide past the protein coating and inside the cancer cells." The answer lies in "Proteolytic enzymes (also called: pancreatic enzymes) literally cut apart the thick protein coating which covers cancer cells. Proteolytic enzymes are normally used to cut apart the protein coating so that the immune system can recognize the cells as cancerous." So does the mere presence of a singlet oxygen will burst the cancer cell membrane? The PET scan after the end of the 2nd cycle of NGPDT showed very little evidence of necrotic cells. There were attempts to say to the effect of cell necrosis can only be detected through biopsy. I am not sure how a biopsy would be able to quantify and true enough, even though a biopsy was done, nothing conclusive could be drawn. For me some people seems to divert attention away from the main advantage of PET scan (over that of CT/MRI) and possibly suggesting the cell necrosis did occurred but was cleaned away by the system. If that were true, then the size of the tumor should be smaller but it grew instead. It should be noted that some treatments like HITV and HIFU uses PET scan to detect necrotic cells and why would this treatment be different? From other readings, I gather that the mere presence of oxygen near or around cancer cells has the effect of preventing metastasis.

As I said, this is layman's account of the NGPDT process. It seems to raise more questions and doubt in me. I have more questions but I will not discuss them. I know, I am questioning the very foundation of this treatment. Based on what the doctors said about the reactions and symptoms experienced by the patient, the NGPDT treatment should be working but results after the 2nd NGPDT shows otherwise. I acknowledged there could be other reasons (one of them is that cancer cells do not exists as single cell but are often in colonies and the singlet oxygen would probably only be able to penetrate the top layer and not the layers below). Based on the progress reports in the blog, I have came to this conclusion. I could be wrong. Suddenly, I don't find this treatment so attractive now.

NGPGT is not a very cheap treatment. It costs RMB110K per cycle (US$18K). The patient has two tumors in the breast (stage 3)  and did not opt for conventional treatment such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The patient is on a normal diet.

Some Expectations

The other day, a friend was asking me how was I feeling as I near my upcoming medical procedure? I told her, I don't know if this is a co-incidence or not, as I near the departure date, the pain from my right abdominal area near the kidney tumor is also becoming more painful. I think the timing of the medical procedure could not come at the right time. I am upbeat about this trip. Even thought this medical procedure is palliative in nature, I do have some expectation, the expectation that this procedure would have the desired effect. This would mean successful removal of the tumors and hence no more pain from the right abdominal area. I also hope they can at the same time do something about my bulging disc in the lumbar spine L4/L5 area.While at the hospital, I hope to learn more about other treatment is available for lung tumor metastasis.

The hospital has contacted me and requested for my complete medical records as it would help them understand my case better. I have scanned the reports and emailed it to them. However, I have to bring over the images of the scans as the saved digital images of the scan are not suitable for diagnostic use.

I will not talk about my sleeping problems because I have become too aware of it. I think I have overstretched myself the other day by squatting down for too long and now I feel the muscles on my thighs are not only tender but painful as well. It's the same kind of muscle pain that you experience a day or two later when you start exercising after a period of inactivity. Massaging the muscles are painful but does wonders in pain relief. It's getting better.

Kepler 22-b: Earth-Like Planet Confirmed

I read with interest about this discovery by astronomers and would like to share with you. Astronomers have confirmed the existence of an Earth-like planet in the "habitable zone" around a star not unlike our own.

The planet, Kepler 22-b, lies about 600 light-years away and is about 2.4 times the size of Earth, and has a temperature of about 22C.

It is the closest confirmed planet yet to one like ours - an "Earth 2.0". However, the team does not yet know if Kepler 22-b is made mostly of rock, gas or liquid. You can read more about the BBC article here.

Money Money Money

Yesterday, I did not sleep well. I was not sure if I slept as I was in a dreamy state. Despite waking up late, I did not feel refreshed. I was coughing quite a bit this morning and noted my phlegm was stained with blood. The more I cough, I more blood I saw with the phlegm. After I had my morning enema and breakfast, the cough subsided a bit. This happens once in a while. What ever it is, life continues.

I was reading BBC's website today where it was reported about a child afflicted with a rare cancer, neuroblastoma, which affects around 80 children in Britain each year. Chemotherapy did not help. Then in 2007 they heard about a private clinic in Mexico offering a treatment called photodynamic therapy (PDT). PDT uses laser or other light sources, combined with a light-sensitive drug (sometimes called a photosensitising agent), to destroy cancer cells. After embarking on an alternative form of treatment costing his family over £200,000 (US$312,000), only one primary tumor (out of 11) remains. You can read the BBC article here.

I wrote to a cancer friend about this PDT therapy and she told me that PDT is suitable for small lung tumors and she did the New Generation (NG) PDT therapy in August 2011 in Gunagzhou with not much improvement.  She said for bigger tumors,  interstitial PDT treatment, direct to the tumor, may have better result for her case but she said she has run of out of $$$ to try. Her friend's husband who is in Guangzhou undergoing the NGPDT treatment the 2nd time for pancreatic cancer and I am keen to know the results of his treatment. Apparently, her friend met an Indonesian cancer patient who did the Ukrain and NGPDT treatment said NGPDT seems to offer better results. I just hope the  interstitial/NGPDT treatment cost in China is reasonable.

Last Minute Shopping

I will make today's post short because I was busy for the whole day.

Yesterday I came home late and did me coffee enema at about midnight. After that, I retired to bed and could not sleep. It must been the coffee. The imported coffee that I use in not only organic but very good grade, and in my opinion better than that you get in Starbucks. So I spent the whole night staring at the ceiling. I just toss and rolled in bed and got up at 10am this morning to begin my morning routine. Even during the day time, I did not sleep. After lunch, a group of my friends visited me. We were all finance guys, once upon a time working together at two listed companies as COO, Group FCs, Company Secretary and Senior FM. So when we got together, it's always about the good old days. It's really nice of them to visit me before I fly off to China. We will most likely meet again just before Chinese New Year in January 2012 for our annual reunion.

Then after dinner, my sister came over and we went shopping for long johns. My old johns are size L and now I can only wear M size. This john is made of 100% extrafine coolwarm fibre. What this means is that when I am at a place that is cold, the john will keep me warm and yet when I am at a place that is warm, the john will not make me feel hot but comfortable.

Flat Out

Yesterday, I was flat out in the afternoon. I woke up at about 10am after a good night's sleep. Went about my morning routine. After lunch I was starting to feel tired. I laid down on a makeshift mattress that I put on the carpet to rest my back. I am not sure if my back or my kidney tumor is giving me the pain but most likely it is my tumor because when I softly massage the tumor area, I get some relief. After I laid down to rest my back, I went to slumber land. I did not plan to sleep but only to rest the back. I woke up about 6pm and then continue my daily routine. When I sleep, I am not drinking my juices. If I am awake to prepare and drink the juices, then I cannot sleep. I don't know which option is better but I do know whichever I do, there will be a compromise.

Last night was the first time I sleep without the sleeping pills after taking them six days in a row. Was I able to sleep better? I only managed to fall asleep at past 3am. Maybe it was the afternoon nap that I took but I am still happy that I was able to sleep. Today, I have a busy day. I have signed up for a Buddhist workshop that will last 5 hours at a Sri Lankan Temple in Sentul starting at 3pm. The first part of the workshop is about how to live during difficult times or when life seems to be full of obstacles. This is a practical Q&A session. The second part of the workshop is about how to use spirituality to develop inner peace. I felt the theme of today's workshop was quite suitable for me and decided to attend to take instruction from the master. I have stayed away from attending talks for the last two years but decided to be more active from now onwards.

A friend of mine called me yesterday and told me that he will be going to a hospital in Guangzhou to undergo a medical procedure called Atrial Fibrillation. When he heard that I will be doing medical procedure in Chongqing, after checking out the hospital that I was going, he was rather keen to go to the same hospital. I gave him my contact and hope that he could arrange something out with the hospital.  My sister and my wife will be accompanying with me to Chingqing for about 10 days and while the rest of the days, I will be alone. I figure out that if anything should happen to me, it should happen within the first week of the medical procedure and with two persons around, it would be easier to handle the situation. If my friend can come too, it would be nice as I would have company in Chonging when I stayed on do the follow-up treatment later.

Looking Forward To Treatment In China

I just came from the hospital after seeing my orthopedic surgeon. He suggested I go for another round (8 sessions) of ultrasound physiotherapy and then decide. He also asked me to bring my MRI scans the next time I see him. If the physiotherapy does not work, then he said the only two options left are a) take pain killers or b) undergo surgery. I told him I will be in China for my kidney tumor treatment and he suggested that I take my Lumbar spine MRI scans along and maybe the doctors there can help.

Last night, I met my friends who just came back from India and I am happy to hear that they are quite pleased with the trip. It was an eye opener for them and they found the trip fun. I came home just before midnight and took a pain killer and a sleeping pill and went to bed. I slept well and woke up about 11am this morning. I will take my last sleeping pill today. As I said, the taking of the sleeping pill is not for long term sleep management but to change the biorhythm of my body clock. I am now sleeping in the day and awake at night. So after discussing with my doctor, I hope the continuous sleeping at night for a week with the help of sleeping pills would turn my body clock back to normal. Well, it's not guarantee that it will work but  it's better seeing the ceiling or watching TV at the dead of the night or not trying at all. Before I left for India, I was awake seven days in a row at night!

Since I rested well last night, my pain score is also low. So the key is to have a good night's rest. I will decide what to do after consulting my doctor after I come back from China from the HIFU treatment in January 2012.