Why Is Pancreatic Cancer So Deadly?

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The pancreas secretes hormones and enzymes to digest our fats. One of those hormones is insulin, which prompts the body to use sugar in the blood rather than fat as energy. Its levels are low in diabetic patients, who suffer from abnormally high blood sugar.

Only one fifth of Americans diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive for a full year, according to the American Cancer Society, and it is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the country.

How does the disease develop without noticeable symptoms and then kill so quickly?

To find out, we called Allyson Ocean, an oncologist at New York–Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, who specializes in gastrointestinal cancers including pancreatic cancer. An edited transcript follows.

Why does pancreatic cancer kill so quickly?

Pancreatic cancer is typically diagnosed at a late stage because it doesn’t cause symptoms until it’s too late. Weight loss, abdominal pain, jaundice [a yellowing of the skin due to toxic buildup in the liver]—those are the most common symptoms. They usually start after the tumor is a significant size. By then, chances are, it has metastasized [that is, spread to other parts of the body].

Only about 10 to 15 percent of pancreatic cancers are diagnosed when they could be considered for surgery. And the prognosis is poor even in patients who do have surgery, because it comes back about 85 percent of the time. At best, 25 to 30 percent of patients are alive five years after surgery.

When doctors do pancreatic cancer surgery, they take out 95 percent of the pancreas, including the tumor, and then they leave a small remnant of the pancreas in there that serves [the insulin-producing] functions.

If a person can live without a fully functional pancreas, then what, ultimately, kills most pancreatic cancer patients?

When most patients die of pancreatic cancer, they die of liver failure from their liver being taken over by tumor.

What precludes doctors from performing surgery on late-stage patients?

We don’t do surgery if the tumor has already spread outside the pancreas, because there’s no survival benefit in removing the tumor. We also sometimes can’t do surgery [when the tumor] involves the great blood vessels, the superior mesenteric vein and superior mesenteric artery. Those are the main vessels that come off of the aorta, the main artery in our body. If the tumor is wrapped around those blood vessels, then we can’t take it out.

Why is this particular cancer so aggressive?
Because of the nature of the tumor cells. They escape the treatments, they hide out, and then they come back. And they grow again and they affect the liver and then they kill people.

What are the biggest risk factors for pancreatic cancer?
The biggest known risk factors are smoking and family history—it can be a hereditary disease. Then there are some other more obscure risk factors, such as defects in the anatomy of the pancreas, but that’s very rare.

What factors affect how early a person gets diagnosed?
Depending on where the cancer is diagnosed in the pancreas, it can affect how soon it’s diagnosed. For instance, if the cancer is in the head of the pancreas, which is close to the common bile duct, and it grows and it causes obstruction of the common bile duct, a patient can get jaundiced. And then they could [show symptoms] sooner than someone whose pancreatic cancer is in another part of the pancreas, like the tail. They would not present with jaundice, so we would not have a clue that there was necessarily anything wrong with them.

What are some of main symptoms as the cancer progresses?
Unexplained weight loss, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting. Back pain is another one, because the pancreas is very posterior in the body. Back pain is also the most common complaint that patients go to an emergency room for, and most of the time it’s just muscle pain—it’s not pancreatic cancer.

What treatments are available if surgery isn’t an option?
Chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Sometimes we do both together. We are also using biologic agents now, meaning antibody therapy. There’s a drug called Tarceva, which is an antibody [or immune protein] against the growth factor that the tumor cell makes, and so it blocks that growth signal. It’s given in combination with [a chemotherapy called] Gemcitabine. In a large randomized clinical trial, [the combination of the two drugs] was shown to improve upon Gemcitabine alone.

Source: Scientific American

 

Healthy Weight Loss & Dieting Tips

In our eat-and-run, massive-portion-sized culture, maintaining a healthy weight can be tough—and losing weight, even tougher. If you’ve tried and failed to lose weight before, you may believe that diets don’t work for you. You’re probably right: traditional diets don’t work—at least not in the long term. However, there are plenty of small but powerful ways to avoid common dieting pitfalls, achieve lasting weight loss success, and develop a healthier relationship with food.

The key to successful, healthy weight loss
Your weight is a balancing act, but the equation is simple: If you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. And if you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight.

Since 3,500 calories equals about one pound of fat, if you cut 500 calories from your typical diet each day, you’ll lose approximately one pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories). Simple, right? Then why is weight loss so hard?

All too often, we make weight loss much more difficult than it needs to be with extreme diets that leave us cranky and starving, unhealthy lifestyle choices that undermine our dieting efforts, and emotional eating habits that stop us before we get started. But there’s a better way! You can lose weight without feeling miserable. By making smart choices every day, you can develop new eating habits and preferences that will leave you feeling satisfied—and winning the battle of the bulge.

Getting started with healthy weight loss
While there is no “one size fits all” solution to permanent healthy weight loss, the following guidelines are a great place to start:

Think lifestyle change, not short-term diet. Permanent weight loss is not something that a “quick-fix” diet can achieve. Instead, think about weight loss as a permanent lifestyle change—a commitment to your health for life. Various popular diets can help jumpstart your weight loss, but permanent changes in your lifestyle and food choices are what will work in the long run.

Find a cheering section. Social support means a lot. Programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers use group support to impact weight loss and lifelong healthy eating. Seek out support—whether in the form of family, friends, or a support group—to get the encouragement you need.

Slow and steady wins the race. Aim to lose one to two pounds a week to ensure healthy weight loss. Losing weight too fast can take a toll on your mind and body, making you feel sluggish, drained, and sick. When you drop a lot of weight quickly, you’re actually losing mostly water and muscle, rather than fat.

Set goals to keep you motivated. Short-term goals, like wanting to fit into a bikini for the summer, usually don’t work as well as wanting to feel more confident or become healthier for your children’s sakes. When frustration and temptation strike, concentrate on the many benefits you will reap from being healthier and leaner.
Use tools that help you track your progress. Keep a food journal and weigh yourself regularly, keeping track of each pound and inch you lose. By keeping track of your weight loss efforts, you’ll see the results in black and white, which will help you stay motivated.

Keep in mind it may take some experimenting to find the right diet for your individual body. It’s important that you feel satisfied so that you can stick with it on a long-term basis. If one diet plan doesn’t work, then try another one. There are many ways to lose weight. The key is to find what works for you.

Source: help guide

 

Some surprising health benefits of the cool cucumber!

Next time you hit the vegetable market make sure you grab some crunchy cucumbers! Apparently, there is much more to this low calorie member of the melon family than keeping you cool and refreshed!

The humble cucumber has more nutrients to offer than just water and electrolytes. It is chock-full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants which are vital for health

One of the oldest vegetables, cultivated for thousands of years in India and parts of Asia, the veggie is an excellent source of vitamin C and A (anti-oxidants), folate, manganese, molybdenum, potassium, silica, sulfur, and vitamin B complex, sodium, calcium, and phosphorus in slighter lesser amounts.

Often referred to as a superfood, cucumber is one of the best vegetables for your body’s overall health. We list below some of the surprising health benefits of cucumber.

Hydrates body
Given that cucumbers contain 96% of water content, they help keep our body hydrated during the hot scorching summers. Apart from providing a cooling effect in the blazing sun, dietary fiber in cucumbers work wonders in flushing out toxins from the body.

Cancer
Studies suggest some of the compounds found in cucumbers have the potential to reduce estrogen-dependent cancers such as breast and other gynecological malignancies like ovarian, uterine and prostate cancer.

Weight loss & digestion
Since cucumbers have low calories and high water content, they are an ideal snack for people wanting to shift pounds. The veggie also aids digestion and is a wonderful remedy for chronic constipation.

Joint pain
Cucumber is enriched with silicon which alleviates joint pain and strengthens connective tissues in the bones, ligaments, muscles, tendons and cartilage. In addition, vitamin A, B1, B6 or magnesium and potassium found in the vegetable helps in lowering uric levels in the body. Daily intake of cucumber juice is beneficial in dissolving kidney stones and treating bladder infections.

Anti-inflammatory
Cucumbers are effective in inhibiting inflammatory enzymes and preventing the overproduction of nitric oxide in the body that increases inflammation. This in turn can avert health issues ranging from asthma to heart disease and many more.

Hangover headache
The beneficial vitamins contained in cucumbers can relieve a terrible headache especially that triggered by a hangover. Eating a few cucumber slices before retiring to bed after a night of binge drinking can replenish essential nutrients and help bring the body back into equilibrium avoiding a headache.

Diabetes, cholesterol & blood pressure
Cucumber has been found to be beneficial for diabetics, for reducing cholesterol levels and is effective in regulating blood pressure.

Breath freshener
The phytochemcials found in cucumber kill the bacteria in your mouth that causing bad breath. If you have run out of gum or mints, simply place a thin slice of cucumber against the roof of your mouth for 30 seconds before chewing it. It will not only make your breath minty fresh but also provide a cooling sensation.

Cucumber therapy for beauty

  • Cucumbers contain vitamin C and caffeic acid, two antioxidants which when applied to the skin ward off wrinkles, sun damage and more. Chilled and sliced cucumbers placed over eye sockets relieve puffy lids. The natural anti-inflammatory properties of cucumber soothe skin reddened by sunburn.
  • Cucumbers are great for conditioning damaged hair. Puree cucumber and blend with an egg and a tablespoon of olive oil. Leave it in for about 10 minutes and then rinse thoroughly.
  • Cucumber is a quick fix to remove cellulite. Rub sliced cucumbers along your dimply area for a few minutes. The phytochemicals in the veggie cause the collagen to tighten, firming up the outer layer of skin and diminishing cellulite.

Source: medguru

Angry people ‘risking heart attacks

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Having a hot temper may increase your risk of having a heart attack or stroke, according to researchers.

Rage often precedes an attack and may be the trigger, say the US researchers who trawled medical literature.

They identified a dangerous period of about two hours following an outburst when people were at heightened risk.

But they say more work is needed to understand the link and find out if stress-busting strategies could avoid such complications.

People who have existing risk factors, such as a history of heart disease, are particularly susceptible, they told the European Heart Journal.

In the two hours immediately after an angry outburst, risk of a heart attack increased nearly five-fold and risk of stroke increased more than three-fold, the data from nine studies and involving thousands of people suggests.

The Harvard School of Public Health researchers say, at a population level, the risk with a single outburst of anger is relatively low – one extra heart attack per 10,000 people per year could be expected among people with low cardiovascular risk who were angry only once a month, increasing to an extra four per 10,000 people with a high cardiovascular risk.

But the risk is cumulative, meaning temper-prone individuals will be at higher risk still.

Five episodes of anger a day would result in around 158 extra heart attacks per 10,000 people with a low cardiovascular risk per year, increasing to about 657 extra heart attacks per 10,000 among those with a high cardiovascular risk, Dr Elizabeth Mostofsky and colleagues calculate

Dr Mostofsky said: “Although the risk of experiencing an acute cardiovascular event with any single outburst of anger is relatively low, the risk can accumulate for people with frequent episodes of anger.”

It’s unclear why anger might be dangerous – the researchers point out that their results do not necessarily indicate that anger causes heart and circulatory problems.

Experts know that chronic stress can contribute to heart disease, partly because it can raise blood pressure but also because people may deal with stress in unhealthy ways – by smoking or drinking too much alcohol, for example.

The researchers say it is worth testing what protection stress-busting strategies, such as yoga, might offer.

Doireann Maddock, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “It’s not clear what causes this effect. It may be linked to the physiological changes that anger causes to our bodies, but more research is needed to explore the biology behind this.

“The way you cope with anger and stress is also important. Learning how to relax can help you move on from high-pressure situations. Many people find that physical activity can help to let off steam after a stressful day.

“If you think you are experiencing harmful levels of stress or frequent anger outbursts talk to your GP.”

source: BBC news

 

TAU’s Management Programs Closing down shortly: Apply Now

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Texila American University‘s online MBA program is one of the Flexible ways for students get educated from their own Town. Students can be benefited by the Flexibility of Online Learning from Web Campus (Our Online Learning Management System). Students have a study experience in TAU online management program they have real-world skill sets to get ready them to be an executive-level and decision maker in any enterprise.

Programs Offered:

Master of Business Administration (MBA) 
Duration : 2 years
Eligibility : Any Bachelor’s degree from a recognized university

PhD in Management
Duration : 3 years
Eligibility : Master’s degree with relevant specialty

There are more than 32 specializations to choose from

Salient Features of the program

  • Interactive programs with TUTORS for each module
  • Deep discussions through online Chats, Forums, Course work and Multimedia content supported by E-library
  • Curriculum that fits the Global Manager
  • Curriculum designed for you, The Global Manager! Complimented by a great learning management system.
  • Quality learning & Many Specializations
  • Various HOT Specializations to choose from
  • Expert’s faculty members
  • Internationally trained faculties with proper market knowledge of each country

TAU – UCN Partnership

TAU and UNESCO-IAU (International Association of University) listed Universidad Central de Nicaragua (UCN), have signed an agreement to collaborate academically and also scientific research. Students will receive degree/certification from UCN.

Apply online:

Admission process for online IT programs will be closed soon in TAU

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Texila American University(TAU) combines effective theoretical and practical experience in Master’s and Doctoral programs in IT & computer science. TAU offers these programs adapting to current technology and standards to meet everyday challenges in the Information Technology industry. The online IT program at TAU teaches not only the basics of Information Technology but also goes beyond basics of learning hardware, software, and innovation. The university teaches latest technologies and aligns it with business goals and objectives.

Texila American University’s distance and online education program is one of the Flexible ways for students get educated from their own Town. Students can be benefited by the Flexibility of Online Learning from Web Campus (Our Online Learning Management System).

Programs Offered:

Lateral Entry to Bachelors in

  1. Information Technology
  2. Computer science
  3. Computer Application

Masters in

  1. Information Technology
  2. Computer science
  3. Ph.D in (Doctoral)
  4. Computer Science

Benefits of online IT courses in TAU

  • Do higher studies bein
    g in your country without losing your job
  • Minimal fee with high quality of education
  • Advanced syllabus to meet your job requirements
  • Qualified Faculties to guide your entire course
  • 24×7 access to LMS (Learning Management System)
  • Effective Practical Assignments
  • No difference in certificates if studied Online or On Campus

TAU – UCN Partnership

TAU and UNESCO-IAU (International Association of University) listed Universidad Central de Nicaragua (UCN), have signed an agreement to collaborate academically and also scientific research. Students will receive degree/certification from UCN.

Apply Online:

 

Microwaving tumors: New procedure knocks out kidney cancer without surgery

As a fight on cancer rages on, new record is creation it easier for doctors to mislay tumors though invasive surgery.

When Rory Kleinman, 42, sought medical courtesy for stomach issues in 2012, he had no suspicion that slight scans would exhibit a some-more critical problem.

“What happened was they were looking for something specific to do with my stomach, and by an MRI they afterwards saw something – a nodule on my liver – and so they had me do a successive MRI to check that,” Kleinman told FoxNews.com. “The nodule was fine, though in that second MRI they saw that there was a little mark that was on my kidney.”

That little mark on Kleinman’s kidney incited out to be a tumor.

“I only felt bombard shocked,” pronounced Kleinman. “I only never suspicion that we would have cancer during a immature age; if we was going to get it, we figured we would get it after in life.”

For many years, renal tumors compulsory prejudiced or sum dismissal of a kidney. Doctors would take a biopsy of a growth to see if it was cancer and afterwards confirm how many of a kidney to remove. But a new procession called x-ray ablation can be finished though surgery, and during a same time as a biopsy.

“Microwave ablation is a technique used to feverishness tumors,” Dr. Aaron Fischman, partner highbrow of radiology and medicine during Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City told FoxNews.com. “We’re means to indeed place a needle directly to a growth and kill it though indeed stealing it or creation an incision.”

Patients are put underneath unwavering sedation while a x-ray receiver is fed by a biopsy needle. After a square of a growth is private for testing, Fischman and his group use medical imaging to assistance place a tip of a receiver directly inside a tumor.

“The biggest advantage in my mind, and many of a patients will substantially tell you, that they don’t have to have surgery,” pronounced Fischman. “So we’re means to do this procession with no incision. We only put a needle directly into a kidney itself, and ablate it, so a liberation time is less, a snarl rate is theoretically reduction since a risk of draining is reduction though carrying a vital surgery.”

Microwave ablation is used to provide tumors in a liver, kidneys and lungs. Doctors during Mount Sinai have seen success rates of 90 to 95 percent in their patients who bear a procedure, Fischman said.

“Since this is a teenager procedure, a risks are minimal,” he said. “The many common thing that people can see is teenager draining or some pain during a site where a needle went in, and usually, this goes divided in a day or dual after a procedure.”

For Kleinman, a palliate of a procession has finished cancer a apart memory.

“Literally, we had a procession finished and a few days after we was behind during work – we unequivocally haven’t suspicion that many about it,” pronounced Kleinman. “I like that we don’t have to demeanour during a injure so that it reminds me that we had this procession done.”

Source: health medicine network

Removing infected teeth before heart surgery increase complications

Removing an infected tooth prior to cardiac surgery may increase the risk of major adverse outcomes, including risk of death prior to surgery, according to a study in the March 2014 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

Dental extraction of abscessed or infected teeth is often performed to decrease the risk of infection during surgery and endocarditis (an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart) following surgery.

Cardiac surgeon Joseph A. Dearani, MD, along with anesthesiologists Mark M. Smith, MD and Kendra J. Grim, MD, and colleagues from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., evaluated the occurrence of major adverse outcomes in 205 patients who underwent at least one dental extraction prior to planned cardiac surgery from 2003 to 2013. The median time from dental extraction to cardiac surgery was 7 days (average 35 days).

“Guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association label dental extraction as a minor procedure, with the risk of death or non-fatal heart attack estimated to be less than 1%,” explained Dr. Smith. “Our results, however, documented a higher rate of major adverse outcomes, suggesting physicians should evaluate individualized risk of anesthesia and surgery in this patient population.”

In this study, patients who underwent dental extraction prior to cardiac surgery experienced an 8% incidence of major adverse outcomes, including new heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and death. Overall, 3% of patients died after dental extraction and before the planned cardiac surgery could be performed.

Noting the limitations of their retrospective review, Dr. Dearani said: “With the information from our study we cannot make a definitive recommendation for or against dental extraction prior to cardiac surgery. We recommend an individualized analysis of the expected benefit of dental extraction prior to surgery weighed against the risk of morbidity and mortality as observed in our study.”

Departure from Current Thinking
In an invited commentary in the same issue of The Annals, Michael Jonathan Unsworth-White, FRCS, from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, United Kingdom, discussed the need for surgeons to take note of the study results. “‘Accepted wisdom’ leads surgeons to request dental reviews prior to cardiac surgery in many thousands of patients annually around the world,” said Unsworth-White. “Dr. Smith’s group asks us to question this philosophy. It is a significant departure from current thinking.”

Unsworth-White noted another recent paradigm shift in the relationship between dental surgery and cardiac surgery. Prophylactic antibiotics have routinely been prescribed for patients undergoing dental work who also had existing heart problems because it had been accepted that there is a link between dental bacteremia and endocarditis. Individuals with pre-existing heart problems tend to have a higher incidence of endocarditis. “The American Heart Association and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in the UK have withdrawn support for this practice of prophylactic antibiotics because the danger from overuse of antibiotics outweighs any other potential risks. Regular tooth brushing, flossing, and even chewing gum are now recognized to dislodge as much, if not more, bacteremia than most dental procedures,” he said.

Source: science daily

Poorvottanasana — get stronger arms and shoulders with this asana

Poorvottanasana or the upward plank pose, this asana strengthens the wrists, arms, shoulders, back and spine and stretches the abdominal organs, spine and hips. It also helps improve one’s respiratory function and helps resolve any problems with digestion. Apart from all this it is also great to restore one’s thyroid functions.

Steps to do this pose: Lie on your back on your yoga mat with your legs together. Now fold your hands at the elbows and place your palms on either side of your shoulders, with the fingers pointing in the opposite direction as your hands. Now, exhale and rise up off the floor using your hands, keep your heels on the floor. Breathe normally in this pose. To return to your original position exhale and rest your buttocks on the mat.

Tip: If you suffer from a wrist or neck injury please avoid doing this condition.

Source: the health site

Will you die in 5 years? New ‘death test’ predicts

Scientists were astonished to find they could predict which healthy people are at most risk of death by studying four key biomarkers in the body

A ‘Death Test’ which predicts the chance of a healthy person dying from any medical condition in the next five years has been developed by scientists.

Researchers said they were ‘astonished’ to discover that a simple blood test could predict if a person was likely to die – even if they were not ill.

They found that the levels of four ‘biomarkers’ in the body, when taken together, indicated a general level of ‘frailty’.

People whose biomarkers were out of kilter were five times more likely to die with five years of the blood test.

“What is especially interesting is that these biomarkers reflect the risk for dying from very different types of diseases such as heart disease or cancer. They seem to be signs of a general frailty in the body,” said Dr. Johannes Kettunen of the Institute for Molecular Medicine in Finland.

“We believe that in the future these measures can be used to identify people who appear healthy but in fact have serious underlying illnesses and guide them to proper treatment.”

A biomarker is a biological molecule found in blood, body fluids, or tissues that may signal an abnormal process, a condition, or a disease.

The level of a particular biomarker may indicate a patient’s risk of disease, or likely response to a treatment. For example, cholesterol levels are measured to assess the risk of heart disease.

Most current biomarkers are used to test an individual’s risk of developing a specific condition. There are none that accurately assess whether a person is at risk of ill health generally, or likely to die soon from a disease.

Blood samples from over 17,000 generally healthy people were screened for more than a hundred different biomarkers and those people monitored over five years
In that time 684 people died of a range of illnesses and diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. Scientists discovered that those people all had similar levels of four biomarkers.

Those were albumin, alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, citrate and the size of very-low-density lipoprotein particles which are linked to liver and kidney function, inflammation and infection, energy metabolism and vascular health.
One in five participants with the highest biomarker scores died within the first year of the study.

Estonian researchers made the initial link in a cohort of 9,842 people but were so sceptical about the results that they asked Finnish scientists to repeat the experiment on a further 7,503.

Research professor Markus Perola of the Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland said they were not expecting to be able to replicate the findings and were amazed when they were identical.

Prof Perola said: “It was a pretty amazing result. First of all we didn’t really believe it. It was astonishing that these biomarkers appeared to actually predict mortality independent of disease.

“These were all apparently healthy people but to our surprise it appears these biomarkers show an undetected frailty which people did not know they had.”

Researchers claim that in the future a test could flag up high-risk individuals in need of medical intervention who show no symptoms of any disease.

“If the findings are replicated then this test is surely something we will see becoming widespread,” added Prof Perola.

“But at moment there is ethical question. Would someone want to know their risk of dying if there is nothing we can do about it?”

Dr Kettunen added: “Next we aim to study whether some kind of connecting factor between these biomarkers can be identified.

Source: Telegraph