Posts Tagged ‘Cancer’
Does Horseradish Protect Against Cancer?
- Image via Wikipedia
Most folks probably do not know that horseradish is related to cabbage, brussel sprouts and related cruciferous vegetables. Over the centuries it has been used as a multipurpose herbal remedy to treat a variety of ailments from the common cold to headaches. Recent medical studies have identified a new application based on the anticancer effects of horseradish. It turns out that horseradish contains large amounts of cancer-fighting compounds known as glucosinolates. These compounds amplify the ability of the liver to detoxify carcinogens. This detoxifying action by the liver may suppress the growth of cancerous tumors. Although all the cruciferous or Brassica vegetables contain these compounds, horseradish contains nearly ten times as much glucosinolates as broccoli. This is good news for folks who are choosing foods in their diet to promote senior health.
Once horseradish is enters the digestive system its glucosinolates are broken down into isothiocyanates and indoles that appear to be the principal agents that cause the desired anticancer effects. The anticancer effects are twofold. The liver uses them to detoxify carcinogens, in order to prevent cancers from getting started. In the case of an already existing cancer they can apparently suppress the growth of that cancer. Finally horseradish is one of the few medicinal vegetables that is improved by processing, because processing horseradish releases an already present enzyme that breaks down the glucosinolates into the desired cancer-fighting compounds.
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Preempt the Big 3 Diseases or Not?
- Image by lachshand via Flickr
With all the smoke and mirrors in the media about reforming health care maybe its time to take a new look or think out of our usual health care box. It turns out that there is a lot that ordinary folks can do to prevent or preempt diseases from ever getting started. This goes double for folks as we get older, because of the special issues that affect senior health. We can choose our lifestyle so that we head in a direction with a high probability of attaining greater health or in an opposite direction with an equal probability of coming down with one of the big three diseases. The big three killer diseases are in order diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Four straight forward lifestyle changes can reduce the probability of contracting one of the big three by 80%. These lifestyle changes will not raise your health insurance premiums, but in some cases may actually lower them.
The big four lifestyle changes are within the reach of most folks, but they do require serious commitment. They are not monumental challenges like trying to climb Mt. Everest and return safely. The alternatives for not embracing these changes are higher health insurance premiums for everyone, seriously degraded quality of life and early death. The big four lifestyle changes include eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, maintaining a healthy weight, and not smoking. As one motivation coach put it, “Where attention goes, energy flows, and the result shows”. This is something that we can do for ourselves and our country, because a healthy people make a country healthy and prosperous.
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Are We Iodine Deficient?
- Image via Wikipedia
For very good reasons, doctors have been telling us to cut back on our salt intake, because too much salt intake can can contribute to certain cancers and high blood pressure. Apparently we have been listening to our doctors, because folks in the USA have been reducing their salt intake, but some unintended consequences have resulted. When we reduce the amount of iodized table salt in our diet, we can put ourselves in the unhealthy position of suffering from iodine deficiency. Iodine was originally added to ordinary table salt to help prevent iodine deficiency, because the typical Western diet is low in iodine. Iodine deficiency has been linked to increased risk of breast cancer, fibrocystic breast disease, and impaired thyroid function. All three of these diseases are threats to senior health.
In Japan folks get their iodine from foods that they eat like kelp and Japanese women have lower incidences of breast cancer, fibrocystic breast disease, and impaired thyroid function. The Japanese diet insures that they receive several times more iodine than folks in the USA do, including those who use iodized table salt. As it turns out that about four weeks after opening a package of iodized salt, most of the iodine is gone. The good news is that iodine is a low-cost element, so that larger amounts of it can be added to the multivitamin/mineral formulas that health conscious seniors take on a daily basis. Supplementing with iodine is particularly important for post-menopausal females, because they are at higher risk for breast cancer, fibrocystic breast disease, and thyroid disease.
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Coenzyme Q10 – A Two-Fold Ally
- Image by Getty Images via Daylife
Just what is this compound called coenzyme Q10? There are numerous articles and reports about it in the health literature often abbreviating it to CoQ10. CoQ10 is a compound that is made by our own bodies. Our bodies use coenzyme Q10 to produce the energy that our cells need to grow. This function illustrates the first way that CoQ10 is an ally of our bodies. Besides helping our cells grow, CoQ10 enables our cells to stay healthy after they grow. CoQ10 performs a second function as an antioxidant, which is another way that it is an ally of our bodies. As we age the amount of CoQ10 in our bodies decreases. Many cancers make their appearance in our bodies as we age due to a weakened immune system. Interest in CoQ10 as a treatment for cancer started back in the 1960′s, because folks with low levels of it were afflicted with breast, prostate, pancreatic cancer, etc.
Current studies suggest that CoQ10 may work in treating cancer, because it boosts the immune system. It may also be the case that CoQ10′s antioxidant activity may prevent cancer from developing. At this time research is ongoing to understand how CoQ10 might work with conventional cancer therapies. The National Cancer Institute has reported both on the theoretical basis for using CoQ10 to treat cancer and on some preclinical studies and some small clinical studies that have been performed. Based on those studies the National Cancer Institute concluded that CoQ10 helps in the treatment of cancer in the following ways. As an antioxidant it may prevent cancer from starting and CoQ10 analogs may block the growth of cancer cells that are already present.
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Sun, Food and Supplements
- Image by Mr.Thomas via Flickr
Lately a number of articles have been published about the importance of getting enough of the ‘Sunshine Vitamin’ which is also known as vitamin D. When the weather is good and we have time to enjoy some sunshine our bodies are capable of using the ultraviolet light of the Sun’s radiation to make our very own vitamin D in the form that is most easily utilized by our bodies. It turns out that vitamin D is not just needed to keep building strong bones, but it assists in preventing a myriad of other diseases including cardiovascular disease and cancer. The verdict is in and vitamin D has been convicted of the charge of being a participant in and an accessory to maintaining good health. Currently up to 75% of the American public may not be getting enough vitamin D to maintain optimum health.
The amount of time spent in the sunshine that would enable us to make enough vitamin D is estimated to be about 10-15 minutes for several days a week. Even this short amount of time appears to be unattainable for a majority of folks, so the alternate paths are by means of vitamin rich vitamin foods or supplements. The path of food would require a person to eat one of the following amounts of food: over three and a half pounds of fresh farmed salmon, more than two pounds of sardines, or 150 egg yolks. These amounts of food are obviously unrealistic for most of us, so the third path of taking vitamin D supplements makes good sense. Supplements make extra good sense for seniors, because our ability to synthesize vitamin D from sunlight tends to decrease with age as do our kidneys’ ability to convert vitamin D into its active form. Fortunately vitamin D supplements in the active form are available in doses of 1,000-IU (International Units) suitable for daily use, in order to promote senior health.
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Is It Time for Your Checkup?
Prostate health is a key factor in determining a man’s overall wellbeing. It’s a common occurrence for doctors to check the prostate for irregular growth during a routine checkup. In its natural, healthy state the prostate is about the size of a walnut. If it grows much beyond that mark, doctors could have reason to suspect the presence of prostate cancer, which commonly affects older American men.
From the age of 50 – and perhaps even earlier – men are encouraged to undergo regular rectal exams in order to ensure that prostate cancer is caught in its early stages. Once diagnosed, this type of cancer can be treated through surgical techniques and radiation therapy. Because many men never develop symptoms, prostate cancer often goes untreated and leads to premature death.