I’ve been having some trouble posting TAB’s update on the blog. I mean, I just can’t figure out how to include his lovely figures and graphs inside a post, let alone upload his pdf file or parts of it (which would be the best thing, since it looks great, and it’s easy to understand). Very frustrating…

Sigh. I feel so hopelessly inadequate when it comes to technical stuff like this…I’m stubborn, so I try to work out things on my own. Sometimes I do, but this time I didn’t. Oh well…

Anyway, I’m in the process of figuring it all out with the help of a few computer experts, so I’ve decided not to do a “copy and paste” (text only) for now. 

In the meantime, I’d like to apologize to everyone, especially to TAB. But, on the bright side, it’s only a matter of time…My techies are very busy these days, but they’ll get around to helping me…eventually! 

(Pinga and her reflection are sorry for the delay, too, as you can see from their contrite expressions… 😉 )

P.S. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MOM AND DAD!

(Note: my parents have been married for 58 years!)

What I read earlier today took precedence over everything else. I mean…HUGE SHOCKER! Or so it seemed, at first…

A blog reader sent me the link to a VERY interesting article written by myeloma specialist Dr. Brian Durie titled: “Can Cookies Cause Myeloma?” (published ON my birthday, too!!! Argh!!!). I urge everyone to read it. It provides heaps of food for thought: http://goo.gl/Nfznb

But…cookies? Surely…NOT COOKIES!!!

I was absolutely stunned. I mean, okay, I’ve known for years about acrylamide, a well-known carcinogen that gets released whenever we fry, roast, bake or even grill starchy foods at high temperatures…In fact, I began researching and writing about this noxious chemical in 2008 (for more info and links, have a look at my March 20 and March 30 2008 posts…). 

I’ve also known that there are a few things we can do to inhibit the formation of acrylamide…For example, we can add chopped-up rosemary to our fried, baked (etc.) starchy foods. I even add rosemary to my pizza dough. Anyway, if you would like more info on rosemary and acrylamide, here’s the direct link to my March 20 2008 post: http://margaret.healthblogs.org/2008/03/20/what-me-worried-hah/ 

And Dr. Durie provides us with a helpful link to a “how to limit acrylamide” article: http://goo.gl/vZGs3

However, this is the FIRST TIME I’d read about a possible DIRECT link between the acrylamide released by cookies (etc.) and myeloma. So, after devouring Dr. Durie’s article, I went to the source–the Netherlands study itself: http://goo.gl/YpEY1

Well, phew, the news isn’t THAT bad, is it? Or rather, let me rephrase that: the news seems to be fine for women, much less so for men. The authors in fact found that acrylamide may increase the risk of multiple myeloma and follicular lymphoma in men. No association found for women. (I need a cookie to recover from the shock, now… 😉 )

Here is a possibly important quote from the Dutch study: Acrylamide intake was estimated from a food frequency questionnaire combined with acrylamide data for Dutch foods. Okay. Dutch foods. Not Italian. Can I sigh with relief? Probably not… 

And in fact Dr. Durie asks: Can what we eat or drink cause cancer? Excellent question. I think the answer is a resounding YES. And those of us who already have cancer should avoid eating foods that we know are chock-full of noxious chemicals. Oh, and beverages, too…sodas, etc. Without going crazy, of course. I mean, stress is bad for myeloma, too! Eh. 

I’d like to end today’s post by thanking Dr. Durie (whom I met a few years ago here in Florence at a MM patient/doctor conference) and saying that I’m really REALLY REALLY happy that our myeloma specialists are beginning to pay attention to the importance of DIET…A huge step forward in the right direction. 

Just my opinion, as usual…

Today was my last day of work. I’m now officially on holiday until the beginning of September. 🙂 Well, okay, it’s not going to be a proper holiday. I mean, we aren’t going anywhere. We’re staying in Florence, and in fact Stefano is going to keep working so that he will be able to take time off later on in the year. Therefore, in order to keep busy AND give us a little extra income, which is always welcome, I’ve accepted a big translating job…No rest for the weary! 😉

But c’mon, to be super honest, August is a terrrrrrrible time to go on holiday, at least over here. It’s the period when most Italians go on holiday, which means it’s unbelievably expensive to go anywhere/do anything. And everything’s overcrowded. Besides, with at least half of the driving population gone from Florence, it’s actually quite nice to be here right now. There’s very little traffic (BONUS!), and you can park anywhere… 

The only BIG problem is the horrendous heat. Eh. According to weather reports, we aren’t going to have a respite from the current, awful heat wave until the middle of August. Uffa. Oh, and next week we’re going to be hit with what’s been called the “African Dragon.” Even worse! Yikes! Oh well, I always try to see the positive in every situation: the heat gives us the purrfect excuse to cool down with some gelato (and we happen to live very close to one of the best ice cream places in Florence…)! 😉

Okay, enough…let’s get to the FUNNY part of the post! A friend sent me this joke, which I enjoyed very much…Besides, what better way to celebrate the beginning of my, er, “not-really-a-holiday holiday” than with a joke? Oh wait, one more thing: TAB sent me his update. I’ll read it tomorrow and publish at least the first part (it might be too long for just one post). Sooo, stay tuned! And stay cool! 🙂

Tom’s scrotum…

The best story of the year doesn’t give the proper praise and credit for this painful but understandable story as told by a loving wife…

The pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express praise for answered prayers.  Suzie Smith stood and walked to the podium.  She said, “I have a praise.  Two months ago, my husband, Tom, had a terrible bicycle wreck, and his scrotum was completely crushed.  The pain was excruciating, and the doctors didn’t know if they could help him.” You could hear a muffled gasp from the men in the congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Tom must have experienced. 

“Tom was unable to hold me or the children,” she went on, “and every move caused him terrible pain. We prayed as the doctors performed a delicate operation, and it turned out they were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Tom’s scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it in place.”

Again, the men in the congregation cringed and squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Tom.

“Now,” she announced in a quivering voice, “Tom is out of the hospital and the doctors say that with time, his scrotum should recover completely.”

All the men sighed with unified relief.  The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had something to say.

 A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium. He said, “I’m Tom Smith.”

The entire congregation held its breath.

“I just want to tell my wife the word is sternum.”

Yesterday I went with Stefano to the allergist who had given us quite a scare on my birthday (July 18), telling us that Stefano was at risk of developing something really nasty and chronic because of his nasal polyps and related breathing problems—asthma etc. (I didn’t know that high levels of eosinophils can wreak so much havoc in organs and tissues…  😯 )

Anyway, the allergist immediately sent Stefano for all kinds of blood and urine tests. When the results arrived last week, I had a look at them, and yes, Stefano’s eosinophils were quite high.

But the GOOD NEWS is that the treatment (basically, a cortisone bomb!) has worked. Stefano is breathing normally again and has no asthma; he’ll repeat all his tests in about a week just to make sure, but things are looking good. In fact, in answer to my question yesterday, the allergist told us that Stefano may NOT need surgery to remove the polyps, which has become my main goal in life right now…avoiding surgery, that is, if at all possible. But we won’t know that until he’s over the acute phase…

In the meantime, so far, so good. Stefano can smell again, after months of having a “cemented” nose, poor sweetie. In fact, he told me that the other day, as he was washing his hands, he got a whiff of something that smelled simply awful…then he realized it was his bar of SOAP. 🙂 Even the slightest, sweetest scent can be overpowering to a nose that hasn’t smelled a thing for months!

But that’s not what I wanted to tell you today (!), which is actually this story: yesterday, after meeting with the allergist, we went to pay for the visit. Two secretaries were sitting behind a large desk in front of which there was an air conditioning unit that was on almost full blast, which is soooo unusual for Italy (see my July 9^th post) that I smiled blissfully and remarked: “Ohhh, this is lovely! I could just stand here all day…mmmmh!”

The guy who was helping us (let’s call him “Gianni”), looked up from his computer, smiled back at me and said: “Do you know that you are the FIRST person to say that since the beginning of summer? If people say anything at all, it’s only to complain about how cold it is in here…They always ask us: ‘how can you stand it? how can you stand it?’ But we think it’s fabulous…”

I commented: “But it isn’t even THAT cold. It’s just wonderfully cool …”

Gianni said: “Ah, you have no idea, signora. I assure you that we really do get all sorts of comments…I mean, people even get ANGRY at us that the AC is turned on…”

“Angry? Well, that’s incredibly silly!!!,” I exclaimed. 

Right on cue, another family unit walked into the room. Two of them, clearly the parents, stood to one side, just out of reach of the AC unit. The daughter, a woman in her 30s, came over to stand next to me. But, feeling the cool breeze, she turned around, glared at the AC unit and declared, in a rather unpleasant tone of voice, “Gee whiz, this AC is freeeeeeezing! Why do you keep it so high?” She moved away from me, muttering, “I have to be careful not to stand in a draft…”

Gianni looked up at me, winked and whispered, “See what I mean?” 

Stefano and I got up early on Saturday morning and decided it was cool enough to drive across town to visit our favorite bird reserve, the Parco della Piana.

To be quite honest, we didn’t think we’d see anything worth photographing, since it’s really late in the birding season now, but we were wrong. 

We came across and managed to take a whole bunch of photos of a Little Grebe family…Four fluffy adorable babies and their constantly diving (for food) parents. Delightful!

We arrived just in time. After about 15 minutes, the babies and their parents swam off slowly to the other side of the lake, and the young ones soon disappeared from sight. Back to the nest for a rest, I guess…

A photographer entered the hut soon thereafter and, after peering outside for a few seconds, sighed: “There isn’t anything to photograph here.”

I said nothing (it wouldn’t have been nice of me to gloat!). 🙂

It’s all a question of luck…of being in the right place at the right time…

Yesterday evening, after dinner, I went to a friend’s house to play cards. Nothing unusual in that, since our get-togethers happen quite frequently, especially during the winter months.

But yesterday evening was different.

At 10 o’clock (Italian time), the 2012 London Olympics began. The opening ceremony.

An amazing show…unbelievably elaborate…can’t imagine how much it would have cost…

But, for the most part, my friends and I didn’t stop playing. We watched TV when it wasn’t our turn…and simply listened to what was happening when it was…

We did stop playing here and there. For example, when “James Bond” (Daniel Craig) went to Buckingham Palace to escort the Queen to a helicopter from which they both parachuted into the opening ceremony (well, that’s what it was meant to look like…The Queen didn’t actually jump out of the helicopter…). See here (my previous link stopped working–video removed by user–try this one): http://goo.gl/quzDf. That was fun.

We also stopped playing when the Italian athletes appeared on the scene…very smart-looking in their Giorgio Armani suits. Hey, looking good, Italy! Valentina…Federica…FORZA!!!

And then…

“What’s that???” one of my friends gasped. 

It was a close call, let me tell ya. I mean, the four of us ALMOST DIED LAUGHING. No, really. We did. This is what we saw, in a flash…

An Italian athlete held up a hand-printed sign (see photo) that read:

“Mamma, sono qui.”

That means: 

“Mom, I’m here.” 

🙂

The promising nano-studies seem to be piling up these days. After the nanocurcumin/doxorubicin study (see my July 16 post), here’s another one, this time from the University of North Texas: http://goo.gl/PbsHd

As we can read in the abstract, these researchers combined curcumin and bortezomib (= Velcade), which are known to have synergistic effect in inhibition of growth of cancer, in a nano-formulation designed to go after the cancer cells located in the bone microenvironment.

Surprisingly, these two substances didn’t have any synergy against the bone destruction (= osteoclastogenesis) caused by the cancer cells. However, curcumin by itself had significant inhibition of osteclastogenic activity. Aha! Here is more proof that curcumin protects our bones…

Okay, let me take a quick look at the full study (not available for free online). There is a clear explanation of how cancer cells cause bone destruction. I’ll see if I can summarize it. What happens first is that cancer cells release cytokines such as RANKL and IL-6. This gets the osteoclasts all excited, so they start releasing other cytokines AND calcium (incidentally, that’s why we have to monitor our serum calcium and make sure it isn’t high; calcium = the “C” in CRAB), which help the cancer cells grow…

As the authors point out, it’s a vicious cycle: the cancer cells and the osteoclast cells keep partying and feeding one another inside our bone marrow. Another bad consequence is that this process eventually leads to drug resistance…

So, how can we put an end to all these problems—drug resistance, poor quality of life of the patients due to the side effects from the chemo drugs, cancer cell growth, bone destruction and so on? The authors suggest nano-intervention. Well, okay, they don’t call it nano-intervention. I did. 😉

Now, something that concerns me a bit about this study is the use of Alendronate, or Aln. To be honest, since I’ve never taken a bisphosphonate in my life, I didn’t know what this thing was until I looked it up: it’s Fosamax. I know what THAT is. Years ago, my Mom took Fosamax for several months (I forget how long) for her advanced osteoporosis. She quit taking it because the side effects were really getting to her. And even though, as I mentioned, that happened years ago, she still has trouble swallowing and almost chokes on her food, practically with every meal. It’s hard for us to watch her cough and choke and not be able to do anything to help. Well, perhaps Aln doesn’t have the same toxic effects if it’s NOT taken as an ORAL drug…(?). No idea. 

Anyway, let’s go on. According to the authors, Aln has already been used, apparently successfully, to target the bone marrow microenvironment. In this study, it attaches itself to a nano-bubble that delivers a lovely dose of curcumin and bortezomib to the cancer cells inside the bone marrow. The obvious advantage of using Aln is that all this substance wants to do in life is hook up with a piece of bone. Therefore, once it is released into the bloodstream, it dashes off in search of a bone buddy. 

The authors make the point that using this sort of nano-formulation might enable doctors to reduce the dose AND dosing frequency of chemo. That would be great, of course.

As you know, I hate any in vivo talk and am very much opposed to using animals in labs *…But the study talks about mice, and I just can’t ignore that part. So here goes.

Four groups of mice were injected with breast cancer cells: the control group, the nanoformulation with Aln group, the nanoformulation without Aln group and the plain, “free” bortezomib + curcumin group.

Results.  The Aln-coated group was the most successful one (not as far as the dead mice are concerned, of course!). The curcumin/bortezomib nano-mixture reached the mice’s bone marrow cells quickly and stayed there longer compared to the other groups…

As for tumor growth, the regular curcumin/bortezomib group did better than the control group, but the two nano-groups showed SIGNIFICANT decreases in tumor growth. 

Okay, let’s see if I can recap the study quickly:

1. The authors stuck curcumin and bortezomib inside a sort of nano-bubble covered with bone-loving Aln.
2. Because of the Aln, the bubble traveled at top speed towards the bone microenvironment, where it remained for quite some time, giving the drugs plenty of time to act.
3. The curcumin/bortezomib mixture got released slowly and stopped the breast cancer cells from growing.
4. It also significantly decreased tumor progression.
5. In addition, curcumin alone inhibited bone destruction. All by itself.
6. Smaller doses of chemo can apparently now be used to achieve the same effect, thus reducing toxic side effects and so on.
7. That’s it, in a nutshell. Promising, don’t you think?

* By the way, on my birthday (July 18), see photo, the Italian authorities SHUT DOWN Green Hill, the appalling beagle puppy mill located in the town of Montichiari in Northern Italy. Finally. Starting tomorrow, the first of the 2500 (or so) Green Hill beagles are going to be handed over to carefully selected foster families with whom they will remain until the investigation against Green Hill has been completed. Of course, I hope that this awful place will be shut down for good and that all the dogs will remain with their new families. The poor dears have already been through so much. But right now, instead of talking about the 100 corpses found in the freezer at Green Hill and about all the other horrible stories that are beginning to come out in the Italian media, I’d rather focus on the positive news. Tomorrow, as I mentioned, the first beagles are going to leave their prison. A very happy day not just for the beagles but also for all the animal activists who have fought tirelessly for years to shut down Green Hill and give these dogs a better life…or rather, give them a life, period!

P.S. I’d like to get back to the nano-study for a moment. Here I read FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER that curcumin is a “chemotherapeutic agent.” Chemopreventive, yes, but chemotherapeutic? I was actually quite stunned, and had to rub my eyes for a second and re-focus before re-reading those words again. Yep. Curcumin is now officially a chemo agent! A non-toxic one, to boot! Right on!

In the past few days, in my snippets of free time, I’ve been working on a post about a new, interesting (how could it be otherwise? 😉 ) study. But I don’t want to give anything away…please be patient. I hope to finish it tomorrow, but it could take a couple more days…

Speaking of waiting, this is for those who are STILL waiting for me to send them a copy of TAB’s report. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get around to doing this. Er, and well, to be honest, I still haven’t gotten around to doing…anything! The other day, you see, just as I was getting ready to fulfill all the TAB report requests, I came up with the absolutely brilliant idea of asking TAB if I could post his report on my blog so that it would be ALWAYS available to anyone who wished to have a look at it. He agreed that that would be a good idea and is currently updating his report. As soon as he sends it to me, I will publish it and turn it into a Page. By the way, he says he’s fine. Not that I had any doubts about that! 🙂 

Since I posted a photo of my original sunflower (see my July 15 post), it has had a few “babies.” See if you can spot the bee (on the left)…Sunflowers are definitely my favorites…

Just a couple of photos from my very successful birthday party, the first of at least two…The second party will be bigger, with more friends, and will probably take place in September, after everyone gets back from the summer holidays.

The first photo shows a watermelon that DB (blog reader, now friend) carved into the shape of a basket. Isn’t it wonderful?

She filled it with a lovely, colorful, wacky but tasty salad made with watermelon, avocado, tomatoes, cucumbers, mint and other herbs. I forget what else was in it…Anyway, very creative. 

The secondo photo shows part of our after-dinner entertainment. (With five crazy kitties, there’s always something going on in our house… 🙂 ) When Stefano began dangling a yellow ribbon in front of Peekaboo, she went absolutely nuts, jumping all over the place and finally climbing up the back of one of our dining room chairs like a monkey…

A very funny moment…

(On the left you can see Stefano’s hand holding the chair so that it wouldn’t topple over with Peekaboo on it. 🙂 ) 

My birthday so far (possible updates later on in the day, if warranted):

• woke up early as usual
• fed the cats
• had a cappuccino and my vitamin D
• got on the computer

Then I heard Stefano yell as though he’d just spotted a ferocious banana spider, “Nooooooooooooooo!” (followed by a couple of words that I cannot possibly repeat on my blog).

I rushed into our bedroom to find him frantically pulling up the sheets. I asked, “what happened???” He replied, “Pinga just puked on the bed.” Of course, IT had soaked through to the mattress.  So I need to update my list: 

• cleaned cat puke (first prezzie of the day) off our summer bed cover
• did two loads of laundry (sheets, mattress cover, bed cover)

So far, so good! 😉

Here you will find a Cat’s Guide to hocking up hairballs: http://goo.gl/A19fW Hehe.