Heart visit

April 3, 2008 / / 3 Comments

I began having a bit of trouble with extrasystoles (a form of irregular heartbeat) during the very painful case of pleurisy I had in the late spring-early summer of 2006. Since then, I have experienced occasional heart flutterings and extrasystoles. I probably should have gone to see a cardiologist a long time ago, but time passes, you know how it is.

Well, I finally made an appointment and this morning went to the hospital of Camerata, nestled among the green hills directly behind my house on the way to Fiesole, for those who know Florence. That’s where I have my skeletal X-rays done, too.

The cardiologist I saw this morning has an excellent reputation, and I liked her very much. A very straightforward, pleasant woman who explained everything to me in simple (but not TOO simple, if you know what I mean) terms. Results of the visit: my blood pressure was perfect, my electrocardiogram was also perfect, and my heart appears to be strong and healthy.

My cholesterol is high, but that’s an inherited problem offset by my ton of "good" cholesterol, low triglycerides, and absolutely normal CRP. Physical activity is key (I already knew that). Nothing much to worry about.

Most of our conversation, though, ended up revolving around curcumin. Whenever I go in to see a new doctor, you see, I always bring it up. You never know. Well, my cardiologist seemed absolutely intrigued…not only by what I told her curcumin has done for me, but also about the experiments done on (sigh) lab mice with enlarged hearts (curcumin prevents heart disease, at least in lab mice!, as I wrote in a recent post). She told me she wants to do some research into the matter and jotted down my blog address.

Yes!

She told me to come back to see her in six months so she could tell me what she has found out about curcumin. So I am very pleased today, for many reasons. I just took this photo of Peekaboo sitting on my desk. She looks pleased, too.

Speaking of being pleased, I have added some new links to my Pages (on the right of your screen). One of them is a collection of funny or cute videos (under my "Laughter and Immunity" page), which are mostly cat-related right now (check out the cat cartoon…), but I would be glad to add some more, so if you watch a funny video, send me the link, please. Let’s not forget that laughter gives a boost to our NK cells!

Myeloma triggers

April 2, 2008 / / 6 Comments

Quite a few interesting studies in the April 1 issue of “Blood.” One of them (see abstract: http://tinyurl.com/2sshyj) examines the risk that white and black male U.S. vets with prior autoimmune, infectious, inflammatory and allergic disorders have of developing multiple myeloma or MGUS. The researchers looked at the computerized discharge records of more than four and a half MILLION vets (between 1969 and 1996). They found 4641 patients who were discharged with a diagnosis of myeloma, and 2046 with MGUS. They looked only at the above-mentioned type of patient (some patients, such as women, were excluded due to small percentages; furthermore, those who had cancer at admission or developed cancer or died within the fist year were not included). You can read some of the results in the abstract, so let me have a look at the full study, for which I am indebted as usual to Sherlock.

Benign, asymptomatic MGUS is thought to be the first pathogenetic step in the development of most, if not all MM; however, the specific trigger that initiates the progression from MGUS to MM is unknown.

Skipping the usual dire statistics, let’s go to a more interesting part: Several studies have investigated the hypothesis that repeated or chronic stimulation of the immune system may lead to MM. Some studies have observed elevated risks for categories of immune-stimulating medical conditions (eg, autoimmune conditions, infections, and allergies) or for specific immune-stimulating medical conditions (eg, rheumatoid arthritis and eczema); however, results have generally been inconsistent. This has been a recurrent topic on the myeloma patient lists: is it a good thing to take immune system stimulators (medicinal mushrooms, e.g.) when our immune systems are already over-stimulated? I confess I haven’t come up with a satisfactory answer yet (although I have a gut feeling about it

), and would be glad to read any and all opinions.

Study results: patients with previous autoimmune diseases had an elevated risk of developing myeloma. Statistically elevated risks were also observed for the following specific autoimmune diseases: polymyositis/dermatomyositis, systemicsclerosis, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, pernicious anemia, and ankylosing spondylitis. Where numbers allowed comparison, risks were generally similar for white and black men.

And read this: Risks were also significantly elevated for both races combined for prior infectious disorders, specifically pneumonia, hepatitis, meningitis, septicemia, herpes zoster, and poliomyelitis Risk of influenza was significantly elevated for white men, but not for both races combined. The flu, a possible trigger? Yep, the relative risk is 1.18.

As for inflammatory ailments and allergies, There was a statistically increased risk of 18% associated with inflammatory disorders, largely due to significantly elevated risks for osteoarthritis (the most commonly reported disorder in our dataset) glomerulonephritis, and nephrotic syndrome. There were no significant elevations in risk for allergies overall or for any specific allergies for both races combined. For the five patients with celiac disease, the relative risk was 2.07. That’s quite high, actually. Compare that to the 34 patients with psoriasis, whose relative risk was 0.86. Ailments of the respiratory system were also considered, from sinusitis (RR: 1.17) to pneumonia (RR: 1.54).

Asthma, which I have (guess what? I’m allergic to CATS, no kidding! In order have cats in my life, I must use a cortisone inhaler once a day and Ventolin whenever necessary, although matters have vastly improved since I began taking curcumin), is also mentioned (RR: 0.98). Heck, even having urticaria puts you somewhat at risk!

Interesting titbit in the Discussion part: There is also the possibility that treatment for certain conditions rather than the condition itself may increase susceptibility to MM. For example, we previously reported an increased risk of MM among Connecticut women following use of steroids. Hmmm, so the risk of developing myeloma is due in some cases more to the treatment (prednisone, as the study suggests) than the disease itself. How about that?

Another good one: Our observation of an association between MM/MGUS and specific prior bacterial or viral infections suggest that these infectious conditions may be a potential trigger for MM/MGUS development or a manifestation of underlying immune disturbances due to undetected MM or late-stage MGUS. Recurrent infections largely of bacterial origin (septicemia, meningitis, and pneumonia) are often part of the natural history of MM. This study and a previous Danish one found that patients with a history of pneumonia had a more elevated risk of developing MGUS, which suggests that pneumonia could be a precipitating event for the development of MGUS.

The biggest drawback of this study, apart from the focus on a certain population (don’t you just love this sentence: The exclusion of women might limit the generalizability of our results. Just “might,” huh?

), was the fact that the researchers didn’t have access to any medical records. Theirs was a computerized study, period. But I found it interesting, and besides, it gave me a break from another study that is driving me up the wall (I am spending heaps of time looking up the meaning of about a zillion acronyms and medical terms that I do not recognize; sigh, why can’t studies be written in plain English…or Italian?).

I would like to add that I am only moderately curious as to how I developed cancer. I have it, I am trying to DO something about it, and life goes on. Only time will tell if what I am doing will keep me stable. But sometimes I wonder: if I could figure out what triggered it…well, could that possibly help me fight the cancer now? (I have excluded a few possible triggers already, such as H. pylori.) Was it triggered by a general weakening of my immune system caused by allergies or by the case of Epstein Barr I had in grad school? Or were these “underlying causes” (see below)? I suppose one could really go berserk thinking about possible triggers blablabla. Therefore, I am just going to forget about the issue. I have better things to do.

Study conclusion (RA is rheumatoid arthritis, by the way): In summary, we found significantly elevated risks of MM/MGUS associated with broad categories of autoimmune, infectious, and inflammatory disorders, but not with allergic conditions or RA. We also observed significantly elevated risks for a number of specific autoimmune disorders. Some of these disorders may be a potential trigger for MM/MGUS development, while others may represent underlying conditions due to undetected MM or late-stage MGUS. These results highlight the need to explore the pathologic mechanisms underlying the association of these diseases with MM/MGUS and to consider the diagnosis of MM/MGUS in patients presenting with these conditions.

Good manufacturing practices

March 30, 2008 / / 6 Comments

I recently received a Google Alert (key word: “curcumin”) that pleased me very much. The link took me to the website of the NSF or National Sanitation Foundation, which, according to Wikipedia, is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization that develops standards and provides product certification and education in the field of public health and safety. Interesting website, actually, I will have to check it out more thoroughly when I have more time (more…TIME??? Belly laugh: hahahaha!

At any rate, a few months ago Sabinsa contacted NSF to pursue ingredient certification for a number of their raw materials, as you can read here: http://tinyurl.com/2fgfon

Among the raw materials to be certified was the curcumin that I and many others take: Curcumin C3 Complex.

The NSF ingredient certification process took approximately sixty days and included a formulation review, an audit of the Sabinsa manufacturing facility in Mysore, India and ingredient component testing to verify conformance to NSF American National Standard 173-Dietary Supplements. Sabinsa Corporation was pleased with the outcome as all six ingredients were certified. This excellent news is almost hot off the press, perhaps a couple of weeks old.

Oh, and by the way, I came across a curious little fact on the NSF Wikipedia page, which I found confirmed elsewhere, too: the chairman of the NSF Board of Directors happens to be (!) the vice-president for GlaxoSmithKline’s (big pharma!) Worldwide Regulatory Affairs…hmmm, hardly someone who would be thrilled to have curcumin or any other natural product certified, no? So this makes this bit of news, in my view, rather remarkable. Good for Sabinsa!

(Disclaimer: by the way, I am in no way involved with Sabinsa Corporation, financially or otherwise. I am just someone who takes C3 Complex, either in powder or capsule form. In fact, I would like to take this opportunity to state that I have now and again received free supplement offers, which I have always courteously and firmly turned down…not because I am a millionnaire, hah!, but because I want to test substances "with no strings attached." If I cannot afford a supplement, I simply won’t take it. End of story.)

Best friends

March 28, 2008 / / 6 Comments

This morning a blog reader sent me the link to an amazing video, a lovely tale of animal friendship, which should put a smile on your face: http://tinyurl.com/3d8q4t

Speaking of best friends. Being close in age, my two youngest cats, Priscilla

(two years old) and Peekaboo (ten months old), spend a lot of time together, mostly playing and chasing each other all over the house (it’s a real circus here, sometimes!

), but they also do one of the cutest and most amusing things I have ever seen. Today I caught it on camera. I should really learn to take videos with my digital camera (ok, that’s my next project), since photos can tell only so much.

First, some background. About a year ago, Puzzola (my eldest) developed a urinary tract problem, so she has been on a special diet since last summer. Being a believer in prevention, I have put the other adult cats on the same diet, too. They really like the food, so it hasn’t been a problem.

That is, until Peekaboo joined the family. She’s a healthy bouncy kitten and is not supposed to be on a diet, of course.

We thought of separating the cats at mealtimes. But they all eat in the kitchen/dining room area, which is an open space. No doors to shut. That idea didn’t work. So, what to do?

Well, in the beginning I would give Peekaboo some kitten food and would stand guard to make sure the other cats wouldn’t bother her. But then I realized that she could defend herself…even from Piccolo. He can shove the other two females away from their dishes, but not this feisty little one. Very baffling for my big strong boy.

At any rate, now I give Peekaboo a mixture of the diet food and kitten food (or just kitten food), and let the cats figure things out for themselves.

But the story continues. It turns out that Priscilla loves kitten food. Who can blame her? But she soon realized that they couldn’t eat from the same dish because both their heads wouldn’t fit over it. As simple as that. So she devised a method for stealing bits of food from Peekaboo’s dish (I should note that my cats have their own dishes, but sometimes Priscilla ignores her food and walks over to check out what the kitten is eating, even if I give them the exact same thing. By now, she is firmly convinced that I give Peekaboo the tastiest morsels).

Priscilla’s simple but smart solution: she dips her paw into the dish while Peekaboo is eating and fishes out some food for herself. This cat has brains.

Eh, but the most amusing part is that Peekaboo has learned to do the same thing. She thinks it’s really cool to use her paws to eat. So they take turns at the dish, as you can see in these photos. Ahhh, I do love these cats! Can you tell?

Broccoli for immunity

March 26, 2008 / / 5 Comments

I have been very busy (in a good sense!) these last couple of days, and today is no exception, which means I don’t have time to do any research or answer any e-mails, sooooorry!

I did, however, want to post the link to a recent Science Daily article (http://tinyurl.com/29ohml) on broccoli, which contains a fantastic chemical (about which I have already written, see my Page on broccoli) called sulforaphane. Sulforaphane “switches on a set of antioxidant genes and enzymes in specific immune cells, which then combat the injurious effects of molecules known as free radicals that can damage cells and lead to disease.” This means that by eating broccoli we may be able to slow down what one of the UCLA researchers called “the age-related decline in immune function.”

Read this: “In particular, the scientists discovered that dendritic cells, which introduce infectious agents and foreign substances to the immune system, were particularly effective in restoring immune function in aged animals when treated with sulforaphane.” Indeed, when sulforaphane was administered to old mice, their immune systems became as efficient as those of young mice. Well, well.

Hmmm, it just so happens that I will be making (and freezing for future use) a bit of broccoli pesto today. And here is my easy-peasy recipe:

Wash and cut some broccoli florets, as many as you want, into half or quarters, depending on size. Let them sit for 5 minutes or so before cooking so that the cancer-preventive compounds have time to form (see: http://tinyurl.com/9tjdw). Steam them for no more than 5 minutes. Overcooked broccoli has about the same nutritional content of cardboard, so watch out.
Crush or mince some fresh garlic, again as much as you want, but don’t go overboard!, and, as you did for the broccoli, set it aside for 5-10 minutes (see why here: http://tinyurl.com/2yzh9g). If you don’t care for the strong taste of fresh garlic, prepare the fresh garlic as above and slightly steam it with the broccoli. A solution for any problem…!
Blend the broccoli and garlic…in a blender together with a bit of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper (omit the latter if you are on eight grams of curcumin WITH bioperine, which is a black pepper extract, so we don’t want to consume too much extra pepper on a daily basis). If the mixture is too stiff, just add some water from the pot where you steamed the broccoli (aha!).
If you want, you can add a bit of hot red pepper for the capsaicin (a myeloma-cell-killer in vitro!). I may also try adding a dash of turmeric today. Hmmm.

That’s it for now. I have to get back to work! Take care, everyone!