Oral Sex Can Cause Head and Neck Cancers

There are more serious consequences of sexually transmitted diseases caught through oral sex than you can think of. It's not only the virus and the disease, but the virus can cause serious head and neck cancers.

The cases of head and neck cancer called oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) have risen sharply. These cases are caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), as reported in the British Medical Journal.

HPV can be prevented using 2 vaccines, i.e. Cervarix and Gardasil. These vaccines should be given to girls before they become sexually active. This HPV is the cause of cervical cancer, which is the second most common cancer in women.

A new study has found that the oropharyngeal carcinoma was linked to those people with history of 6 or more lifetime sexual partners, 4 or more lifetime oral sex partners. And for men, is due to earlier age at first sexual intercouse.

And because of the above reason, it is suggested that the vaccines should be given to boys too. However, all in all, abstinence before marriage and safe sex should be exercised carefully.

Fight Against Cancer With Broccoli

Good news for all of us who like to eat broccoli, well even those of you who do not like it, we all should start taking in more broccoli into our diet.

A study by Institute of Food Research in England has shown that broccoli can affect hundreds of genetic changes. To name a few: to strengthen genes that could fight against cancer, and to eliminate genes that could promote tumor.

Besides having isothiocyanate, broccoli also contain sulforaphane which yield extra immunity to fight against cancer.

Alcohol as a Cause of Cancer

It has been told that moderate consumption of red wine, on average 2 glass per day will be beneficial for our health. For other alcohol in general, the suggested consumption is 4 drinks a day for men, and 2 drinks a day for women. Apparently, this no longer hold true. Red wine consumption is particularly good for cardiac disease, however consumption of wine and alcohol in general would increase the risk of cancer.

A new report "Alcohol as a Cause of Cancer" is released today, 8 May 2008, showing alarming link between alcohol consumption and particular types of cancer.

An international audit of cancer and alcohol research was conducted by The Cancer Institute New South Wales. The study found that even as little as 2 glass of alcohol per day can significantly increase the risk of cancer. And thus, reducing alcohol consumption will lower risk of cancer.

The types of cancer associated with alcohol consumption include:
- bowel cancer,
- breast cancer,
- head and neck cancer,
- oesophageal or gullet cancer.

The average risk increase per average drink is around 10-20% for some of the above cancers.

I myself have received news in less than a week that 3 men I know of have been diagnosed with colon or prostate cancer. All 3 of them smoked and/or drink wine on regular basis.

Cancer, in fact, is a very common disease. On average, 1 in 2 men, and 1 in 3 women will most likely get cancer in their lifetime. The prevention strategies would include, but not limited to, eliminating the risk factors such as alcohol and tobacco. For more tips on cancer prevention, please refer to my previous post on cancer.

Low Tar Cigarettes Do Not Protect You From Cancer

A study was conducted to study the risk of dying from lung cancer due to smoking. It is confirmed that low tar cigarettes do not offer any protection against lung cancer.

The study involves nearly a million men and women aged 30 or over followed for six years, and found that smokers of low tar fags smoked more cigarettes per day. It is also found that medium, low and very low tar products had the same increased risk. The only cigarettes to stand out were high tar non-filtered.

People who quitted prior to age 35 were similar to never smokers, and people who smoked low tar cigarettes were more likely to quit after a longer period (it was within 10 years). Statistically, low tar cigarettes are even more toxic since the effect was over a shorter smoking career.

The theory is that smokers compensate for low tar by inhaling more deeply and consuming more cigarettes. It is suggested that deepn inhalation may lead to more serious cancer since it spreads carcinogens further into the lungs. The other reason is that tar is not such a good measure of the carcinogens in the smoke in the first place.

The bottomline is, still, smoking kills. Be it high, medium, or low tar cigarettes. So, ditch your packs of cigarettes now.

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For Reference
Title: British Medical Journal
Author: Harris JE at el.
URL: http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/
2004, vol 328, pp 72-76

Can Carrot Consumption Improve Eyesight

I believe most of us, since we were young, are stuffed with carrots and carrots and carrots. Especially us who need the help of specs, our mom will just stuff more carrots down our throats. And we will most likely continue this habit to our children. Well, probably you won't do it anymore after reading this.

A major Australian study called the Blue Mountains eye study, examined the link between increased vitamin A consumpiton and deteriorating night vision in older people. This study was conducted in late 1990s. The results was that the vitamin A intake didn't improve their eyesight.

This is also supported by Professor Algis Vingrys, from the University of Melbourne's Department of Optometry and Vision Services. According to him, if you already have a well balanced diet, no amount of carrots will improve your eyesight. The balanced diet should contain sufficient vitamin A, iron and other provitamins i.e. substances that our bodies can convert into vitamins.

There are two types of vitamin A: retinoids and carotenoids.

Retinoids are a lipid form of vitamin A found in liver, fish oils containing liver (e.g. cod-liver oil) and butter. However you should be careful in consuming these, as overdosing can lead to toxicity, or worse, promote some forms of cancer.

Carotenoids are provitamins your body converts into vitamin A. These can be found in carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and dark-green leafy vegetables all contain beta-carotene, a potent carotenoid. But if you already have enough vitamin A, your body will not convert these into vitamin A. This is why it is said earlier that no amounts of carrots will improve your eyesight.

So after all, the important thing is to have a balanced diet, and you do not have to worry nomore about consuming certain amount of carrots everyday.

New Research on Soy

I believe many of us living in Asian countries regularly consume soy, such as soy bean milk, particularly in Singapore. One can actually find at least one shop selling soy bean milk when walking down the roads in Singapore. There are in fact many shops selling soy bean milk in malls here in Singapore.

The high demand for soy bean milk was of course derived from our knowledge that soy bean milk is very beneficial for health, in the hope for cancer and heart disease free in the future.

But the actual fact is that, with heart health, it takes a lot of soy to reduce your bad cholesterol by just a tiny amount, although soy whole foods may be good because they replace unhealthy nutrients.

And with cancer, the large amounts of soy taken by Asian populations may reduce breast cancer risk by a little. But recent gene research suggests that your genetic profile affects your response to soy. Some genes may increase cancer risk with high doses of soy and some may reduce it.

So my suggestion is for you that do not live in Asian countries where it is quite hard to find natto, miso, tofu, soy bean milk, you might start lowering your efforts in searching and/or buying those foods, in consideration of the above research.

More Interesting Facts on Caffeine

I loveee drinking coffee. So you may find more and more information on coffee from time to time in my blog (^-^)

Caffeine can be found in tea, coffee beans, guarana berries and cocoa nuts. It stimulates our central nervous system. The effects of caffeine differ on each and every one of us. Caffeine in short term could cause contraction of muscles, which may lead to:

· Twitching
· Increase heart rate
· Blood flow to stomach slows down
· Contriction of blood vessels on our skin
· More sugar is released from liver into our bloodstream
· Breathing tubes open up

Coffee can cause harder to sleep for some people. For some of us, it can also cause us to experience deep sleep for shorter periods, and shorter dream periods. So when we wake up, we would feel less rested.

Caffeine reaches maximum concentration in the body after 1-½ hours. After 3 to 7 hours, the caffeine in our body is metabolized and then expelled from our body.

Caffeine is metabolised by the liver, and passes into the bloodstream, crossing the blood/brain barrier into the brain. There it binds with receptors including dopamine receptors (which is why it makes you feel good) and adenosine receptors. Adenosine when bonded to its receptors slows down nerve cells, causing drowsiness. Caffeine also binds to adenosine receptors but doesn't slow down nerve cells. Since there is less adenosine binding, the nerve cells speed up, leading to feelings of restlessness.

Excessive caffeine intake, which is more than 4 or 5 cups of strong tea or coffee per day, can cause tremors, a fast heart rate, increased urination, nervousness, anxiety, stomach upsets and insomnia. In rare cases, caffeine can cause death relevant to heart condition.

Caffeine has a greater affect on children and the elderly. It can cause unborn babies to experience restlessness and withdrawal symptoms at birth, and produce hyperactivity and anxiety in kids.

The rate at which caffeine is metabolised by the body depends on the health of the liver. Women in general have more enzymes in the liver and metabolise drugs like caffeine faster than men.

The same class of enzymes metabolise caffeine and the hormones of pregnancy. It takes longer to get rid of the caffeine when these hormones are elevated in the body, that is, if you're pregnant or on the oral contraceptive pill. Low to moderate consumption of caffeine (one to two cups per day) has no effect on pregnant women’s birth weight or risk of miscarriage.

For some of you who are trying to make baby (^-^), please note that, caffeine has been shown to reduce fertility by damaging sperm in men. On women, it affects whether or not the fertilised egg (embryo) successfully implants in the uterus. Caffeine is a stressor; it stimulates the heart and brain, however also stimulates the release of a hormone that negatively interacts with the hormones that control fertility. As little as one cup of strong coffee a day can affect the chances of successful conception.

And for breastfeeding mom, do note down that caffeine can enter breast milk and significant amounts can cause wakefulness and agitation to the baby. Again, one cup per day seems to be the recommended upper level of intake.

However, there are some benefits in caffeine consumption. Caffeine is an antioxidant. Antioxidants are thought to help prevent heart disease and some cancers. Furthermore, coffee also contains flavonoids, which are also antioxidants. I read somewhere before that coffee is as strong as 6x antioxidants.

Caffeine increases alertness and is thought to improve concentration. It has also been used to help premature babies experiencing difficulties breathing. Minute amounts of caffeine given intravenously once a day can stimulate a newborn baby's brain to tell the lungs to inflate.

All in all, we can still drink coffee, or may be green tea or chocolate, as long as in moderate amount. So it is enough to benefit our body, and yet still far to experience the negative effects.

Cancer

It was just yesterday, 19 Feb 2008, we heard mourning news that the favorite and famous Hong Kong TVB Legend, Lydia Shum who is more popular being called as "Fei Fei" (which means fatty). She was called so because of her tubby build. She passed away at the age of 60 in Hong Kong's Queen Mary Hospital, due to liver cancer.

We now become more realized of the 'existence' of cancer among us. That is why we have to do our best efforts necessary to prevent cancer.

Here are the things that you should do to prevent cancer:

1. Stay as lean as possible without becoming underweight
2. Be physically active for at least 30 minutes per day
3. Avoid sugary drinks. Minimize consumption of energy-dense foods, such as those processed food high in added sugar, or low in fiber, or high in fat
4. Eat more of variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes such as beans
5. Limit consumption of red meats, such as beef, pork, and lamb. Avoid processed meats
6. Limit alcohol consumption
7. Eat fresh foods instead of supplements
8. Cancer survivors should follow all recommendation and obey restrictions for relapsed cancer prevention