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Published on Leave a comment on Cancer Vaccine For Melanoma Looks Very Promising
Melanoma skin cancer Credit: Wikipedia

The skin cancer melanoma is an incredibly deadly cancer if not caught in the early stages. This is why researchers have been studying various types of immunotherapy as a treatment for melanoma - but with inconsistent results (works for some, but not all).

Exciting new research was recently published that found that personalized vaccine plus the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda) could be very successful as a melanoma treatment. Using Keytruda alone is current melanoma treatment, but adding the vaccine to Keytruda significantly improved the results.

The researchers found that a personalized vaccine called intismeran, when combined with Keytruda, cut the risk of recurrence and death from melanoma by 49% five years after the original melanoma tumors were removed. The comparison group was patients receiving just Keytruda alone. Key finding: "After five years of follow-up, 68.8% of patients who took the combination therapy remained cancer free while 49.1% of the patients in the pembrolizumab-alone group had no signs of cancer."

The combination treatment also cut the risk of the original cancer metastasizing to distant parts of the body by 59% (this was at the 5 year follow-up). Overall survival for the combination group at the 5 year follow-up was 92.2%, while for Keytruda alone it was 71.3%. Again, a significant difference

Even though this combination treatment was tested on a small group of patients (107 patients), this is a fabulous result! More expanded testing is underway. Stay tuned!

From Medical Xpress: Cancer vaccine sustains 49% melanoma reduction after 5 years

The combination of a vaccine and a drug, which both harness the immune system to attack cancer cells, has proven successful in cutting the risk of skin cancer recurrence and death by 49%, a new study shows. This reduction was calculated five years after patients had their tumors surgically removed and remains unchanged. ...continue reading "Cancer Vaccine For Melanoma Looks Very Promising"

Published on Leave a comment on Farting Is Perfectly Normal
Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The topic of farts is rarely discussed in adult conversations. This is because passing gas or farting can be embarrassing to the person farting, especially when occurring in a public setting. One wonders: Is farting (flatulence) normal? How many farts per day is normal?

Research shows that releasing intestinal gas through the rectum (farting) is part of normal and healthy digestion. On the other hand, "excessive farting" could be a sign of some sort of intestinal problem. Two recent studies examined "normal farting" and came up with different results. An Australian study found that overall people reported 5 farts per day using a "Chart your fart" app, but a Maryland study had participants wear special "smart" underwear that measured any passing of gas and came up with 32 farts per day!

From Medscape: Flatus Status: How Many Farts a Day Is Normal?

Researchers Emily Brindal and Danielle Baird developed the “Chart Your Fart” app as a citizen-science initiative.

The app allows people to log their emissions in real time, and to (optionally) rate them in terms of stench, loudness, duration, and — critically — detectability. Which is obviously necessary to determine whether he who smelt it actually dealt it. ...continue reading "Farting Is Perfectly Normal"

Published on Leave a comment on Research Finds Vitamin D3 to Be Beneficial, But Not Vitamin D2

Vitamin D supplements are available in both D2 and D3 form. Research has long supported that it's vitamin D3 that has health benefits, and that vitamin D2 doesn't do anything. Well... a recent study found that vitamin D2 actually has a negative effect - that it lowers how much vitamin D3 the body absorbs.

Ingesting vitamin D2 supplements results in lower levels of vitamin D3 in the blood - measured as  serum vitamin 25(OH)D3 concentrations.  Note that Vitamin D3 is the form of vitamin D synthesized in human and animals skin upon exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation from sunlight. Thus, vitamin D3 is the form of vitamin D that our body naturally produces from sunlight and then use.

All the more reason to avoid vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol), and instead only take vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). Read the ingredients list on the bottle!

From Science Daily: Scientists warn popular vitamin D supplement may have a “previously unknown” downside

Taking vitamin D2 might lower the body's levels of the more efficient form of vitamin D, vitamin D3, according to new research from the University of Surrey, John Innes Centre and Quadram Institute Bioscience. Many people take vitamin D supplements to support their bone and immune health and meet the UK government recommendation of 10 micrograms (µg) each day, especially during the winter months. ...continue reading "Research Finds Vitamin D3 to Be Beneficial, But Not Vitamin D2"

Published on Leave a comment on New Technique Being Developed For Vision Correction
Human eye Credit: Wikipedia

Scientists are now working on a treatment for vision problems that would avoid the need for lasers or surgery (e.g., LASIK). This would be an amazing development.

The new technique called electromechanical reshaping (EMR) is still experimental, but very promising. Instead of carving away tissue, which is done in LASIK, the new method temporarily softens the cornea so it can be gently molded into a new shape.

But studies need to be done in animals (only rabbit eyeballs tested so far), and only then can it be tested in humans. Stay tuned...

From Science Daily: Forget LASIK: Safer, cheaper vision correction without lasers or surgery

Millions of Americans live with blurry vision, nearsightedness, or more severe sight problems. While glasses and contact lenses help many people, millions have turned to corrective procedures such as LASIK to sharpen their eyesight. But scientists are now exploring a very different approach that could someday reshape the eye without lasers, cutting, or invasive surgery. ...continue reading "New Technique Being Developed For Vision Correction"

Published on Leave a comment on High Dose Vitamin C As Part of Cancer Treatment?
Vitamin C pills Credit: Wikipedia

Researchers are studying high dose vitamin C as part of treatment for several cancers, including pancreatic cancer. These high doses of vitamin C (pharmacologic ascorbate) are not taken orally (by mouth), but in IVs (taken intravenously). It is always given alongside chemotherapy.

The intravenous vitamin C doses are 150 to 190 times larger than ordinary vitamin C tablets that are taken orally. This is because orally taken vitamin C cannot reach the blood levels needed to produce a pharmacologic effect.

Some of the results are amazing. For example, persons with pancreatic cancer it doubled survival compared to chemotherapy alone (from 8 months to 16 months) , and those receiving vitamin C used alongside standard chemotherapy had fewer side effects than when using chemotherapy alone. It is still unclear for which cancers the vitamin C treatment works and for which it doesn't.

The only problem is that pharma companies may not be interested because it can not be patented, and can't be developed as a new drug that they can make big profits off of. It's plain old vitamin C - but not as a nutritional supplement, but used as a medical drug (pharmacologic ascorbate).

Click on the link for the full story and dosing details. Excerpts from Medscape: Vitamin C’s Potential Use in Cancer Is Getting a Second Look

When Garry Buettner, PhD, who has been studying the chemistry and biochemistry of vitamin C for at least four decades, was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), he applied his research to his own life — reviewing the data and designing a protocol for his treatment. ...continue reading "High Dose Vitamin C As Part of Cancer Treatment?"

Published on Leave a comment on Good News For Pancreatic Cancer Treatment
Cancer cells forming a lump in pancreas Credit: Wikipedia

The pancreatic cancer treatment field is on fire. This is very good news because pancreatic cancer is an aggressive cancer that is typically diagnosed at late stages, and with a low survival rate (5 year survival rate of 15%).

There are a number of different treatments now undergoing clinical trials - from several vaccines, immunotherapy, the drug daraxonrasib that doubles life expectancy in those with pancreatic cancer, to other interesting treatments such as high dose vitamin C (given via IV).

The most exciting are pancreatic vaccines that are now undergoing clinical trials. They are meant to be used after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis - the goal is to prevent a recurrence of the cancer and to kill any remaining pancreatic cancer cells. They involve a person's own immune system attacking or suppressing the pancreatic cancer. Amazing research and progress is being made.
Some articles about some of the promising treatments:

The National Cancer Center's write-up: Are New Immune-Based Treatments for Kidney and Pancreatic Cancer On the Horizon?

Another type of vaccine (a mRNA vaccine) being developed in NYC, at Columbia's Pancreatic Center: Vaccine for Pancreatic Cancer Enters Phase II of Clinical Trial: Here’s What to Know

Medscape (reputable medical site) is also writing about the promising pancreatic vaccines:  Vaccine for Pancreatic Cancer and CRC Sparks Early Hope. An easier to read summary of that same study: New Vaccine May Help Stop Deadly Pancreatic Cancers From Coming Back

High-dose vitamin C (in ascorbate form, given in an IV) alongside chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer doubled survival rate and made the regular chemo drugs more tolerable for the cancer patient. From Medscape: Vitamin C’s Potential Use in Cancer Is Getting a Second Look

The drug daraxonrasib, which is awaiting FDA approval, probably this year. From NY Times: How an ‘Impossible’ Idea Led to a Pancreatic Cancer Breakthrough

Published on Leave a comment on Humans May Be Able To Grow New Teeth In A Few Years
Human teeth Credit: Wikipedia

The idea of regrowing lost teeth is fabulous. A study focusing on a tooth regeneration treatment came out last year, but I just read about the study in Popular Mechanics and Dentistry Today.

The Japanese scientists pointed out that humans already have a third set of teeth available in their mouths as buds, and these have the potential to grow as needed. Some people with hyperdontia can already grow more than one full set of teeth (about 1% of the population). The scientists are now working on how to promote tooth regrowth by using an experimental drug.

Human trials are now ongoing. They hope to have a tooth-growing treatment available for general use by 2030. Stay tuned...

From Popular mechanics: Grow New Teeth Within Just 4 Years

    • While bones can regrow themselves when they break, teeth aren’t so lucky, and that leads to millions of people worldwide suffering from some form of edentulism, a.k.a. toothlessness.
    • Now, Japanese researchers are moving a promising, tooth-regrowing medicine into human trials.
    • If the trial is successful, the researchers hope the drug will become available for all forms of toothlessness sometime around 2030.

...continue reading "Humans May Be Able To Grow New Teeth In A Few Years"

Published on Leave a comment on Egg Consumption Is Beneficial For Brain Health

Remember when health advice was to limit egg consumption, that they had too much cholesterol, and to only eat egg whites? Well.... studies in the last decade have proven that advice as being 100% wrong for a number of reasons. It turns out that eggs are a great source of a number of nutrients (e.g., choline) needed for brain health and memory function.

A recent study found that frequent egg consumption by persons (mean age 59 years at the start of the study) lowers the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD). The researchers found that there was a 27% decreased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease among persons who ate at least 5 eggs a week, but even eating fewer eggs was beneficial. The participants were followed for 15 years.

Other studies have also found a decreased risk of AD in persons eating eggs frequently - with one study finding that more than one egg consumed per week reduced the risk of developing AD up to 47%.

Some key nutrients necessary for brain health that are provided by eggs are: choline, the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, tryptophan, phospholipids, and an omega-3 fat known as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). The researchers viewed the nutrients in eggs as being "neuroprotective" (protecting neurological function).

From Medical Xpress: Egg consumption associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease

Consumption of eggs is associated with a lower risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease for those 65 years and older, according to researchers at Loma Linda University Health. Eating one egg per day for at least five days a week reduces the risk of Alzheimer's by up to 27%, researchers found. ...continue reading "Egg Consumption Is Beneficial For Brain Health"

Published on Leave a comment on Large Review Finds Alzheimer’s Disease Drugs Don’t Work

A large review found that the Alzheimer's drugs now available (very expensive!) actually do not slow down the disease. They don't work. In other words, they should never have been approved.

The authors of the study said it appears that the drugs result in little to no difference ("no clinically meaningful effect") in a range of measures, including reducing dementia severity. And their use increases the risk of bleeding and swelling of the brain.

A few years ago journalists uncovered that there was significant fraud involved in the research and drug approvals (not surprising when so much money is involved).

For decades, Alzheimer's research mainly (only) focused on abnormal protein deposits in the brain (amyloid plaques) and misfolded protein tau tangles in the brain. But many researchers are suggesting that other causes of Alzheimer's should be looked at, including viral causes and chronic inflammation.

Excerpts from The Conversation: Alzheimer's Drugs Offer Little Benefit, Major Review Finds - And the Reasons Go Deeper Than the Science

How is it possible to spend tens of billions of dollars developing drugs to treat a serious disease that affects millions of people, and yet end up with something that does not work? This is a mystery that has bedevilled Alzheimer’s research for years. ...continue reading "Large Review Finds Alzheimer’s Disease Drugs Don’t Work"