Licorice Fights Cancer

This is a really interesting article in the British publication, Mail Online, about the health benefits of cancer.

According to the article, "licorice could offer valuable protection against sunburn and skin cancer." Skin cancer is the most common cancer among 15- to 34-year-olds, according to the article, but it's not clear whether those are just British teens and young adults they're talking about. Judging by our sun-worshipping culture here in the States, I suspect not.

"According to the National Cancer Institute in the US, when applied to the skin, liquorice extract helps combat UV damage and can reduce sunburn by acting as a powerful anti-inflammatory." In addition, the article talks about the possible extraction of whatever the active ingredient is in licorice in order to form preventative skin creams.

Most Type 2 Diabetes Can Be Stopped at Childhood

That's the name of a USAToday article, published June 22, 2009. Pretty intriguing that we as a nation could actually stop Type 2 diabetes, and yet we don't.

Of course, as the article points out, it's awfully hard for an eight-year-old to turn away from that donut when their friends are having one. Or two.

"About 150,000 children in the USA have been diagnosed with diabetes, most with Type 1, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the number of children with Type 2 diabetes has been rising steadily in the past decade.... according to the CDC.... Type 2 is especially affecting Hispanic, African American and American Indian youth."

The reasons why this rate has been rising are rather interesting. "'We have a new generation of children who are metabolically different. We think there's been a series of genetic mutations - linked to environmental and lifestyle changes - over the last few generations that have led to this,' says (Melinda) Sothern (professor of public health at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans). Why a child's body stops using insulin properly - called insulin insensitivity - isn't clear, but Sothern says her government-funded study suggests a child's current body fat is the strongest predictor of poor insulin sensitivity.

"While the majority of chubby kids don't get diabetes, if a child has a family history, or a mother who had gestational diabetes was obese while pregnant or did not breast-feed, they can be at risk, Sothern says." Of course, add that to the high-sugar, high-fat diet most kids consume in the United States, and you can predict the outlook.

The article suggests several behavioral changes for young Type 2's. Actually, I think I as an adult could use a closer look at these suggestions.

- "Think before you eat. Break out of the rut of eating when you're bored or lonely.

- "Eat a little bit less at meals. Leave food on your plate. Order small portions, not large.

- "Limit fatty foods. Burgers and fries are high in fat; try pretzels instead of potato chips.

- "Cut sugar. Switch to sugar-free drinks.

- "Even with diabetes, you can still eat cake and ice cream, just not every day. Ask your doctor to help you plan for occasional treats.

- "Be active. Don't just listen to music - dance.

- "Play after school. Or try a sport; take lessons.

- "Turn off TV. Watch just one show a day."

Pharmacy Phooey

I've had bronchitis now for exactly 9 days now. Never a laughing matter, it is now time for frowning.

Oh, I'm not concerned. I saw the doctor on the 6th day, and she had me get a chest x-ray. The x-ray confirmed that I don't have pneumonia. That's a good thing. But the bad thing was, I still have bronchitis. And there's really nothing they can do for me.

The doctor asked her office people to call in a prescription for an inhalant, though, to my local drugstore pharmacy. Only they called it into the wrong pharmacy. And they called in three days later than they said they would.

Today was the 3rd time I had been to the pharmacy. After ascertaining which pharmacy, I went to the right one this time, wheezing and coughing, and stood in a very long line. Thirty minutes later, I reached the front of the line only to be told, "Go see that other person over there."

I won't reiterate the rhetoric, but the clerk didn't have time to deal with me, didn't take time to even find out my name, and I walked out without the inhaler. I won't die because of this, or even suffer that much, but I do wonder how many sick or elderly people go to the pharmacy and find that they can't deal with the pain of being invisible, or maltreated.

I saw several people being told, over and over, in a voice escalating in volume, to go sit over there. Most of the people who stood there bewildered did so because they don't speak English. But apparently these clerks couldn't figure that out.

I don't mean and I certainly don't want for this blog to be a rant - but you have to think, there's got to be a better way to get people their prescriptions.

Control Can Help Cancer Patients

There's an interesting article in the New York Times that is entitled "The Limits of Control." It discusses how, in order to be happy, one must have control over some important aspects of life. Lose control, and people sink into depression, stress and experience onset of disease.

The point of the article is that some people go too far in trying to control in their lives what should be uncontrollable. However, for the purposes of this article, I would like to stick to the original concept: control of some important aspects of a person's life is a good thing, even needed.

And so this, I believe, works for health care. The best treatments work if the patient is involved. Health care these days is optimal if the patient is involved in important decisions, and kept informed along the way. I think that's why informative classes, and formation of action plans, as well as group discussion groups, can be vital to a person's health care approach.

4 Keys to Longevity

There's an article in USA Today that talks about National Geographic Explorer Dan Buettner's new book, "The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest." Buettner traveled to Sardinia, Italy, Costa Rica and the Greek island Ikaria, the latter destination "where people nap often and enjoy regular festivals, sometimes five in one week."

Buettner and his colleagues took what they learned from their journeys to a little town in the Midwest, Albert Lea, Minnesota. Their goal was to help the residents there "live longer, better." Albert Lea, a town of 18,000, has some health issues: about 40% of its residents are overweight, and close to 30% have hypertension. The town was chosen among several others because its residents were most motivated to change.

The project's strategy: eat more fruits and vegetables, walk instead of drive, stay productive and social well into old age, and seek inner fulfillment.

The six-month-long strategy to transform the town was broken down into a four-pronged attack:

-Community environment. Creating more bike paths, garden plots, a new farmer's market.
-Social groups. Forming walk, biking clubs.
-Home and work habitats. Revamping school and business cafeterias, grocery stores and restaurants.
-Building the inner self. Motivational seminars.

So far, 20% of residents have signed on. The original goal was 10%.

The whole idea, says Buettner, is based around research that shows about 20% of our longevity is linked to genetics, whereas 80% is environmentally influenced.

The Latest Buzz on Tinnitus

The hidden medical issue. Tinnitus. I have a couple of friends who have casually mentioned they suffer from this. I also have a friend whose husband thinks he's going to go crazy due to tinnitus. Apparently each person bears this disease individually and differently.

Tinnitus is often described as "ringing in the ears." The Latin, tinnire, means "to ring." But it isn't necessarily ringing. It could be buzzing, humming, whistling, hissing, and even roaring.

According to the American Tinnitus Association, 12 million people, most of them over 60, experience symptoms severe enough to seek medical advice. But, so far, there is no cure.

There's a great article in this month's John Hopkins Medical Letter: Health After 50 (July 2009) on tinnitus.

Since the cause of tinnitus is frequently in the inner ear, so the article suggests anyone who complains of these symptoms get an audiogram (hearing test), which will indicate how much hearing has been lost. It will also help determine if "centrally located tinnitus" is the more likely cause.

Be advised that there are medical conditions or medication which could be contributing to the effect, including thyroid disorders and high blood pressure, as well as 200 possible medications, including common pain relievers. Many patients are also given an MRI scan, which can detect tumors, enlarged blood vessels, or other abnormalities.

The article suggests that the first step in treatment is to cut out caffeine. "Many people who give up caffeinated beverages like coffee, tea, and soda and foods like chocolate find that their tinnitus symptoms improve," says Dr. Lloyd Minor, M.D., Director of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at John Hopkins.

Another treatment is "to mask the internal noise with external noise." You might find relief from the noise of a fan or humidifier. Headphones can also help mask tinnitus with sounds, music or white noise. In-ear masking devices are available, but they're rather expensive (around $1,400). There's also such a thing as a Tinnitus Retraining Device (TRT), which combines ear devices that emit low-volume sounds with active counseling about tinnitus. The idea is that you retrain your brain to turn tinnitus into background noise. Treatment can be rather expensive, and can take up to two years.

Since those who suffer from tinnitus can suffer from anxiety and depression, and it's not surprising that they do, it's important that those who do get tested and then try some of these treatments to see if they can relieve the pain.

Nutritional Therapy

Here's an interesting British article on how a nutritional therapist can change your life.

Cancer Bitch to Speak

Thanks to author S.L. Wisenberg, who commented on the blog about my review of her book, The Adventures of Cancer Bitch.

She'll be reading at the Women's Cancer Resource Center on Telegraph in Oakland (see the link on the right side of the page) at 6:30pm on July 16, 2009.

Kenny Rankin Dies of Lung Cancer

I can't say this is personal news, but after following Kenny Rankin's singing career for about 40 years, it feels personal.

He died of lung cancer at the age of 67 on Sunday. People are still dying of lung cancer? I rarely hear about that cancer any more. It seems so 1950's.

This is devastating. The last time I saw him, I think, was about 4 years ago (?) or so at Yoshi's. I went with my friend, as we both shared a love for his music. His voice was so mellow, so smooth. He was jazzy in a rock 'n roll world. Even this morning, I was checking the pink pages for his name at Yoshi's, hoping to see his name so that I could see him perform one more time.

Another fine person struck down by a devastating disease. I think I remember that Kenny even mentioned, in that last set I saw, that he was a smoker. What an unfortunate, continuing decision.

What Makes Us Happy?

Case No. 218

How’s this for the good life? You’re rich, and you made the dough yourself. You’re well into your 80s, and have spent hardly a day in the hospital. Your wife had a cancer scare, but she’s recovered and by your side, just as she’s been for more than 60 years. Asked to rate the marriage on a#FF0000 scale of 1 to 9, where 1 is perfectly miserable and 9 is perfectly happy, you circle the highest number. You’ve got two good kids, grandkids too. A survey asks you: “If you had your life to live over again, what problem, if any, would you have sought help for and to whom would you have gone?” “Probably I am fooling myself,” you write, “but I don’t think I would want to change anything.” If only we could take what you’ve done, reduce it to a set of rules, and apply it systematically.

This is the beginning of a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly, and is an utterly fascinating summary of the work of George Vaillant and his rather obsessive but scientific study of 268 men who entered Harvard in the late 1930s, and tracked them through "war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age," in search of what makes for a good life.

Warning, however: details about each man's life, which appear in the article (each "case" cited is done so anonymously) are voluminous, sometimes irritatingly so. Vaillant measured everything he could think of, especially physically.

John F. Kennedy is now known, just discovered lately, to be one of these men. His records have been sealed for another 30 years.

Two traits Vaillant has identified which, in his opinion, help to make men happy: healthy adaptation to the issues and problems that surround them, and social aptitude, how well they get along with people.

To read the Atlantic Monthly article, click on this link.