Alternative Doctor

This is welcome news in a couple of ways. If they are faking cancer stats and cancer recoveries (as many of us suspect), then it shows up in this fact that half the people with cancer will die of a different disease. Secondly, even if the stats are real, it means cancer is less to be feared than many people think. I think the third interpretation… that we are winning the war against cancer, is the least likely to be true! What are the facts? Officially (this is the USA), there are now 12 million cancer survivors… up from 3 million in 1971 and 9.8 million in 2001. Other territories will have proportionately similar figures. Two-thirds of them have survived cancer for at least five years, according to Yi Ning, MD, ScD, of the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center in Richmond. He and his colleagues examined data on 1,807 cancer survivors who participated in the 1988-1994 and 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). The most common forms of cancer among the survivors were breast, prostate, lung, and colorectal. Fifty-one percent died from cancer and 49% died from other causes. Died Of What?

Get this and be clear about it. Many cancers are infectious; they arrive because of infective organisms and can be passed from person to person. 20% of all cancers are caused by infections and, 80% of those, it’s a virus. An oncovirus is a virus that can cause cancer. This term originated from studies of retroviruses in the 1950–60s, often called oncornaviruses (onco-RNA-viruses)  to denote their RNA virus origin. It’s amazing that viruses don’t cause many more cancers than they do, because a virus is basically a bunch of nasty DNA/RNA that gets into the cells it infects. Cancer is also basically nasty DNA/RNA. There could come a day when we realize that ALL cancers are infections. That would explain why cancer is basically a disease of the immune system. A vibrant and healthy immune system remains your best insurance against cancer. Burkitt’s lymphoma (or “Burkitt’s tumor” or Burkitt lymphoma) is a cancer of the lymphatic system (in particular, B lymphocytes). It is named after Denis Parsons Burkitt, a surgeon who first described the disease in 1956 while working in equatorial Africa. It was, essentially, the first confirmed human cancer caused by a virus. By 1964, Anthony Epstein and Yvonne Barr identified the first human cancer virus from Burkitt lymphoma cells. A herpes-group virus, this virus is formally known as human herpesvirus 4. But it is more commonly known as Epstein-Barr Virus or EBV, after the discovers.

Get this and be clear about it. Many cancers are infectious; they arrive because of infective organisms and can be passed from person to person. 20% of all cancers are caused by infections and, 80% of those, it’s a virus. An oncovirus is a virus that can cause cancer. This term originated from studies of retroviruses in the 1950–60s, often called oncornaviruses (onco-RNA-viruses)  to denote their RNA virus origin. It’s amazing that viruses don’t cause many more cancers than they do, because a virus is basically a bunch of nasty DNA/RNA that gets into the cells it infects. Cancer is also basically nasty DNA/RNA. There could come a day when we realize that ALL cancers are infections. That would explain why cancer is basically a disease of the immune system. A vibrant and healthy immune system remains your best insurance against cancer. Burkitt’s lymphoma (or “Burkitt’s tumor” or Burkitt lymphoma) is a cancer of the lymphatic system (in particular, B lymphocytes). It is named after Denis Parsons Burkitt, a surgeon who first described the disease in 1956 while working in equatorial Africa. It was, essentially, the first confirmed human cancer caused by a virus. By 1964, Anthony Epstein and Yvonne Barr identified the first human cancer virus from Burkitt lymphoma cells. A herpes-group virus, this virus is formally known as human herpesvirus 4. But it is more commonly known as Epstein-Barr Virus or EBV, after the discovers.

The hidden cause of weight gain? Have we been missing something all these years? Obviously, the main cause of weight gain is over-eating. But is there something behind that—something driving the overeating—that nobody has noticed? I think so—and now people are beginning to recognize its importance. Other Causes We know that MSG in food is addictive and causes people to over eat. We know that eating carbs is highly addictive, with people being driven by blood sugar spikes, followed by a drop in blood sugar. Refined carbs are the worst. A few of us pioneers back in the 70s and 80s discovered that food addiction is often related to food allergies and that too drives people to binge eating. In fact it’s the chief mechanism behind eating disorders, if only more people knew it. We know that insulin resistance (the early stage of diabetes) blocks glucose uptake by cells, which is then diverted to the liver and stowed away at fat. We know that psychological hang ups can lead to “comfort eating”. But there is something else? You betcha… Antibiotics! I could kick myself for not thinking of this, decades ago. But we know that farmers feed their livestock on antibiotics, to make them grow. Pigs, lambs and sheep can be up 40% bigger and fatter, because of this antibiotic treatment. But we never thought “well, that must apply to humans too”; duh!

Readers of my book Virtual Medicine will know that I quoted a curious fact in the chapter called “Weird or What?” At the start of the 20th century, the number one predictor of death by heart disease was dental abscesses; and that, by the end of the 20th century, the biggest predictor of death by heart disease was… no, not exactly abscesses. But a major dental problem, gum (periodontal) infections. Now a specific bacteria has been implicated, called Streptococcus gordonii. It can enter the blood stream and increase the risk of dangerous blood clotting. It mimics the effect of fibrinogen, which is a major blood-clotting factor. Fibrinogen activates platelets (cells that are found in blood and involved in clotting), which stick together and form clumps that start the clotting process. The resulting blood clots encase the bacteria, protecting the invader from the immune system and from antibiotics used to treat infection. Platelet clumping can result in growths on the heart valves (endocarditis) or blood vessel inflammation that can block blood supply to the heart or brain. If clots take place in a major supply artery, like the coronary artery, you could be in big trouble (sudden death).

Readers of my book Virtual Medicine will know that I quoted a curious fact in the chapter called “Weird or What?” At the start of the 20th century, the number one predictor of death by heart disease was dental abscesses; and that, by the end of the 20th century, the biggest predictor of death by heart disease was… no, not exactly abscesses. But a major dental problem, gum (periodontal) infections. Now a specific bacteria has been implicated, called Streptococcus gordonii. It can enter the blood stream and increase the risk of dangerous blood clotting. It mimics the effect of fibrinogen, which is a major blood-clotting factor. Fibrinogen activates platelets (cells that are found in blood and involved in clotting), which stick together and form clumps that start the clotting process. The resulting blood clots encase the bacteria, protecting the invader from the immune system and from antibiotics used to treat infection. Platelet clumping can result in growths on the heart valves (endocarditis) or blood vessel inflammation that can block blood supply to the heart or brain. If clots take place in a major supply artery, like the coronary artery, you could be in big trouble (sudden death).

I couldn’t resist the headline! But it’s true. Green coffee emerges as a weight loss aid. It’s funny, I’ve known for years that coffee is great when you are trying to diet. I find that even my favorite—a small espresso with a tiny dash of cream—really seems to kill the appetite. Of course I cannot recommend the absurd over-indulgence of a typical coffee-house 20 ounce latte! That would be around 300 calories, whereas mine is less than 50. But it’s not about calories; it’s about dampening your appetite. Now a new study has shown that we can skip the fermenting, the roasting, the espresso machine and the snatch of cream! Green coffee, taken in capsules, would do the job…

I couldn’t resist the headline! But it’s true. Green coffee emerges as a weight loss aid. It’s funny, I’ve known for years that coffee is great when you are trying to diet. I find that even my favorite—a small espresso with a tiny dash of cream—really seems to kill the appetite. Of course I cannot recommend the absurd over-indulgence of a typical coffee-house 20 ounce latte! That would be around 300 calories, whereas mine is less than 50. But it’s not about calories; it’s about dampening your appetite. Now a new study has shown that we can skip the fermenting, the roasting, the espresso machine and the snatch of cream! Green coffee, taken in capsules, would do the job…

Dr. Keith here on a rather personal note (you’ll soon see what I mean). I know my list has a slightly older demographic. It’s wonderful to work with the cream of the crop. Your many feedbacks tell me the high intellectual quality of my subscribers. I think of the term “senior citizens” in the most natural, positive sense of the word: we are senior! Not superior maybe, but wiser, better educated, freer of negative emotions, more purposeful in life, than the young often-dysfunctional run-abouts who are supposed to be making our society work. However, there are certain aspects of age that creep up on us, including difficulty with bladder control. I know it affects a lot of seniors. I try to stay alert to solutions that work.

Dr. Keith here on a rather personal note (you’ll soon see what I mean). I know my list has a slightly older demographic. It’s wonderful to work with the cream of the crop. Your many feedbacks tell me the high intellectual quality of my subscribers. I think of the term “senior citizens” in the most natural, positive sense of the word: we are senior! Not superior maybe, but wiser, better educated, freer of negative emotions, more purposeful in life, than the young often-dysfunctional run-abouts who are supposed to be making our society work. However, there are certain aspects of age that creep up on us, including difficulty with bladder control. I know it affects a lot of seniors. I try to stay alert to solutions that work.

In their award-winning television documentary program, The Body Snatchers, National Geographic reported, “Parasites have killed more humans than all the wars in history”. [Season 1, episode 17] Parasites are probably the most diverse of all biological forms and yet, by definition, they remain implacably hostile to humans. Of the 7.8 billion acres of potential arable land on Earth, only 3.4 billion acres can be farmed; most of the rest cannot be developed because of parasites (malaria, trypanosomiasis, schistosomiasis and onchocerciasis). That’s more than half the farmable land of our planet unavailable to us, because of these critters, at a time when humans need food resources like never before. In Africa alone, an area the size of the USA cannot be farmed because of trypanosomes and many millions in South America have never had a healthy day in their lives because of this fiendish parasite. But are parasites a curse of the undeveloped Third World? Not a bit of it… Dr. Frank Nova, Chief of the Laboratory for Parasitic Diseases at the National Institute of Health, states, “In terms of numbers, there are more parasitic infections acquired in the US than in Africa.”