U.S. Cancer Death Rates Showing Steady Decline

Americans are enjoying an overall steady decline in their risk of cancer death. This is largely due to improvement in approaches to early detection through cancer screening, enhanced cancer treatments, and the adoption of methods for cancer prevention. U.S. researchers have recently shown that over the last three decades, these factors and more have resulted in a significant decline of cancer death rates. The study appears in the journal Cancer Research.

According to Dr. Eric Kort of the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan and colleagues, all age groups have experienced some improvement in deaths due to cancer. However, the age group that has experienced the most significant decline in cancer death rates encompasses younger adults between the ages of 35 to 45 years. Kort says, “Essentially, the younger you are, the faster your rates are declining.”

Kort pointed out that the focus on cancer prevention, including such efforts as the creation of smoking cessation programs, has been a key factor in the improved cancer death rates. He further noted, “We're also
benefiting in profound ways from progress we're making in early detection and better treatments. Some of these advances benefit younger people first.” A good example can been seen in the milestone achievements for the treatment of childhood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, that have allowed countless people to survive what had previously been known as incurable, fatal diseases.

Other improvements include life-saving cancer detection methods that have been implemented, such as the mammogram for breast cancer, and the colonoscopy for colon cancer. These screenings have the ability to detect cancers at earlier stages, when they are much easier to treat.

The study measured the decline in cancer deaths by age. Kort’s team analyzed cancer mortality and population data obtained from The World Health Organization Statistical Information System. The researchers examined cancer mortality rates broken down by both age and birth cohort at 10-year intervals, beginning with the year 1925.

According to Kort, “Everyone born since the 1930s has enjoyed a decreased risk of cancer death, at every age.” However, the most significant improvements were noted among the study’s youngest age group of 35 to 45 years, for which a 25.6 percent decline in cancer deaths was observed per decade. For older groups, a decline of 6.8 percent per decade was noted.

Although government estimates indicate only modest improvement in cancer death during the 20th century until the mid-1990s, Kort said that this does not give us a complete picture. In a telephone interview, he pointed out, “The way that these statistics are traditionally reported is they have averaged all of the age groups together to get a composite rate.” He went on to explain, “The problem with that is because most cancer deaths occur in older Americans, the average heavily emphasizes the experiences of older people. It's like watching the caboose of the train to tell when the train is changing direction.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cancer is the second leading cause of death among Americans, claiming almost 560,000 lives each year. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death, with over 630,000 deaths annually.

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Kava Kava: A Natural Anxiety Reducer

Summer is coming to a close and September is the biggest month for going back to school, acquiring new projects at work, and no doubt a new set of things to be anxious about. Instead of popping prescription meds for that new bout of anxiety, stop it before it gets too far with a little bit of natural help. The Kava kava plant is here to help slow your mind and reduce your workday, school day, and dinner time anxieties.

Kava kava—or scientifically termed Piper methysticum—is native to many island nations in and around Polynesia (including Hawaii) where it has been used for centuries as a ceremonial herb to induce intoxication as a way to calm the patrons of celebrations. Although the kava plant has large, green leaves and stems, the actual root is the only part of the plant that is used for medicinal or recreational purposes.

Kava is also used as an alternative to alcohol among the islands and is a well-known drink available at large functions like weddings, graduations, funerals and community gatherings. There is no known hangover quality to imbibing a kava concoction and has little known side effects when used sparingly, although pregnant women and people with liver problems have been cautioned not to take it. Kava kava, while used as a drink or a medicine should also never be taken along with alcohol. Potential side effects of taking kava are drowsiness, headache, and reaction with certain drugs, indigestion or skin rash; more serious conditions may occur with dangerous amounts of kava and people interested in adding kava to their routine should always consult their healthcare provider before taking anything new.

Besides anxiety, kava kava has been used in numerous natural remedies for insomnia and back pain as well as help with children who are hyperactive or have trouble sleeping. It has been used by business associates trying to keep up with their workload, athletes crushed by their vigorous schedules, and intellectuals hoping to take that pressure off and assist in focusing their minds.

Kava kava helps make the body as calm as possible and stay that way as long as the root is in your system. Kava root relaxes your muscles, gives you a feeling of well-being, creates peaceful and relaxing feelings, increases concentration, lowers inhibitions, and can act as an organic form of aphrodisiac. By making people more sociable and less self conscious, it makes sense that it’s the premier “ice breaker” drink of Polynesia.

Traditionally, the kava root was chewed for the medicinal effects or crushed and simmered and made into a beverage. In modern times, kava kava is now available in capsules, teas, liquids, extracts, tablets, and mixed into natural health beverages.

Scientists believe that the root of the kava plant seems to be used as a type of neurotransmitter sending good feelings in the form of chemicals to your brain cells. In 2004, the Cochrane Collaboration investigated previous research in clinical trials used to treat anxiety with kava versus a placebo. Over the 11 trials they studied involved almost 650 people; researchers came to the conclusion that kava, “appears to be an effective symptomatic treatment option for anxiety.” The research also showed, however, that it should not be abused because although there is a percentage of effectiveness against anxiety, it is not high, and should not be used for prolonged or extreme cases of anxiety.

Even if you have never heard of kava root, take a tip from the party planners of the islands if you’re feeling a little crazy before a big presentation, after a particularly bad traffic jam, or in the middle of a stressful to-do list and just relax a little with kava kava…naturally.
source:healthnews

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Getting Closer to an AIDS Vaccine

For decades, scientists have vigorously searched for a cure for the AIDS virus. Recent research just may have uncovered a significant key to developing that long-awaited vaccine. Scientists have discovered two key antibodies that seem to prevent the AIDS virus from mutating and spreading through out the body.

The AIDS virus has claimed millions of lives around the world. According to the World Health Organization, 33 million people currently are infected with HIV. While search efforts for an AIDS cure are abundant, several previous stabs at developing a vaccine proved to be non-effective.

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, a non-profit organization, is funding the efforts to develop a vaccine and kicked off their effort in 2006, called Protocol G. Protocol G utilizes blood gathered from HIV patients in developing countries, to help pinpoint antibodies that could neutralize strains of the AIDS virus. The Scripps Research Institute through this initiative, discovered two critical antibodies, which naturally fight against the spread of the AIDS virus. During the study, released recently in the journal Science, researchers not only discovered two vital antibodies, but also discovered a new part of the virus the antibodies attack. This discovery may lead to a new technique for the creation of a vaccine.

For the study, researchers gathered blood from 1,800 HIV patients who had suffered from the virus, without exhibiting symptoms for at least three years. The participants were mainly from Africa, but also involved HIV patients from Thailand, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.

The team pinpointed those who had not exhibited HIV signs, though suffering from the virus for at least three years, because these patients many times produce natural antibodies in their blood, which fight against almost all strains of HIV around the world. Dennis Button, a scientist at the Scripps Research Institute, the key player in the new research said, “We said if we want broadly neutralizing antibodies, we should look for people, infected individuals, who are making them,” He added, “The key thing about the antibodies we’ve found is that they’re more potent than previous ones and that’s great for a vaccine.”

Once the blood was gathered from the HIV patients, the samples were shipped back to a team with the Monogram Bioscience laboratories in San Francisco, where researchers studied the samples to determine which antibodies lead to more resistance to the virus. The team had developed a process that caused the enzyme embedded in the virus to glow when it entered a cell. If the researchers did not see a glow when performing the process, it was a signal the patient’s natural antibodies had fought off the virus.

Once the samples containing antibodies that fought off the HIV virus were identified, they were shipped to the Theraclone Sciences, in order to isolate the antibodies. Burton, said “If you want to make a vaccine that works, it has to protect against not just one, but most of the strains that are out there.” The team at Theraclone Sciences isolated two antibodies, which were able to block against three-quarters of the different strains of HIV tested against the antibodies. The two antibodies were recognized in the blood of an African HIV patient.

While the new findings do not create an overnight cure for AIDS, it does help scientists with new options for treatment and a potential vaccine. The hope is for a vaccine that will encourage a person’s immune system to fight the virus more vigorously by producing its own antibodies.

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Vitamin D Could Help Ward off Increased Osteoporosis Risks

As we grow older our risks of osteoporosis and bone fractures increase, but a daily dose of vitamin D may help to reduce these risks. It seems three out of four Americans are not getting enough vitamin D, either through their diets or from the sun, the main source of our vitamin D intake. With more Americans becoming sun-conscious, a daily D vitamin may be necessary, but it needs to exceed 400 International Units per day to be affective.

Vitamin B is crucial to our health. It has been linked to the prevention of heart disease, multiple sclerosis, some forms of cancer, diabetes, preventing or postponing Alzheimer’s and reducing higher risks of osteoporosis and bone fractures. Vitamin D is found in many foods and dairy products, but our main source is through the sun. In fact exposing yourself to 15 minutes of sunlight three times a week could provide adequate vitamin D, but many of us either don’t have the time to sit in the sun or may be afraid of the consequences the sun may cause. Apparently, more and more Americans are growing concerned with sun exposure, and many of us are actually getting less of the vitamin than we did year ago.

For those sun-conscious Americans, a daily oral D vitamin that is at least 400IU a day may be necessary, according to a new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine by researchers at the University of Colorado and Harvard. The researchers considered the link between bone fractures and vitamin D consumption. The team of researchers used data gathered from 12 randomized controlled trials of oral vitamin D supplementation that accounted for adherence and dosage. The study considered levels of vitamin D in 18,883 people’s blood samples gathered from 1988 to 1994 and compared them with levels of vitamin D in blood samples gathered from people tested from 2001 to 2004.

The researchers found that vitamin D supplements reduced the risk of non-vertebral fractures by 14 percent and reduced hip fractures by 9 percent. Those who took more than 400 IU of vitamin D daily had 20 percent lower risk of bone fracture and an 18 percent lower risk of fracturing their hip.

It is very hard for us to get our recommended daily dose of Vitamin B needed to keep our levels of the vitamin at the recommended 30 to 40 nanograms per milliliter of blood through food alone. Dr. Heike A. Bischoff-Ferrari, with the University of Zurich and a researcher in the study explained that even though people think healthy nutrition is enough to keep their vitamin D at a healthy level, it isn’t. It is very hard to cover with just food sources. She explained that for someone to get their needed intake of Vitamin D through food alone they would need to eat two servings of fatty fish, such as salmon or mackerel every day.

Dr. Bishoff-Ferrari says, “Everyone age 65 and older should take Vitamin D in a dose close to 800 IU per day, best as vitamin D3, and with good adherence.” She also added a daily dose of Vitamin D might be good for younger adults as well. She said, “I think if you are young and want to do something early for your bone health that’s something to think about.” Based on the new research and the verification that higher dosages in Vitamin D may help older adults prevent fractures the researchers call for more researcher evaluating higher dosages of vitamin D and its possible anti-fracture capabilities.

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