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shawnsmith
Czech Republic
2048 Posts |
 Posted - 09/14/2007 : 06:31:35
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'Mind-body' therapies to treat lung cancer
By PAUL TAYLOR
Friday, September 14, 2007 – Page L8 (Globe and Mail)
http://www.rbcinvest.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/LAC/20070914/LDOSES14/Health/health/health/5/5/9/
An influential group of doctors has endorsed the use of some alternative "mind-body" therapies for treating patients with lung cancer.
Massage therapy is suggested for patients in the grips of chronic pain when drugs fail to provide enough relief. And acupuncture is urged for those experiencing the nausea and fatigue that can accompany conventional chemotherapy.
The recommendations are included in revised "evidence-based" guidelines put together by an expert panel of the American College of Chest Physicians. They were published this week in a supplement to the journal Chest.
Alternative or complementary therapies represent just a small fraction of the sweeping set of 260 recommendations covering prevention, screening, diagnosis and treatment.
Even so, their inclusion for the first time in the guidelines shows the growing acceptance of "mind-body" therapies for "reducing the anxiety, mood disturbances and chronic pain associated with lung cancer," according to a statement released with the report.
But the group is willing to go only so far in its embrace of alternative therapies.
The guidelines strongly caution against the use of vitamin and mineral supplements, which might interfere with standard cancer treatments. The expert panel concluded that certain supplements don't appear to help prevent the disease, while others may actually do harm. Studies suggest that beta carotene can boost lung cancer risk among smokers, and vitamin A may reduce survival odds.
Aspartame safe
There is "no credible evidence" that the artificial sweetener aspartame fuels cancer, triggers behaviour problems or causes any other serious illnesses in humans, according to a study released this week.
The new research, carried out by experts from 10 universities around the world, is based on a review of more than 500 scientific papers dating as far back as the 1970s.
"This is as well studied as you are ever going to get for a compound. And there is no evidence there are any safety issues," said the lead scientist, Bernadene Magnuson of the University of Maryland.
The study was financed by Ajinomoto Co. Inc., a maker of aspartame, in part because the low-calorie sweetener has been dogged by controversy for many years.
Despite the industry funding, Prof. Magnuson said "we had a complete free hand to come up with our results." The panel's findings were published in the journal Critical Reviews in Toxicology.
But a consumer organization, Center for Science in the Public Interest, was quick to denounce the study. Michael Jacobson, executive director of the advocacy group, accused the scientists of playing down studies that found problems with aspartame.
"I disagree with his assessment," said Prof. Magnuson. "We seriously looked at all studies with equal weight." She added that studies that cast a cloud over aspartame were "methodologically flawed." For instance, some studies added pure aspartame directly to cell cultures. She said that would not happen in real life because aspartame is partly broken down in the stomach. "Aspartame never actually enters the body as a complete compound."
However, there was one potential side effect the experts could not rule out completely - headaches. "Some people do appear to feel they have a headache" when they consume aspartame, said Prof. Magnuson. "If that is their true feeling and belief ... I cannot prove them wrong."
Quicker blues buster
Antidepressant medications can help pull people out of the depths of the blues. But it takes three to six weeks before patients feel the full effects of these drugs.
Now, a new study led by researchers at McGill University in Montreal offers hope for a faster-acting antidepressant.
The work was carried out on mice with a new class of experimental compounds known as serotonin receptor agonists, which enhance certain nerve impulses within the brain.
(Currently, the most widely used antidepressants - selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - work by increasing the availability of serotonin, a chemical messenger in the brain.)
Dr. Guillaume Lucas, who led the research, said the study showed "a rapid onset of action."
But, of course, a lot more research is needed to prove the compounds work the same way in people.
Dr. Lucas hopes the study, published in the journal Neuron, will spark the interest of a major drug company to finance human trials.
ptaylor@globeandmail.com
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Sarno-ize it!
Read chapter 4 of Dr. Sarno's "The Divided Mind." Also chapers 3, 4 and 5 in Dr. Scott Brady's "Pain Free For Life" are very important. |
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'Mind-body' therapies to treat lung cancer
