Top Cancer-Fighting Foods

Fighting Cancer by the Plateful

No single food can reduce your risk of cancer, but the right combination of foods may help make a difference. At mealtimes, strike a balance of at least two-thirds plant-based foods and no more than one-third animal protein. This "New American Plate" is an important cancer fighting tool, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research. Check out better and worse choices for your plate.

Fighting Cancer With Color

Fruits and vegetables are rich in cancer-fighting nutrients - and the more color, the more nutrients they contain. These foods can help lower your risk in a second way, too, when they help you reach and maintain a healthy body weight. Carrying extra pounds increases the risk for multiple cancers, including colon, esophagus, and kidney cancers. Aim for at least five servings a day, prepared in a healthy way.

The Cancer-Fighting Breakfast

Folate is an important B vitamin that may help protect against cancers of the colon, rectum, and breast. You can find it in abundance on the breakfast table. Fortified breakfast cereals and whole wheat products are good sources of folate. So are orange juice, melons, and strawberries.

More Folate-Rich Foods

Other good sources of folate are asparagus and eggs. You can also find it in chicken liver, beans, sunflower seeds, and leafy green vegetables like spinach or romaine lettuce. According to the American Cancer Society, the best way to get folate is not from a pill, but by eating enough fruits, vegetables, and enriched grain products.

Pass Up the Deli Counter

An occasional Reuben sandwich or hot dog at the ballpark probably isn't going to hurt you. But cutting back on processed meats like bologna, ham, and hot dogs may help lower your risk of colorectal and stomach cancers. Also, eating meats that have been preserved by smoking or with salt raises your exposure to agents that can potentially cause cancer.

Cancer-Fighting Tomatoes

Whether it's the lycopene -- the pigment that gives tomatoes their red color -- or something else isn't clear. But some studies have linked eating tomatoes to reduced risk of several types of cancer, including prostate cancer. Studies also suggest that processed tomato products such as juice, sauce, or paste increase the cancer-fighting potential.

Tea's Anticancer Potential

Even though the evidence is still spotty, tea, especially green tea, may be a strong cancer fighter. In laboratory studies, green tea has slowed or prevented the development of cancer in colon, liver, breast, and prostate cells. It also had a similar effect in lung tissue and skin. And in some longer term studies, tea was associated with lower risks for bladder, stomach, and pancreatic cancers.

Grapes and Cancer

Grapes and grape juice, especially purple and red grapes, contain resveratrol. Resveratrol has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In laboratory studies, it has prevented the kind of damage that can trigger the cancer process in cells. There is not enough evidence to say that eating grapes or drinking grape juice or wine can prevent or treat cancer.

Limit Alcohol to Lower Cancer Risk

Cancers of the mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, liver, and breast are all linked with drinking alcohol. Alcohol may also raise the risk for cancer of the colon and rectum. The American Cancer Society says that even the suggested daily limit of two drinks for men and one for women elevates the risk. Women at higher risk for breast cancer may want to talk with a doctor about what amount of alcohol, if any, is safe based on their personal risk factors.

Water and Other Fluids Can Protect

Water not only quenches your thirst, but it may protect you against bladder cancer. The lower risk comes from water diluting concentrations of potential cancer-causing agents in the bladder. Also, drinking more fluids causes you to urinate more frequently. That lessens the amount of time those agents stay in contact with the bladder lining.

The Mighty Bean

Beans are so good for you, it's no surprise they may help fight cancer, too. They contain several potent phytochemicals that may protect the body's cells against damage that can lead to cancer. In the lab these substances slowed tumor growth and prevented tumors from releasing substances that damage nearby cells.

The Cabbage Family vs. Cancer

Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, and kale. These members of the cabbage family make an excellent stir fry and can really liven up a salad. But most importantly, components in these vegetables may help your body defend against cancers such as colon, breast, lung, and cervix

Dark Green Leafy Vegetables

Dark green leafy vegetables such as mustard greens, lettuce, kale, chicory, spinach, and chard have an abundance of fiber, folate, and carotenoids. These nutrients may help protect against cancer of the mouth, larynx, pancreas, lung, skin, and stomach.

Protection From an Exotic Spice

Curcumin is the main ingredient in the Indian spice turmeric and a potential cancer fighter. Lab studies show it can suppress the transformation, proliferation, and invasion of cancerous cells for a wide array of cancers.

Cooking Methods Matter

How you cook meat can make a difference in how big a cancer risk it poses. Frying, grilling, and broiling meats at very high temperatures causes chemicals to form that may increase cancer risk. Other cooking methods such as stewing, braising, or steaming appear to produce fewer of those chemicals. And when you do stew the meat, remember to add plenty of healthy, protective vegetables.

A Berry Medley With a Punch

Strawberries and raspberries have a phytochemical called ellagic acid. This powerful antioxidant may actually fight cancer in several ways at once, including deactivating certain cancer causing substances and slowing the growth of cancer cells.

Blueberries for Health

The potent antioxidants in blueberries may have wide value in supporting our health, starting with cancer. Antioxidants fight cancer by ridding the body of free radicals before they can do their damage to cells. Try topping oatmeal, cold cereal, yogurt, even salad with blueberries to boost your intake of these healthful berries.

Pass on the Sugar

Sugar may not cause cancer directly. But it may displace other nutrient-rich foods that help protect against cancer. And it increases calorie counts, which contributes to overweight and obesity. Excess weight can be a cancer risk. Fruit offers a sweet alternative in a vitamin-rich package.

Don't Rely on Supplements

Vitamins may help protect against cancer. But that's when you get them naturally from food. Both the American Cancer Society and the American Institute for Cancer Research emphasize that getting cancer-fighting nutrients from foods like nuts, fruits, and green leafy vegetables is vastly superior to getting them from supplements. Eating a healthy diet is best.

Source:http://www.medicinenet.com/cancer_pictures_slideshow_cancer_fighting_foods/article.htm

Top Cancer-Fighting Foods

Fighting Cancer by the Plateful

No single food can reduce your risk of cancer, but the right combination of foods may help make a difference. At mealtimes, strike a balance of at least two-thirds plant-based foods and no more than one-third animal protein. This "New American Plate" is an important cancer fighting tool, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research. Check out better and worse choices for your plate.

Fighting Cancer With Color

Fruits and vegetables are rich in cancer-fighting nutrients - and the more color, the more nutrients they contain. These foods can help lower your risk in a second way, too, when they help you reach and maintain a healthy body weight. Carrying extra pounds increases the risk for multiple cancers, including colon, esophagus, and kidney cancers. Aim for at least five servings a day, prepared in a healthy way.

The Cancer-Fighting Breakfast

Folate is an important B vitamin that may help protect against cancers of the colon, rectum, and breast. You can find it in abundance on the breakfast table. Fortified breakfast cereals and whole wheat products are good sources of folate. So are orange juice, melons, and strawberries.

More Folate-Rich Foods

Other good sources of folate are asparagus and eggs. You can also find it in chicken liver, beans, sunflower seeds, and leafy green vegetables like spinach or romaine lettuce. According to the American Cancer Society, the best way to get folate is not from a pill, but by eating enough fruits, vegetables, and enriched grain products.

Pass Up the Deli Counter

An occasional Reuben sandwich or hot dog at the ballpark probably isn't going to hurt you. But cutting back on processed meats like bologna, ham, and hot dogs may help lower your risk of colorectal and stomach cancers. Also, eating meats that have been preserved by smoking or with salt raises your exposure to agents that can potentially cause cancer.

Cancer-Fighting Tomatoes

Whether it's the lycopene -- the pigment that gives tomatoes their red color -- or something else isn't clear. But some studies have linked eating tomatoes to reduced risk of several types of cancer, including prostate cancer. Studies also suggest that processed tomato products such as juice, sauce, or paste increase the cancer-fighting potential.

Tea's Anticancer Potential

Even though the evidence is still spotty, tea, especially green tea, may be a strong cancer fighter. In laboratory studies, green tea has slowed or prevented the development of cancer in colon, liver, breast, and prostate cells. It also had a similar effect in lung tissue and skin. And in some longer term studies, tea was associated with lower risks for bladder, stomach, and pancreatic cancers.

Grapes and Cancer

Grapes and grape juice, especially purple and red grapes, contain resveratrol. Resveratrol has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In laboratory studies, it has prevented the kind of damage that can trigger the cancer process in cells. There is not enough evidence to say that eating grapes or drinking grape juice or wine can prevent or treat cancer.

Limit Alcohol to Lower Cancer Risk

Cancers of the mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, liver, and breast are all linked with drinking alcohol. Alcohol may also raise the risk for cancer of the colon and rectum. The American Cancer Society says that even the suggested daily limit of two drinks for men and one for women elevates the risk. Women at higher risk for breast cancer may want to talk with a doctor about what amount of alcohol, if any, is safe based on their personal risk factors.

Water and Other Fluids Can Protect

Water not only quenches your thirst, but it may protect you against bladder cancer. The lower risk comes from water diluting concentrations of potential cancer-causing agents in the bladder. Also, drinking more fluids causes you to urinate more frequently. That lessens the amount of time those agents stay in contact with the bladder lining.

The Mighty Bean

Beans are so good for you, it's no surprise they may help fight cancer, too. They contain several potent phytochemicals that may protect the body's cells against damage that can lead to cancer. In the lab these substances slowed tumor growth and prevented tumors from releasing substances that damage nearby cells.

The Cabbage Family vs. Cancer

Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, and kale. These members of the cabbage family make an excellent stir fry and can really liven up a salad. But most importantly, components in these vegetables may help your body defend against cancers such as colon, breast, lung, and cervix

Dark Green Leafy Vegetables

Dark green leafy vegetables such as mustard greens, lettuce, kale, chicory, spinach, and chard have an abundance of fiber, folate, and carotenoids. These nutrients may help protect against cancer of the mouth, larynx, pancreas, lung, skin, and stomach.

Protection From an Exotic Spice

Curcumin is the main ingredient in the Indian spice turmeric and a potential cancer fighter. Lab studies show it can suppress the transformation, proliferation, and invasion of cancerous cells for a wide array of cancers.

Cooking Methods Matter

How you cook meat can make a difference in how big a cancer risk it poses. Frying, grilling, and broiling meats at very high temperatures causes chemicals to form that may increase cancer risk. Other cooking methods such as stewing, braising, or steaming appear to produce fewer of those chemicals. And when you do stew the meat, remember to add plenty of healthy, protective vegetables.

A Berry Medley With a Punch

Strawberries and raspberries have a phytochemical called ellagic acid. This powerful antioxidant may actually fight cancer in several ways at once, including deactivating certain cancer causing substances and slowing the growth of cancer cells.

Blueberries for Health

The potent antioxidants in blueberries may have wide value in supporting our health, starting with cancer. Antioxidants fight cancer by ridding the body of free radicals before they can do their damage to cells. Try topping oatmeal, cold cereal, yogurt, even salad with blueberries to boost your intake of these healthful berries.

Pass on the Sugar

Sugar may not cause cancer directly. But it may displace other nutrient-rich foods that help protect against cancer. And it increases calorie counts, which contributes to overweight and obesity. Excess weight can be a cancer risk. Fruit offers a sweet alternative in a vitamin-rich package.

Don't Rely on Supplements

Vitamins may help protect against cancer. But that's when you get them naturally from food. Both the American Cancer Society and the American Institute for Cancer Research emphasize that getting cancer-fighting nutrients from foods like nuts, fruits, and green leafy vegetables is vastly superior to getting them from supplements. Eating a healthy diet is best.

Source:http://www.medicinenet.com/cancer_pictures_slideshow_cancer_fighting_foods/article.htm

ADHD

What is ADHD?

ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is an ongoing behavior disorder typically diagnosed at age five or six, although the symptoms have usually been observed much earlier than this age. The three key symptoms are:

• Inattention
• Hyperactivity
• Impulsivity

These symptoms typically interfere with the child's functioning in social and academic settings. The diagnostic criteria were outlined in 1994 in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association). To meet the diagnostic criteria, these symptoms, exemplified below, must have been present for at least six months.

Inattention Symptoms in ADHD

• The child often fails to give attention to details, or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities.
• The child often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities.
• The child often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
• The child often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions). An additional symptom of ADHD in adults is the lack of follow through on instructions or failure to finish duties in the workplace.
• The child often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities.
• The child often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort (such as schoolwork or homework).
• The child is often forgetful in daily activities.
• The child is often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli.

Hyperactivity Symptoms in ADHD

• The child often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in their seat.
• The child often leaves the seat in the classroom or in other situations in which remaining seated is expected.
• The child often leaves the seat in the classroom or in other situations in which remaining seated is expected.
• The child often runs about or climbs excessively in situations in which it is inappropriate
• The child often has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly.
• The child often talks excessively.

• Impulsivity Symptoms in ADHD

  The child often blurts out answers before the questions have been completed.
  The child often experiences difficulty awaiting his or her turn.
  The child often interrupts or intrudes on others (for example, butts into conversations or games).
  

  Early recognition is key to treatment of ADHD

  One can see why there is an age limitation on these behaviors being defined as "abnormal," as the majority of them are typical of much younger children. But in the non-ADHD child, these behaviors are typically outgrown. And, of course, there are a variety of other conditions in which these symptoms occur other than ADHD. Your doctor must carry out a very detailed evaluation before the diagnosis of ADHD is made. But please don't delay! If you or your child's teachers suspect ADHD, begin the evaluation as soon as possible. Early recognition and treatment of ADHD can improve your child's chances for long-term social and academic success.
  
  reference:http://www.medicinenet.com/adhd_children_pictures_slideshow/article.htm
  

  
  

  
  
  

Mumps

What Is Mumps?

Mumps is a contagious illness caused by a virus that can result in fever and swelling of the neck. During the prevaccine era, nearly everyone in the United States experienced it, and 90 percent of cases occurred among children under 15 years of age. Today, there are fewer than a thousand cases each year in the United States.

 

What Causes Mumps?

The mumps cause is an infection with the mumps virus. This virus is an RNA (ribonucleic acid) virus from the family Paramyxovirus of the genus Rubulavirus. The virus only infects humans, and it is found worldwide.

 

How Is the Virus Transmitted?

The mumps virus resides in the mucus in the nose and throat of the infected person, along with the saliva. When that person sneezes or coughs, droplets spray into the air. The infected mucus can land in other people's noses or throats when they breathe or put their fingers in their mouth, nose, or eyes after handling an infected surface.

Incubation Period

When a person becomes infected with the mumps virus, it begins to multiply within the nose, throat, and lymph glands in the neck. The virus can also enter the blood and spread to other parts of the body. After 16 to 18 days, on average, symptoms can appear. This period between transmission and the start of symptoms is the "incubation period for mumps." In some cases, the incubation period can be as early as 12 days or as late as 25 days.

Contagious Period

A person with mumps is contagious anytime from about three days prior to the onset of the swelling of the salivary glands (called parotitis) to nine days after the onset. A person can spread the disease if he or she becomes infected with the virus, even if symptoms never develop.

 

Symptoms of Mumps

Mumps symptoms can include:

• Fever
• Headache
• Muscle aches
• Tiredness
• Loss of appetite
• Sore throat
• Chills
• Swelling of salivary glands (the parotid salivary glands, which are located within your cheek, near your jawline, and below your ears, are most frequently affected). 
• 

• Treating Mumps: An Overview

  There is currently no treatment for mumps that can kill the mumps virus. Because mumps is caused by a virus, antibiotics or other medications for mumps are not effective. Therefore, treatment focuses on providing relief from symptoms as the body fights the virus. This is called supportive care. Supportive care can include:
   
• Medications (such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen) to control fever or pain
• Warm, moist towels to help with swelling
• Fluids
• Rest until the fever improves
• Soft, bland diet.
   

After about one to two weeks, mumps symptoms should have faded. However, in some cases, complications of mumps can develop after the original symptoms have improved.

 

Visiting the Doctor for Mumps Treatment

If you become very ill due to the mumps or from complications associated with it, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible. In addition, it's a good idea to call the doctor in advance so that you don't have to sit in the waiting room for a long time and possibly infect other patients.

 

Mumps Prognosis

Most people recover from mumps without any long-term problems. In rare cases, long-term problems, including deafness, can result. Unfortunately, there is no treatment for mumps that can prevent related complications.

Mumps Prevention Through the Mumps Vaccine

Mumps prevention begins with the mumps vaccine. The vaccine contains live, attenuated (weakened) mumps virus. In the United States, the vaccine is licensed and available as a single preparation (Mumpsvax^®) or combined with both live attenuated measles and rubella vaccine (MMR vaccine, also known as measles, mumps, rubella vaccine). Typically, mumps vaccine in the United States is administered as the MMR vaccine

source:http://mumps.emedtv.com/mumps

          http://www.free-health-care.com/throat_problems/mumps.htm

 

R A B I E S

Key facts

• Rabies occurs in more than 150 countries and territories.
• Worldwide, more than 55 000 people die of rabies every year.
• 40% of people who are bitten by suspect rabid animals are children under 15 years of age.
• Dogs are the source of 99% of human rabies deaths.
• Wound cleansing and immunization within a few hours after contact with a suspect rabid animal can prevent the onset of rabies and death.
• Every year, more than 15 million people worldwide receive a post-exposure preventive regimen to avert the disease – this is estimated to prevent 327 000 rabies deaths annually.

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Rabies is a zoonotic disease (a disease that is transmitted to humans from animals) that is caused by a virus. The disease infects domestic and wild animals, and is spread to people through close contact with infected saliva via bites or scratches.
Rabies is present on all continents with the exception of Antartica, but more than 95% of human deaths occur in Asia and Africa. Once symptoms of the disease develop, rabies is nearly always fatal.

Symptoms

The incubation period for rabies is typically 1–3 months, but may vary from <1 week to >1 year. The initial symptoms of rabies are fever and often pain or an unusual or unexplained tingling, pricking or burning sensation (paraesthesia) at the wound site.
As the virus spreads through the central nervous system, progressive, fatal inflammation of the brain and spinal cord develops.
Two forms of the disease can follow. People with furious rabies exhibit signs of hyperactivity, excited behaviour, hydrophobia and sometimes aerophobia. After a few days, death occurs by cardio-respiratory arrest.
Paralytic rabies accounts for about 30% of the total number of human cases. This form of rabies runs a less dramatic and usually longer course than the furious form. The muscles gradually become paralyzed, starting at the site of the bite or scratch. A coma slowly develops, and eventually death occurs. The paralytic form of rabies is often misdiagnosed, contributing to the underreporting of the disease.

Patient with rabies, 1959

Diagnosis

No tests are available to diagnose rabies infection in humans before the onset of clinical disease, and unless the rabies-specific signs of hydrophobia or aerophobia are present, the clinical diagnosis may be difficult. Post mortem, the standard diagnostic technique is to detect rabies virus antigen in brain tissue by fluorescent antibody test.

Transmission

People are infected through the skin following a bite or scratch by an infected animal. Dogs are the main host and transmitter of rabies. They are the source of infection in all of the estimated 55 000 human rabies deaths annually in Asia and Africa.
Bats are the source of most human rabies deaths in the United States of America and Canada. Bat rabies has also recently emerged as a public health threat in Australia, Latin America and western Europe. Human deaths following exposure to foxes, raccoons, skunks, jackals, mongooses and other wild carnivore host species are very rare.
Transmission can also occur when infectious material – usually saliva – comes into direct contact with human mucosa or fresh skin wounds. Human-to-human transmission by bite is theoretically possible but has never been confirmed.
Rarely, rabies may be contracted by inhalation of virus-containing aerosol or via transplantation of an infected organ. Ingestion of raw meat or other tissues from animals infected with rabies is not a source of human infection.

Treatment after exposure

Effective treatment soon (within a few days, but as soon as possible) after exposure to rabies can prevent the onset of symptoms and death.
Post-exposure prevention consists of local treatment of the wound, administration of rabies immunoglobulin (if indicated), and immediate vaccination.

Local treatment of the wound

Removing the rabies virus at the site of the infection by chemical or physical means is an effective means of protection. Therefore, prompt local treatment of all bite wounds and scratches that may be contaminated with rabies virus is important. Recommended first-aid procedures include immediate and thorough flushing and washing of the wound for a minimum of 15 minutes with soap and water, detergent, povidone iodine or other substances that kill the rabies virus.

Recommended treatment

The recommended post-exposure prophylaxis depends on the type of contact with the suspected rabid animal (see table).

Table: Recommended post-exposure prophylaxis for rabies infection
Category of exposure to suspect rabid animal	Post-exposure measures
Category I – touching or feeding animals, licks on intact skin (i.e. no exposure)	None
Category II – nibbling of uncovered skin, minor scratches or abrasions without bleeding	Immediate vaccination and local treatment of the wound
Category III – single or multiple transdermal bites or scratches, licks on broken skin; contamination of mucous membrane with saliva from licks, exposures to bats.	Immediate vaccination and administration of rabies immunoglobulin; local treatment of the wound

Other factors that should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to initiate post-exposure prevention include:

• the likelihood of the implicated animal being rabid
• the clinical features of the animal and its availability for observation and laboratory testing.

In developing countries, the vaccination status of the suspected animal alone should not be considered when deciding whether to initiate prophylaxis or not.

Who is most at risk?

Dog rabies potentially threatens over 3.3 billion people in Asia and Africa. People most at risk live in rural areas where human vaccines and immunoglobulin are not readily available or accessible.
Poor people are at a higher risk, as the average cost of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis after contact with a suspected rabid animal is US$ 40 in Africa and US$ 49 in Asia, where the average daily income is about US$ 1–2 per person. In India, 20 000 rabies deaths (that is, about 2/100 000 population at risk) are estimated to occur annually; in Africa, the corresponding figure is 24 000 (about 4/100 000 population at risk).
Although all age groups are susceptible, rabies is most common in children aged under 15; on average 40 % of post-exposure prophylaxis regimens are given to children aged 5–14 years, and the majority are male.
Anyone in continual, frequent or increased danger of exposure to rabies virus – either by nature of their residence or occupation – is also at risk. Travellers with extensive outdoor exposure in rural high-risk areas where immediate access to appropriate medical care may be limited should be considered at risk regardless of duration of their stay. Children living in or visiting rabies-affected areas are at particular risk.

Prevention

Eliminating rabies in dogs

Rabies is a vaccine-preventable disease. The most cost-effective strategy for preventing rabies in people is by eliminating rabies in dogs through vaccination. Vaccination of animals (mostly dogs) has reduced the number of human (and animal) rabies cases in several countries, particularly in Latin America. However, recent increases in human rabies deaths in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America suggest that rabies is re-emerging as a serious public health issue.
Preventing human rabies through control of domestic dog rabies is a realistic goal for large parts of Africa and Asia, and is justified financially by the future savings of discontinuing post-exposure prophylaxis for people.

Preventive immunization in people

Safe, effective vaccines also exist for human use. Pre-exposure immunization in people is recommended for travellers to high-risk areas in rabies-affected countries, and for people in certain high-risk occupations such as laboratory workers dealing with live rabies virus and other lyssaviruses, and veterinarians and animal handlers in rabies-affected areas. As children are at particular risk, their immunization could be considered if living in or visiting high risk areas.

source: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs099/en/