Radiation Causes Bone loss at low doses

The scientific world has been shaken by a report from Clemson University that a single therapeutic dose of radiation can cause appreciable bone loss. Senior author Ted Bateman, PhD, a professor of bioengineering, and his South Carolina colleagues showed that when mice were given a dose of just two Gy (two gray, a radiation dosage formerly designated as 200 rads), between 29 and 39 percent of their interior bone mass was destroyed.

It did not particularly matter which kind of radiation the mice were exposed to. Gamma rays, protons, high-speed carbon and iron nuclei all had a similar and markedly destructive effect. Dr. Bateman and his colleagues reached these figures by creating 3D computer scans of the spongy interior of the bones and then calculating how much bone mass these irradiated mice had lost compared to a control group.

"We were surprised at how large the difference in bone mass was," Dr. Bateman told the weekly magazine, New Scientist (Barry 2006).

For The whole story click here

Honey Could Save Lives

Eddy is one of many doctors to recently rediscover honey as medicine. Abandoned with the advent of antibiotics in the 1940s and subsequently disregarded as folk quackery, a growing set of clinical literature and dozens of glowing anecdotes now recommend it.

See the whole story about Honey as a topical antibiotic here.

Sheryl Crow Are You Strong Enough - Video

Sheryl Crow Answers Questions About Her Breast Cancer

(CNN) -- Earlier this year, rock singer Sheryl Crow underwent minimally invasive surgery for breast cancer.

Sheryl received an excellent prognosis from doctors and is now trying to raise awareness about the disease and the need for early detection, which she thinks made a big difference in her case.

CNN.com invited readers to send their questions to Sheryl Crow about her battle with breast cancer.

Sheryl answers your questions click here.

Sheryl Crow supplemented her cancer treatment with acupuncture and herbal teas.

The Stress of Cancer: Seeking Support

"Sometimes people with cancer find that the friends and family they thought they could rely on aren't offering them the support they need..."

"A Canadian study published June 14th in the British Journal of Cancer found that almost 38 percent of its 3,095 participants—who included people with breast, prostate, colorectal and lung cancer—met the criteria for distress levels that should be treated. But almost half of these patients had not sought psychosocial support, primarily because they weren't aware of support services or because they didn't think they needed them."

These excerpts comes from the article The Stress of Cancer: Seeking Support

Alex's comment: This is a good article except that it does not mention acupuncture. Maybe that is why it is referred to as "alternative medicine". If feeling better physically and emotionally is "alternative" than so be it. Stress of all kinds is an important area for people to get great value out of acupuncture, massage and herbal medicine. While acupuncture is generally researched for its results for a particular condition. Perhaps, what is more telling is the patient satisfaction with their acupuncturist and how they feel after an acupuncture session. This is very high. All the therapies of Chinese Medicine improve quality of life. This is also referred to as helping to "balance" the system. Balancing what? Organ imbalances, emotions, stresses, lifestyle factors - all of it.

The individual can be overlooked in the efforts to treat and cure a disease. Why? Because part of the philosophical basis of Chinese Medicine is treating people not diseases. This, at least in my practice creates communications with my patients that encompass all the factors that can influence a problem. This I refer to as treating the root of the problem. This is not always possible but when it happens it is a beautiful thing because the patient is seen in his/her totality and complexity as a feeling human being.

Colo-Rectal Cancer Screening

Colo-Rectal cancer is the 4th most prevalent cancer in the United States.

"The 5-year survival rate for somebody with a stage I cancer, a cancer just affecting the inner layer of the colon, is 95 percent. The likelihood that somebody with a stage II cancer that's affecting the muscle layer of the colon but not the lymph nodes is about 80 percent. This again underscores the reasons for trying to detect colon cancer early. It can make a big difference in terms of odds of cure."

Watch the short unbiased video here on Colo-Rectal Cancer screening.

There are also 2 additional short videos about Crohn's and Irritable Bowel Disease as precursors to colon cancer on the same link.

Alex's comment: The message of these videos is early detection particularly if there is a family history of colon cancer or Crohn's/Colitis. This is key to a long and healthy life with cancer. Where I would come in as an herbalist is to help someone with Crohn's/Colitis control inflammation prior to a cancer diagnosis. Once a person has this type of cancer, if possible get it removed ASAP. This is clear. However, if a person has disease that requires chemotherapy, radiation, I can support the body to heal and recover.

Ralph Moss Takes a Critical Look at Cancer Therapies

It is often assumed that before they can be made available to patients, drugs and medical treatments must first be proven unequivocally effective through rigorous clinical trials. Surprisingly though, this is by no means always the case. For example, a paper written by three Australian oncologists and published last year in the journal Clinical Oncology, showed that the contribution of chemotherapy to the five-year survival of adult cancer patients was extremely small - averaging between 2 and 5 percent (Morgan 2004). Most patients - and probably many oncologists too - generally assume, almost as a matter of faith, that the benefit is much greater.

Ralph Moss critiques the benefits of Nexavar and other targeted cancer therapies in his weekly email. For the rest of the story click here.

Making Treatment Decisions What the ACS Says About Acupuncture

Click here to find out what the American Cancer Society (ACS) says about acupuncture.

Look up info. about many cancers at the ACS website.

Acupuncture For Cancer - Integrating East and West

Acupuncture's use in cancer patients has been recommended by the American Cancer Society (ACS) for the treatment of cancer and treatment-related symptoms. Pain, nausea, breathlessness, vasomotor symptoms and limb edema have all been found to respond to this treatment modality.(2)

Dr. Samuels stated further that acupuncture can act against carcinogens (factors attributable to cancer development) through its ability to reduce stress and enhance immune function.(2) Indeed, several cancer centres have begun incorporating acupuncture for treating cancer-related symptoms such as pain(3) and many patients have had significant results in the reduction of their symptoms.(4)

For the rest of the article click here.

Laughter Clubs.

Laughter Yoga is a new revolution in body-mind medicine that combines simple laughter exercises and gentle yoga breathing to enhance health and happiness. Anyone can laugh in a group for 15-20 minutes without depending upon a great sense of humor, jokes or comedy. For more info. Click here.

Good video at laughter yoga.org

Los Angeles Laughter Yoga Club can be found here. Meetings are held in Pasadena and Westwood.