Recent researches targeting prostate cancer have associated the prostate cancer development with the presence of a newly identified virus called XMRAV. According to study conclusion the XMRV was identified as an infectious agent in humans and closely related to a virus that causes leukemia in mice.

The findings are based of screening prostate tumor samples from 85 men with prostatectomy with a DNA ViroChip containing the genetic sequences of about 5,000 human viruses. The researches confirmed the possibility that a viral infection might lead to prostate cancer developing in men.

XMRV could be transmitted trough sexual activity. Then it is possible that XMRV to cause an infection able to lead to chronic inflammation of the prostate. In a way similar human papillomavirus (HPV) can trigger cervical cancer, this chronic inflammation caused by XMRV could result in prostate cancer.

This could be the first time an evidence is produced that a virus is related to prostate cancer development.

The research team conclusion suggests that more research is needed to confirm their findings. The good news seems to be the fact that if prostate cancer is caused by a virus such as XMRV, then its action can be cancelled using special targeted drugs or vaccine. The use of condom could be also a way to prevent XMRV sexual transmission.

Valerian D is a freelance writer interested in health issues affecting men such as prostate cancer

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For many people being told that they have cancer is one of the most stressful times in their lives. Just as we think we have everything under control, something comes along that can shatter even the strongest of wills.

Out of the blue, in September 2002, Sara faced one of the biggest challenges of her life - her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Having nursed her mother through her illness, Sara took the step of having a mammogram just to make sure she herself was clear. All over Christmas she tried to put it to the back of her mind, but she couldn’t help worrying.

On New Year’s Eve 2002, she was horrified to learn that not only did she have breast cancer, but that it was a particularly aggressive form. Of course, Sara was very angry at first. She thought, Why me? It would have been better if I hadn’t gone for a mammogram. She was also very scared. She said, When someone says, You have cancer, you immediately think you’re going to die. I have to wait six weeks before my surgery and I have no idea how I will stay sane until then. What on earth am I going to do?

After a few very bleak days, Sara decided she was determined not to give in too easily. Her mother had, after all, fought the disease, so she, too, could do the same. When she was calm enough to answer her question What on earth am I going to do? several answers came to her, as she was walking her dog.

Find out as much as possible about breast cancer.

Talk to other people who have faced similar situations.

Be realistic about what she could change and what she needed to accept.

When Sara opened her eyes and started to believe that she had choices, she was amazed at the different ideas that popped into her head. She discovered practical ways to prepare her body and mind prior to her mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. She was able to make a number of choices in her life, including exercise, changing her diet and learning how to chill out with meditation.

By the time Sara went into hospital in February, her frame of mind had shifted from a very negative one to that of how she could take control of her life. She said, I can’t stop the cancer running through my body but I can change how I deal with it. It’s taking over my body but it doesn’t have to take over my mind. I can control how I deal with it.

Sara is certain that her excessive workload, poor nutrition and lack of exercise had taken a toll on her body and were contributing factors to her state of health. She sees her illness as a new chapter in her life rather than the end of it. As well as conventional medicine, Sara has also discovered the power of laughter. It is impossible to laugh and feel stressed at the same time. I think laughing brings about release.

If you are feeling stressed you might not feel like laughing. But laughter really is the best medicine. As Sara pointed out, it is difficult to laugh and feel anxious at the same time! Try it! How do you feel when you have a really good laugh? As soon as you start to laugh, the power of the stress is lessened.

I have recently been very involved in setting up a charity, Clowns in the Sky, which supports children suffering from brain tumours. Children with tumours spend many weeks in hospital undergoing painful treatment and we have found that bringing some fun into their lives makes a huge difference to their well-being. If they can laugh, so can you!

My favourite films are The Full Monty, Bridget Jones and Hitch. Why? Because they make me laugh!

This Christmas we tried out a really funny game. Try saying purple sprouting broccoli with your lips over your teeth; it is almost impossible to do. You will laugh with frustration that no one can understand you and others will laugh at you because you look and sound so silly. Don’t worry, everyone including you will be laughing!

Is everything perfect for Sara? Of course not. Her initial surgery was successful although she was diagnosed with breast cancer again a few months ago. The fear that the cancer might return again has always been the hardest thing for her to deal with and it is something she thinks about every day. But she feels much more in control of certain aspects of her life. She is trying to focus on what she can change, just a day at a time. She still finds the visits to hospital very stressful, but she doesn’t allow herself to dwell on negative aspects of her illness for too long as she has found it very counterproductive.

Sara didn’t have any choice about having breast cancer. She did have choices, however, about how she chose to deal with life each day.

You may not be able to influence and overcome every stressful situation, but you can take charge over how you respond.

If you are facing a major change and finding life very stressful, what changes can you make to how you view the situation today?

If you want to manage stress in your life, you need to begin with yourself.

None of us are able to predict the future, but we can make the present better if we choose to.

What makes you laugh? Do you have a favourite video, a story, a joke or a friend who helps you to lighten up?

Focus on what you can change and you will start to feel more in control of your life.

About The Author:

Carolyn Matheson is Author of Yes to Less Stress

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Taking every opportunity to distribute my marketing material for my new book, I stopped by a childrens clothing store one Sunday afternoon. Upon leaving the parking lot, my six year old son caught a glimpse of those ribbons with two lines. In my half-engaged attention, I acknowledged his observation that there were more than three on this one particular car. From his persistence to gain my feedback, I began to focus on our conversation. I informed him that I was not exactly clear of what he meant by the description of this two-lined ribbon. You knowthe red onethe boob problemand the. Ground zero! I realized that he was speaking of the Awareness Ribbons that so emphatically adorn various vehicles these days. I started to chuckle at his innocence in remembering my recent 15-minute explanation of breast cancer as the boob problem. After we enjoyed the moment, I struck a more serious note to remember that the disease is far from funny and can leave heartache and devastation in its vicious path. In fact, according to Dr. Susan Love, breast cancer affects 110 women every day.

My first encounter as a Personal Trainer with a recovering breast cancer client came quite a few years ago and meeting her was quite an experience. If you have ever met a breast cancer victor you will notice that their eyes reflect a beautiful understanding of life. My encounter with my client came while I worked at a swim and racquet club. Even the way she approached me was filled with grace. Wanting to strengthen her body after the illness, she inquired about a weight training routine. She had a beaming, yet subtle smile with each simple question that she asked of me. To look at her would never disclose of her recent pain. Her hair was a typical short style of a middle-aged woman and her legs still presented the years of tennis that kept her fit. I was honored to take the position as her trainer and we worked together on a program toward rebuilding her body for not only the purpose of strength and endurance, but to attain a touch of inner peace as well.

Recovery from breast cancer is not so different a program than simply exercising to avoid such a catastrophic event in a womans life. If you have followed fitness for any amount of time, visited your doctor or taken a class in school, the informative path to righteous living is well paved with getting the blood flowing and the heart pounding. In turn, you increase your chances of avoiding disease (heart-related, cancer, diabetes). Likewise, if you have successfully battled the disease and yearn for a method of attack against it recurring or simply want to lessen the unpleasant after affects, the all-knowing finger will be pointing in the same directionthe local gym. Even as early as the 1980s, research was proving that aerobic exercise improved fatigue levels and nausea in post cancer patients. Fast forward to present and the benefits have multiplied over the years. Subsequent studies indicate that weight training, aerobic exercise, and fitness emphasizing mind and body (i.e., yoga) all have a substantial impact of up to 25-50% improvement on pain, fatigue, overall optimism, the general fitness level of the individual and how much a person can improve their quality of daily life, complete with energy-draining tasks.

It is clear that exercise plays a tremendous role in helping breast cancer survivors feel better. So what are the details of program design? First and foremost, you want to stay clear of stress on the surgical or stitched area. Next, and just as important, begin with the usual 10-15 minute warm-up, no matter if you are doing weight training sets, a cardio routine or a number of yoga poses. It is after this warm-up that variety begins. For resistance/weight training exercises, you will want to start the initial phase of your program with a lowered weight volume but with up to double the repetitions. Elastic tubing and bands are also a good start for the first phase. Though you may not be directly working the muscle tissue in your surgical area, many muscles work together in stabilizing another muscles contraction. The lesser weight will insure that your wound is not overexerted to soon. The standard 2-3 sets are appropriate with 15-20 repetitions.

Another area of exercise is that of cardiovascular training. Cardio machines such as the treadmill or elliptical machines are acceptable and can be used for 3-4 days per week. In your initial phase of a recovery fitness routine, you may want to follow an interval program where you begin the session with a higher-intensity minute followed by a low-intensity minute totaling up to thirty minutes. As your condition improves, you can reduce your low intensity minute to 30 seconds and eventually eliminate it all together.

Finally, mind and body exercises such as yoga go a step further in fitness. Not only are you strengthening your body, you are also tapping into inner peace with each slow and controlled breath. Ideal for achieving relaxation, this type of training can be utilized for as little as 5-15 minute a day and still present positive results.

While breast cancer awareness has reached far heights as that of former president, Bill Clinton, who signed the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000, it does not stop the fact that the disease continues to take more and more lives. While a cure is currently elusive, preventative measures are not. Engaging in a fitness program that includes healthy eating, routine exercise and positive mental development is a safe bet of increasing longevity.

About The Author
Sherri L Dodd is the creator and author of Mom Looks Great - The Fitness Program for Moms. She is an ACE-certified Personal Trainer, Lifestyle & Weight Management Consultant and Kickboxing Instructor with over fifteen years of exercise experience. She has lectured to groups on her fitness plan and is a freelance writer on the topics of fitness and general nutrition as well as the humorous side of motherhood. momlooksgreat.com

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Everyone should know that when testosterone is metabolized, it produces DHT as one of the by-products, which is what allows your muscles and erections to grow. That is a good thing! However, DHT that doesn’t get burned up during sex or working out is also what is at the root of your prostate problems to begin with.

The fact of the matter is that DHT is always being produced, and a lot of us simply cannot burn it off fast enough–no matter how much we work out in the gym or how much sex we have.

In the case of prostate problems, one camp blames a lack of testosterone while the other camp blames too much of it. I have even heard of a doctor suggesting castration as a means of preventing the spread of prostate cancer because he believed it was the only way to prevent testosterone from acting as fuel for the cancer.

Talk about a case of throwing away both the baby and the bathwater!

I’m sure that we’ve all heard at some point or another the notion that more sex is the solution to prostate problems, citing as evidence the high incidence of prostate cancer in celibate priests. Let’s think about this for a moment: If more sex was really the solution, how come a certain rock-star died from prostate cancer? Also, if prostate cancer is the number one cancer killer of males, were all these murdered males celibate? Not likely…

While plain common sense would indicate that utter sexual abstinence may be harmful over the course of a lifetime, prostate cancer remains the number one cancer-killer of males DESPITE the fact that very few males are either rock stars or priests!

So, prostate cancer has little to do with sexual activity or the testosterone that fuels it. Rather, it is an issue of how we handle the excessive DHT in our bodies. With today’s meat and hormone-filled diets it should be no wonder that our current report card is so poor.

This is why pro-hormone supplementation is replete with warnings that people with prostate problems should not be taking their products. (Bodybuilders love excess DHT which they can direct into their muscle tissue.)

Benign prostatic hyperplasia, often referred to as simply BPH, is an enlargement of the prostate gland that usually occurs in men who are over the age of 50. This enlargement in the prostate gland can cause a gradual squeezing of the urethra, which makes urinating difficult and painful. Many men who experience this prostate problem do not have any symptoms at all and it may not be detected until an annual rectal exam. Men with this prostate problem who do experience symptoms are likely to notice difficulty in starting urination, frequent urination as well as an increased frequency in awakening at night to urinate.

Prostate cancer, another prostate problem, is perhaps the most severe and is one of the leading types of cancers diagnosed in American men. Each year almost a quarter of a million new cases are diagnosed. It is estimated that prostate cancer will affect one out of every ten men. Each year more than 30,000 men die from prostate cancer. Because of the seriousness of this prostate problem, prostate cancer is perhaps the most serious of all the different types of prostate disease. Prostate cancer generally occurs in men who are over the age of 65, although cases in younger men have been reported. There is a high incidence of prostate cancer occurring in men who are shown to have a family history of this type of prostate disease. African-American men are considered to be particularly at risk for prostate cancer and suffer from the highest death rates related to this disease.

Plato Rosinke is a practicing Taoist herbalist since 1991 who specializes in the male reproductive system. If you’ve got prostate problems, then we’ve got solutions that work. Even if you’re wearing a catheter that thing will be out in no time flat. Cutting-edge Chinese herbal formulation available at:

http://www.prostatesecrets.com

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Rats given varying doses of aspartame — the second most widely used artificial sweetener in the world — experienced a statistically significant increase in the incidence of malignant tumors, lymphomas and leukemias in a study slated for publication in Environmental Health Perspectives.

The study’s authors are calling for an urgent re-evaluation of the current guidelines for consumption of this compound.

Our study has shown that aspartame is a multipotential carcinogenic compound whose carcinogenic effects are also evident at a daily dose of 20 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) of body weight, the authors write, notably less than the current acceptable daily intake for humans. Currently, the acceptable daily intake for humans is set at 50 mg/kg in the United States and 40 mg/kg in Europe.

More Than 200 Million People

Aspartame is found in more than 6,000 products, including carbonated and powdered soft drinks, hot chocolate, chewing gum, candy, desserts, yogurt and tabletop sweeteners, as well as some pharmaceutical products like vitamins and sugar-free cough drops.

More than 200 million people worldwide consume the sweetener. It has been used for more than 30 years, having first been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1974.

Earlier research on the carcinogenicity of aspartame performed by its producers has been negative.

In the latest study, investigators administered aspartame to rats by adding it to a standard diet. They began studying the rats at eight weeks of age and continued until the spontaneous death of each rat. This study followed more animals over a longer period than did earlier research.

Treatment groups received feed that contained concentrations of aspartame at dosages simulating human daily intakes of 5,000, 2,500, 500, 100, 20 and 4 mg/kg body weight. Groups consisted of 100 males and 100 females at each of the three highest dosages, and 150 males and 150 females at all lower dosages, as well as controls.

The experiment ended after the death of the last animal at 159 weeks. At spontaneous death, each animal underwent examination for microscopic changes in all organs and tissues, a process different from the aspartame studies conducted 30 years ago and one that was designed to allow aspartame to fully express any carcinogenic potential.

Extensive Evidence of Malignancies

The treated animals showed extensive evidence of malignant cancers, including lymphomas, leukemias and tumors at multiple organ sites in both males and females.

The increase in lymphomas and leukemias may be related to one of the metabolites in aspartame — namely methanol — which is metabolized in both rats and humans to formaldehyde, the authors speculate. Both methanol and formaldehyde have shown links to lymphomas and leukemias in other long-term experiments.

In our opinion, previous studies did not comply with today’s basic requirements for testing the carcinogenic potential of a physical or chemical agent, in particular concerning the number of rodents for each experimental group (40-86, compared to 100-150 in the current study) and the termination of previous studies at only 110 weeks of age of the animals, the authors conclude.

Copyright 2005 Daily News Central

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