About Asbestos Cancer

Asbestos cancer is a general term for a variety of cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Malignant mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer of the membranes that line the chest (pleural mesothelioma) and abdominal (peritoneal mesothelioma), is almost always due to exposure to asbestos. Lung cancer may also be related to asbestos.

Mesothelioma is sometimes wrongly as a lung cancer because almost two thirds of the diagnosed cases have an impact on the pleural lining, which predomenantly around the lungs. In reality, this cancer resides outside the lungs, but may affect their operation, because it is the task of the pleural lining to allow movement between the lungs, diaphragm and other organs such as this function (think of the enlargement and contraction of the lungs as the breath and expel air).

What is asbestos?

Asbestos is a fibrous mineral that is widely used in everyday products, because it does not conduct electricity and heat-and chemical-resistance. These asbestos fibres, as loose, it can easily be inhaled or swallowed, and remain in the body for the year, eventually resulting in an asbestos-related cancer. Risk factors

The use of asbestos has fortunately has become more and more limited, such as restrictions on the increased in recent decades (not yet banned asbestos in the U.S.). However, the latency period in asbestos cancer is long, sometimes decades, so the workers who dealt extensively with one of the more than 5000 products containing asbestos - including floor tile, paint, automotive brake shoes, roofing and more - maybe are at risk for one or more asbestos-related cancer.

While the constant, regular exposure of these workers certainly seems the risk of developing an asbestos cancer, no known safe level of exposure. So it's not only those workers who are at risk of getting an asbestos cancer. The family of the employee members, who washed the asbestos-laced clothes and hugged an asbestos dust-covered dad just home from work, are also at risk.

Then there are those who never thought that they were working around asbestos: the do-it-yourselfer whose home improvements unconsciously brought him into contact with asbestos-containing products or Studen who attended summer school 30 years ago in that old building they were renovating the time.

Symptoms

Because asbestos fibers remain in the body so long, symptoms of asbestos-related diseases may only appear decades after the asbestos is inhaled. Voorkomende symptoms of an asbestos-related cancers include:

• Shortness
• A cough or a change in pattern cough
• Blood in the sputum (liquid) coughed up from the lungs
• Pain in the chest or the abdomen
• Difficulty in swallowing or prolonged hoarseness
• Significant weight loss

If any of these symptoms develop and you think you may have - or someone who already has worked with - asbestos, make an appointment to your doctor immediately.

Diagnosis

Once you contact your doctor and explain your symptoms, the doctor may prescribe a complete physical examination. This can be a chest x-ray and lung function tests. While a chest x-ray can not determine whether asbestos fibres in the lungs, it can help determine whether your lungs may have changed as a result of exposure to asbestos. An x-ray specialist in asbestos-related diseases may be required to examine and interpret your x-rays.

If an abnormal area is found through the x-ray, it may be necessary for a biopsy to learn if this area is cancer. In a biopsy, a surgeon or a medical oncogolgist (a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating cancer) removes a tissue sample. Then this sample is examined under a microscope by a pathologist.

Because asbestos fibers can be found in the urine, feces, mucus, or material from the lungs, you may provide an additional tests to determine the extent of your condition.

I have been diagnosed with an asbestos cancer, now what?

One of the first things to consider is finding a specialist to help with your research and decide on treatments. Often the doctor who diagnosed is not familiar with the relatively rare types of cancer caused by asbestos and can not in the hope and help that a trained specialist who regularly deals with asbestos cancer patients can. More information about the various treatments available for asbestos cancer.

You can also contact a lawyer who specializes in asbestos lawsuits, the companies that manufactured asbestos-containing products knew the dangers decades before adequate warning and protection of their employees and compensation may be available for you and your family.

Source: www.asbestoscancer.com

Garlic: Allicin Boosts Flow of Blood to Protect the Heart

The chemical substance that causes garlic to your bad breath may be that one for protecting your heart, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Alabama in Birmingham and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .

allicin is produced when it is chopped garlic, crushed or chewed. It further degrades in the body in a variety of sulphur-containing compounds, some of which cause a strong smell usually associated with garlic breath. But hydrogen is also a relaxing effect on blood vessels, lowering blood pressure and decreases the risk of heart attacks. Lower blood pressure also allows the blood to carry more oxygen to the body of the organs, improving the general health.

Researchers have the arteries of rats and they are immersed in a solution of crushed garlic juice. She takes a 72 percent reduction of tension in the arteries. Moreover, the red blood cells that were exposed to small quantities of crushed garlic juice were observed to start to give off hydrogen immediately. The researchers found that the chemical reaction causing the emission of hydrogen seemed to happen most often on the surface of the cells.

"Our results suggest garlic in the diet is a very good thing," said lead researcher David Kraus. "Especially in areas where the consumption of garlic is high, such as the Mediterranean and the Far East, there is a low incidence of cardiovascular disease."

Garlic is also known for his anti - Cancer capabilities. Used topically, crushed garlic eats cancer tumors on the skin. Internally, garlic halts the growth of cancer tumors throughout the body, which acts as a natural, non-prescription "chemotherapy agent that has no adverse side effects.

Garlic is strongest in its raw state. The longer garlic is cooked, the more of her healing phytochemicals be destroyed. The use of garlic by drugs, use of small quantities of these raw materials, or the cooking is minimal.

Coconut Oil: Heart Disease Medicine?

Scientists recently discovered a powerful new weapon in the fight against heart disease. As surprising as it seems, this new weapon is coconut oil. Yes, ordinary coconut. Food coconut on a regular basis can reduce your chances of suffering a heart attack!

Coconut consists of a unique group of fat molecules known as medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA). Although they are technically classified as saturated fats this fat may actually protect you from getting hit by a heart attack or stroke.

Although coconut oil is a saturated fat, it does not have a negative effect on cholesterol. Natural, nonhydrogenated coconut oil to an increase in HDL-cholesterol and improve the cholesterol profile. Is it good HDL cholesterol that helps protect against cardiovascular diseases. The total cholesterol in the blood, which consists of HDL (good) and LDL (bad) cholesterol, is a very inaccurate indicator of heart-disease risk. A much precise way assessing Heart Disease risk by separating two types of cholesterol. Therefore, the ratio of bad to good cholesterol (LDL / HDL) is widely recognized as a much more accurate indicator of heart-disease risk. As a result of coconut oil tend to HDL, the cholesterol ratio and thus enhances the risk of cardiovascular disease.

People who traditionally consume large quantities of coconut oil as part of their normal diet have a very low incidence of heart disease and have normal cholesterol in the blood. This is well supported by numerous studies population. The study shows that people who consume large quantities of coconut oil are remarkably good cardiovascular health.

At first, this remark confused many researchers. She did not recognize the difference between the MCFA in coconut oil and other saturated fats. New research has shown, however, that medium-chain fat in coconut oil protect against cardiovascular diseases may and be at a day treatment used as a cure.

Studies in the years 1970 and 1980 indicated that coconut oil is heart friendly, even though saturated fat at the time was accused of promoting cardiovascular diseases. Coconut oil consumption was revealed that many factors associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease compared with other oils, namely through diet, improved cholesterol readings, less body fat deposition, higher survival rate, reduced tendency to blood clots, less uncontrolled free radicals in cells, Low levels of blood cholesterol and liver, higher antioxidant reserves in the cells, and a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease in the population studies.1

From this evidence only coconut oil should be seen as a healthy heart, or at least as much favorable cardiovascular disease. But there is another factor, that is, more importantly, shows that coconut oil as not only a benign bystander but a very important player in the fight against cardiovascular diseases. So it is remarkable that it may soon become a powerful new weapon used against cardiovascular diseases.

Heart disease is caused by atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), apparently by the formation of plaque in the arteries. Under the current initially thought atherosclerosis develops as a result of damage to the inside of the arterial wall. The damage may result from a number of factors, such as toxins, free radicals, viruses or bacteria. If causation further damage is not removed can lead. As long as irritation and inflammation persist scar tissue continues to develop.

Special blood clotting protein called platelet released into the blood. Whenever they are confronted with injuries they sticky and adhere to each other and to the damaged tissue acting somewhat as a link to facilitate healing. This is how blood clots are formed. Damage from any source triggers platelets to clump together or clot and arterial cells to protein growth factors that stimulate the growth of muscle cells in the artery walls. A complex mixture of scar tissue, platelets, calcium, cholesterol, triglycerides, and are included in the site for the damage. This mass of tissue forms arterial plaque. When this process occurs in the coronary artery, which gives food to the heart, there is coronary heart disease-the most common cause of death in the United States.

One area of research that is the acquisition of one large section of interest is the relation between chronic infection and atherosclerosis. It appears that there is a cause and effect relationship in connection with persistent low-grade infections and heart disease. Recent research has shown that certain micro-organisms can cause or at least be involved in the development of arterial plaque, leading to cardiovascular diseases.

A large number of studies have reported associations between cardiovascular diseases and chronic bacterial and viral infections.2 Already in the years 1970 researchers who develop atherosclerosis in the arteries of the chickens when they were experimentally infected with a herpes virus. In the years 1980 similar associations were reported in people infected with certain bacteria (eg Helicobacter pylori and Chlamydia pneumoniae) and certain herpesviruses (especially cytomegalovirus). In one study, for example Petra Saikku and colleagues at the University of Helsinki in Finland found that 27 of the 40 heart attack patients to 15 of the 30 men with heart disease carried antibodies in connection with Chlamydia, which is better known to cause gum disease and lung. Compared with persons who were free of cardiovascular disease and only seven of the 41 had these antibodies. In another study at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas researchers found that 70 percent of patients undergoing surgery for atherosclerosis carry antibodies against cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common respiratory infections, while only 43 percent of controls.

More evidence supporting the link between infection and cardiovascular disease appeared in early 1990 when investigators found fragments of bacteria in arterial plaque. One of the first to micro-organisms in atherosclerotic plaques was Brent Muhlestein, a cardiologist at the LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City and the University of Utah. Muhlestein and colleagues found evidence of Chlamydia in 79 percent of plaque samples of the coronary arteries of 90 heart disease patients. By comparison, in less than four percent of normal people, showed a Chlamydia in the artery walls. Animal studies that more direct evidence that bacteria could contribute to chronic inflammation and plaque formation. Muhlestein showed that infect rabbits with Chlamydia measurable thickens the arterial walls of the animals. When the animals were given an antibiotic for the killing of the Chlamydia the arteries was more normal in size.3

At least one in two adults in the developed countries have antibodies against Helicobacter pylori, Chlamydia pneumoniae, or cytomegalovirus ( CMV). The presence of antibodies does not necessarily indicate an active infection or the presence of atherosclerosis, but is a sign that the infection took place at a particular time. It is for infections from these organisms to continue for an indefinite period. Once infected with herpes, for example, the virus remains for life. The effectiveness of the immune system determines the extent of problems with the virus can cause. The weaker the immune system the greater the chance that an infection hangs on and cause problems. When these micro-organisms into the bloodstream, they can attack on the artery wall caused chronic low-grade infections that no noticeable symptoms. If micro-organisms colonize an artery wall damage they cause to arterial cells. In an attempt to damage the platelets, cholesterol, protein and reconciliation in the artery wall down the stage for the formation of plaque and atherosclerosis. Until the infection and inflammation persists plaque continues to develop. Infection can both initiate and promote the growth of atherosclerosis in the arteries, which in turn leads to cardiovascular disease.4, 5

You or someone else can a chronic low-grade infection without reality. This is apparently what happens to many people who think that they are healthy, but suddenly drop dead of a heart attack.

So far, the researchers are not yet ready to say infection is responsible for all cases of cardiovascular diseases. Other factors (such as free radicals, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.) can also lead to injuries to the arterial wall and initiate plaque. Also, not all infections promote atherosclerosis. Only when the immune system is unable to control the infection, there is reason for concern. Anything that lower immune efficiency as a serious disease, poor nutrition, exposure to tobacco smoke, stress and lack of exercise (typical of many risk factors associated with heart disease) opens body that chronic low-grade infections can promote atherosclerosis.

The above findings suggest that, at least in part, cardiovascular disease may be treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics are limited because they are good only against bacteria. Infections caused by viruses would remain unaffected. But there is something that will destroy both the bacterium (Helicobacter pylori and Chlamydia pneumonia) and viruses (CMV) that are most commonly associated with atherosclerosis and that is MCFA or coconut oil. The MCFA know a coconut for the killing of all three of the most important forms of atherogenic organisms. MCFA are powerful germ fighters and are known to dozens of deaths from the disease causing organisms. Not only coconut oil can help protect you against the bacteria that causes ulcers, lung infections, herpes, etc., but also heart disease and strokes. If you want to avoid dying of heart disease you have to eat coconut!

Cardiovascular disease, stroke and atherosclerosis accounted for nearly half of all deaths in the United States. Statistically, one in two people who you know will die from one of these heart conditions. In countries where people eat a lot of coconut products cardiovascular diseases is much less frequent. In Sri Lanka, for example, where coconut oil is the primary fat in the diet, the mortality rate from cardiovascular disease is one of the lowest in the world.6 In areas of India, where coconut oil has been largely replaced by other vegetable oils, heart -- Sickness is on the rise. People encouraged from to switch from traditional cuisine oils as coconut implement for vegetable oils consumed advertised as cardiovascular vriendelijk. Researchers involved in studies diet and cardiovascular in India now recommend the return to coconut oil to the risk of cardiovascular disease. This recommendation is based on their findings show an increase in the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, such as coconut oil, will be replaced by other vegetable oils.7

It seems that simply by the use of coconut oil in your daily diet instead of other oils you can achieve a remarkable degree of protection against heart disease and strokes.

Sources:

1. Kaunitz, H. 1986. Medium chain triglycerides (MCT) in aging and arteriosclerosis. J Environ Pathol Toxicol Oncol 6(3-4):115.
2. Danesh, J. and Collins, R., 1997. Chronic infections and coronary heart disease: Is there a link? Lancet 350:430.
3. Gura, T. 1998. Infections: A cause of artery-clogging plaques? Science 281:35.
4. Leinonen, M., 1993. Pathogenic mechanisms and epidemiology of Chlamydia pneaumoniae. Eur Heart J 14(suppl K):57.
5. Gaydos, C.A., 1996. Replication of Chlamydia pneumoniae in vitro in human macrophages, endothelial cells, and aortic artery smooth muscle cells. Infect Immunity 64:1614).
6. Kaunitz, H. 1986. Medium chain triglycerides (MCT) in aging and arteriosclerosis. J Environ Pathol Toxicol Oncol 6(3-4):115.
7. Sircar, S. and Kansra, U 1998. Choice of cooking oils-myths and realities. J Indian Med Assoc 96(10):304.

Natural Health Fruit: Pinky Guava

Guava (from Arawak via Spanish guayaba), is a genus of about 100 species of tropical bushes and small plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, inhabitant to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and northern South America. In Urdu they are identified as amrood . The Bengali name peyara and the Tagalog name bayabas are almost certainly local renditions of guayaba.

This natural health fruits are refined in many tropical and subtropical nations for their ripe fruit. a Number of species are grown commercially; Apple Guava (P. guajava) and its cultivars are those most frequently traded globally. Adult trees of most species are literally cold-hardy and can endure as low as 5°C for short periods of time, but younger vegetations will not survive. They are recognized to survive in Northern Pakistan where they can get down to 5°C or lower throughout the night. Guavas are also of attention to home growers in moderate areas, being one of the very not many tropical fruits that can be grown to fruiting size in pots insides.

The guava fruit is suitable for eating, round to pear-shaped, from 3-10 cm in diameter (up to 12 cm in some selected cultivars). This natural health fruit has a thin slight rind, pale green to yellow at ripeness in some species, pink to red in others, a creamy white or orange-salmon flesh with many small hard seeds, and a strong, characteristic aroma that is hard to describe but normally suggestive of refreshing fruit like apples, passionfruit or strawberries, with an inoffensive sharpness and a delicate scent reminiscent of rose petals. Guavas are often considered "superfruits", being tremendously rich in vitamins A, B, and C. A single guava fruit holds more vitamin C than a typical citrus fruit; the rind alone contains over five times more vitamin C than an orange. It also contains high quantity of calcium – which is remarkable in a fruit.

Medicinal Uses For Natural Health

The roots, bark, leaves and young fruits, because of their astringency, are usually employed to halt gastroenteritis, diarrhea and dysentery, during the tropics. Compressed leaves are applied on wounds, ulcers and rheumatic places, and leaves are chewed to relieve toothache. The leaf decoction is taken as a therapy for coughs, throat and chest ailments, gargled to relieve oral ulcers and inflamed gums; and also taken as an emmenagogue and vermifuge, and treatment for leucorrhea. It has been efficient in halting queasiness and diarrhea in cholera patients. It is also applied on skin diseases. A decoction of the new shoots is taken as a febrifuge. The leaf infusion is prescribed in India in cerebral ailments, nephritis and cachexia. An extract is given in epilepsy and chorea and a tincture is rubbed on the spine of children in convulsions. A combined decoction of leaves and bark is given to expel the placenta after childbirth.

Source: www.wikipedia.org
Photo: www.tropicalfruitnursery.com

Great Natural Health Root: Carrot

The carrot (Daucus carota subsp. sativus) is a root vegetable, regularly orange or white, or red-white blend in color, with a crisp texture when fresh. The edible part of a carrot is a taproot. It is a cultivated form of the untamed carrot Daucus carota, native to Europe and southwestern Asia. It has been bred for its significantly inflamed and more edible, less woody-textured edible taproot, but is still the similar species.

It is a biennial plant which grows a rosette of leaves in the spring and summer, while building up the stout taproot, which stores huge amounts of sugars for the plant to flower in the second year. The flowering stem grows to about 1 m tall, with an umbel of white flowers.

Carrots are dietetic heroes, they store a success of nutrients. No other vegetable or fruit restrains as much carotene as carrots, which the body adapts to vitamin A. This is a really adaptable vegetable and an outstanding source of vitamins B and C as well as calcium pectate, an amazing pectin fibre that has been found to have cholesterol-lowering properties. The carrot is an herbaceous plant containing about 87% water, rich in mineral salts and vitamins (B,C,D,E).

Raw carrots are an tremendous source of vitamin A and potassium; they contain vitamin C, vitamin B6, thiamine, folic acid, and magnesium. Cooked carrots are an excellent source of vitamin A, a good source of potassium, and contain vitamin B6, copper, folic acid, and magnesium. The high level of beta-carotene is very essential and gives carrots their distinguishing orange colour. Carrots also hold, in smaller amounts, essential oils, carbohydrates and nitrogenous composites. They are well-known for their sweetening, antianaemic, healing, diuretic, remineralizing and tranquilizing properties.

Medicinal Uses

Just for your information, herbs (including carrots) do not heal, they feed. Herbs do not force the body to maintain and repair itself. They basically sustain the body in these natural functions.

Carrots are endorsed with many medicinal properties; they are said to purify the intestines and to be diuretic, remineralizing, antidiarrheal, an overall tonic and antianemic. Carrot is rich in alkaline elements which purify and rejuvenate the blood. They nourish the entire system and help in the preservation of acid-alkaline balance in the body. The carrot also has a reputation as a vegetable that helps to preserve good eyesight. Raw grated carrot can be applied as a reduce to burns for a soothing effect. Its highly revitalizing juice has a mainly beneficial effect on the liver. Consumed in unwarranted quantities, carrots can cause the skin to turn yellow; this phenomenon, which is called Carotenemia and caused by the carotene contained in carrots, is regularly seen in young children but is not at all dangerous.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.org, http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk
Photo: www.sustainweb.org

Natural Health Fruit: Kiwi

The kiwifruit is the cooked fruit of a cultivar group of the woody vine Actinidia deliciosa and hybrids between this and other species in the genus Actinidia. The fruit was developed in New Zealand. The Actinidia is inhabitant to southern China. The most common cultivars of kiwifruit are elliptical, about the size of a large hen's egg (5–8 cm / 2–3 in long and 4.5–5.5 cm / 1¾–2 in diameter). It has a gristly, dull green-brown skin and dazzling green or golden flesh with rows of small, black, edible seeds. The fruit has a pliable texture and a unique flavour.

In North America, South America, Europe, and East Asia most community refer to the fruit basically as "kiwi." Initially known as the Chinese Gooseberry, the natural health fruit was renamed for marketing reasons in the mid-20th century, first to melonette, and then to kiwifruit. The final name was selected for the aboriginal New Zealand bird, kiwi, which is one of the country's national symbols. The second renaming was done in order to evade a tariff on imported melons.

The familiar cultivar Actinidia deliciosa 'Hayward' was developed by Hayward Wright in Avondale, New Zealand about 1924. It was initially grown in domestic precincts, but commercial planting started in the 1940s. Italy is now the foremost producer of kiwifruit in the world, followed by New Zealand, Chile, France, Greece, Japan and the United States. Kiwifruit is still produced in its birthplace China, but China has never completed it to the top 10 list of kiwifruit producing countries. In China, this natural health fruit is grown mainly in the precipitous area upstream of the Yangtze River. It is also grown in other areas of China, including Sichuan.

New Zealand exported the fruit to the US in the 1950s. In the middle of the exporters was the prominent make company Turners and Growers, who were calling the berries melonettes, because the name Chinese gooseberry had political connotations due to the Cold War. An American importer, Norman Sondag of San Francisco, complained that melonettes was as bad as Chinese gooseberry because melons and berries were both subject to high import tariffs. In June 1959, during a convention of Turners and Growers management in Auckland, Jack Turner suggested the name kiwifruit which was adopted and later became the industry-wide name.

Fruit Values

Kiwifruit is a wealthy source of vitamin C, 1.5 times the DRI scale in the US. Its potassium content by weight is slightly less than that of a banana. It also restrains vitamins A and E. The skin is a high-quality source of flavonoid antioxidants. The kiwifruit seed oil contains on average 62% alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid. Kiwifruit is often reported to have mild laxative effects, possibly because of the high level of dietary fibre.

Raw kiwifruit is also rich in the protein-dissolving enzyme actinidin, (in the same family of thiol proteases as papain), which is commercially valuable as a meat tenderizer but can be an allergen for some individuals. Particularly, people allergic to latex, papayas or pineapples are likely to be allergic to kiwifruit also. Reactions include tingling and sore mouth; swelling of the lips, tongue and face; rash; vomiting and abdominal pain; and, in the most severe cases, breathing difficulties, wheezing and collapse. The most common symptoms were unlikable itching and soreness of the mouth, with the most common severe symptom being wheezing. Rigorous symptoms were most likely to occur in young children.

This enzyme makes raw kiwifruit inappropriate for use in desserts containing milk or any other dairy products which are not going to be served within hours, because it soon starts to digest milk proteins. This applies to gelatin-based desserts as well, as the actinidin will dissolve the collagen proteins in gelatin very quickly, either liquifying the dessert, or preventing it from solidifying. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture advises that cooking the fruit for a few minutes before adding it to the gelatin will overcome this effect. Pieces kiwifruit has long been repeatedly used as a garnish atop beated cream on one of New Zealand and Australia's favourite desserts, the pavlova.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.org
Photo: http://homecooking.about.com