tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post5799582193345720525..comments2023-05-24T23:33:57.516+10:00Comments on My Unwelcome Stranger: Two new brain tumour papersDenis Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-85083252471326076062012-12-02T10:48:18.119+11:002012-12-02T10:48:18.119+11:00Thank you Denis. When I read the last point, at f...Thank you Denis. When I read the last point, at first I thought you meant we should find out what the Beatles meant by "Number 9". Do you remember that cut on the White Album in which the phrase "Number 9, Number 9" is repeated throughout the cacophony and then the cut ends abruptly with silence?<br /><br />What the Beatles meant and what you meant are strangely synchronistic. For "Number 9" represented a meditation mantra which the meditator keeps bringing in to the constant stream of meaningless and unconnected thoughts arising in the mind. The silence at the end is the transcendence of thought into pure consciousness.<br /><br />How clever of you, Denis :).<br /><br />To your very helpful list I now can suggest people add the recent publication by Christopher Hitchens, MORTALITY, in which he describes his experience of illness and decline. Carl read it right through yesterday (it's very short), and he read excerpts out to me which echoed many of the things you have said in this blog, Denis. It was like listening to something you had written.<br /><br />We recommend this book to all on this blog, sufferers, friends, and carers.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-88793882345980690452012-11-30T08:31:16.097+11:002012-11-30T08:31:16.097+11:00Well, that's weird. Or maybe not so much becau...<i>Well, that's weird. Or maybe not so much because I'm a bit confused at the moment. I thought I had posted my response. This is what I have had sitting there in draft form:</i> <br /><br />That all makes sense. I wasn't questioning <i>New Scientist</i>'s science, but as I'm coming to the part of my life where all the traffic's jamming up in the direction I'm going, many of my observations are starting to be based on being selfish rather than how humanity can benefit. In case I don't manage to get to writing that piece, here are my general and possibly useless platitudes to a person in my position:<br /><br />1. Get lucky and have a partner/carer who loves you even though you're getting increasingly useless and troublesome. Love and be kind to them back. Imagine it from their side.<br />2. [Associated with 1.] Identify and avoid stressful situations as far as possible. What's below may help to do that.<br />3. Understand as fully as you can the condition you are dealing with. [That's where those NS articles and others do come in handy.]<br />4. Be aware that factors you didn't think of may influence your condition.<br />5. Know you have to make decisions based on limited evidence, and don't think of those decisions in terms of 'right' and 'wrong'. Don't waste time on regrets and saying 'I wish I had/hadn't done....' [because you didn't/did, and nothing can change the past.]<br />6. Go <i>with</i> it as much as possible and don't beat your head on a brick wall. Know when to 'yield'. Learn from your 'mistakes'. It may well turn out they weren't, even though you may never discover that.<br />7. Assume everyone round you has good intentions, even if they offer bad advice /help. They don't understand your situation even though they think they might. Be gracious. I know no-one whose intentions were/are bad.<br />8. Each day you wake, say 'I'm still alive'. Enjoy, if possible, what that day has to offer.<br />9. Learn what meditation or yoga really mean. That way you can be the best possible Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, non-theist, atheist, agnostic or Jedi knight.<br />10. Find out what I mean by No 9. Your fears will be fewer.<br />Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-34100302803276061452012-11-27T08:12:11.961+11:002012-11-27T08:12:11.961+11:00Joan: in the fog of 00:30 last night I misread wha...Joan: in the fog of 00:30 last night I misread what you asked about diet and thought you were talking more generally. I composed something now irrelevant to your question but will keep it for another posting. But I do want to say something about diet. It may not be what people expect. I'll get back to it after my weetbix!Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-61733719034811798272012-11-25T10:51:37.414+11:002012-11-25T10:51:37.414+11:00The NewScientist, by definition, wouldn't publ...The NewScientist, by definition, wouldn't publish anything that isn't backed up by scientific evidence. It's not the Fortean Times :). Articles on cancer appear frequently, and as you would expect, most of them concern cutting edge research and trials which are not available to cancer patients in Australia yet. Because the magazine is just that, a magazine, and not a journal, one would have to follow up any article for more indepth research papers, for and against.<br /><br />The protein suggestion arose from long term research into diets of healthy people, some of whom developed cancer. The findings suggest that people on low protein diets, in particular vegans, have the lowest incidence of cancer. Although vegans have to eat a certain amount of complete protein in order to stay healthy, they get it from plant proteins, such as soy, mushrooms, avocados, nuts, seeds, and combined pulses and grain dishes. The percentage of protein in their diets is about half of that of the average meat eater.<br /><br />Also, the evidence that eating fish reduces heart disease might also be down to the reduction of red meat rather than anything in the fish, which turns the Omega 3 argument and the burgeoning fish oil capusule industry on its head.<br /><br />I like the NewScientist for this reason -- it not only profiles current research leading to future medical treatments, but also provides useful information that puts some control into the hands of the average person, i.e what we put into our mouths with those hands.<br /><br />I suspect, Denis, that one of contributing factors to your being here, still blogging, is your diet. I ask again that you write a piece for the rest of us on what you have done on your own to supplement the medical treatment you've received.<br /><br />If changing our diet to include more blueberries and less red meat means that one of us does not get the GBM4 that fate had planned, we need to know the details and start now.<br /><br />I think the fasting phenomenon has to do with addiction. We're addicted to eating a certain amount of food at specific times of the day. It takes only one day of tormented fasting to break that addiction. The body stops hollering for food on the subsequent days of the fast. A bit like a child's tantrum. When you don't get the sweeties, you stop the futile screaming.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-63722177193822182572012-11-24T13:00:04.061+11:002012-11-24T13:00:04.061+11:00I agree about the one-day thing. Someone says your...I agree about the one-day thing. Someone says your stomach shrinks in that period [maybe there's just a reduction in gastric juices, but 'shrinkage' is more dramatic!] and if so, its expectations are lowered – but whatever the reason, no doubt at all that it's much better after that 1st day if you're on a diet.<br /><br />As to the protein/tumour relationship, I've never seen it expressed in any direct form like that, but of course it would need to be backed up by evidence. Yes, I'm on a diet that isn't too high on protein, but it's also been suggested that if the kidneys are, to use a medical friend's terminology, "leaking" protein, to lower intake too much could cause a protein deficiency, with its attendant effects.<br /><br />I need a drawing of a see-saw board resting on a hemispherical fulcrum, and dropping all these variables on one side of the board or the other to create an image of how tricky it gets!<br />Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-44918349518594356902012-11-24T10:51:33.465+11:002012-11-24T10:51:33.465+11:00Hence the caution to consult your oncologist. In a...Hence the caution to consult your oncologist. In another part of the article, which is worth reading anyway, a researcher suggests that it might be the lower intake of protein rather than the fasting that has the positive effect on reducing tumour activity.<br /><br />I suspect that you're basically on a kind of fasting diet anyway, Denis.<br /><br />Re the problem with fasting. It's only the first day that the craving for food is a torment. If one can get up the determination to do a longer fast, after the first day, the craving for food disappears, and one can only marvel at other people, who seem to be eating all the time.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-7242689265920408522012-11-22T12:56:54.165+11:002012-11-22T12:56:54.165+11:00Again, specifically for me, it's a problem of ...Again, specifically for me, it's a problem of variables. Those studies, if transferred from Mice to Men [hah!] are performed on animals which, presumably, are young, aren't on Avastin, Clexane, and with kidneys falling apart.<br /><br />It's long been known that regular fasting for healthy people promotes longevity – look at the number of elderly POWs starved on the Burma railroad who are still alive, e.g., – and for people in certain brain tumour categories, this may be of benefit if there aren't too many other variables. <br /><br />In mine, to do something that promotes health in one area – say, tumour inhibition – is exactly the opposite for the kidneys. [Don't worry, we've long researched the hell out of this, and Tracey has her own kidney donation to know what's good for kidneys and what's bad.] <br /><br />Chocolate? According to some sources on eating when kidneys are already damaged, chocs are <i>out!</i> And though I kid myself a bit, dark choc does contain sugar, which brain tumours adore.<br /><br />Aye, there's the rub.<br /><br />As well, it is required for me to take pills four times a day, every day, with food. That blows fasting out of the water, even though by evening meal I've usually had nothing but a weetbix and a salad lunch. We keep evening meals to a minimal size avoiding <i>verboten</i> items for the most part. The 4th food with drugs for the day is usually with a slice of fruit.<br /><br />You are so right about decisions to fast. The moment you decide to, you can think of nothing but food! Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-19074447528574660812012-11-22T11:39:31.413+11:002012-11-22T11:39:31.413+11:00Lovely, but instant seizures! [Replying to Joan...Lovely, but instant seizures! [Replying to Joan's now....]Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-449423263590639482012-11-22T11:37:19.531+11:002012-11-22T11:37:19.531+11:00Been done. Standard response about competing claim...Been done. Standard response about competing claims, taking advice of the relevant authorities, etc.<br /><br />Brain tumours are now very common, and one of the fastest growing diseases in the young as well as the old. <a href="http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-help/type/brain-tumour/treatment/statistics-and-outlook-for-brain-tumours" rel="nofollow">The stats are all there</a>, but no research stats are ever up to date.<br /><br />My one case is a drop in the ocean, however detailed it's documented. <i>Too</i> documented in the sense or material probably deemed irrelevant for most research. All I know for certain – and this is my mantra [in the pre-800BCE sense of 'mantra']: <b>EVERY CASE IS DIFFERENT!</b> <br /><br />The variables are mind-boggling. The best research is that which ignores most of the current stats and tackles it head-on – antineoplasticity research e.g.<br /><br />Oh, and to get the benefits of it here in Australia till it's gone through all the hoops, hang on for 5-10 years. Even then, you <i>may</i> benefit, <i>if</i> you can afford it….<br />Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-91152692626187593772012-11-21T20:16:14.329+11:002012-11-21T20:16:14.329+11:00Red wine?
Julie :)Red wine?<br /><br />Julie :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-63792210391157522922012-11-21T12:03:32.909+11:002012-11-21T12:03:32.909+11:00Article in the recent New Scientist (17 Nov 12, p4...Article in the recent New Scientist (17 Nov 12, p47-49) "Deprive Yourself".<br /><br />The article is about fasting, and in one section, its benefits against cancer are discussed as follows: "Mice with gliomas - a very aggresstive cancer and the most commonly diagnosed brain tumour in people - were more than twice as likely to survive the 28-day study if they underwent a 48-hour fast at the same time as radiation therapy than those without the fast (PloS One, vol.7, p e44603).<br /><br />Clinical trials assessing the impact of fasting in people with cancer are ongoing. Early results are promising, says Longo, and patients in the advanced stages of cancer, who cannot wait for the results, might find it worth discussing fasting with their oncologist."<br /><br />In this article, "fasting" is not necessarily going without food. In can include days in which one eats only one small meal at midday, consisting of around 1/4 of a normal day's calories. <br /><br />Many moons ago I took up fasting one day per week, but I thought it meant no food, only water. Maybe honey and lemon in hot water. It was agony. I always developed a fasting headache and felt terrible for the whole day. I also craved food all day. So that didn't last very long. Had I known that one small meal could still be called fasting, I might have lasted longer than a year.<br /><br />Perhaps Denis, you could eat nothing but blueberries for a day, or some other of your favourite anti-cancer foods. Chocolate?<br /><br />Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-46452843949250499052012-11-20T22:10:25.404+11:002012-11-20T22:10:25.404+11:00I imagine you have already considered explaining y...I imagine you have already considered explaining your experience to the relevant govt minister...who may not find their way to the blog. How common are these dreadful tumours?<br /><br />Julie Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com