Vidcast: https://youtu.be/rOPNUtRcBY4

Aspirin has now been shown to significantly improve survival for at least one type of cancer in those patients whose tumors have a specific genetic variant.  That cancer is squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with an altered PIK3CA gene.

A study just published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine followed 266 patients after surgical resection of their tumors and post-operative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy.  Those patients regularly taking aspirin or another NSAID for 6 months and also having an activated PIK3CA gene were 3 times more likely to survive 5 years.  Specifically, the average survival rate rose from a baseline of 25 percent to a gratifying 78 percent.  Those without the PIK3CA gene mutation enjoyed no survival benefit.

A larger, confirmatory study is now underway.  Meanwhile, know that the PIK3CA oncogene is present and mutated in about one-third of other cancers including colon, stomach, esophageal, pancreatic, liver, breast, cervical, endometrial, ovarian, brain, and skin but not melanoma.  We don’t yet know if aspirin added to conventional therapy will improve survival in any of these, but studies should be forthcoming.  One early study suggests that aspirin co-therapy dues not improve endometrial cancer treatment success.

If you have cancer, ask your oncologist about the mutations found in your tumor.  If yours has the PIK3CA mutation, then ask about aspirin therapy.  If you are having a a biopsy or surgery for any type of cancer, be certain that a genetic analysis is performed on the tumor tissue and and that it’s preserved for future genetic studies.  Treatment based on cancer genetics is increasingly more common.

Matthew L. Hedberg, Jennifer R. Grandis, etal. Use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs predicts improved patient survival for PIK3CA-altered head and neck cancer. The Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2019; jem.20181936 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20181936

Samuels Y, Waldman T. Oncogenic mutations of PIK3CA in human cancers. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 2010;347:21-41.

#cancer #aspirin #ibuprofen #NSAIDS #healthnews #healthtips

Aspirin Can Help Cure Cancer

Most Brainpower Develops During Childhood and Adolescence

Muscle Power Banked During Youth Supports Later Vigor

Weed is Fetal Poison

A Short Delay Bathing Newborns Enhances Breastfeeding

Low Dose Aspirin Prevents Preelampsia-Associated Stroke

A Simple Swallow Can Detect Esophageal Cancer

The Ketogenic Diet Is Safe

It’s Karma: School Bullies Sustain More Injury Than Victims

Girls In Pain Get Less Sympathy

Pop Music Lyrics Getting Darker and Angrier

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/5dAOUVMx16c

For more information, you’ll find all the references for the stories and a copy of show notes on my website at:

https://www.drhowardsmith.com/jan-2019-5th-week-health-news

#Aspirin #cancer #cognitivepower #GCA #muscles #exercise #frailty #preeclampsia
#stroke #esophagealcancer #ketogenicdiet #schoolviolence #bullying #gende bias #meetoo #popmusic

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/YFe2s7g4drk

from www.goodnewsNetwork.org

Kate, not her real name, has epilepsy.   Late once night, she began suffering seizures and went to the ER.  She stabilized and was discharged at 4 in the morning.  She called a Lyft to get home as she could not drive.  

Here’s her first person account:

 I called a Lyft to pick me up and hoped against hope that it would be someone kind, someone safe.  A small SUV pulled up in front of the hospital doors and I climbed in, expecting some awkward small talk. After all, it was 4:30AM and I was being picked up from a hospital by a complete stranger. 

I buckled my seatbelt, and then the driver turned around; she was a woman in her mid-forties with the kindest eyes.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m fine. I just have epilepsy so I can’t drive.” I replied, expecting her to shrug it off and hit the road. Instead, she began to tell me about her daughter’s recent epilepsy diagnosis. She said she understood my struggle of being sick and unable to drive; needing food to stay healthy, but not being capable of taking care of it myself; the unique riddle of needing help, but not knowing how to ask.  She told me about how – even though her daughter lives hours away – she drove to bring her groceries several times a week.

This was already some kind of serendipitous encounter, a little blessing after a few rough days – but what she said next surprised me.  “Honey, do you need groceries? Can I please take you to a store?” It was nearing 5 in the morning and a total stranger was worried that I wouldn’t be able to eat that day. I was so surprised. I told her, “No, it’s okay. I can handle it tomorrow, but thank you so much.”

As we got closer to my house, she gave me her cell number and insisted that I call her when I needed help – not just with more dire situations, but also with groceries and doctor’s appointments too. I felt comforted, but I knew deep down that my stubborn aversion to accepting help would probably keep me from ever picking up the phone.

But then the next day, she called me, knowing I needed food but sensing that I didn’t want to impose – and we went to the grocery store that afternoon.

She not only gave me safety and helped me fill my cupboards, but she gave me something I thought I had lost: she gave me hope. It was just a little taste, but it’s carried me through a lot, and these little glimmers of light can be so bright in the dark – and now I know that when the nights seem dark, my best choice is to find the light and follow it.

When you get a chance, do pay it forward.  You will feel wonderful.

#kindness #payitforward #epilepsy

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/when-i-was-alone-at-the-hospital-at-4am-a-lyft-driver-restored-my-faith-in-humanity/

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/DgFFJMe2_no

Here’s a flash from the off-beat health news department.  Researchers in Sweden and Hungary report that the black and white striped design seen on Africa’s Zebras and copied into body painting by indigenous peoples protects against biting and blood-sucking insects including mosquitos and horseflies. 

The scientists compared the frequency of horsefly attacks on 3 different mannikins: one beige, one brown, and one black with white stripes.  The striped skin design reduced insect attacks by 90% compared to brown skin and by 50% compared with beige skin.

It is likely that Africans years ago discovered the protective effect of Zebra designs against insect-borne infections such as malaria.  We don’t yet know if Zebra-striped garments are as good insect repellants as body painting, but this is something you should try for yourself.  Do let me know if it works.

#bodypaint #zebrastripes #mosquitos #horseflies #malaria #healthnews #healthtips

Gábor Horváth, Ádám Pereszlényi, Susanne Åkesson, György Kriska. Striped bodypainting protects against horseflies. Royal Society Open Science, 2019; 6 (1): 181325 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.181325

Vidcast:https://youtu.be/RldzY17lQUQ

Acupressure can give breast cancer survivors significant relief from pain, anxiety, depressive symptoms, fatigue and sleep problems.  A continuing study at the University of Michigan reports a news analysis of 288 patients.

Two different type of Eastern medical acupressure, relaxing acupressure and stimulating acupressure, were compared with standard relaxation and sleep management techniques.  Both acupressure approaches bested standard therapy for anxiety and pain.  Relaxing acupressure was most effective for depression, sleep, and fatigue.

Acupressure's mode of action is not yet understood.  The best news is that it may be carried out at home, and women learn to apply proper pressure to appropriate body points with few negative effects.

Acupressure may well work for anyone suffering from anxiety, pain, depression, and sleep issues.  If you fit that description, look into it.

#acupressure #Easternmedicine #breastcancer #pain #anxiety #insomnia #depression #healthnews #healthtips

Suzanna Maria Zick, Ananda Sen, Afton Luevano Hassett, Andrew Schrepf, Gwen Karilyn Wyatt, Susan Lynn Murphy, John Todd Arnedt, Richard Edmund Harris. Impact of Self-Acupressure on Co-Occurring Symptoms in Cancer Survivors. JNCI Cancer Spectrum, 2018; 2 (4) DOI: 10.1093/jncics/pky064

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/p-LdqwUqtPg

The wearable foot sensors that many serious runners think may prevent devastating stress fractures are measuring the wrong forces.  Engineers and orthopedic specialists at Vanderbilt University now report that muscular forces on the leg bones rather the force of the foot striking the running surface are the principal causes of the incapacitating, tiny cracks in bones.  

Most of the currently marketed wearable sensors only measure forces of the foot impacting the ground.  The Vanderbilt studies utilized high-speed motion capture and biomechanical algorithms to compute the relevant muscular forces in addition to a force-measuring treadmill to estimate the ground-strike force.

Work is now underway to develop a system of wearables that will measure all forces acting on the leg bones.  That task may not be easy or inexpensive.

#stress fracture #running #gaitanalysis #wearablesensors #humankinematics #jointkinetics #healthnews #healthtips

Vanderbilt University. "Stress fracture? Your foot hitting pavement wasn't the main problem: Engineer, NFL Players Association adviser find issue with running sensors." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 January 2019. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190117142049.htm

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/js0YBT86Omo

Mmmmm.  Smell that fried dough!  Doesn’t that whiff of pepperoni pizza get your juices flowing?  

Businesses peddling less than healthy treats have been blowing fragrances of warm cinnamon rolls and buttered popcorn in our faces for years knowing that its tough for us to resist.  Marketing gurus from the University of South Florida’s college of business now come to our rescue.

As experimental subjects are presented with the choice of cookies or strawberries,  precisely-controlled scent nebulizers spew out a warm cookie scent.   The data shows that whiffing the cookie scent for 30 seconds or less will drive you to buy the cookie.  Continuing to inhale the cookie fragrance for more than 2 minutes resulted in a preference for the strawberries.  The same phenomenon occurred with a pizza-apple pairing.

So the next time you whiff those fatty and sugary smells, inhale them longer and think skull and cross-bones.  Then reach for that juicy apple.

#foodfragrances #fat #sugar #healthnews #healthtips #junkfood

Dipayan Biswas, Courtney Szocs. The Smell of Healthy Choices: Cross-Modal Sensory Compensation Effects of Ambient Scent on Food Purchases. Journal of Marketing Research, 2019; 002224371882058 DOI: 10.1177/0022243718820585

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/cnqHqgpqycE

Someday soon, high-tech tattoos may replace blood testing for continuous monitoring.  Bioengineers at MIT and Harvard Med School as well as at the University of Colorado’s ATLAS Institute are combining nanoparticles with tattoo technology to create color changing indicators deep in the skin.

The Harvard-MIT team developed sensor inks that can signal levels of glucose, body fluid acidity or pH, and sodium levels.  They tattoo the indicator ink directly into the skin and state that the inks would have to be replaced periodically

The Colorado investigators, hoping to create a more permanent solution, are encasing such color-shifting chemicals in porous microcapsules that are then propelled into the skin using tatoo needles.  They are currently experimenting with particles that signal exposure to harmful UV rays but plan to use this same technology to continuously monitor blood sugar and blood alcohol levels.

#tattoos #bloodchemistry #glucosemonitoring #bloodalcohol #UVexposure #healthnews

https://www.sciencealert.com/mit-is-working-on-colour-changing-tattoo-ink-that-can-monitor-your-health-in-real-time

https://www.mdlinx.com/internal-medicine/article/3270

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/ohUzmKKBY_I

One or two hits of cannabis in any form does permanently affect the brain structure of young people.  New studies by University of Vermont psychiatrists looked at brain imaging for 46 teens experiencing cannabis for the first time and compared their brains with those of with non-users.

The data reveals greater gray matter volumes in cannabis-binding zones of the brains in teens who used marijuana only once or twice by age 14.  The differences occur in the emotion-processing amygdala and in the memory processing hippocampus.

The researchers point out the teens’ brains naturally thin during adolescence in a type of pruning or refinement process.  Even a joint or two of marijuana may prevent this vital process from occurring.

The increasing legalization of marijuana means more of us and our kids will have access to it.  Studies like this should make us pause and ask if that’s a good thing.

#cannabis #marijuana #brainchange, teendruguse #emotion #memory #healthnews #healthtips

Catherine Orr, Philip Spechler, Hugh Garavan, etal. Grey Matter Volume Differences Associated with Extremely Low Levels of Cannabis Use in Adolescence. The Journal of Neuroscience, 2019; 3375-17 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3375-17.2018

Vidcast: https://youtu.be/9JV0SLJuclE

Standing, walking down the hall or room to room, even going to the kitchen....for water, ANYTHING BUT SITTING, will add years to your healthy life.  This health tip comes from New York’s Columbia College of Physicans and Surgeons as an ongoing study follows nearly 8,000 middle aged men and women using wearable activity monitors.

Swapping just 30 minutes of sitting for even low intensity activity cut the risk of early death by 17%.  A little more activity, say faster walking, going up the stairs, or pushing a cart around, cycling, or running more than doubled the benefit to a early death rate drop of 35%.

Since one-quarter of us spend our entire 8 hour days sitting, use your phone or watch to remind you to get up and do something, ANYTHING, for at least several minutes at least once an hour.

#sitting #couchpotato #standing #walking #exercise #earlydeath #longerlife #healthnews #healthtips

Keith M Diaz, Andrea T Duran, Natalie Colabianchi, Suzanne E Judd, Virginia J Howard, Steven P Hooker. Potential Effects of Replacing Sedentary Time With Short Sedentary Bouts or Physical Activity on Mortality: A National Cohort Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2018; DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwy271