A new study demonstrates powerful benefits of strength training in cancer patients after chemotherapy.  The authors of the study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, concluded "High-intensity resistance training has persistent effects on muscle strength, cardiopulmonary function, quality of life, and fatigue. Rehabilitation programmes for patients treated with chemotherapy with a curative intention should include high-intensity resistance training in their programme."

Just having a diagnosis of cancer can prove both psychologically challenging and tiring.  Chemotherapy itself, while sometimes necessary, is toxic to the body.  This study demonstrates that high intensity strength training helps to rebuild the body after the trials of chemotherapy.  I believe that this happens for three reasons; most obviously, strength training builds muscle--that alone is associated with a higher quality of life.  Less obviously, the demands of strength training require your body to create more energy--that process requires your cells to produce more mitochondria.  Mitochondria not only supply your muscles with more energy, but also your nervous system and immune system.  Third, strength training produces lasting hormonal changes including higher levels of human growth hormone (HGH).  You've probably read about HGH's role in antiaging medicine.  The most healthful way to increase HGH is not going down a back alley and buying it off a guy named "Bubba" or going to a Beverly Hills antiaging specialist and paying thousands of dollars for a therapy that will probably shorten your life---the best way is to push heavy iron hard!

If you read that last paragraph again I hope that you'll agree that its not only cancer survivors that should be lifting weights--it's everyone!

Link to the research. 

Sons of women who are exposed to pesticides during pregnancy have impaired reproductive development.  You'll recall from my article on organic foods that this has been shown before--this new study from the National Institutes of health once again demonstrates the importance of eating organic!

The authors state "Boys of pesticide-exposed mothers showed decreased penile length, testicular volume, serum concentrations of testosterone, and inhibin B."

Given increases in cancer, degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's, decreased fertility and altered sex organs and hormones, organic is the only way to go!  You are not only taking proper care of yourself, but of generations to come.

Read the study here. 

"A new epidemiologic study of French children diagnosed with leukemia or lymphoma in 2003 or 2004 suggests that a child has about twice the risk of developing acute leukemia (AL) or non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) if his or her mother used insecticides in the home while pregnant."  That's from the journal "Environmental Health Perspectives", published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Here's a link to the full text study--I recommend taking a look at it, especially if you are considering using chemical pesticides or herbicides.  These products are not only killing the organisms that we are targeting, they are killing us and depleting our food.  This recent study demonstrates that you are doubling your child's risk for certain cancers by using pesticides!  How can we require motorcyclists to wear helmets, but not ban harmful pesticides?  For more information, read my article on Organic Food.  

As noted in my recent blog on Mercury Detox, NAC is a natural product that is very effective in helping you to get toxic chemicals out of your body.  You can purchase it in my store as an excellent product called Complete Glutathione.

Read more on Environmental Pollutants.
 

As a follow-up to the recent blog on cell phones causing cancer, I looked into ways to decrease cell phone radiation.  Here's the lowdown:

• Blue tooth headsets don't help, and some are worse than just using your phone.
• Ferrite beads and various other gizmos that you stick onto your phone don't seem to work.  I could not find any valid research to prove effectiveness for these products--the only information available on them is from the seller's websites--if its on the internet it must be true, right?  Ferrite beads that clip onto wires do decrease radiation--the problem with the stick on ones is that your phone is generating 360 degrees of radiation in three dimensions--a little bead appears to make minimal difference.

So here's what works...drum roll please..."bluetube" headsets.  These use tubes rather than wires to transfer sound to your ear, and have an insulated microphone system to transmit your voice.  Even better, they're cheap!  You can get them on the Mercola website, just follow this link. 

Another new study demonstrates a link between cell phone use and cancer:  "The study, published Friday in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found a clear link between cell phone use and cancerous growth in the saliva glands. Researchers found that among groups who tend to hold the phone on one side and use the phone frequently or for prolonged periods, the risk of saliva-glad cancer increased by 50 to 58 percent, compared to people who did not use a cell phone regularly. A number of studies in recent years indicate an increased cancer risk in the auditory nerve, the brain and the saliva glands for long-time cell-phone users." --http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/137807.

Don't hold your cell phone next to your head for prolonged periods--use speakerphone or a hands-free set instead.  In a future blog I'll look over some of the gadgets that claim to decrease cell phone radiation.

New research shows that TCC (triclocarban), a chemical used in many soaps, toothpastes, cosmetics, and cleaners, is a powerful hormone disruptor.  Unlike many other chemicals that make the body less responsive to hormones, TCC powerfully amplifies hormonal effects.  In an interview on NPR today the lead researcher said that this may help to explain early puberty--an increasingly common phenomenon.  Altered levels of testosterone and estrogen can also play a role in many cancers and other disease processes.

The main product that this chemical is sold in is antibacterial soap.  Keep in mind that antibacterial soap is entirely unnecessary and contributes to bacterial resistance and the development of superbugs.  Regular ole' soap breaks down the membrane of most types of bacteria and is all anyone needs.  There are two take home messages here--first, read my page on environmental pollutants and don't buy products with harmful chemicals in them--your pocketbook can change the world!  Second,  read labels and don't buy newfangled products with ingredients that you can't pronounce--there may be a study published (or suppressed from publication) tomorrow demonstrating health hazards!

Even low doses of Aspartame over the course of a lifetime increase your risk of many types of cancer.  In a previous blog I discussed a study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that showed increases in cancer with relatively short term aspartame use.  This new study, also by NIH, showed that low dose aspartame use increases cancer risk even more when the first exposure occurs to the developing fetus.

The authors concluded that the results of the new study "confirm and reinforce the first experimental demonstration of aspartame's multipotential carcinogenicity at a dose level close to the acceptable daily intake for humans. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that when life-span exposure to aspartame begins during fetal life, its carcinogenic effects are increased."

Aspartame is currently one of the most popular food additives in the world, and 1 in 2 people now get cancer.  Stop eating anything with aspartame now!  Read more here. 

Read the study here. 

Another new study just came out documenting the incredible effects of the herb Andrographis Paniculata on the immune system.  The study reported the following findings:

• Andrographis supplementation increases the production of cytotoxic T cells—an immune cell that destroys caner cells.
• Mice with thymoma—a cancer of the thymus gland (which produces immune cells) live more than twice as long when treated with Andrographis extract for 10 days.
• Andrographis extract exerted beneficial effects on several cytokines (chemical messengers that direct the immune response), resulting in suppression of tumor growth.

I recommend the use of Andrographis anytime you feel signs of flu or cold coming on.  I offer an excellent product in my office and in my web store.  Since I have been using this product I have not had a cold or flu—2 years!

(NOTE: a very similar study to the one described above was done using another of my favorite herbs, ashwagandha.  The results were similar with a large increase in immune function and a suppression of tumor growth—here is a link to that study.)

Read the study here.

Getting your omega-3's is protective against breast cancer, researcher's say.  The study, done at Oregon Health and Science University, compared blood levels of fatty acids from 322 women with breast cancer to that of 1030 women without breast cancer.  They found that women without breast cancer had significantly higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, particularly EPA (eicosapentanoic acid).

If you would like to know know more about omega-3's, click here.

To read the abstract of the study, click here. 

Yet another study was just published on the disappointing effects of pill-form antioxidants.  The paper was a review of 68 studies involving over 230,000 people.  The results were exactly in line with my Antioxidant paper--taking vitamins A, E, beta-carotene, and C increases your risk of death!  The increases are primarily due to increased rates of heart disease and cancer.  Food based antioxidants, to the contrary, have decreased death rates in every study I've seen. 

After being sure to get your fruits and vegetables, undenatured whey protein and a food-based antioxidant are the best ways to increase your antioxidant status.  To learn more, read the Antioxidant article (this article details why pill-form antioxidants are harmful and how to safely increase your antioxidant status).

Read the study here.