Talcum powder and other safe ingredients

I have seen some crass ads recently about 'if you used talcum powder and got cancer, you need a lawyer'. I had no idea what they were talking about it. Until I saw an article about how Johnson & Johnson has lost yet another lawsuit regarding talcum powder.

Supposedly talc is a carcinogen and if you used J&J baby powder it could have caused your ovarian cancer. J&J of course claims that it is not. But now lawyers are involved and it is in the hands of the courts. Since J&J has now lost two cases, it does not look good for them.

This brings me to the issue of supposedly safe ingredients that turn out to be really bad for you. If you think about it, this has been going on for eons. Think about what used to be in so called 'patent' medicines. Everything thing under the sun. Many of them were found to be harmful or even fatal.

Now in modern times, the lawyers run everything.

But the harm has been done. I used to use J&J baby powder regularly. Is that why I got cancer twice? I give up. I have no idea why I am so 'healthy' but I will assume talcum powder is not what did me in.

The Dark Side of Anti-Oxidants

I read this article this morning on the dark side of anti-oxidants and was very surprised. I have heard all the benefits of anti-oxidants and why it is important to eat them as part of a healthy diet. Some medications are made with antioxidants. Many people rush out and get fresh fruit and vegetables specifically for their antioxidants and benefits.

"There is no question that antioxidants, such as those in fruits and vegetables and other foods, neutralize molecules called free radicals that can damage DNA. That has led to assertions that antioxidants can prevent cancer, since DNA damage can turn normal cells into malignant ones. But studies of whether antioxidant supplements (pills, not foods) can prevent cancer have largely disappointed."

So that last sentence tells us something. A hint that maybe anti-oxidants aren't quite as good as previously thought.

"Because free radicals might also attack cancer cells, scientists are studying whether antioxidants might allow tumors to flourish. The new research, in Science Translational Medicine, found that they can. When scientists exposed lab dishes of human cancer cells (liver, breast, colon, ovarian) to the diabetes drugs sitagliptin (sold by Merck as Januvia) and saxagliptin (AstraZeneca’s Onglyza), the cells migrated more. And when nine mice with human tumors were given either of the drugs, the cells metastasized more and invaded far-flung tissue...."

Did you read that right? Yes you did! The previously thought wonderful anti-oxidants appear to help metastasize cancer! So if you have cancer, your cancer will spread faster with help from the anti-oxidants. Nice! They are off my diet for now.

But the writers add that they did not cause cancer, just that they helped it spread. And this is a mouse test which means that it may not be the same for humans. And more research is needed.

So I am not jumping to any conclusions here. I know its only a mouse test but these results do not make me happy. 

Luck and Cancer

Back at the beginning of the year I blogged about how a cancer diagnosis was supposedly just bad luck. This made me cranky because: IF IT'S CANCER IT'S NOT LUCK.

Now someone has refuted this study and says its not bad luck its environmental and lifestyle factors that cause cancers. Is this supposed to make me feel better? Did I cause my cancer by making bad lifestyle decisions and hanging out in 'bad' places? If so, please tell me where I went wrong.

I never lived in a 'bad' place. I grew up in the suburbs, played outside a lot, kept myself fairly physically fit, and ate fairly well.

I don't have a lot of the bad habits many Americans do. I don't drink soda. I don't go to fast food restaurants. I like home made food which is full of vegetables instead of eating in restaurants. Now I go to the gym three times a week because of my limitations but I went for a daily walk for more than ten years. I also would get a lot of exercise regularly between hiking, skiing, snow shoeing, and more.

I do admit to drinking alcohol, eating red meat, and enjoying dessert once in a while. I did smoke cigarettes for many years, maybe five cigarettes a day. I may have inhaled once in a while as well.

So what did I do wrong? What could I have done better so my health wasn't so bad? Now I'm really cranky. Grrr.

Medical research and me

Finally a study for me, sort of. In a recent study, they found that women with breast cancer were more likely to be diagnosed with thyroid cancer in the five years following their initial diagnosis. And vice versa, with thyroid cancer, you are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer.

So I am not really in the study because my cancers were 26 years apart. But its nice to get some logic for my medical crap.

The more complicated explanation is:

"The authors wrote that those second primary tumors detected within 5 years of the initial primary diagnosis show “favorable histopathological findings and prognosis,” especially in TC patients subsequently diagnosed with BC, and thus close monitoring for BC may be beneficial.

“Although the increased incidence appears to be principally due to increased detection rates, the greater expression of estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor in BC in patients with co-existing TC suggests that a specific molecular pathogenesis might underlie this association,” they concluded."

So whatever a 'histopathological finding' is and 'molecular pathogenesis' might mean, there may be some kind of reasoning behind my cancers.

As a patient, I hear about studies and clinical trials and more and they never seem to relate to me very much. Because my medical history always is different from everyone else. Its nice to have a study that could explain some of my medical stuff.

I have always been the patient who was too young for cancer, not likely to have rheumatoid, etc. But since I got all them anyway, even though I 'wasn't supposed to', I often am outside all normal parameters.

Brilliance at work

In recent years there has been a huge controversy about Santa Monica CA high school being full of PCBs. The result has been multiple teachers and staff have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Remediation has taken place in the worst areas.

Except when a brilliant group stepped in and remediated the wrong office of the school. Really? How did they manage that? To their benefit I will say the office they decontaminated was full of PCBs but it was an unused office. Not the one that is used daily.

I have been following the Santa Monica Unified School District PCB story as 3 teachers have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and 14 more have thyroid disease which is presumed to be a result of the contamination. The elementary school I attended was recently torn down and rebuilt because of PCB contamination. And 8 years after leaving that school I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer? Coincidence? Who knows.

But brilliant idiots at work here.

Its Movie Time!

Tonight is the premier of "Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies" on PBS at 9 pm. The book was long and the movie actually is in three 2-hour parts airing through Wednesday night. I blogged about this a while back, I also read the book a couple of years ago. During the past week, I have also watched several trailers as well. Now the Tivo is set up to record it as it is on too late for me.

I am looking forward to this movie, or mini-series. But I do have a few reservations:

• It was a long book and while it was fairly entertaining, it was long. It wasn't a book to sit down and read on the beach. It took some thinking and digesting. I would read a few chapters and ponder them for a few days or a week and then read more.
• Although I reassured some in my other blog post, it does concern me that it is it is about cancer, which is not the most cheerful of topics. And sometimes I am just not in the mood to watch cancer-cancer-cancer.
• Sometimes I have problems watching other people going through their cancer journeys. I have found some stories to be too drama filled, or sad, or have me wondering 'what were these people thinking?' when they or a family member were diagnosed with cancer.
• If it is six hours of doctors talking about medical breakthroughs, I am not sure I will make it through. 
• There is no way I am going to stay up (with a cold, on a weeknight, three nights in a row) until 11 pm.

So it may take  me a few days or a week or so to watch the entire six hours. I do hope to watch it and enjoy it. I will probably blog about it again when I am done.