India soon to have a new method
for treating cancer
A new method for treating cancer,
using light to destroy cancerous tissue and currently available in China, will
be introduced soon in India, the technology developers said on Thursday. The
NextGeneration Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is a safe and minimally invasive
therapeutic modality to treat early and advanced cancer, which ensures that
there is no toxicity and normal tissues are not destroyed. According to NGPDT
Global, one can be treated as an outpatient with little or no side effects and
at a much lower cost compared to other existing forms of treatment. NGPDT
Global director Scott Waters told reporters that their strategic partners in
India were in the process of getting regulatory approvals for the therapy, and
it is likely to be made available in India in six to nine months.
Company representatives including research scientists and
physicians are on a visit to India to explain the benefits of this treatment.
Waters said while PDT is not a new technology, they developed a novel and
uniquely effective photosensitizer for use with their proprietary ‘whole body
light delivery system’ and ‘Near Infrared Lasers’. Noting commonly-used cancer
therapies, especially chemotherapy and radiotherapy are immuno-suppressive and
highly toxic to the bone marrow, the developers said that their photosensitizer
agent activated by full-body LED light bed and laser light systems, destroys
only the cancer cells without any toxicity and also without damaging the normal
tissues.
‘The patients are given an oral photosensitizing agent.
This agent collects selectively in cancer tissue and, when exposed to light,
becomes activated, releasing a highly energized, free radical form of oxygen
known as singlet oxygen. Singlet oxygen destroys cancer cells from the inside
out, while leaving normal tissues largely unaffected,’ an expert said. Waters
said a patient can be treated in one course spread over eight days, without
needing any hospitalisation. A stage four cancer patient will require three
courses with two week break between two courses. Even in such cases, the
patient needs to stay in hospital for 50 minutes to two hours a day. He said
while average treatment for cancer in the US through existing therapies cost
$1.5 million, the NextGeneration PDT will bring down the cost to $100,000.
NGPDT through its partners are working for introducing the new treatment method
in 20 countries. Studies are being conducted in Australia, Britain and some
other European countries. It plans to set up treatment centres in countries
like India, Malaysia and Australia.
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
16.10.2015
No time to exercise? A 30-minute
walk can help too!
Just half an hour of brisk walking five days a week can
reduce risk of death from cardiovascular
diseases, especially in women and those younger than 70 years of
age, says a new study. ‘Our findings have public health implications and
emphasise the importance of women in particular being more physically active,’
said one of the researchers Roberto Peidro, vice president of the Argentine
Foundation of Cardiology. The study investigated the impact of various levels
of physical activity on death from ischaemic
heart disease (IHD) and stroke and on total cardiovascular
mortality in people aged 30 years and older.
Physical activity was categorised by metabolic equivalent
tasks per minute per week (MET/minute/week), with 600 MET/min/week being equivalent
to 30 minutes of brisk walking five days a week. The researchers found that
engaging in less than 600 MET/min/week was responsible for 17 percent (7,278)
of total cardiovascular deaths in Argentina in 2010, of which 3,941 occurred in
men and 3,337 in women. Doing less than 600 MET/min/week was responsible for 20
percent (4 907) of deaths from IHD and 13 percent (2,371) of strokedeaths.
Data on physical activity was obtained from the
Argentinian national survey of risk factors in 2013. Numbers of
disease-specific deaths in 2010 came from the Ministry of Health in Argentina.
‘This research demonstrates that the impact of physical inactivity on deaths
from cardiovascular disease is very significant,’ Peidro said: ‘The causes of
lower physical activity in women, according to surveys, include their multiple
occupations (work and home), less time spent doing sports by girls compared to
boys, and the time spent caring for the health of other family members,’ Peidro
pointed out. The findings appeared in the European Heart Journal.
Source: www.thehealthsite.com
16.10.2015
Stay
committed to your decisions; but stay flexible in your approach
Tony
Robbins
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