Cancer •

World Drug Bill Will Reach $1.3 Trillion By 2018

November 20, 2014 By Georgia Dawson Leave a Comment

The world spends most of its money on medicine. New study reveals that by the year 2018 the world drug bill will reach approximately $1.3 trillion. The new treatments for cancer and hepatitis C contribute to the rise. Another factor for this increase are the people that buy pharmaceuticals using their rising incomes.

The new drug against hepatitis C called Gilead costs $1,000 per pill, and this will help the increase in spending more on drugs by 30% compared to 2013. The new study was made by IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, which track down the prescriptions for drugs and sell the data.

As the world drug bill continues to rise, the health system will have to decide on how to give out the budgets. Murray Aitken, IMS executive directors said:

“The focus now is, how do we get value from the trillion dollars we’re spending?”

According to the new study, the United States spends the most on drugs per capital in 2018. The IMS Institute forecasts that the Americans will pay an average of approximately $1,409 per person in 2018. This is actually up from last year’s $1,075. The rate grew faster than the expansion of the American population.

China is the second-biggest pharmaceutical manufacturer in the world and it is forecast to spend approximately $124 per person in 2108, which is an increase from last year, when it was $72.
The new study on the world drug bill also reveals that the new high prices on medicines will increase the spending in developed countries and will also raise it in countries like Africa.

The new study showed that other types of health spending won’t rise in the next year, like doctor visits, or hospital care. In some cases, the drugs lower the total spending by keeping the people out of the doctor’s office or the hospitals.

The new drugs for Hepatitis C, like Sovaldi and Harvoni by Gilead and Olysio by Johnson & Johnson, are pushing the world drug bill higher. The study shows that the world will spend more than $100 billion on the new drugs from 2014 until 2018.

Eating produce five times per day is beneficial enough, researchers claim

July 30, 2014 By Deborah Cobing 1 Comment

Eat your fruits and vegetables! This is the result of a new large-scale scientific study. Your parents knew it far too well already, but researchers wanted to find out exactly how much produce should you consume daily for optimal results to your health status. Over 16 studies have been analyzed to answer the question. This meant looking at medical information of a total of 833.234 people. About 56.000 died in the follow-up period, BBC notes. Eating produce five times per day should be enough to sustain a healthy body. You could accompany a healthy diet with at least a short run per week, as it is proven to add a couple more years to your lifespan.

Produce are generally thought to be good for your health, but researchers intended to find out if the risks of developing heart problems and cancers can be reduced by produce consumption. Unfortunately, the results say that the risk of developing cancer is not reduced through eating more produce. But the good news is that each extra produce serving decreased the risk of death from all causes by five percent. The risk of cardiovascular death is only reduced by four percent for each additional serving.

Eating produce five times per day is enough or should we more?

“This analysis provides further evidence that a higher consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, particularly cardiovascular mortality,” Prof Frank Hu, the research team leader, stated.

Another recent research said that seven fruits and vegetables servings per day would decrease the overall mortality risks. If one or another are true are right now of a lesser importance, because people eat on average less than servings of fresh produce. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that just about 25 percent of Americans consume produce three or more times per day.

Overall, eating fruits and vegetables is, once again, proven to be extremely beneficial to your health. “Eating a healthy, balanced diet that is high in fruit, vegetables and fibre and low in saturated fat, sugar and salt, alongside being more active, will help you to maintain a healthy weight and lower your risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers”, Dr Alison Tedstone from Public Health England declared for BBC.

Eating produce five times per day is beneficial, but not everybody can afford to buy this amount of fruits and vegetables, which is problematic food for thought for policy makers.

The results are published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

Cell Metabolism Discovery Gives New Hope at a Future without Common Colds and Cancer

April 3, 2014 By Jack M. Robinson Leave a Comment

We’ve always been told to eat more fruits and vegetables if we want to live a long and healthy life, but there are so many things that we don’t have control over, that sometimes we tend to feel overwhelmed. A new amazing cell metabolism discovery could give us that leverage over disease that could very well make us disease-free.

A cell is immensely complex structure; its metabolism decides when it hungry, when to reproduce and when it needs to die and be replaced by new cells. Now, when a virus invades a healthy cell, it changes the cell’s metabolism and reprograms it so that it does everything in its power to keep the virus alive and thriving. Up until now scientists didn’t understand how a virus can do that to the cell’s metabolism, but now, researchers from the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have published a study in the journal Cell Metabolism which sheds light on this process.

Cell Metabolism Discovery

The researchers made this cell metabolism discovery that explains exactly how the virus manages to reprogram the cells they invade. Ming Tai, the lead scientist of this study, explained that they had discovered the way an adenovirus (a virus that causes the common cold) reprograms the cell it takes over: it makes it take on more glucose! Glucose is a very important nutrient for viruses and cells in general. Once the cells are able to take on more glucose, then the virus uses it to grow larger and create energy and thus, begin to replicate inside the cell walls.

This cell metabolism discovery is absolutely fascinating and it opens the door for so much more research and clinical trials. Drugs that can inhibit increased glucose uptake can be developed and the common cold or the flu would be a thing of the past. By analogy, because another discovery revealed that when healthy cells turn into cancer cells they act in a very similar matter as cells infected by a virus, so the same type of drugs can be used to stop the growth of cancer cells or tumors.

What are your thoughts on this cell metabolism discovery? Care to share?

We Should Eat More Vegetables And Fruits New Study Shows

April 1, 2014 By Jack M. Robinson Leave a Comment

You know what they say: an apple a day keeps the doctor away. It seems that just one apple is not enough, as new scientific studies reveal. Apparently people who eat fruits and vegetables 7 times a day decrease the risks of dying by 42%. Also, the same study made a pretty interesting discovery: vegetables are healthier than fruits.

The new study involved more than 65,000 people over the age of 35 who were kept under observation between 2001 and 2008. The ones who participated in the study say to have eaten an approximate 3.8 servings of vegetables and fruits daily. The researchers found that eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables can protect against common causes of death like cancer and heart disease. The results of the study have shown that people who eat a lot of veggies had a 25% lower risk of developing and dying from cancer and a 31% lower risk of having a stroke or dying from heart disease.

The same study shows that vegetables provide greater health benefits than fruits. Eating more fruits daily apparently did not increase the chance of survival for the participants involved.

The conclusion is that we need to eat more vegetables every day, even if we think that we have a pretty healthy lifestyle and diet. We need to increase the number of vegetables consumed each day, as this can decrease the risks of developing serious illnesses like different forms of cancer and heart disorders.

Eating more vegetables and fruits decrease the risk of cancer and heart disease

This recent study is a follow-up to a previous one that revealed that women who are eating 8 to 9 servings of vegetables and fresh fruits in their 20’s decrease the risks of developing dangerous plaque in the arteries when they are in their 40’s.

Our advice is: eat as many fruits and vegetables as you can. As studies show, the more the better.

A New Study Revealed that Uterine Cancer Risks Decrease by 81% Following Bariatric Surgery

March 27, 2014 By James Faulkner Leave a Comment

A new study revealed that obesity increases the risk for ovarian cancer and now a new study supports the find. The study, which was published in the journal of Gynecologic Oncology (the April issue) has revealed that uterine cancer risks decrease by 81% following bariatric surgery, which is basically weight-loss surgery.

Want to Have Your Uterine Cancer Risks Decrease by 81%?

Uterine cancer is the number four cancer killer in women and we know the risk increases with age, but recent studies uncovered that obesity is linked to uterine cancer, aside from heart disease and diabetes.

Researchers discovered that the weight loss that follows bariatric surgery, which is used for morbidly obese patients when all other methods of weight loss have failed, significantly reduces the risk of cancer of the endometrium (uterus) in women.

If you are morbidly obese and nothing seems to work and you want to have your uterine cancer risks decrease by 81%, then maybe bariatric surgery is the solution for you.

The team that conducted the study (University of California-San Diego and the Moores Cancer Center) have revealed that almost two thirds of the adults in the United States are obese or overweight. The researchers analyzed the records of over 7 million patients in the Health System Consortium database and they identified around 100,000 patients who have had bariatric surgery and 44,000 who have had a uterine cancer diagnosis.

To put it blankly, a woman with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 has eight times a greater risk of developing endometrial cancer than that of a woman with a BMI of 25. Obviously, the more the BMI increases, the more likely the woman will develop uterine cancer, so as a natural conclusion, the weight loss as a result of bariatric surgery reduces a woman’s risk of developing uterine cancer.

How to qualify for bariatric surgery? Well, the patients must be severely obese, with a BMI of over 40. The surgery is no walk in the park, as it involves removing a large portion of the stomach or rerouting the small intestines to a smaller stomach pouch. Of course that lifestyle changes are vital for the success of the procedure.

Why does obesity cause uterine cancer? Basically it all has to do with estrogen. Extra adipose tissue (fat tissue) raises the estrogen levels which cause the formation of tumors. In the year 2010, 44,717 women in the United States were diagnosed with endometrial cancer and 8,402 died from it.

Cause of a Rare and Aggressive Ovarian Cancer Found

March 26, 2014 By Troy Rubenson Leave a Comment

In recent news we’ve learnt that obesity increases the risks for developing ovarian cancer, but we’re still miles away from finding out all the causes of ovarian cancer. This week a new study published in the Nature Genetics Journal and funded by a non-profit organization from Phoenix, Arizona, has revealed a new cause of a rare and aggressive ovarian cancer. This is spectacular news, so read on and find out about it!

The Cause of a Rare and Aggressive Ovarian Cancer has Finally Been Found

The cancer in question is known as a small cell carcinoma hypercalcemic type of the ovary (in short, SCCOHT) and it is a rare and very aggressive form of ovarian cancer. It appears mostly in young women and girls and it has a very high morbidity rate.

Scientists found that there is a very strong link between a mutation of a gene called SMARCA4 and women who develop SCCOHT. The president of the Phoenix non-profit organization and senior author of the study, Dr. Jeffrey Trent believes that the correlation between the development of SCCOHT and the mutations in the SMARCA4, which can mean that the horrible disease can start to be understood and thus cured.

This particular type of ovarian cancer strikes at around 24 years of age, but there have been cases of baby girls getting sick with SCCOHT as young as 14 months. The youngest girl with the disease that took part in the study was 9 years old.

The discovery of the cause of a rare and aggressive ovarian cancer was described as a landmark in the field and now that the cause of SCCOHT was discovered, the scientists hope to start the clinical trials as soon as possible, so that a cure can be found for this ruthless killer. The SMARCA4 gene was already known to be linked to other types of cancers of the brain, pancreas and lung.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Did you know of this aggressive type of ovarian cancer? Do you know someone who suffers from it?

Study Shows that Older Women are Twice As Likely To Develop Alzheimer’s Than Breast Cancer

March 24, 2014 By Janet Vasquez Leave a Comment

Before we delve in this startling news, you need to read about a new blood test that predicts Alzheimer and dementia. It’s amazing that so many medical breakthroughs are being made every day! It gives us hope that one day we would be able to eradicate disease. A new study that gives us an insight into old age and disease is one done by the Alzheimer’s Association that says that older women are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s than breast cancer. If you think this is a startling find, then we invite you to read on!

Older Women are Twice As Likely To Develop Alzheimer’s Than Breast Cancer

This is the conclusion of a report that was performed by the Alzheimer’s Association. If you think that the results are quite shocking, then you’d be right. As it was known, as women grow old, the risk of getting breast cancer rises, but the study that was performed on a bit over 3,000 adults revealed that women are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s than breast cancer.

Out of 5 million people with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States of America, 3.2 million of them are women. The general consensus on why this happens is that women have a longer life span, which can only mean that they are more likely to reach the age when the disease appears.

But Angela Geiger, strategy officer of the Alzheimer’s Association believes that further studies are to be performed before a final conclusion is drawn. The biological differences between women and men need to be determined (if there are any) and only then can scientists come up with a definite answer is older women are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s’ than breast cancer.

Did you know that every minute someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease? Do you know someone who’s battling the disease? What do you think about the study? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.

3,000-Year-Old Skeleton with Metastatic Cancer Discovered

March 19, 2014 By Georgia Dawson Leave a Comment

New discoveries are being made in the field of cancer research every week, such as the discovery that tumors shed DNA and this can lead to a more successful screening and treatment of the disease, but today we’ve got some other exciting news in the field of archeological discoveries and cancer study! A 3,000 year old skeleton with metastatic cancer was discovered and it holds the answer to many questions that scientists have been posing for decades.

Cause is one of the world’s biggest killers and the factors which lead to it and which are thought to be the main causes of the disease are smoking and exposure to certain harmful chemicals, but with the discovery of a 3,000 year old skeleton with metastatic cancer, new information about the disease is being uncovered. This is evidence that cancer was a disease present in humans more than 3,000 years ago.

3,000 Year Old Skeleton with Metastatic Cancer

The research team, led by a PhD student of Archeology at the Durham University in the United Kingdom have published all the details of their investigation in the PLOS ONE medical journal.

Their research could provide insight into the evolution of this terrible disease and even contribute to discoveries that might help with the finding of a cure.

The experts used radiography and a SEM (scanning electron microscope) to analyze the bones of the adult male’s skeleton who is thought to be between the ages of 25 and 35. They found cancer metastases in almost all of his bones: shoulder blades, upper arms, thigh bones, vertebrae, collar bones and ribs.

The scientists are considering two possibilities of why this ancient individual has contracted the cancer: it was either an infectious disease (maybe Bilharzia) or a parasitic infection that leads to cirrhosis and breast cancer in men. Also, exposure to smoke could have also contributed to the man’s cancer, because the people in the Amara West (where this man was from) had big ovens in small and enclosed spaces.

The scientists believe that cancer today is much more prevalent than it was back then, but it still was a huge killer even in the past. People nowadays live longer and are exposed to many chemicals and factors that cause cancer, but infectious diseases and cancer is something that needs to be looked into further and the discovery of a 3,000 year old skeleton with metastatic cancer is a great step into that direction.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Drop us a line in the comment section below.

New Study Shows Reveals Negative Aspects of Palliative Chemotherapy

March 10, 2014 By Deborah Cobing Leave a Comment

Recent studies have linked animal protein to cancer and diabetes, making small breakthroughs in finding out the causes of cancer, but when it comes to the treatment of cancer in its final stages, there is not much doctors can do. Palliative chemotherapy is a chemo treatment for patients with terminal cancer – it is intended to ease the symptoms and prolong survival, not cure the disease. A new study conducted by researchers from Harvard Medical School, the Dana-Faber Cancer Institute and the Weill Cornell Medical College have found some negative aspects of palliative chemotherapy which need to be addressed, fast.

The study was published in the medical journal BMJ and it shows that there is a huge discrepancy between what a cancer patient wants and what they actually get through palliative chemotherapy. The team of researchers found that patients with terminal cancer who received palliative chemotherapy during their last months or days, were more likely to experience invasive medical procedures (such as mechanical ventilation) and less likely to die where they wished to (at home in their beds).

Negative Aspects of Palliative Chemotherapy

The study allowed researchers to assess information from almost 400 patients, it lasted for 6 years and it followed terminal cancer patients and patient care. The main focus was the quality of life of the patients during their final weeks, from a medical and sociological standpoint.

One of the negative aspects of palliative chemotherapy was that it forced people to stay in hospitals during their final days. 68% of people who were given palliative chemotherapy died where they had wanted as opposed to 80% who didn’t receive the therapy. 11% of them died in an Intensive Care Unit, as opposed to 2% who didn’t receive the palliative chemotherapy.

Until this study, there hasn’t been evidence of the negative effects of palliative chemotherapy, but now the researchers hope that things will change in the terminal cancer care.

What are your thoughts on the matter?

Animal Protein is Linked to Cancer and Diabetes

March 7, 2014 By Georgia Dawson Leave a Comment

While the title may not seem like the discovery of the century, two new studies do reinforce what we already knew: that animal protein is linked to cancer and diabetes in adults. The studies are not saying that any animal protein could cause cancer and diabetes, but too much protein is a direct cause of cancer and diabetes during middle age. This should put in perspective your diet and the role of carbs, meat and sugar.

Animal Protein is Linked to Cancer – Too Much Protein As Harmful As Smoking

Two studies that have been published in the Cell Metabolism journal and were conducted by the University of Southern California in the US and the University of Sydney in Australia found that low protein intake may be the key to living a long and healthy life and that we should examine more carefully where our calories are coming from, plants or animals. The studies have concluded that for weight loss, a high-protein diet could only help in the short term and that if continued in the long term it will reduce lifespan and harm health.

One of the doctors who were involved in the study reported that the study provided evidence that a high-protein diet (animal-based proteins in particular) is almost as harmful as smoking for your health and that adults who consumed a high-protein diet had the highest risk of developing cancer and diabetes.

These studies were performed on both humans and mice; almost 7,000 Americans took part in an US national survey that assesses diet and health and revealed that people who consumed moderate amounts of proteins were three times more likely to die of cancer and that these effects were reduced or disappeared in those people whose high-protein diets were plant-based. But what does a high-protein diet means? The scientists concluded that a high-protein diet is one where at least 20% of the calories that are ingested come from protein.

These two new studies simply reinforce what people and doctors already knew: animal protein is linked to cancer and diabetes, so if you would like to live a long and healthy life, then you should stick to plant-based proteins and diets.