Here’s one from the wacko-science files: Some nut actually thinks drinking alcohol is more dangerous than crack or meth.

Not only that, this nut actually claims you can have a “safe” heroin habit.

The nut in question is Dr. David Nutt, a man obsessed with living up to his name by trying to prove that illicit and dangerous drugs are far safer than a good booze habit.

And his latest “study” is an absolute masterpiece — not from a scientific point of view, of course, but from a public relations standpoint: The work earned him headlines around the world.

Too bad for him it’s a work of fiction.

Nutt created a list of 20 “drugs” and ranked them based on 16 measures of harm to both individual users and society as a whole.

Who assigned those rankings? Why, it was Dr. Nutt and his friends, of course. Nutt & Company.

And they “found” that alcohol — more widely used and therefore more widely abused — does far more overall harm than heroin, crack, meth, coke, pot and so on. What’s more, Nutt actually claims that heroin, for example, is safe if you use it in the form of a prescription opiate.

“Heroin itself is a medicine,” he said in a TV interview with the BBC. “All medicines are safe if used appropriately.”

Really? All of them?

I’d like to say that this Nutt has finally cracked — it’s a pretty good pun — but it’s clear this man lost it years ago.

He was fired from a government position last year for making similar claims about booze and drugs, and once even tried to develop an “antidote” to alcohol — which is kind of like creating an antidote to chicken.

But I don’t care what this Nutt says — a couple of drinks a day is not just acceptable for most people, it’s healthy. Moderate booze can boost heart and brain health, and even increase longevity.

I guess Dr. Nutt will not be enjoying those benefits.

Published by Henry Sapiecha

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DRUGS FOR CHLOLESTROL REDUCTION CAN BE DEADLY

Anacetrapib – The Latest Cholesterol Pill to Fail?

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A new cholesterol drug is set to hit pharmaceutical shelves in the not too distant future that will lower bad cholesterol while raising good cholesterol.

Did you say, “Stop”?

You should have, because this is the same old song and dance we’ve heard before from cholesterol-lowering pharmaceutical companies. And all too often, the promises run hollow, as the drug is inevitably taken off the market because of health concerns.

Just this past August, for example, the Food and Drug Administration pulled the cholesterol drug Baycol off the market because of increases in reported deaths associated with taking it. It also increased the incidence of a rare condition called rhabdomyolysis. This occurs when cells are stripped away from muscle tissue and into the bloodstream, causing a host of painful symptoms like vomiting, nausea, weakness, fever and muscle tenderness.

So you’ll have to excuse my skepticism when I hear how the latest drug invention could provide cholesterol-lowering benefits that are “unprecedented,” according to the study’s lead researcher.

Dr. Christopher Cannon of Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston tested the effectiveness of this drug, called anacetrapib, after recruiting 1,600 patients who had unusually high levels of LDL cholesterol. Over an 18-month period, patients were instructed to take ancetrapib along with the statin they were already using.

One-third of the way through the study (i.e. six months), the doctors saw dramatic improvements in cholesterol levels. LDL cholesterol levels (the bad kind) dropped precipitously – going from an average of 81 to an average of 45 – while HDL cholesterol levels (the good kind) rose, going from an average of 41 to an average of 101. The positive effects continued through to the end of the trial.

A larger scale study is scheduled to take place over four years. If there aren’t any serious side effects, you can expect to see anacetrapib on pharmacists’ store shelves some time in 2015.

If anacetrapib passes with flying colors, people battling heart disease will no doubt turn to it for help. And if they do, so be it; I’m in no position to tell people how to live. After all, the rate of heart disease is not going down, and one of the chief risk factors for heart disease is high cholesterol. I just wish that more people believed in the power of all natural supplementation and turned to it first, not the almighty pill.

Heart Disease: Still an Epidemic

As I mentioned, the rate of heart disease in this country is enormous. More people die from heart disease than any other disease – 635,000 people per year, in fact. So the mere possibility that a pill could potentially lower that grim statistic comes with a high degree of fanfare.

There’s another way to potentially lower one’s risk for heart disease, though, one that is guaranteed not to cause any unwanted side effects.

According to a study down under (i.e. Australia), aged garlic may reduce one’s systolic blood pressure by as much 10 points. And a 10-point drop can take someone from being hypertensive, to normal, thus reducing his or her risk for heart disease.

Researchers from the University of Adelaide discovered this after recruiting 50 people that had elevated systolic blood pressure levels (over 140 mmHg). Some of them took a placebo; the rest took approximately four grams of a Kyolic-brand garlic product (i.e. four grams of Kyolic is the equivalent of about two grams of fresh garlic).

After 12 weeks, the researchers saw a “marked difference” in the cholesterol levels of those taking the aged garlic; they had an average drop in systolic blood pressure levels of 10 mmHg.

Similar to the cholesterol-lowering study, the results were convincing enough to warrant a larger, longer study.

The study is published in the medical journal Maturitas.

And if you want more details about the study, you’re going to have to go there, because do you think you will hear the results of the garlic study on tonight’s evening news? I doubt it. I’m not exactly sure why, either. I don’t think it’s done as a result of politics or money. And I don’t think it’s because people don’t buy into the natural health lifestyle. I think it’s because we as a nation have become so conditioned to look to pharmaceuticals as the primary resource for healing all our ills.

That’s just not true.

The only way we can detach ourselves from that line of thinking is to look to natural healing methods first. The mainstream media can help that process along by reporting on findings that people can take advantage of now, not reporting a study that may prove beneficial if everything pans out right five years from now.

Other Ways Garlic Can Improve Your Health

Garlic has long been known as a heart healthy supplement, so this study isn’t a breakthrough. It does, however, add to the growing body of literature that supports garlic’s effectiveness for heart health.

Garlic’s magic touch lies in its richness in allicin. Allicin is what gives garlic its signature scent, but it’s also what relaxes the body’s blood vessels, which reduces tension and lowers blood pressure.

Garlic can be a boon to other aspects of your life. Several studies have shown garlic to be cancer preventive. Speaking to the BBC in 2000, Professor Lenore Arab of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said, “There seems to be a strong, consistent protective effect for people who are regular garlic consumers.”

It can even be helpful with more bothersome, less serious conditions like the common cold. A particularly illuminating study on garlic’s effectiveness was done in late 2001, when 146 volunteers took either a placebo or a garlic supplement for 90 days.

At the end of the three-month study, there was a marked difference in cold incidence. There were 65 colds among those taking the placebo. Among the garlic-supplementing group – less than half of that (24 people got a cold).

What’s more, the 90-day trial was done during the height of the cold and flu season!

From libido enhancement, to eye health, weight control to greater iron absorption, garlic and all natural supplements like it can do wonders for your health. Look to it as your first line of defense in the ongoing battle to stay as healthy as possible

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

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ACTOS DRUG FOR DIABETES HAS SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS ON THE BODY

DIABETES IS A CURABLE DISEASE IT IS SAID – TRUE OR FALSE?

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a review regarding the long term adverse effects of Diabetes drug Actos to the body. According to the study, data acquired from patients taking Actos has shown more risk of getting bladder cancer. The extended consumption of the drug has shown significance in affecting a person’s susceptibility to bladder cancer.

The presence of unwanted side effects has been one of the primary issues surrounding the use of diabetes pharmaceutical drugs. Another diabetes drug, Avandia, has also been subjected to several debates by health professionals and FDA experts regarding its overwhelming side effects, including the increase of heart failure risk. But the lack of other quality options proven curative or beneficial to controlling diabetes keeps these drugs, including Actos, in the market.

FDA has yet to conduct further studies regarding Actos and its potential influence over bladder cancer risk.  The results may spell the difference between getting the red light, or the green light, with regards to consumption. However, early human and animal studies had linked Actos to the condition.  In fact, the agency had required Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Actos, to conduct their own study regarding the potential risks brought about by the prolonged use of the drug, especially its influence over bladder cancer. The study is expected to last for 10 years.  Results on its 5th year reveals that intake of the drug did not show increased risk of getting bladder cancer. But when the researchers focused on the patients who had taken the highest dosage of the drug in their lifetime, a significant increase in bladder cancer risk was apparent. The increase in risk was observed in patients who had taken the drug for at least 24 months.

In their published statement, the FDA refused to assure the public that Actos increases the risk of bladder cancer. They advised patients who are taking Actos as a maintenance drug to stop taking the drug and seek consultation from their physicians or a medical professional for alternative ways to control their diabetes, especially if they are finding Actos an unsuitable option, and if they have been experiencing the probable onset of the proposed side effect.

A Closer Look at Diabetes

Diabetes of Diabetes Mellitus with an international symbol of a blue circle is not just one disease but is actually a group of metabolic diseases wherein the person’s body has high blood sugar levels. This is either caused by the body’s reduced capacity to produce insulin or the cells’ incapacitation to respond to insulin in controlling the body’s sugar level.

The usual symptoms of increased sugar levels in the body are increased thirst or polydipsia; frequent urination or polyuria; and increased hunger or polyphagia. The three classifications of diabetes are related to the reasons for the increased sugar level in the person’s body:

• type 1 diabetes is when the person’s body is producing less insulin than what the body needs;
• type 2 diabetes is when the cells in the person’s cells fail to respond to the insulin hormone that the body produces;
• Type 3 diabetes is a special case in pregnant women who experience increased sugar levels during pregnancy.

Natural Methods of Preventing and Controlling Diabetes

Compounds that have been scientifically proven to contain curative and preventative qualities against chronic and degenerative diseases have been discovered to be found in natural sources like fruits and vegetables. People are beginning to be more aware and are now more open to the natural methods of preventing and curing diseases due to the overwhelming side-effects of pharmaceutical drugs to their bodies. In fact, most of the compounds used in pharmaceutical drugs are found in nature but the process and integration of other chemicals make the drugs harmful to the body. Medicines made entirely from natural substances have been flooding the market in synch with the rising demands for organic medicines. In the case of diabetes, the disease is finding powerful enemies in the form of innocent-looking fruits and plants.

Blueberries

There are many foods known to be potent against diabetes. A study conducted by Professor William Cefalu of the Center for the Study of Botanicals and Metabolic syndrome revealed that regular consumption of blueberries may increase the body’s sensitivity to insulin. Blueberry bioactives are thought to have positive effects in reinforcing the body’s sensitivity to insulin; thus, giving the cells more capacity to respond to the said hormone. The study consisted of a group of 32 obese individuals, who were insulin resistant but non-diabetic. The participants were asked to consume a smoothie containing blueberry bioactives for 6 weeks on a daily basis. 67 percent of the participants showed an increase of sensitivity to insulin by 10 percent while the rest of the group produced similar effects. Professor Cefalu also added that the study was the first of its kind to be conducted and the promising results will call for further research and experimentation.

Bitter Gourd

Bitter gourd or bitter melon is a fruit endemic in Asian countries. It has unique bitter characteristics and has been proven to have high nutritional value. Clinical studies showed that bitter gourd contain compounds that are potentially effective in lowering concentrations of glucose in the body. The fruit’s protective properties such as the polypeptide-P and charantin act like insulin and supplement the insulin naturally produced by the body. The consumption of 50 to 60 milliliters of bitter gourd juice has shown positive effects in lowering down the body’s sugar level. Bitter gourd products have been an established supplement to insulin for diabetics.

Cinnamon

Incorporation of cinnamon to daily diet has shown benefits in lowering the risk of type 2 diabetes; a condition where the cells are becoming tolerant to insulin. Cinnamon has been clinically proven to optimize the cell’s sugar consumption and half a teaspoon of cinnamon is the recommended daily dosage to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Healthy Diet and Exercise prevents Diabetes

What we put in our mouth and our lifestyle usually contribute to the diseases we develop. Diabetes can be effectively prevented through healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle. Studies have shown that diabetics usually have an unhealthy body mass index. The body’s blood sugar levels are primarily influenced by the food we eat and along with it, the lack of exercise is one of the reasons for the body’s failure to consume sugar properly.

Sources:
diabetes.webmd.com
diabetes.webmd.com
naturalhealthontheweb.com
suite101.com

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

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Deathstalker Scorpion Venom

Could Improve Gene Therapy

for Brain Cancer

Science (Aug. 11, 2010) — An ingredient in the venom of the “deathstalker” scorpion could help gene therapy become an effective treatment for brain cancer, scientists are reporting. The substance allows therapeutic genes — genes that treat disease — to reach more brain cancer cells than current approaches, according to the study in ACS Nano.

Miqin Zhang and colleagues note that gene therapy — the delivery of therapeutic genes into diseased cells — shows promise for fighting glioma, the most common and most serious form of brain cancer. But difficulties in getting genes to enter cancer cells and concerns over the safety and potential side effects of substances used to transport these genes have kept the approach from helping patients.

The scientists describe a new approach that could solve these problems. Key ingredients of their gene-delivery system are chlorotoxin, the substance in deathstalker scorpion venom that can slow the spread of brain cancer, and nanoparticles of iron oxide. Each nanoparticle is about 1/50,000th the width of a human hair. In tests on lab mice, the scientists demonstrated that their venom-based nanoparticles can induce nearly twice the amount of gene expression in brain cancer cells as nanoparticles that do not contain the venom ingredient. “These results indicate that this targeted gene delivery system may potentially improve treatment outcome of gene therapy for glioma and other deadly cancers,” the article notes.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

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Morphine Blocks Tumor Growth,

Study Suggests

Science (July 28, 2010) — Current research suggests that taking morphine can block new blood vessel and tumor growth. The related report by Koodie et al, “Morphine suppresses tumor angiogenesis through a HIF1?/p38MAPK pathway,” appears in the August 2010 issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

Morphine is currently the gold standard of analgesics used to relieve severe pain and suffering. Angiogenesis, or new blood vessel growth, is critical for tumor progression from dormant to malignant. Morphine is commonly used to treat cancer pain, but the effects of morphine use on new blood vessel and tumor growth remain controversial.

Using a clinically relevant morphine dose in a mouse model of Lewis lung carcinoma, researchers led by Dr. Sabita Roy of the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, MN examined the effect of morphine use on new blood vessel growth in tumors. They found that chronic morphine use decreased levels of tumor angiogenesis in a manner dependent on the opioid receptor. This effect was mediated by suppression of signaling induced by low oxygen concentrations, leading to a reduction in the levels of pro-angiogenic factors. Therefore, morphine may not only serve as an analgesic for cancer patients, but may also inhibit tumor angiogenesis and growth.

Koodie et al conclude that “morphine is a potential inhibitor of tumor growth, through the suppression of tumor cell-induced angiogenesis and hypoxia-induced p38 MAPK activation of HIF-1. In addition to its analgesic potential, morphine can be exploited for its anti-angiogenic potential in cancer pain management; these findings support the use of morphine for cancer pain management.”

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health

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Revealing  Health News from Medicine’s Most Notorious Myth-Buster

5 Vaccinations You Should Never Get

Pharmaceutical companies haven’t been shy about sticking generations of Americans with round after round of vaccines to prevent even obscure illnesses. Trust me, kids have a better chance of tap dancing on the moon with Elvis than dying from rubella.
Of course, Big Pharma has decided not to limit their junk vaccines to the children’s market.
Over the past several years in particular, drug companies have aggressively marketed vaccines for adults, using scare tactics to get otherwise sane people to roll up their sleeves in droves. Many of these vaccines are useless, and some are downright dangerous. These five vaccinations are theworst of the worst.
1. Human Papillomavirus (HPV)––Gardasil

One of the biggest designer vaccinations that Big Pharma is shoving down our throats thesedays is the HPV vaccine, Gardasil. This vaccine is needless and, history has shown, dangerous.
Yet women are paying $360 a pop to be injected with it.
The most frustrating part of this whole sham is that Gardasil’s manufacturer, Merck, has drawn on the aid of cancer––medicine’s greatest boogeyman––in order to sell its product. Merck would have us believe that by inoculating against HPV, we’ll stop cervical cancer, at which point Gardasil becomes the “cure for cancer.” This is such a load of bull that we’re going to need a backhoe todig our way out.
According to FDA reports made public through the Freedom of Information Act (that means the government wasn’t volunteering this information, by the way), Gardasil has been linked with a variety of dangerous and even deadly side effects.1 Just since September 2007, the vaccine has been linked to 10 deaths from blood clotting, arrhythmia, and at least one allergic reaction. The vaccine has further been linked to 10 spontaneous abortions and six instances of Guillain-BarreSyndrome, a disease that causes the immune system to attack the nervous system, and which maylead to paralysis.
The FDA report further included evidence of nearly 150 instances of serious injury that resultedfrom the vaccine, and a multitude of outbreaks of warts on the genitals, face, hands, and feet. Thesewarts are most likely caused by the HPV virus and are a condition that should have been avoided through the use of the vaccine.
And while these side effects certainly haven’t affected every patient, the effects are so serious that no sane person should want to subject themselves or their children to this injection. This isespecially true when prevention is as simple as keeping your pants on.
You see, the “dirty” little secret about HPV is that it’s a sexually transmitted disease. Want to avoid HPV?

Skip the shot and get some condoms.

2. Shingles––Zostavax

Another useless vaccine with a major corporate push is the shingles vaccine Zostavax. The only reason more people don’t get it is that many insurance companies won’t cover it. You know why? It costs up to $200 per shot, and it’s an unnecessary preventative for a disease that is completely treatable and not very serious.
My recommendation is that you boost your immune system with zinc and vitamins C and E, then hang around with some kids in your family when they have the chicken pox (more on that later).
Merck––which manufactures Zostavax and also brought us Gardasil––has no clue about the long-term effects of the vaccine. The study on long-term effects conducted for FDA approval only lasted 42 days, so there is no real data on negative consequences of Zostavax over periods of several years. If you take the vaccine, understand you’ll be signing yourself up as a guinea pig in a human drug trial.
The irony here is that the whole shingles “scare” is probably the result of over-fanatical efforts by drug companies to vaccinate children against chicken pox. At least one study has shown that repeated exposure to children with chicken pox increases the immune system’s resistance to shingles.2 Essentially what this means is that by helping our youngsters suffer through their chicken pox, we were building our immunity to shingles.When kids stop getting chicken pox, we start getting shingles.
So, in a sense, Zostavax is a drug-company cure (and a very unproven one at that) for a problem caused by the drug companies.

3. Influenza

Yearly flu shots have become standard operating procedure for people of all ages. The CDC practically mandates an annual inoculation for children aged 6 months to 19 years, adults over 50,and even pregnant women. Each fall, when the colder weather forces us to huddle together for warmth,the CDC passes the warning that your family, friends, and colleagues are all little more than flu incubators. Millions rush to their doctors, hospitals or clinics to get their shots.
But here’s the big news: the flu vaccine doesn’t work.Year to year, the makers of the flu vaccine make a guess about which flu strains will be the most prevalent and then mix them accordingly.
There is currently no system in place to track the effectiveness of the vaccine and to use this data to compile the next flu vaccine. The process is arbitrary enough that they might as well stick some sugar water in a syringe and cross their fingers.
For the elderly and the very young in particular, I can’t recommend exposing potentially weak immune systems to the flu for no net gain.
As always, I recommend building a more powerful immune system with safe natural methods and staying away from jab-happy MDs when the cold months are upon us.
4. Whooping cough

Lately, the mainstream media has been harping on individual cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, as if a global pandemic is waiting around the corner. Big Pharma has their lapdogs pushing out statistics that reveal hundreds of thousands of deaths from whooping cough each year.

The truth is, this is a global statistic that is accounted for by the prevalence of the disease in third world countries without the medical resources to cure a cold, let alone whooping cough. There are only a handful of deaths attributed to this disease in the United States each year, and most of those are infants––some of whom are too young to get the vaccine.
So why is the CDC now pushing for every person to be immunized in infancy and then receive five more booster vaccinations as they advance into adulthood and old age? You have almost no chance of getting whooping cough as an infant, and you have even less chance as an adult. At $60 per booster plus the initial cost of childhood vaccination, the CDC wants us to spend $300 over the course of our lifetimes on a useless vaccine.
We are not living in the barely tamed wilderness of yesteryear.We are living in a modern society with appropriate sanitation, better nutrition, and access to health care that limits the spread of disease and treats diseases like whooping cough with ease. In the modern age, unless you plan on traveling to the third world, there is no need to go injecting yourself with a “weakened” strain of a disease that you may never encounter, and can be easily cured of if you do happen to get it.

5. Measles, Mumps, Rubella, & Chicken pox––ProQuad

Now that I’ve taken time to tell you about the dangers of some of Big Pharma’s adult vaccines,
I am going to sound the alarm for the little ones in your family. If the CDC and pharmaceutical companies have their way, every child born in the United States will get jabbed with enough needles to leave them looking like a voodoo doll; and all this before their second birthdays. The ProQuad vaccine is a cocktail of vaccines that includes the traditional measles, mumps, and rubella, plus a dose of chicken pox that is five times what a child would get in a regular vaccination.
Time has shown that toddlers given the ProQuad injection were twice as likely to have a seizure as toddlers who received MMR and chicken pox vaccinations separately. The seizure data has even caused a government advisory panel on vaccines to step back from recommending ProQuad as their method of choice.
These new horrors only add fuel to the fire that should burn down the vaccination regime. This dangerous all-in-one is a prime example of how impersonal assembly line medicine is doing more harm than good.

Sourced & published by Henry Sapiecha

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Antidepressants, miscarriages linked

MONTREAL (UPI) — Canadian researchers say the risk of miscarriages is 68 percent higher in women who took antidepressants during pregnancy.

Researchers from the University of Montreal said they recommend doctors discuss with their patients the risks and benefits of antidepressant therapy during pregnancy.

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, involved 5,124 women who were part of a large population-based group of pregnant women who had clinically verified miscarriages and a large sample of women from the same registry who did not have a miscarriage.

Of those who miscarried, 284, or 5.5 percent, had taken antidepressants during pregnancy.

Antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors — especially paroxetine and also venlafaxine — were associated with increased risk of miscarriage as were higher daily doses of either antidepressant. A combination of different antidepressants doubled the risk of miscarriages.

“These results, which suggest an overall class effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are highly robust given the large number of users studied,” Dr. Anick Berard, the study’s senior author, said in a statement.

However, stopping antidepressant medication can result in a depressive relapse that can put mother and baby at risk, Bernard added.

Copyright 2010 by United Press International

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FDA OKs advanced prostate cancer therapy

WASHINGTON (UPI) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced approval Thursday of a new therapy for certain men suffering advanced prostate cancer.

The FDA said the drug, Provenge (sipuleucel-T), allows patients to use their own immune system to fight the disease. The drug is indicated for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic prostate cancer that has spread to other parts of the body and is resistant to standard hormone treatment.

“The availability of Provenge provides a new treatment option for men with advanced prostate cancer, who currently have limited effective therapies available,” said Dr. Karen Midthun, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Provenge is an autologous cellular immunotherapy, designed to stimulate a patient’s own immune system to respond against the cancer. Each dose of Provenge is manufactured by obtaining a patient’s immune cells from the blood, the FDA said. The immune cells are then exposed to a protein that is found in most prostate cancers, linked to an immune stimulating substance. After that process, the patient’s own cells are returned to the patient to treat the prostate cancer.

Provenge, administered intravenously in a three-dose schedule given at about two-week intervals, is manufactured by the Dendreon Corp. in Seattle.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 8th June 2010

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Associated Press

Drug boosts survival

in major skin cancer study

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Vaccine Hope for Skin Cancer Sufferers

The skin

The skin:

• protects us from injury
• cools us when we get too hot
• prevents us from becoming dehydrated.

The skin has two main layers.

• Epidermis: The top or outer layer.

Contains three different kinds of cells:

• 1. basal cells
  2. squamous cells
  3. melanocytes – produce a dark pigment called melanin, the substance that gives skin its colour.

• Dermis: The layer underneath the epidermis.

Contains the roots of hairs, glands that make sweat, blood and lymph vessels and nerves.

Skin cancer

Skin cancer develops when a cell in the skin goes through a series of changes that make it a cancer cell.

Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation in sunlight is the main factor that causes skin cancer cells to become cancer cells.

Skin cancers are named after the type of cell they start from. These are:

• basal cell cancer
• squamous cell cancer
• melanoma.

Science (May 27, 2010) — Nottingham scientists have been given the green light to test a vaccine which they hope could reverse, and even cure malignant melanoma, the most deadly type of skin cancer.

Scancell Holdings plc, led by Professor Lindy Durrant of the University’s Division of Clinical Oncology within the School of Molecular Medical Sciences, believes the new vaccine, which targets tumour cells without damaging healthy tissue, could be successful in treating patients with malignant melanoma.

Incidences of malignant melanoma have more than quadrupled over the past 30 years and in the last 25 years rates of malignant melanoma have risen faster than for any other cancer. It is now the most common cancer in younger adults aged 15 to 34, which may be linked to risky associated behaviour such as exposure to the sun on foreign beach holidays and the use of tanning booths. Every year, most of the 2,000 skin cancer deaths result from malignant melanoma.

Professor Durrant said: “Up until now, early diagnosis has been a crucial factor in the successful treatment of this disease. In the early stages it can be cured by completely removing the skin melanoma by surgery. However, in cases where it has not been picked up until further down the line, we have found that chemotherapy and radiotherapy simply do not work, although new compounds are being tested.

“It is still at a very early stage and impossible to predict the outcome of the clinical trial but if our results from the lab are replicated in patients I think we have a good chance of dramatically improving the chances of successful treatment — we are hoping that the vaccine will cure between 10 and 20 per cent of patients with malignant melanoma.”

Testing for the new SCIB1 vaccine has been given approval by the Gene Therapy Advisory Committee and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and clinical trials are due to start shortly at Nottingham City Hospital and centres in Manchester and Newcastle.

It will initially be given to patients who are suffering from advanced malignant melanoma which has spread to other parts of the body.

The new vaccine works by activating the body’s own natural defence systems — it contains DNA and genetic material from tumours meaning it ‘switches’ on the specific immune cells that target melanoma. This means that it targets only the cancer and not the surrounding healthy tissue.

The team of scientists believe that, in principle, new vaccines based upon the same principle could also be used to target other types of cancer tumours, such as breast and prostate.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 28th May 2010

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