Month: January 2007

Yeah, right. So, you have tried to stop smoking and have been frustrated? No problem! Have a surgeon cut out a small portion of your brain, and BAM! You will forget that you even ever used to smoke! Great solution, huh? (I am being factitious!)

The brain zone that makes us smoke

“Scientists have discovered that some brain-damaged patients can give up smoking effortlessly, which could herald a major breakthrough in treating nicotine cravings. A region deep in the brain called the insula is intimately involved in smoking addiction, and damage to this structure can erase the body’s urge to light up a cigarette. Indeed, the structure, which is the size of a 50p piece, is being billed as possibly the ‘Achilles heel’ of addiction. The study published today in the journal Science was inspired by a patient who had smoked about 40 cigarettes a day before suffering a stroke. He quit immediately afterwards. ‘I forgot the urge to smoke,’ he told the team led by Dr. Antoine Bechara of the University of Southern California, who worked with colleagues at the University of Iowa. ‘This man had smoked since the age of 14 and had his stroke at age 28,’ Dr. Bechara told The Daily Telegraph. ‘He tried so many times before to quit but was never able to. ‘But he smoked his last cigarette on the evening before his stroke and has not lit up another in over 10 years now. His quitting was like a switch being turned off.’ The scientists concluded that insula damage reduced the patients’ actual urge to smoke rather than reducing the pleasurable experience. Prof. Paul Matthews, of the University of Oxford and Imperial College, and vice-president for GlaxoSmith Kline, said: ‘The most remarkable finding in this study is that damage to a particular brain area may block this urge. ‘Now we can ask: could a functional neurosurgeon implant stimulation electrodes to do the same thing? Could there be a surgical ‘cure’ for smoking?'”

OK… I am not the one to ask… but “Could there be a surgical “cure” for smoking?” I say, “You HAVE to be kidding!” (Sadly, they aren’t!)

“Krill oil is derived from the planktonic family of crustaceans and is rich in omega-3 fats, phospholipids and antioxidants. In the recently completed clinical trial on ADHD, researchers evaluated the cognitive effects of krill oil as measured by Barkley’s Executive Function score of behavior inhibition, daily functional capacity and social behavior. The study examined 30 adults with a confirmed diagnosis of ADHD. The study on ADHD found that patients improved their ability to concentrate and their working capacity by an average of 60.2 percent after taking a daily 500mg dose of krill oil for six months. Researchers also reported a 50 percent improvement in planning skills and a 48.8 percent improvement in social skills. ADHD strikes between 4 percent and 12 percent of children and 1 percent and 6 percent of adults in North America.”

Krill Oil: The Proven Natural Treatment Option for ADHD

Krill oil is a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids, and is of benefit to anyone… not just those that have ADHD. Brain health in general is improved by supplementing krill oil. Dr. Mercola goes on to point out: “This study also confirms my initial excitement with krill when I first became aware of it a bit more than a year ago. The phosphate bonding to the omega-3 fats allow for really outstanding penetration into the nervous tissue and tends to produce even better results than simple omega-3 fats.”

I, personally, take krill oil as a supplement, and I can attest to the benefits!

We have been covering the importance of Vitamin D and how we are facing a crisis of deficiency because “they” have been telling us for years to stay out of the sun. (We produce Vitamin D naturally when our skin is exposed to sunlight.) Now, in order to fight cancer, they have created a “mega-D” pill. Does anyone else see this as crazy!?

Vitamin pill for prostate cancer

“Exposure to Vitamin D from sunlight is known to improve the prognosis of certain cancers. US drug company Novacea has produced a pill which delivers a concentrated dose of the vitamin without running the risk of side-effects from an overdose. Chemistry and Industry magazine reports that if clinical trials of the drug – Asentar (DN-101) – are successful it could be available by 2009. The drug would be given to patients in the advanced stages of the disease, along with chemotherapy drugs. Professor Nick James, a cancer expert at the University of Birmingham, said the drug had produced impressive results in preliminary phase two trials. He said patients taking the drug lived for an average of an extra nine months longer than those taking another chemotherapy drug – taxotere – alone. Professor James said: ‘On average, patients in the advanced stage of the disease survive about 18 months, so an extension of nine months would be very significant in my view.’ Asentar provides levels of vitamin D 50 to 100 times higher than normal. Patients would be expected to take one tablet once a week with their weekly regime of taxotere for three weeks out of every four.”

So… now you can take your chemical poison (chemotherapy) with a strong dose of a vitamin. Weird.

We have already reported on this to some extent, but I thought it would be worth repeating this information. This is a BIG story… that is NOT getting enough “airtime” on the major news sources!

Study: Hot chili pepper compound kills cancer without side effects

Capsaicin — the compound that makes chili peppers spicy — can kill cancer cells without harming healthy cells, with no side effects, according to a new study by researchers at Nottingham University in the UK. The study, led by Dr. Timothy Bates, found that capsaicin killed laboratory-grown lung and pancreatic cancer cells by attacking tumor cells’ source of energy and triggering cell-suicide. ‘This is incredibly exciting and may explain why people living in countries like Mexico and India, who traditionally eat a diet which is very spicy, tend to have lower incidences of many cancers that are prevalent in the Western world,’ Bates said. ‘We appear to have discovered a fundamental weakness with all cancer cells. Capsaicin specifically targets cancerous cells, leading to the possibility that a drug based on it would kill tumors with few or no side effects for the patient,’ he said. Bates and his research team found that when cancer cells were treated with capsaicin, the chili pepper compound attacked the tumor cells’ mitochondria — which generate ATP, the chemical that creates energy within the body. Capsaicin also bound to certain proteins within the cancer cells and triggered apoptosis — natural cell death. Bates noted that his team’s capsaicin experiments resulted in cancer cell death without harming the healthy cells surrounding the tumors. The capsaicin compound also managed to kill both lung cancer cells — a standard test for new cancer treatments — and pancreatic cancer cells, which are exceptionally hard to kill.”

” Folic acid, the vitamin prescribed to pregnant women, could be a brain saver, a study has found. People who took high dose supplements of folic acid did significantly better in tests of memory and cognitive performance than those given a placebo, researchers report. The vitamin is found in green leafy vegetables, beans and liver but few people in the UK and northern Europe obtain high enough levels from diet alone. Average intake is around 200 micrograms a day, half the recommended amount. Folic acid plays a crucial role in the development of the embryo and some countries such as the US now fortify flour with the vitamin. As a result the incidence of spina bifida and similar birth defects has declined. Low folate levels have also been linked with poor cognitive performance, but research has failed to show a benefit among people given supplements. Now scientists from the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands have demonstrated with the use of more sensitive tests of cognitive performance that high dose folic acid supplements taken over a long period slow the effect of aging on the brain.”

Folic acid sets back effects of aging on the brain by five years, says study

It seems that natural foods and supplements are demonstrating more and more benefit for those that are aging! (As we all are!) So, consider increasing folic acid intake and keep that mind sharp!

A possible promising future “cure” for cancer has been patented. I am not so concerned about whether the “cure” is viable or not at this point, as it it way’s off from being tested yet, but more that they always feel it necessary to “lock down” the possible technology to make it limited, right from the start, due to the “requirement” to make money off it.

Cancer cure patented

“A group of researchers claim that they are patenting a possible cure for cancer involving nothing more than sugar and short-chain fatty acid combination. The Johns Hopkins researchers cautioned that their double-punch molecule, described in the December issue of the journal Chemistry & Biology, has not yet been tested on animals or humans. Nevertheless, they believe it represents a promising new strategy for fighting the deadly disease, and have already filed an application for a U.S. patent covering this class of compounds.” (Emphasis mine.)

I know researchers have to make money, that it involves their livelihood, but with so many suffering from cancer, why is the very FIRST move always to lock it down?

I recently reported on a “cure” that had been announced by Canadian researchers for Type I Diabetes in mice. Now, Dr. Joseph Mercola goes into some additional detail from a natural health perspective.

Red Hot Chili Peppers May Cure Type 1 Diabetes

“Scientists at a Toronto hospital may have discovered proof that the body’s nervous system helps trigger diabetes. This stunning discovery, which shocked even the researchers who made it, could eventually lead to a near-cure of diabetes. Type I diabetes in particulars long been thought to be incurable. Diabetic mice were injected with injected with capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers, which counteracted the effect of malfunctioning pain neurons in the pancreas. The mice became healthy practically overnight. This goes against the previous conventional wisdom that Type 1 diabetes is caused solely by the body’s immune system attacking the pancreas. Apparently, the nerves also secrete neuropeptides that are crucial to the proper functioning of the pancreas. The nervous system could also play a role in other chronic inflammatory conditions, such as asthma and Crohn’s disease. The researchers have not confirmed their findings in people, but expect results from human studies within a year. However, a treatment may still be years away.

Dr. Mercola’s Comment:

Nearly 75 million Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes, and while only 5 percent have the Type I version, its supposed incurability makes it by far the more challenging form of the illness. So this new research is potentially great news for Type I diabetics. Type 2 diabetes, of course, is already virtually 100 percent curable with natural methods frequently described on my site. This experimental work with capsaicin is an absolutely unexpected discovery that came out of nowhere (except that some Jamaican researchers saw similar results some six years ago). Capsaicin is well-known as a food component with healing properties. While its most common use has been as a component in topical creams for joint pain, it can also be useful for preventing and treating cancer. And like ginkgo, capsaicin is a natural product so the likelihood of serious side effects is very small. This is in stark contrast to the synthetic drug solutions that are developed for chronic illness. I can provide you with insights that will help you sort through the fraud and deception of the drug companies. When you hear or read of some “break though” drug solution for a chronic illness, you can run, don’t walk away from it, because the overwhelming likelihood is that it will cause more harm than benefit. This understanding makes it MUCH easier to view the news. Note that this is true for the beginning of the 21st century. My guess is that this will likely hold true for many more years to come, but science is always advancing and I am certain they will have some radical new developments that will cause a serious refactoring of this principle… The drug companies are notorious for taking natural remedies and making altered, synthetic versions of them that aren’t as good so they can patent them and price them out of reach. However, the good news is that this may end up having nothing to do with the drug companies. Seems like once the protocol is worked out, it may be something the average lay person will be able to implement. I am REALLY excited about this news as it could be life saving for millions of people and the likelihood of any serious complications is virtually non-existent.”

Can you safely add peppers to your diet NOW? Yes. Are there natural herbal preparations that contain capsaicin? Yes. Should you consider taking these supplements? Remember, YOU are the person most responsible for your health!