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IN THIS ISSUE

This month, Better Health News talks about modern medical miracles.

First, the war on prostate cancer could be about to swing in our favor. A new 'wonder-drug' might just be the key to handling this often lethal disease better.

Then, how long could you survive without breathing? If you're not David Blaine or some other specially trained expert, not too long. But thanks to modern medicine, emergency situations when breathing isn't an option may not be a one-way ticket to damage or death any longer.

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Last Month
   
US ‘Junk Food Money’ Could Buy NFL Team
How Some Taxes Can Make You Healthier
This Month
   
Prostate Cancer Medical Breakthrough
How to Stay Alive Without Breathing

Prostate Cancer Medical Breakthrough

   

Hope.

Anyone who struggles with cancer knows what a pleasing word hope can be, especially for those living with advanced stages of the disease.

Now, men living with prostate cancer—and the people who love them—have a new hope in this all-too-common medical battle. A trial to test an advanced prostate cancer drug recently proved so effective that researchers stopped the study. They had enough information, and they wanted to extend the treatment to all participating patients.

 

The Story of Renewed Hope for Prostate Cancer Sufferers

The medical trial, like most medical trials, involved two groups.

One group received the drug Zytiga, also called abiraterone, along with a standard steroid therapy. The second group received steroid therapy with a placebo.

Researchers discovered that the combined Zytiga therapy significantly slowed down the cancer’s progress, doubling the time it took for it to spread. The drug also delayed the need for patients to start chemotherapy.

Miraculously, patients also reported less pain and higher quality of life while taking the medication.

So far, the drug has been approved by the FDA for men with chemotherapy-resistant prostate cancer. However, it’s hoped that this study will extend the drug’s use to cancer patients who have not yet undergone chemotherapy.

 

How Zytiga Fights Back

Zytiga works differently than conventional prostate cancer therapies. Prostate cancer feeds off of testosterone, so testosterone-blocking therapy is a common treatment. But as the condition advances, cancer cells start to make their own testosterone. They no longer have to rely on the body's stores, making the hormone-blocking therapy much less effective.

Zytiga works by preventing cancer cells from producing the testosterone they need to grow. It's like taking the kitchen out of the house. And with the hormone-blocking therapy, cancer cells can't "order out" either.

One of the current standard treatments for advanced stage prostate cancer is chemotherapy.

If you’ve ever been through chemo, or know someone who has, then you understand that while it can be effective, it carries its own harsh side effects. More infections and debilitating fatigue can happen.

If approved for more widespread use, Zytiga will give patients an oral therapy option to replace or prolong the need for chemo. Which is great since it does away with all kinds of unpleasant treatment side effects.

Experts also believe that FDA approval will prompt more health insurance providers to cover the drug’s cost.

 

Will You Need This Medical Breakthrough?

Eighty percent of men who reach 80 years old will have had prostate cancer. It's the second most common cancer in men. Nearly 250,000 cases will be diagnosed in 2012.

Sure, it’s highly treatable when caught early. But it still kills about 30,000 of our fathers, sons, brothers and friends each year.

Medical breakthroughs, like Zytiga, may be the hope many struggling families need. Share this information with people you know or love who are dealing with this type of cancer.

If you are a man who hasn’t been screened for prostate cancer yet, talk to your primary care physician. He or she will help you decide when and what type of prostate cancer screening is appropriate.

Don’t wait. Start the conversation with your doctor now.

 

How to Stay Alive Without Breathing

   

It’s a horror story millions experience every year. A loved one or a close friend has breathing problems and chest pain.

It's time for a frantic 911 call. Without breathing, there's not much time.

The ambulance crew arrives. On the way to the hospital, things go from bad to worse.

Breathing stops.

For 12 minutes. Well beyond the usual 3 minute limit.

But, your loved one lives. There's no brain damage or other effects of oxygen deprivation. And there's no tube feeding air to the lungs. In fact, the lungs don't move for the entire 12 minutes.

While this might sound like science fiction, scientists today are pushing the boundaries when it comes to living without breathing.

A team led by researchers at Harvard Medical School has used high-intensity sound waves to produce microparticles that hold tiny pockets of oxygen.

They're too small to be seen with the naked eye, but they pack a powerful punch. The microparticles are part of a foamy solution that's injected directly into the bloodstream. This gives oxygen to cells when the lungs aren't working.

 

Why is this Medical Breakthrough So Exciting?

Without oxygen, the body dies. Pretty simple, really.

In situations when the body endures an oxygen-deprived environment, the deprivation can cause a range of serious complications. Profound brain injury and organ damage is common.

Medical pros have been searching for ways to restore oxygen to injured patients for at least a hundred years. In the past, some have even experimented with oxygen enemas.

Treatments perhaps more familiar to modern patients include blood substitutes and breathing masks. But, blood substitutes take a lot of time to set up. Breathing masks need functioning lungs and an airway.

But this medical breakthrough could change the rules.

Once injected, the oxygen microparticles mix with the body’s own red blood cells. This gets oxygen in without using the lungs at all. The transfer takes place quickly, often complete by the time the red blood cells reach the lungs.

In a research study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the solution kept unbreathing rabbits alive for up to 15 minutes. However, researchers are hopeful that after the technique is honed, it could extend a life up to an additional 30 minutes.

The microparticle solution is also relatively easy to make and inexpensive. This could make it an ideal short-term oxygen solution for first responders and other health professionals.

 

Could This Save Your Life One Day?

That’s exactly what experts are hoping, if the need arises.

The treatment is so quick that researchers believe it will be a good fit for emergencies where there's just no time to help any other way.

Not only could this be a potential lifesaver for people suffering a heart attack or obstructed breathing, the microparticle technology may also one day save the lives of newborns who experience oxygen deprivation during labor. It could also be a huge boon for asthmatics.

This oxygen-infusion liquid offers promise as a remarkably simple solution to a long-standing challenge. Someday a medical professional may be able to inject you with a microparticle liquid, saving your life and preventing the life-altering complications of oxygen deprivation.

Isn’t it exciting when science fiction starts turning into science fact?

 
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