Reversing The Cancer Epidemic

3 Right-to-know

The right-to-know is, or should be, an inalienable and fundamental democratic principle with the possible exception of national security concerns.

Claims of confidentiality and trade secrecy by industry are often a serious deterrent to the recognition of potential risks from carcinogenic, and otherwise toxic, products.

There is thus an urgent need to develop legislation to restrict claims of confidentiality to what is unarguably essential to protect independently validated non-health proprietary information, exclusive of any health considerations.

All other information on the identity of carcinogens in products, pharmaceutical drugs or processes, must be automatically and fully released and made fully available to the public.

It must be stressed that labelling is no substitute for a moratorium or ban. Labelling is discriminatory to the uneducated and lower socio-economic population groups.

Right-to-know initiatives must be directed to the totality of human exposures, besides ecological impacts including consumer products - food, cosmetics and toiletries and household products, prescription drugs, and environmental and occupational exposures.

Reversing The Cancer Epidemic

2 Reduce use of toxics

The second line of defence is the phase-out of carcinogens in use in the wide range of petrochemical and other products and process already established in commerce. Strategies based on toxics use reduction - phasing out the manufacture, use and disposal of carcinogenic chemicals, coupled with their replacement by safe alternative technologies - are not only practical but cost-effective as evidenced by the success of the "Toxics Use Reduction Act" passed unanimously by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1989.

The implementation of such strategies, however, requires the establishment of an explicit schedule for the shortest feasible phase-out time, and for monitoring industry compliance. Toxics-use-reduction legislation further exemplifies the Precautionary Principle of risk prevention rather than "risk management".

The active interest of mainstream industry could be further encouraged by granting tax incentives for the urgent development of safe alternatives to conventional toxic-based technologies, and tax penalties for failure to adopt available safe alternative technologies.

How To Control Run-Away Industrial Technologies

1 Prohibit the authorisation of new carcinogenic products and untested new technologies

The first line of defence against risks from avoidable carcinogenic and otherwise toxicexposures is an absolute prohibition of further increasing the burden of current exposures due to the authorisation of new carcinogenic products and processes. Such a prohibition is based on the obvious Precautionary Principle that preventing new risks and that zero risk policies are essential for public and environmental protection.

This principle further absolves citizens and regulatory agencies from the heavy burden for proving risks in response to industry challenges, and allows the banning of suspect products in circumstances of scientific uncertainty.

Reversing The Cancer Epidemic

How to control run-away industrial technologies*

We are losing the winnable war against cancer. Over recent decades, the incidence of cancer in Europe, the US and other industrialised nations has escalated to epidemic proportions, with lifetime cancer risks in some nations reaching 1 in 2 for men and 1 in 3 for women.

The overall increase of all cancers in the US from 1950- 1995 was 55%, of which lung cancer, primarily attributed to smoking, accounted for about 12%.

Over the same period, non smoking cancers increased as follows: prostate cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma, 200%; testis cancer, 110%; brain and nervous system cancer, 80%; and childhood cancer, 10%.

Meanwhile, our ability to treat and "cure" most cancers with the notable exception of some relatively rare caners such as paediatric, has remained virtually unchanged in spite of periodic misleading and exaggerated claims to the contrary.

What is the predominant cause of the modern cancer epidemic? The answer is based on a strong body of scientific evidence incriminating the role of run-away industrial technologies, particularly the petrochemical, whose exponential growth since the 1940s has, to varying degrees in different nations, outstripped the development of the means to control them.

Resultingly, our total environment, air, water, consumer products - foods, cosmetics and toiletries, and household products including pesticides - and the workplace, has become pervasively contaminated with a wide range of often persistent industrial carcinogens. As a consequence, the public-at-large has been and continues to be unknowingly exposed to avoidable carcinogens from conception to death.

Safer Cooking Methods

If you must eat meat, the NCI advises that you adopt less risky cooking methods.

According to the NCI:

• Oven roasting and baking are relatively safer than frying or barbecuing as they are done at lower temperatures.
  
• Stewing, boiling or poaching are done at or below 212 F, which is also quite safe.

If possible, avoid making gravy from meat drippings.

Avoid Meat

Traditional wisdom decrees that one should always cook meat throughly to kill any food poisoning bacteria that may be present. But this recent study has indicated that cooking meat thoroughly can lead to cancer.

Eating meat is thus a case of between the devil and the deep blue sea! Not only that, meat consumption can also result in high medical bills, as was the case in the US.

According to a 1995 report in Preventive Medicine by a doctors group, Americans spends between US$28.6 bil (now worth about RM109 bil) and US$61.4 bil (now worth about RM233 bil) a year in medical costs for treatment of hypertension, heart disease, cancer and other illness attributed to meat consumption. (The report also says that eating meat is comparable to smoking tobacco and the health threat is "of a similar magnitude when you keep it up over a lifetime".)

With all these evidence, some of you might want to avoid meat completely. If so, take heart. You can still get protein from other food sources like beans and bean products. tofu, tempeh, lentils, seeds and nuts.

And here's another consolation: Study after study have confirmed that vegetarians are healthier than meat-eaters. So, why not start today?

Leaching And Toxicity Of PVC Plasticisers

PVC(polyvinyl chloride or vinylz0 is widely used in toys and other children's products.
For soft applications such as toys designed for chewing (ie teethers), softeners or plasticisers are added to give the desired softness and flexibility. Without these additives, PVC is brittle, degrades easily and is not versatile.
Although a range of chemicals are used as softeners, phthalate esters (phthalates) are by far the most commonly used.
Phthalates do not bind to the PVC polymer but float around like water in a sponge. They remain present as a freely mobile and leachable phase in the plastic.
As a result, phthalates are continuously lost from soft PVC over time. This has long been recognised by the PVC industry itself. In fact, it has been known for 30 years that phthalates leach from soft PVC.
Pressure on a PVC product will increase leaching substantially. Of most concern is the leaching of plasticisers resulting from sucking or chewing on soft PVC toys, representing a direct bodily dose of these chemical to the infant or child.
Phthalates are moderately persistent and can bioaccumulate in fat tissue. Some may be broken down in the body, although degradation and excretion rates may differ between adults and children.
In addition, phthalates absorb atrongly to soil, and biodegrade slowly, creating the potential for constant human exposure.
Phthalates can exert additive effects when present as a mixture or in combination with other common environmental contaminants. Many of the phthalates are actually isomers of compounds of a similar carbon chain length. As a result, a single phthalate formulation may be contaminated with several different types of phthalates.
Laboratory research on the health effects of the phthalates has identified wide-ranging cronic effect. These include:

• liver and kidney lesions
• reproductive abnormalities, including testicular atrophy, altered development of reproductive tissue and subtle effects on sperm production
• cell line transformations
• cancers, including those of the liver, kidney and mononuclear cell leukemia.
  

Risky High-Temperature Cooking

Four factors influence HCA formation : type of food, cooking method, temperature and time. Of the 4, temperature is the most important factor. According to the NCI, frying, broiling and barbecuing produce the largest amounts of HCAs because the meats are cooked at very high temperatures.

"Well Done" Meat Linked To Stomach Cancer

In another NCI study which assessed the diets and cooking habits of 176 people diagnosed with stomach cancer and 503 people without cancer, it was found that people who :

• ate their beef "medium well" or "well done" had more than 3 times the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate their beef "rare" or "medium rare".

• ate beef 4 or more times a week had more than twice the risk of stomach cancer those who ate beef less frequently.

Hamburgers And Lymph Node Cancer

A study of 35,000 older women shows that those with diets high meat and animal fat , especially hamburger, have double the risk for lymph node cancer - also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Research believe that it may be related to the way the hamburgers are cooked.

Cancer-Causing Chemicals In Cooked Meats

Are barbecued beef, fried chicken and other charcoal-roasted or grilled meats your favourite foods? If so, beware. Actually, fried and barbecued meats contain mutagens (chemicals that may damage the DNA) and carcinogens (compounds shown to cause cancer) such as heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

How The Chemicals Form?

HCAs are formed when amino acids (the building blocks of all proteins) and creatine (a chemical found in muscles) react at cooking temperatures. They are created in greater quantities when meats are cooked at high temperatures.

PAHs are formed by burning fat during open flame cooking. The smoke resulting from the burnt fat contains PAHs that are deposited on the surface of the meat.

Cancers In Animals

In animal studies, mice, rats and monkeys fed HCAs in their diet had increased rates of certain cancers. The most abundant HCAs in cooked muscle meats, PhIP, causes lymphomas (cancer of the lymph system) in mice as well as mammary and large intestine tumors in rats. Another HCA (known as IQ) was found to cause liver cancers in the majority of monkeys to which it was fed. Both PhOP and IQ (which were absorbed into the monkeys' bodies) have also been found to be mutagenic, ie since the 1980s.)

Potential Cancer Risk To Humans

These research results have raised concerns that HCAs may also be human carcinogens. This is compounded by the results of another different study - in which human volunteers ate 320grams (about 10 ounces) of cooked ground meat patties - which show that most of the HCAs eaten were absorbed into the body.

(In animal studies, most of the cancer - causing chemicals from meat eaten were found to be absorbed into the animals' bodies, where they were activated into cancer-causing chemicals, with only a small percentage excreted unchanged.)

How To Cut Cancer Risks In Mothers

Breastfeeding helps to reduce a mother's cancer risks, besides protecting her health in many other ways. Here are 10 - of many - good reasons why every mother should breastfeed her child.

• Breastfeeding Reduces Your Risk Of Breast Cancer. A fishing community living on boats in the delta of the Pearl River, Hong Kong, always breastfed their babies from one breast only, the right one, because their dress traditionally opened this side. In a study of the relation between breastfeeding and cancer on the womenfolk there done by doctors in 2 hospitals in Hong Kong, it was found that 27 out of 34 women over 55 had breast cancer in the breast which they had not used for feeding. In another hospital-based case-control study conducted in Athens (1989-98) involving 820 patients with confirmed breast cancer, it was found that prolonged breastfeeding (for 24 months and more) reduces breast cancer risk among premenopausal women.
• Breastfeeding Lowers Your Risk Of Developing Endometrial Cancer. In a 10 year WHO collaborative study of data from 6 countries reported in the International Journal Of Epidemiology (June 1995), it was found that long-term lactation significantly reduces the risk of endometrial cancer. The risk was found to be lowest in women who had just recently breastfed their babies.
• Breastfeeding Reduces Your Risk Of Developing Ovarian Cancer. In an analysis of 12 case-control studies, women who had breastfed an infant had a 20% lower risk of ovarian cancer than women who had never breastfed; each month of breastfeeding was associated with a 1% reduction in overall risk.
  

Stop Smoking To Avoid Cancer

Smoking is the most publicised of cancer risks, and there is no question that smoking or using tobacco in any form is one of the worst choices you can make from a health perspective.

According to the AICR, not only does the use of tobacco greatly increse the risk of lung cancer, it also appears to influence some other forms of cancers (as well as significantly increases your risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke).

According to the WHO, lung cancer is currently the biggest killer and the most common of cancer - over 1.3 million cases worldwide and almost 1 million deaths a year.

In Malaysia, the scenario is equally bad. Lung cancer is currently the leading cause of death by cancer of men, claiming hundreds of lives each year.

These needless deaths from lung cancer are preventable. Just follow this simple rule : Do not smoke, or use tobacco in any form. If you currently are not a smoker, don't start. If you smoke, stop it.

Nutritional And Lifestyle Connections

It is generally known that although cancer (a chronic disease) can stem from a genetic predisposition, lifestyle factors including smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, poor diet and inadequate physical activity increase the risks.

But the latest IACR/WRFC study has found that diet and lifestyle factors can actually prevent cancer. The study found that the foods you choose each day are one of the most important factors in helping protect you against cancer.

For example :

• As many as 33% of lung cancers and 75% of colon and rectal cancers could be avoided through dietary choices.
• 33-50% of breast cancers could also be prevent through diet and related factors.
• And eating 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day can cut cancer risk by as much as 20%.

Choosing healthy foods, particularly a diet rich in vegetables and fruits, gives your body not only the nutrients it needs for good health, but a whole arsenal of compound within food that help protectyou from the naturally occurring cancer risks you face every day.

Eating a healthier diet also can help protect against heart disease, store and a variety of other health problems.

Similarly, maintaining a healthy weight and staying physically active have also been shown to be important in helping your body protect itself against cancer.

There's nothing magic or difficult about these types of lifestyle choices. Don't smoke, eat right, stay active and watch your weight - put them all together and they add up to a formula that can cut cancer risk by up to 75%.

Value life. Choose health. Don't delay. Start today. Just a few simple changes in your lifestyle can help reduce cancer risk for you and your family.

World's Second Leading Killer Disease

Scientists generally concur that most human cancers are caused by exposure to carcinogens encountered in the environment. These include air pollutants, chemical toxins, asbestos, carcinogens in the diet, toxic agents in drinking water, drugs, alcohol and cigarette smoke (see "Poisoning Our Chidren ', Utusan Konsumer, November 1998).

Numerous cancer chemicals also lurk in commonly used products like cosmetics and toiletries (see "Cancer Shock in Cosmetics", Utusan Konsumer, December 1998).

To compound the problem, increases in life expectancy around the world, coupled with growing urbanization and changes in diets and lifestyles, all add up to lead to substantial increases in cancer rates globally.

According to the WHO, the top 10 cancer killers accounting for 60% of all cancer cases and deaths, are those of the lung, stomach, breast, colon-rectum, mouth liver, cervix and oesophagus.

It warns of "global epidemics of cancer and other chronic diseases in the next 2 decades", with the most worrying trend being the number of women developinglung and breast cancer.

Fighting Cancer

From the statistics showed to us every year, it seems inescapable and unstoppable. The statistics are staggering, and the future, foreboding. But we need not join the statistics. The good news is, cancer is preventable. Experts estimate that 30-40% of cancer cases in the world today can be prevented with new changes in our diet and personal habits as well as some of our unhealthy lifestyle.
The American Institute for Cancer research and World Research Fund for Cancer has published a report of their 4-year Diet and Cancer project findings that offer strong new insights into diet and cancer.
The 660-page report, Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective, examines the relationship between dietary factors and 18 specific cancers and tells us how we can slash cancer rates simply by changing what we eat and how much we exercise.
The report-the first ever international review of diet and cancer, and the most comprehensive report ever in this field - will help set new directions in research, cancer education and future public health policy around the the world

The inability of current breast screening methods to detect cellular changes at an early stage of development, as the Pap test does for cervical cancer, is one reason for the lack of significant reduction in the death rate of breast cancer. The HALO Breast Pap Test is a new test that can help to detect breast cancer in it's early stages. The HALO Breast Pap Test can detect abnormal cells years earlier than a mammogram can detect a lump. This test can help to identify younger women who are at risk for breast cancer.

Comparison of the stages of breast cancer and cervical cancer development

With the understanding that almost all breast cancers begin in the milk ducts, Nipple Aspirate Fluid (NAF) examination allows the determination of benign breast disease, and the attendant increase in relative risk, years before an abnormality becomes visible by imaging or becomes a palpable lesion. Like cervical cancer, breast cancer typically grows slowly, taking, on average, 8 years before it can be detected by mammography, or up to 10 years before the lesion is palpable. The HALO Pap Test for the Breast can discover abnormal cells years before a mammogram and can help to find high risk women before they develop cancer. Virtually all breast cancer originates in the epithelial cells that line the interior of the milk ducts in the breasts. This is why the HALO Breast Pap Test collects nipple fluid that is then analyzed for abnormal cells

Fight Cancer -Fend Off World's Second Biggest Killer

How will it be done? The answer is through diet & lifestyle changes. The word 'cancer' is enough to stroke fear in anyone. There is no cure for the disease according to doctors. It is reported that every 10 seconds, someone dies of (lung) cancer somewhere in the world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that almost half a million people die from the disease each year in Europe alone. What is alarming that this dreaded disease is now a growing problem in Asean countries like Malaysia. Figures culled from Press reports show that there was an almost 40% increase in cancer rates in Malaysia from 1990 to 1996. Statistics figures obtained from the Ministry of Health show that Government hospitals throughout the country recorded a total of 11,655 admossions and 1335 deaths for cancer in 1996. Today, cancer is the second biggest killer in the country after road accidents. Every year, some 30,000 new cases continue to be detected in the country. (This figures does not include those who seek help from traditional healers, private hospitals & clinics)
Worldwide, cancer strikes 10 million people and claims 6.3 million lives a year. The WHO has rated it as the second leading killer disease (after coronary heart disease) and has warned that cancer cases are expected to double globally during the next 25 years.
This is hardly suprising when one considers that carcinogens are so prevalent in the enviroment - some examples are tobacco, radiation, asbestos, pesticides, benzene, formaldehyde, steroids, PCBs, air polution and even glues and solvents, municipal incinerators, toxic waste dumps and electromagnetic fields

Ways To Prevent Cancer - 2

Avoid being underweight or overweight and limit weight gain during adulthood to less than 11 pounds (5kg). There is convincing evidence that obesity increases the risk of endometrial cancer - ie cancer of the endometrium (mucous membrane lining the uterus). It probably also increases the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women and kidney cancer. You should also not increase your weight significantly after age 18, as this may lead to a host of health problems.

Risk Factors
Originally uploaded by ephany

Beware Of Medical Error

Beware of medical care! You could end up with the wrong leg amputated, missing finggers, or AIDS or even permanently paralysed. Worse, you could end up instantly dead!

All these happen without you even knowing that the causes were medical errors because of coverups or your ignorance. It has estimated that for every case of medical error reported, there are 10 cases that ro unreported.

Medical errors - eg; use of the wrong drugs, surgery on the wrong body part or the wrong patient, errors in blood transfusions and improper insertion of medical instruments such as catheters or feeding tubes - have reached crisis proportions in many countries today.

And they are not just confined to hospitals. Doctor's offices, clinics. outpation surgical centres, pharmacies, nursing homes and other medical institutional settings can all pose similar risks.

In 2 studies ( U.S & Australian ), it was found that 8-9% of medical errors occured in a doctor's office, 2-3% at home and 1-2% in nursing homes.

And the problem is not just with doctors. Surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and pharmacist can all goof up, no matter how qualified they are.

A recent report by the U.S Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine estimated that between 2.9 and 3,7 of hospitalisations involve medical errors. Between 8.8 and 13.6% of these adverse incidents lead to death. The percentage may seem small, but the total figures are staggering. Here's a brief glimpse of current statistics in the U.S and elsewhere around the world:

IN THE US, medical errors cause 44,000 - 98,000 unnecessary deaths each year and 1,000,000 excess injuries - striking down more people than motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer or AIDS.

Can Doctors Be Trusted?

Disturbing signs of consumer distruct of hospitals, doctors and modern medical care are becoming obvious with the growing numbers of medical negligence cases and lawsuit reported lately.
These are some of the cases highlighted in the press in Malaysia alone for example:

• A 47 year old women filed a RM100 million suit against the Government, the Health Ministry and the Jitra Hospital after she was given HIV-contaminated blood during a blood transfusion. we also heard similar cases in other countries as well
• A locum doctor employed at Klinik Wanita-Wanita (Womens Clinic) which held a hospital licence, performed a dilation and curettage ('D&C") procedure on a women. It resulted in a perforation of the uterus and severe injuries to her rectum and small intestines. The court awarded her over RM40,000 for damages.
• A 41 year old womwn became a quadriplegic after an operation in the Assunta Hospital in Kuala Lumpur, which damaged her spinal cord. The victim, who is now confined to a wheelchair, said she became paralysed within about 24 hours after the operation following s road accident. In April 1999, the Kuala Lumpur High Court awarded her more than RM500,000 in damages.
• In 1988, a schoolteacher nearly died from an allergic reaction to the drugs prescribed by a clinic in Seberang Jaya, Seberang Perai, Penang
• In 1986, CAP (Consumer Association of Penang) highlighted the case of a women who suffered a mental breakdown after delivery in a private hospital. Two of her babies died. She was not warned she was expecting triplets by the gynaecologist.
• A women was recently reported to have a surgical needle embedded in her vagina after an operation during childbirth in 1995.
• In 1994, 2 women complained that sanitary pad were left inside their vagina after delivery.

The above cases are just the tip of the iceberg. According to CAP's estimates, medical errors could be the second top killer in the country. This raises the inevitable question: Can the Doctor be trusted?

How To Prevent Cancer - 1

Choose predominantly plant-based diets rich in veriety of vegetables and fruits, legumes (beans) and minimally processed starchy staple foods. In general, the best type of diet to prevent cancer is one thatt's based mostly on a variety of plant foods like vege, ruits, legumes (dried beans) and whole grains. The evidence is especially strong for vegetables and fruits, which protect against cancer at many different sites in the body. These foods may prevent cancer directly by providing protective substances such as vitamins, minerals, fibres, phyto-chemicals and other compounds. Or they may also provide indirect protection by helping people cut down on foods of animal origin especially red meats, which are linked to a number of different cancers when eaten in excessive amounts. Plant foods also tend to lower in calories, which can help prevent obesity - a known risk factor for several major cancer.

Toxic in Plastics That Can Caused Cancer

Eating plasticisers? That means eating foods which contains toxic chemicals from plastic containers or plastic wrappers. Ever get the feeling that your cheese tastes a bit like plastic? There might be a good reason. Chemicals in the plastic wrap used to wrap the cheese could have migrated into the cheese. cling film, the wrapper used to pack the cheese, can have plasticisers-toxic chemical additives that give the wrap its 'stretch and cling' quality-in it. Test done at least at 4 countries-Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan, in recent years have found that plasticisers can leach into a wide range of foods like cheese, cakes and baked goods, instant noodles and supermarket meats from plastic packaging materials.
In September 1996, Taiwan's Consumer's Association reported that their tests show styrofoam containers used for instant noodles leach styrene-touted as cancer-causing agent-when boiling water was poured into them. In their tests, almost 80% of the noodles tested had styrene above 400 parts per-million. In addition to eating toxic plasticisers from plastics, you could also be eating plastic ingredients too!

Carsinogenic (cancer-caused) toxic plasticisers* found in:

• instant noodles
• infant formula
• fresh chicken
• beef
• lamb
• pork
• cheese/cheesecakes
• cakes
• sandwiches
• cooked savouries (meat, pies, etc)
• bread
• spare ribs
• triot
• confectioneries
• pies
• biscuits
• bacon
• pizza
• swiss rolls
• and other food

*According to tests conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in the UK, and by Concumers' Associations in Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan

Understanding the cause of Cancer

hile cancer has many causes, the medical community feels that poor immunity is an important factor. Strengthening immunity is therefore a key approach to preventing and fighting cancer.

What is the link between cancer and the immune system? The immune response has been suppressed in many cancer patients, and they do not response to the skin immunity test. This kind of immune suppression may occur in the early stages of cancer, but is most evident in the final stage. In general, there is a higher incidence of cancer in persons with deficient or suppressed immune systems, and in organ transplant patients whose immune systems have been purposely suppressed. Some people therefore feel that abnormal cells are continuously produced by the body, but are ordinarily eliminated by a so-called "immunological surveillance" mechanism. And when this mechanism malfunctions, the abnormal cells are likely to change into cancer cells.

Tumor cells arise from body cells that have mutated and whose growth is no longer under control. The growth of normal cells is subject to certain restrictions. For instance, the mutual contact between cells inhibits their growth. But since the molecular structure of tumor cells' cell membranes has changed, they are no longer subject to inhibition. They cannot be discovered by the immunological surveillance system, and cancer therefore occurs.

There is currently no 100% effective method of treating cancer. Apart from electrotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery, the best method of preventing and treating cancer is to strengthen immunity.

Reference: Ho Kang-chieh; 1981; Immunotherapy of Cancer: Mechanisms, Methods, Results, and Prospects; Contemporary Medicine, 8: 456-460.

Using Lingzhi to treat cancer

The immune modulating effect doesn't seem to be only at the endocrine level. There's plenty of evidence for its effective use on Cancer. In fact, it is an officially listed substance to be used on Cancer, recognised by the Japanese government. Its special area of use is to overcome side-effects of Western chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In comparison to its other properties, Lingzhi has received by far most attention as a source of antitumor activities. This action is due to immunostimulating 'polysaccharides', particularly those known as Beta-glucans. Before we look into the work that's gone on with Lingzhi and these complex sugars, it's important to have a perspective of the topic at hand. Some background information on the search for immunostimulants and their use is medicine will go a long way in explaining the potential of Linzhi against Cancer.

Breast Cancer - Visually

Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the number one cause of death amongst women worldwide. Cancer of the breast is the result of an uncontrolled growth of cell within the breast tissue. If not detected and treated promptly, breast cancer can spread to the lymph glands and to the other parts of the body such as the bones, lungs and liver. The exact cause of breast cancer is not known. Any women aged 20 and above is at risk of getting breast cancer. The following factors may increase a women's risk of developing breast cancer:

• Increasing age
• Family history of breast cancer
• Early onset of menstruation (before age 12) or late menopause (after age 50)
• Childless or giving birth to first child after age 30
• Diet high in animal fats
  

Breast cancer, a common cancer in women, is a disease in which cancer(malignant) cells are found in the tissues of the breast.

Neglected, very large, breast cancer of the usual type (infiltrating ductal carcinoma). This is a mastectomy specimen.

Cancer Vaccine

Quest section infographic explaining the process of a possible cancer vaccine. The figure-drawing went from sketch to Poser to Photoshop

Is Curing Cancer Possible?

It is Not, as far as the modern medication are concerned. But the sad thing is, almost all the doctors out there verified the whole world that cancer and especially the so called deadly one like Leukemia, Lymphoma, Liver Cancer and Mesothelioma cannot be cure at all. So, what they can do is only to try reduce the pain of the patient, physically and mentally. In this blog, I want to tell the world that it is Possible because God will not send down disease without sending down the cure as well. It's just up to Man to search for it, dig it and use it and then, express grattitute. Let us stick to this concept for a while even though some might not believe it. But you will believe if you were me. I have seen it, and touched it and feel the pain and have seen how it then recovered, completely - with the touch of nature by God permission.

It's in this one particular herbs lies the cure for Cancer. Most of the Cancer patients who was skeptical at first has turn up to be a believer and mesmerized with the efficacy of this elixir. Many Western doctors are to proud to accept this even though it has been proven to not only prevent but can kill all those cancer cell that invade the patient's body, provided you know how to consume it and how much to consume.
This herbs is a type of mushroom and it is called in many names - Lingzhi (in Chinese) or Reishi (in Japanese). The scientific name for it is Ganoderma Lucidum

Linzhi, Cancer's Toughest Opponents

Lingzhi is a prominent pharmaceutical plant with majestic healing properties. Numerous scientific experiments, in this modern edge, prove that it can efficaciously suppress the chronic disease even the Cancer. A lot of people consider Lingzhi is an unsurpassed nutrient. But it is not a nutrient based herbs and it does not cure you, your body does. According to expert, Lingzhi can genuinely enhance the human immunity and can re-generate the T-cells, Macrophages and the Natural Killer cells to detect, kills and get rid of intruders. In other words, it actually help your body to help itself. So, its a Natural Therapy way of healing. It is totally different from western medication whereby outside substances is use to get rid of the intruder by using chemicals or radiation which is harmful. I have encountered and helped more than 25 people around me who had cancer and has improved after taking this mushrooms. There are all my relatives, friends and also my relative's friends from Malaysia, Indonesia Singapore and Thailand. They also shows the same Vertigo effect or healing/detoxification effects after taking Lingzhi.
There are a lot of varieties of Lingzhi. Different Linzhi contains different percentages of varied ingredients. It is impossible for all ingredients, which are found in certain types of Linzhi, to nourish the human bodies and provide therapeutic effect. Different manufacturers are boasting that their respective products are efficacious. It is difficult for the consumers to verify the qualities of different Lingzhi. Thus, associate Professor Su Ching Hua of microbe Immunology, Taipei Medical College Taiwan, says that it is adviseable to formulate an authentication standard for the examination of Lingzhi. If an objective standards has been set up, the genuine identity of Lingzhi can emerged.
Associate Professor Su Ching Hua has done research work on this herbs for the past twenty years. At the initial stage, he was curious about the characteristic of Linzhi. He was skeptical about the miraculous effects. Numerous legendary stories regarding the therapeutic effects of Lingzhi which has the bitterness, have been circulated among the people since ancient time. Thus, he set a target of discovering the different substances of different sorts of Lingzhi. Hitherto, he has done research on 65 types of Lingzhi. According to the preliminary analysis, the above mentioned types of Lingzhi can be classified into 18 categories.
Professor Su Emphasizes that he discovered the ingredient of Lingzhi have positive effects upon health after he have done experiments upon animals. He found no negative effects. From his past experience, Lingzhi contains ganoderic acid B and C2 which are beneficial to the function of Liver.
Triterpenes (bitterness) is also one of the main ingredients of Lingzhi. It can suppress the severe allergy and promote the function of liver. His experiments proved that Lingzhi rectifies abnormal phenomena on the cells, which are adjacent to the poisoned liver. After the treatment of triterpenes from Lingzhi is given, the abnormal phenomena of cells are improved. such improvement shows that triterpenes can protect the proper functioning of liver.
He also says that the 'security guard cells' of human bodies, sometimes, are not aware the invention of the harmfull germs into the human bodies. The polysaccharides of Lingzhi can arouse the attention of the 'security guard cells' to patrol inside the human bodies. The 'security guard cells' will exterminate the harmful intruder when the former meet the latter. He also says that. For the case of acute diseases and Cancer, the patient need to take quite a high dosage of this herbs together with Vitamin C and Pollen as advised by him

Beam Delivery Verification for Modulated Electron Radiation Therapy Treatment of Breast Cancer - a report from STANFORD UNIV CA

Abstract: We have analyzed the delivery of a novel form of radiation therapy for the treatment of breast cancer: modulated electron beam radiation therapy (MERT). The perturbations introduced by a realistic collimator system have been assessed using Monte Carlo radiation transport simulations. The changes in the electron and photon fluence have been quantified and found to be non-trivial. In particular the electron beam penumbras may be changed by interaction with the electron multileaf collimator, and photon contamination contributes significantly to the total energy fluence. An optimization system for correcting for these perturbations has been developed and reported. We propose a two stage optimization, in which the first stage selects leaf positions, while the second stage sets segment weights. This system satisfies two key requirements: the treatment plan is optimized with the inclusion of knowledge of realistic delivery effects, and the computed fluence is an accurate representation of the delivered fluence. The accuracy of the computed fluence model is necessary for any beam verification system for MERT.

This is used to deliver electron radiation therapy to cancer patients. The shape of the patient's tumor determines the irregular shape of the opening on the right side. The block with the opening is custom made for each patient; it is made of a lead alloy.

The cause of Cancer1 - Radiation

When the truth comes out, it seems as if we already knew it. Yet, radiation is hardly ever mentioned as a cause of cancer. "It's the elephant in the room," Nancy Evans, one of the authors of the report acknowledges. "It's not talked about."

The report, based on experimental, body burden and epidemiological studies, summarizes the evidence of multiple environmental factors, and finds the evidence that radiation causes breast cancer, as "indisputable."

The female breast is two to three times more sensitive to radiation than any other organ. Yet, highly reputed authorities like the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute downplay any environmental connection, especially radiation, focusing instead on "risk factors" within the woman's control.

Her condition, it seems, is her fault. It's her genes, her hormones, her lifestyle, her lack of children or late mothering, her insufficient exercise, her diet.

The fact however, is that risk factors don't explain all breast cancers. "Even when all known risk factors and characteristics including family history and genetics are aggregated, as many as 50 per cent of breast cancer cases remain unexplained," the report states.

Both radiation and chemical toxins are implicated, but while some are "initiators" of cancer, and others are "promoters," radiation is both. That means it facilitates cancer easily. Yet only two pages in the 78-page report are about radiation, mainly from X-rays and other medical treatments.