Cancer news snippets ... and a bit about growing older

Some recent articles in the UK's Daily Mail newspaper have given us some interesting food for thought.

Chemo without hair loss?

Developed by Dr Semali Perera of Bath University, England, this new method will administer chemotherapy by using tiny drug-soaked beads or fibres implanted into your body near the tumor. As those break down the cancer gets hit right between the eyes, but the rest of your body gets far lower levels - hence, we assume, far fewer side effects.

Clinical trials are expected to start on ovarian cancer patients within the next few years. Could be - if it works out - that the new method will give wig and turban sales a good haircut...


Young girls may get anti-cancer vaccination

With cervical cancer being such a serious problem, it's good to know that a vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV) is being developed. HPV is thought to be responsible for all cases of cervical cancer and is transmitted by sexual contact.

Professor Henry Kitchener of the Academic Unit of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Manchester, England, reckons girls as young as 10 should be vaccinated, before they become sexually active.

Two big drug companies are currently racing to develop an appropriate vaccine which could protect women against 70 percent of the HPV strains.

Watch this space.


Ginseng ...not just an aphrodisiac

According to a study conducted at the Vanderbilt University of Tennessee, USA, ginseng could have an important role to play in improving prospects for us breast cancer sufferers.

A study of nearly 1500 Chinese women treated for breast cancer found that those who had been using ginseng before their diagnosis were 30 percent more likely to survive, than women who had never used the herb.

So should we get taking that ginseng? Maybe. Plus there are other advantages ... its other properties are encouraging for old goats like me, the classic Baby Boomer.


And talking of Baby Boomers...

For readers of a certain age here are some re-written Baby Boomer song titles that might ring bells with you.

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Paul Simon -- "Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver"
Carly Simon -- 'You're So Varicose Vein"
The Bee Gees -- "How Can You Mend a Broken Hip"
Roberta Flack -- "The First Time Ever I Forgot Your Face"
Johnny Nash -- "I Can't See Clearly Now"
The Temptations -- "Papa Got a Kidney Stone"
Nancy Sinatra -- "These Boots Are Made For Bunions"
ABBA -- "Denture Queen"
Leo Sayer -- "You Make Me Feel Like Napping"
Commodores -- "Once, Twice, Three Times My Back's Out"
Procol Harem -- "A Whiter Shade of Hair"
Steely Dan -- "Rikki Don't Lose That Clapper"
Herman's Hermits -- "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Walker"
Credence Clearwater Revival -- "Bad Prune Rising"
Marvin Gaye -- "I Heard It Through the Grape Nuts"
The Who -- "Talkin' 'Bout My Medication"
The Troggs -- "Bald Thing"

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Hope you're having a good weekend!

SUZE