Colloidal Silver, My Story |
Colloidal Silver, Information |
"...Also known as Exocrine Cancer, Pancreatic Cancer results in death more than 90% of the time. It is estimated that in 2008 there will be over 37,000 new cases and over 34,000 deaths.
The Pancreas is an organ in which helps the body digest, use and store energy from the food we eat. It also regulates blood sugar. When the Pancreas doesn't work properly and the body can't regulate blood sugar, this is known as Diabetes Mellitus.
When cells form when they shouldn't or don't die when they should, these cells will build up and form into what is known as a tumor. Tumors can either be malignant (cancerous) or benign (non-cancerous.)
If a tumor has formed and it is benign, it can be removed successfully without affecting other organs and most likely not grow back. However, a tumor that is malignant can spread to other areas, or metastasize. This is usually caused by cells from the cancerous tumor breaking off and entering the blood stream, and growing into another cancerous tumor where they land, or end up.
Unfortunately, Pancreatic Cancer does not have early warning signs or symptoms. This is why it is often called a "silent disease" and often is under diagnosed. Most people who have pancreatic cancer will never know, or have any warning, until it is too late. This is why the death rate is so high..." ...to this article...
Recent media reports have begun to shed more light on Steve Jobs' medical condition and the treatment he's believed to have sought overseas.
According to Fortune magazine, the co-founder and chief executive of Apple, Inc, who is currently on medical leave, flew to Switzerland in 2009 to receive a treatment for neuroendocrine cancer that isn't yet approved in the U.S. The Wall Street Journal reported Jobs also had a liver transplant that year.
Fortune said it learned about the unpublicized trip to Switzerland from former Apple director Jerry York, who died in 2010.
In 2004, doctors found that Jobs had a pancreatic neuroendocrine islet cell tumor, which is very different from the more well-known pancreatic cancer that took the life of actor Patrick Swayze in 2009.
"They are slower-growing tumors than typical pancreatic cancers. The survival rate for more typical cancers is much lower," said Dr. Alejandro Ayala, associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine.
Neuroendocrine cancers affect cells throughout the body that secrete hormones. The tumors can cause the secretion of either too much hormone or not enough. They are relatively rare, but more and more new cases are being diagnosed, and experts attribute that trend to better recognition of these tumors.
Experts say the treatment Jobs underwent is an experimental procedure called peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT). It involves delivering radiation to tumor cells by attaching one of two radioactive isotopes to a drug that mimics somatostatin, the hormone that regulates the entire endocrine system and the secretion of other hormones.
Specialists who treat neuroendocrine cancers say PRRT is very effective, but because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration hasn't yet approved it, patients who want the treatment typically head to Europe for it.
"It shrinks tumors in about a third of cases significantly, and it lasts on average about two to three years," said Strosberg.
"Even though you get tumor shrinkage, you mostly get disease progression that stabilizes," said Dr. Thomas O'Dorisio, professor of medicine at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
Experts believe the FDA will eventually approve PRRT.
"The data are coming out slowly. There's never been a phase 3 clinical trial, and that's why it's not okayed yet," said O'Dorisio.
"It's a new, experimental treatment, and it has to go through the same approval process as all drugs," said Ayala.
A company called Excel Diagnostics Imaging Clinics, based out of Houston, Tex., was approved by the FDA to begin an investigational new drug trial for PRRT. However, O'Dorisio said it's cheaper to get the therapy at University Hospital of Basel in Switzerland, where Jobs is believed to have received his.
"It's $4,200 per treatment at Basel," said O'Dorisio. He said patients generally receive four treatments. He estimates the cost of treatment in Texas at $15,000 per treatment, which may or may not be covered by health insurance. ....
(Please click on the heading to this full text and source)
The average general health article on pancreatic cancer states flatly that there are no early symptoms of pancreatic cancer. People diagnosed with pancreatic cancer are typically already in advanced stage of the disease by the time it's caught, and the typical prognosis is death within five years.
With pancreatic cancer much on everyone's mind due to the untimely
death of Patrick Swayze, it seems like a good time to ask the question
that's on all of our minds:
Are there any early warning signs of pancreatic
cancer?
The answer is yes, there are. But to understand these signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer, it's important to understand where the pancreas is, and what it does.
Located deep inside the abdomen, the pancreas is only 4 to 6 inches long and shaped like a tadpole. In the "tail" of the pancreas are cells that produce insulin, and tumors at this end are usually endocrine tumors. They are easier to diagnose, but are much rarer. At the other end, the "head" of the pancreas, are cells that produce digestive enzymes, and tumors at this end are called exocrine tumors. These are by far the most common, and are much more difficult to detect.
However, the idea that a pancreatic tumor is asymptomatic is a bit of a myth. Dig deep into journal articles and ask patients what they remember and the result is a long list of odd signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer to watch out for.
Taken one by one, these symptoms could mean many things. But if you find yourself experiencing two or three of these early warning signs of pancreatic cancer, call your doctor and ask for a scan. Imaging techniques such as MRIs can in fact detect pancreatic cancer some of the time, depending on the location of the tumor.
Early Warning Signs of Pancreatic Cancer
•Diabetes, especially if it comes on
suddenly. Recently, the Mayo Clinic published
startling research showing that 40 percent
of pancreatic cancer patients had been diagnosed
with diabetes one to two years before discovering
they had a pancreatic tumor. ..." ....more.... ".... reality of pancreatic cancer, there
are also people living productive lives thanks
to an early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.
Such was the case with Supreme Court Justice
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who's still practicing
after having a tiny pancreatic tumor
surgically
removed. Yes, she got "lucky,"
as she put it -- but she also got a CT scan,
which is how the tumor was found.... to this article...
I am told this is a passion flower.... the purple section almost looks like a fine crochette.
"...Diabetes, especially if it comes on suddenly. Recently, the Mayo Clinic published startling research showing that 40 percent of pancreatic cancer patients had been diagnosed with diabetes one to two years before discovering they had a pancreatic tumor...." ... see this article below...
Well.... I've wanted to add more information to this page. Unfortunately, this is closer to home than I would have expected.
One of my family member's PSA level was (is) very high; the doctors told him possibly prostate cancer. We visited him at the hospital a week ago; they took a biopsy and told him it wasn't prostate cancer. (Gall stones showed up on an xray ... which he was happy to get a heads up on.) However, yesterday we heard that the diagnosis is pancreatic cancer.
From the information I have been looking at; this is not a good thing, which I know is an understatement. We don't know the 'staging' of his condition. But, now, as has happened before, in my study of disease, this is more personal.
I have one example of a woman who had a pancreatic tumor - which came out to be benign. She is a courageous young woman and she has a wonderful sense of humor to share, while sharing her personal experience with this pancreatic tumor.
With pancreatic cancer much on everyone's
mind due to the untimely death of Patrick Swayze, it seems like a good time to ask the question
that's on all of our minds:
Are there any early warning signs of pancreatic cancer?
The answer is yes, there are. But to understand these signs and symptoms of pancreatic cancer, it's important to understand where the pancreas is, and what it does.
Located deep inside the abdomen, the pancreas is only 4 to 6 inches long and shaped like a tadpole. In the "tail" of the pancreas are cells that produce insulin, and tumors at this end are usually endocrine tumors. They are ..." ...this article is below...