POSSIBLE TREATMENT FOR SERIOUS BLOOD CANCER MULTIPLE MYELOMA

A cure for the confounding condition multiple myeloma may have been found.

A single antibody could be the key to treating multiple myeloma, or cancer of the blood, currently without cure or long-term treatment.

“We tested the antibody in various ways, including on tumour cells from myeloma patients that have been transplanted into mice. The tests showed that the antibody is able to destroy myeloma cells”, explains Markus Hansson, a researcher at Lund University in Sweden.

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Why Baby Carrots Are Killing You

It may shock you that baby carrots do not come out of the ground that way. There is no little baby carrot garden where these are harvested. Manufactured baby carrots are a result of taking all the broken and “ugly” big carrots they can’t put in the package, grinding them all up, processing them into the “baby” carrots and giving them a bath in chlorine to give them a bright happy orange color. There are also “Cut & Peel” baby carrots that are whittled
into a miniature form.

If you look on the package it doesn’t say “Chlorine”, because it was added as part of manufacturing and not added as an ingredient…why is that?

Packaged foods contains lots of chemicals both in the ingredients and in the manufacturing process. The tricky part is chemicals added as part of the manufacturing process are not considered to be an ingredient therefore does not have to be listed on the food label. So there is no way to tell what else is hiding in that box or package.

As defined by the EPA, Chlorine is a pesticide. Its purpose is to kill living organisms. So it would make sense that when you ingest chlorine, it kills some parts of our body like the healthy bacteria in your gut and intestinal flora for instance. Chlorine is a highly toxic, yellow-green gas most heavily used in chemical agents like household cleaners and can be found in the air near industrial areas especially around paper processing plants. Exposure to Chlorine has been linked to health problems such as sore throat, coughing, eye and skin irritation, rapid breathing, narrowing of the bronchi, wheezing, blue coloring of the skin, accumulation of fluid in the lungs, pain in the lung region, severe eye and skin burns, lung collapse, a type of asthma known as Reactive Airways Dysfunction Syndrome (RADS).

Chlorine is also added to the public water supply. So not only are you drinking it, but you are absorbing it through the largest organ in your body, your skin. In fact, 2/3 of human absorption of chlorine is from inhaling the steam in the form of chloroform and fast absorption through your open pores in the warm shower or bath. The inhalation of chloroform is a suspected cause of asthma and bronchitis, especially in children… which has increased 300% in the last two decades. Other health risks associated with chloroform is cancer, potential reproductive damage, birth defects, dizziness, fatigue, headache, liver and kidney damage. Chloroform is also found in the air and in food, like baby carrots.

Conclusion: Stick to organically grown whole carrots. They are really easy to find as you can buy them at your local farmers market or grocery store. Wash them and cut them into sticks for your childs lunch box. Carrots are an excellent snack that we enjoy all the time. Enjoy!
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Veterans' Diseases Associated with Agent Orange

VA assumes that certain diseases can be related to a Veteran’s qualifying military service. We call these "presumptive diseases."

VA has recognized certain cancers and other health problems as presumptive diseases associated with exposure to Agent Orange or other herbicides during military service. Veterans and their survivors may be eligible for disability compensation or survivors' benefits for these diseases.


*AL Amyloidosis
A rare disease caused when an abnormal protein, amyloid, enters tissues or organs

*Chronic B-cell Leukemias
A type of cancer which affects white blood cells

*Chloracne (or similar acneform disease)
A skin condition that occurs soon after exposure to chemicals and looks like common forms of acne seen in teenagers. Under VA's rating regulations, it must be at least 10 percent disabling within one year of exposure to herbicides.

*Diabetes Mellitus Type 2
A disease characterized by high blood sugar levels resulting from the body’s inability to respond properly to the hormone insulin

*Hodgkin’s Disease
A malignant lymphoma (cancer) characterized by progressive enlargement of the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen, and by progressive anemia

*Ischemic Heart Disease
A disease characterized by a reduced supply of blood to the heart, that leads to chest pain

*Multiple Myeloma
A cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell in bone marrow

*Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
A group of cancers that affect the lymph glands and other lymphatic tissue

*Parkinson’s Disease
A progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects muscle movement

*Peripheral Neuropathy, Acute and Subacute
A nervous system condition that causes numbness, tingling, and motor weakness. Currently, it must be at least 10 percent disabling within one year of herbicide exposure and resolve within two years. VA proposed on Aug. 10, 2012, to replace "acute and subacute" with "early-onset" and eliminate the requirement that symptoms resolve within two years.

*Porphyria Cutanea Tarda
A disorder characterized by liver dysfunction and by thinning and blistering of the skin in sun-exposed areas. Under VA's rating regulations, it must be at least 10 percent disabling within one year of exposure to herbicides.

*Prostate Cancer
Cancer of the prostate; one of the most common cancers among men

*Respiratory Cancers (includes lung cancer)
Cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus

*Soft Tissue Sarcomas (other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or mesothelioma)
A group of different types of cancers in body tissues such as muscle, fat, blood and lymph vessels, and connective tissues

*Children with Birth Defects: VA presumes certain birth defects in children of Vietnam and Korea Veterans associated with Veterans' qualifying military service.

*Veterans with Lou Gehrig's Disease: VA presumes Lou Gehrig's Disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS) diagnosed in all Veterans who had 90 days or more continuous active military service is related to their service, although ALS is not related to Agent Orange exposure.

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Promising New Agents for Multiple Myeloma

Drug development for this type of bone marrow cancer has been gaining momentum, with two new proteasome inhibitor approvals in the last year alone and a number of new treatments in late-stage pipeline

Multiple myeloma (also known as myeloma or plasma cell myeloma) is a type of bone marrow cancer. Plasma cells found in the bone marrow divide uncontrollably and form tumours that can destroy bones (leading to bone pain) and damage the kidneys. In addition, there is an increased risk of infection as the cancerous plasma cells overcrowd healthy plasma cells preventing the normal production of blood cells, and therefore antibodies, required for immunity.

Multiple myeloma is a disease of the elderly, with the median age at diagnosis of 69 years, and it is more common in men than women. While it is a relatively rare cancer, it is one of the more common haematological malignancies and the economic costs associated with multiple myeloma are among the highest.

Treatment is complex and therapy choices depend on patient age, severity of symptoms and whether or not he will undergo stem cell transplantation. Treatment modalities include chemotherapy and immunosuppression, transplantation, radiation therapy, and adjunct therapies (eg bisphosphonates for bone complications or surgery to treat or prevent bone fractures).

While significant developments have been made in the treatment of multiple myeloma during the past 10 years, the disease remains incurable. But with the approval within the past year of two new drugs (pomalidomide and carfilzomib) and several novel agents at phase III development, it appears that drug development for multiple myeloma continues to gain momentum

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"Agent Orange corn" and Herbicide Spark Concern

There's a main ingredient in Agent Orange called 2,4-D, and it's one of the latest toxic chemicals being pushed as an herbicide by Dow Chemical, CREDO Action reports. As the U.S. Food & Drug Administration decides whether to approve genetically modified corn that will be resistant to the chemical, the Environmental Protection Agency is considering stepping forward to restrict use of 2,4-D.

Agent Orange was used by the U.S. military as a defoliant during the Vietnam War, and was responsible for the deaths or injuries of an estimated 400,000 Vietnamese people during that time. Now one of its major ingredients - 2,4-D - is marketed by Dow Chemical to be used on fields by farmers.

Perhaps just as worrying is Dow's marketing of special modified "2,4-D-resistant corn." Nicknamed "Agent Orange corn," the genetically modified corn was created by Dow AgroScience, a division of Dow Chemical. It is engineered to be impervious to 2,4-D, but environmental activists and critics are not convinced of its safety.

Aside from the concerns many have over GM crops, there is even more outrage over the use of 2,4-D as a weed-killer. It is considered by the International Agency for Research on Cancer to be carcinogenic to humans. 2,4-D has been linked to cancer, reproductive issues, hormone disruption, and Parkinson's disease. It is banned entirely in parts of Canada and Europe.

This development may prove particularly infuriating for activists, in that it harkens back to a similar move by the Monsanto biotech corporation. Monsanto's "Roundup" herbicide was so toxic to plants that Monsanto, too, had to produce genetically modified "Roundup Ready" seeds that could withstand the effects of the poison. Now, though, weeds are becoming resistant to Roundup, which in turn requires the use of stronger herbicides like the dangerous 2,4-D.

The use of 2,4-D has been drawing ire on all fronts; not simply from environmentalists: Vietnam Veterans of America recently wrote to President Obama, urging that the U.S. Department of Agriculture perform a thorough investigation of how the herbicide might harm people's health (the administration has so far failed to conduct any such study).

Many farmers, too, are disgusted with the chemical.

Lowell, Ind., farmer Jody Herr was concerned when he found his tomato fields deformed by the weed-killer, which he believes wafted over to his property from farms almost two miles away.

"The leaves had curled and the plants were kind of twisting, rather than growing straight," Herr remarked. He expressed displeasure at the idea that "Agent Orange corn" was on the verge of receiving regulatory approval.

Herr and a grassroots group of activists, and vegetable canners Seneca Foods - together called The Save Our Crops Coalition - have filed petitions with the government seeking a delay in the corn's approval. They noted that, while not opposed to biotechnology altogether, they feared that crops not immune to 2,4-D would be accidentally exposed to the toxin as it drifted and wound up on the property of an unsuspecting farmer, like Herr.

CREDO Action is asking activists to submit public comments expressing their concerns, and to implore the EPA to heavily consider prohibiting the use of the herbicide.

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