April 29, 2018

INSIDE INSIGHT

Feelings

… are bio-chemical reactions stimulated by our primordial desire for survival.

… are not good or bad; they just are what they are.

… are not facts, but result from our perception and translation of the “facts”.

… are messy and not efficient.

… are the source of energy for:
fight, leading to anger and resentment
flight, leading to fear
freeze/camouflage/hide, leading to dishonesty and secrets

… are constructive or destructive

… are signals that:
tell us what is healthy or unhealthy in our external environment;
sustain us or create suffering;
provide comfort or discomfort;
nourish us or kill us;
meet our needs or warn of a source of danger.

… are conditional [learned] habits of responding
negative
positive

… are lenses that magnify, clarify or distort perceived reality.

… are dulled or eliminated by trauma and/or addiction [anesthetized/frozen].

… are able to thaw out through recovery.

… are messages that need translation for meaning to enable appropriate action.

… are never controlled but do require management.

… are signposts that reveal what we perceive, allowing us to determine what we want or don’t want; what we need or don’t need; what fosters our equilibrium or creates chaos.

April 29, 2018

NUTRITION

Mediterranean vs. Vegetarian Diet

A lacto-ovo vegetarian diet (VD) and the Mediterranean diet (MD) were equally effective in reducing body weight, body mass index (BMI), and fat mass, according to a study published in Circulation. The vegetarian diet, however, was more effective in reducing low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels, while the MD significantly reduced triglyceride levels.

April 29, 2018

INSIDE INSIGHT

1. I am not the center of life
2. I am the center of my life
3. Don’t take life personally
4. Do take reality as it is
5. I am responsible for my
1. Perceptions
2. Emotions
3. Behaviors
6. I am not responsible for your
1. Perceptions
2. Emotions
3. Behaviors
7. When I don’t change my actions, my life stays the same, no matter what I think or feel
8. When I do change my actions, my thinking and feeling change – then my entire life changes
9. This present moment will pass
10. This present moment is the only time I can actually live
11. I am really going to die
12. I need to ask: Am I really going to live
13. There is no one coming to save me
14. I am the one I am waiting for

April 29, 2018

NUTRITION

Supplements

Fish Oil Dietary Supplements

A recent meta-analysis of 10 large clinical trials came to a disappointing conclusion: The popular capsules do little to protect patients with heart disease. The findings are at odds with advice from the American Heart Association (AHA), including a 2017 science advisory recommendation to consider fish oil supplementation for patients with a recent myocardial infarction, or heart attack.

Fish oil supplements did not reduce the risk of coronary heart disease deaths, nonfatal heart attacks, fatal or nonfatal strokes, revascularization procedures, or all-cause mortality among the full study population. The supplements also didn’t protect against major vascular events in any subgroups, including people with a history of heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, or statin use.

April 29, 2018

NUTRITION

Mediterranean Diet

A systematic review of the literature on studies examining associations between adherence to a Mediterranean diet and frailty in older people showed adherence to a Mediterranean diet is associated with significantly lower risk of incident frailty in older people.

April 29, 2018

NUTRITION

Chocolate

Several studies suggest that dark chocolate from favanol-rich cacao beans may enhance blood flow to central and peripheral nervous systems

Benefits

1. Improve cardiovascular function
2. Retard memory loss and other signs and symptoms of degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases
3. Cacao flavanols in dark chocolate have antioxidant effects that retard and partially reverse degenerative changes in various diseases
4. Dark chocolate consumption also has been associated with enhanced mood and cognition
5. Short-term improvement in contrast sensitivity was observed after consumption of dark chocolate and attributed to increased blood flow, although direct evidence is lacking
6. Moreover, the effect of dark chocolate on other visual functions remains unknown. A randomized, clinical study to assess effects of dark chocolate vs milk chocolate within 2 hours of consumption on multiple aspects of vision enhancements in visual acuity and large-letter contrast sensitivity after dark chocolate ingestion were small. The findings reported suggest that a single dose of dark chocolate improves visibility of small, low-contrast targets within 2 hours compared with milk chocolate, but the duration of this difference and clinical relevance remains uncertain.

January 2, 2018

Summary

Menopause occurs at about age 51
Most chronic conditions, like heart disease, dementia, stroke, fractures, and breast cancer, increase with age; can it be attributed to menopause alone? not known  

Treatment with Combined Estrogen and Progestin 

1. has no benefit for the primary prevention of chronic conditions
2. has a moderate benefit in reducing the risk of fractures and a small benefit in reducing the risk of diabetes and colorectal cancer
3. is associated with moderate harms, including increased risk of invasive breast cancer and venous thromboembolism, and a small to moderate harm of increased risk of coronary heart disease, increased risk of stroke, dementia, gallbladder disease, and urinary incontinence.

Treatment with Estrogen

1. Estrogen Alone is restricted to women who have had a hysterectomy, because estrogen taken alone increases the risk of endometrial cancer in women with a uterus. 
2. use of estrogen alone has a moderate benefit in reducing the incidence of fractures in postmenopausal women
3. use of estrogen alone has a small benefit in reducing the risk of diabetes and breast cancer 
4. estrogen use does not have a beneficial effect on risk of coronary heart disease.
5. estrogen alone has no benefit for the primary prevention of chronic conditions 
6. estrogen alone is associated with increased risk of stroke, dementia, gallbladder disease, urinary incontinence, and venous thromboembolism.

Breast Cancer

The reason for difference in use of estrogen alone compared with combined estrogen and progestin on the risk of invasive breast cancer is unclear. Combined estrogen and progestin is associated with a small increase in the risk of breast cancer, while estrogen alone appears to slightly reduce this risk. Estrogen stimulates breast cell proliferation, but some studies have shown that estrogen can induce breast cell death if administered under conditions of estrogen deprivation, and that progestin can stimulate breast cell proliferation and formation of new blood vessels. 

Traditionally, estrogen has been viewed as having protective effects on the heart because heart disease in premenopausal women is lower than in men of the same age. Estrogen decreases levels of low-density cholesterol, increases levels of high-density cholesterol, and has a vasodilator effect. Clinical trials show no benefit, or even harm, of hormone therapy on the risk of heart disease in postmenopausal women. The underlying causes of this lack of benefit are uncertain.

Breast Cancer Prevention

The use of medications such as tamoxifen and raloxifene in women at increased risk of breast cancer who do not have contraindications and are at low risk of adverse medication effects is a strategy to reduce risk of breast cancer.

Prevention other

The USPSTF recommends daily use of low-dose aspirin to decrease the risk of colorectal cancer and cardiovascular disease in appropriate candidates.

December 29, 2017

IN THE MEDICAL NEWS

1. Aromatase Inhibitor Side Effects: About half of women who take aromatase inhibitors report joint pain and stiffness that affects knees, hips, hands and wrists. The pain can be so severe that it makes it difficult for women to walk, sit, climb stairs, type or drive a vehicle. Researchers even have a name for the condition: aromatase inhibitor–associated musculoskeletal syndrome, or AIMSS. NIH funded reasearch “suggests that acupuncture may reduce drug-related joint pain”
2. Hormonal Contraceptives: a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that “women who use hormonal” contraceptives “for more than a year are at a 20 percent higher risk for breast cancer,” though “...a “study of 1.8 million women in Denmark” who were followed for “nearly 11 years.” as risk-free.” The researchers also found that “the breast cancer risk seemed to increase with the duration of hormonal contraceptive use.
3. Obesity and Breast Cancer Risk: New research suggests that in addition to being at higher risk of developing breast cancer, overweight women are more likely to have larger tumors at the time of diagnosis. The results could mean that such women should have mammograms more frequently than typically recommended. 
4. Dogs: research suggests “having a dog could” be linked to “a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.”
5. High Blood Pressure: the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology and nine other groups redefined high blood pressure as a reading of 130 over 80, down from 140 over 90

December 29, 2017

IN THE MEDICAL NEWS 

(summary of studies published in journals read by doctors in the US)

1. Calcium and vitaminD supplements don't help reduce bone fractures
2. People who ate an average of more than two tomatoes or more than three portions of fresh fruit a day, especially apples, had a slower decline in lung function than those who ate less than one tomato or less than one portion of fruit a day.
3. Older people who ate at least one serving of leafy greens a day had a slower rate of decline on tests of memory and thinking skills than did people who rarely or never ate these vegetables,” researchers concluded. The study revealed that “after almost five years, regular consumers of such veggies as kale, spinach, collard greens and lettuce enjoyed a mental edge that was the equivalent of 11 years in age.
4. People with cardiovascular disease who were not married – including those who were divorced, separated, widowed or never married – had 24 percent higher rates of death from any cause during the study period, compared to those who were married
5. Participants who consumed hot tea daily were less likely to have glaucoma than those who did not consume hot tea. No significant associations were found between the consumption of coffee, iced tea, decaffeinated tea and soft drinks, and glaucoma risk.

Intro

Welcome to our blog!

The purpose of this site is to lovingly share medical news and knowledge, spiritual and physical wellness. Please share your survival story and experience. What helps you? What did you discover? All helpful tips are welcome. They will help others!

In solidarity,
Breast Cancer Patient MD