How Many Times a DAY Should You Use a Treadmill ?
Just how often in a single day are you drawn to your treadmill that you actually fear that too many visits on it can somehow damage your body? (more…)
Is Taxotere Really the Best Breast Cancer Drug? No Options?
MUST a woman take Taxotere in order to beat breast cancer?
Some women wonder if there are studies showing that chemo treatment without Taxotere results in much lower survival rates or higher recurrence rates of this dreaded disease.
Women who have read stories of breast cancer patients who’ve suffered permanent hair loss after receiving chemotherapy that included Taxotere are apt to wonder if Taxotere must be the “go to” drug for their own treatment.
• Is Taxotere the key to my survival of breast cancer?
• Does this come down to “my hair or my life”?
• Or is there another chemo drug that’s just as effective but has not been fingered as a cause of permanent hair loss in six percent of its recipients?
These are very smart questions that you should ask your oncologist if you’re worried about permanent hair loss. There is no such thing as a silly question when it comes to breast cancer treatment.
• It’s your body.
• It’s your life.
• It’s your quality of life post-treatment.
Another Drug to Ask About
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine has found a solvent-free, less toxic chemo drug.
It’s more effective in the prevention of the progression of metastatic breast cancer, says a report of a study led by William Gradishar, MD, who is the director of breast medical oncology at Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Remember the Name: Abraxane
When compared to Taxotere in the study, Abraxane prolonged the progression-free survival by nearly seven months.
“It nearly doubled progression-free survival,” points out Dr. Gradishar in the report that’s published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (May 26, 2009).
Abraxane is free of chemical solvents and is delivered via albumin, a protein. Abraxane’s generic name is nab-paclitaxel.
Abraxane vs. Taxotere
• In the study, patients received Abraxane on a weekly schedule.
• Taxotere is typically given every three weeks.
• Beyond the study, the appeal of Taxotere to some patients is its relatively infrequent administration.
The “Best” Drug for Breast Cancer Treatment?
“No one drug is the ‘best’ – it’s usually about combos of chemo-Rx drugs, sequencing and MOST importantly risk assessment (which then dictates what chemo-Rx regimen to use,” explains Mark Levandovsky, MD, Founder and Medical Director of Preventive Medicine and Cancer Care. Dr. Levandovsky is a board certified internist and oncologist/hematologist in practice for 20 years.
“Taxotere belongs to a taxane family of drugs that contain Abraxane and Taxol as well, each with their particular side effects,” continues Dr. Levandovsky.
“If goal is cure, these taxanes are given over 12 weeks, with each woman’s goals and unique comorbidities dictating which agent to pick.
“The effectiveness is comparable, but side effects differ both short term (fatigue, infusion reactions, blood counts/infections) and long term (neuropathy).”
More on Abraxane
“This is a win-win finding,” says Dr. Gradishar in the paper. “The weekly schedule of Abraxane has more anti-tumor effects,” he adds, “and is better tolerated than Taxotere.”
Dr. Gradishar says that Abraxane is also “able to deliver the chemotherapy drug more effectively to the tumor.”
The paper explains that weekly Abraxane “may be an appropriate alternative” to Taxotere in the first-line treatment of mets breast cancer.
Like all chemo drugs, Abraxane has the potential to cause serious side effects. But it has not been associated with permanent hair loss.
Dr. Levandovsky provides personalized care to health conscious individuals as well as cancer patients and survivors, focusing on an integration of genetic/molecular risk assessments, prevention, education, nutrition and psycho-oncology.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: Freepik.com
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sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090526162846.htm
drugs.com/abraxane.html
academic.oup.com/annonc/article/23/11/2879/234091/Permanent-scalp-alopecia-related-to-breast-cancer
How to Love Your Chemo Curls, Even if You Loathe Them
If you despise your “chemo curls” for their unmanageability and even their looks, here’s a simple trick for learning to embrace your new hair overnight. (more…)
The Strange Way that Severe Headaches Can Lead to GERD
It’s not that GERD can cause headaches, but rather, headaches can cause GERD. Now how is this possible? (more…)
Can GERD Appear Like Magic Out of Nowhere ?
So can you get GERD one day for no apparent reason?
Or does it begin subtlety, gradually building up over time until you realize that your chest and stomach has been burning lately? (more…)
Can the Burning Pain in Your Upper Back Be Caused by GERD ?
Unexplained pain of any type in your upper back needs to be checked by a doctor, since this can mean an imminent heart attack – or just some GERD or even occasional heartburn.
GERD stands for gastroesophageal reflux disease and is not the same as periodic heartburn or acid reflux.
GERD is when the acidic contents of the stomach reflux upward into the esophagus (the so-called food pipe) on a chronic or ongoing basis.
Over time this can lead to a condition called Barrett’s esophagus, which is a risk factor for esophageal cancer.
The hairy problem with GERD or occasional heartburn is that both can cause chest pain – which scares people into thinking they’re either having a heart attack or have something else going on with their heart.
“First and foremost recurrent chest pain should be examined by a physician to rule out heart disease,” says John P. Geibel, MD, Professor of Gastrointestinal Surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine.
GERD, acid reflux and a pending heart attack or even stable angina (deprived oxygen flow to the heart upon physical exertion) can also cause pain in the back.
Dr. Geibel explains that “acid reflux can and most often leads to irritation of the esophagus lining that causes mild to severe erosion that can give a widespread burning pain that affects the chest, abdomen and sometimes even the upper back.”
Upper back pain can be caused by an assortment of medical conditions, and even though it can be caused by acid reflux, this is not common.
However, if you’ve noticed that your upper back pain occurs only when you experience occasional heartburn (and a heart problem has been ruled out), see what happens when you begin treating this heartburn.
TummyZen is an over the counter zinc-based formula that’s validated by Dr. Geibel’s research.
TummyZen provides fast relief that lasts for hours and also supports the esophageal lining.
With the lining of the esophagus being supported by the zinc salts, this will help prevent the back pain caused by acid reflux.
TummyZen is for occasional heartburn rather than for GERD and is minus the side effects typical of PPI drugs.
Dr. Geibel
is the author of over 250 publications and presents his research findings both nationally and internationally, and has made the America’s Top Doctors list numerous times.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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Top image: Shutterstock/staras
Throwing up in the Mouth While Asleep: Benign Cause, Solutions
Hoarse Voice Causes: from Cancer to Reflux to Enlarged Aorta
Can Walking Too Long on a Treadmill Harm Your Knees ?
Just how much must you walk on a treadmill before this becomes potentially harmful to your knees?
Of course, this assumes that you have healthy knees to begin with, rather than the painful bone-on-bone disease of osteoarthritis and in need of knee replacement surgery. (more…)
What Never to Say to Woman with Permanent Hair Loss from Chemo
To some women, their hair is a beloved part of their identity, and permanent hair loss from chemo is nothing short of devastating, especially if their hair was previously thick and glorious. (more…)
Skinny but Stomach Still Fat? Exercise vs. Diet for Solution
A thin person who’s healthy should not have a fat stomach.
Usually, the excess belly fat in an otherwise thin individual is caused by a problem with their exercise routine.
This article is about healthy people who have slender legs and arms, but mysterious pudge or rolls in their midsection.
They can pinch a lot more than an inch, and their belly and waistline feel like bread dough.
Sometimes there are literally rolls of fat, yet their legs are lean and may even be firm.
What in the devil is going on?
Let’s assume that such an individual is healthy, since there are medical conditions that can cause distended bellies.
The skinny but stomach is fat phenomenon is more prevalent in people over 40.
But I’ve seen plenty of it in 20-somethings.
Cause of Fat Belly in a Skinny Healthy Person
Quite simply, it’s lack of muscle tissue. This becomes very easy to understand when you ask yourself the following questions:
• Have you ever seen a person with “ripped” shoulders, arms and legs, but a doughy bloated belly of pudge?
• Have you ever seen a person with ripped abs and a tight trim waistline, but pudgy arms and doughy soft legs?
Muscle is the body’s best fat burner.
The more muscle you have, the faster will be your resting metabolism.
The solution is to lift weights and build muscle to stoke your resting metabolism.
Shutterstock/BLACKDAY
The body will siphon the fat in your stomach to subsidize muscle growth that’s needed to support a weightlifting program!
Do not think, “I must bulk up to get rid of my fat stomach!”
Exercise vs. Diet
- Cutting calories will not add the muscle that your thin-side body needs to boost metabolism.
- Eating more fresh produce and protein will not build more muscle — your body’s metabolic furnace — though a clean plant-based diet with adequate protein should be part of a muscle-building plan.
When I was a personal trainer, I saw the chubby stomachs of my clients shrink as they increased lean muscle mass in their legs, back and chest. No sit-ups or crunches were necessary.
A program for building lean muscle tissue will raise your body’s energy needs.
Unless your diet is too caloric, your body will pull much of this energy from stored body fat.
This is what causes the stomach to shrink. You just pummeled your legs in the gym with weights. Your muscles are now screaming for recovery energy.
Where is that energy stored?
Your belly. Your belly will shrink as you increase lean muscle tissue and adopt healthy eating habits.
This means after a thrashing back and chest workout, you don’t go running off to Dairy Queen and getting a double cheeseburger and Blizzard.
You instead have a chicken salad sandwich on two slices of whole grain bread and some fruit.
I can go on and on about diet, but this post is about why exercise wins over diet when it comes to shrinking a fat stomach.
Ever notice that competitive bodybuilders, of all athletes, have the tiniest waists?
That’s because all that muscle prevents fat accumulation in the stomach and waistline – just barely enough for functional purposes.
Bodybuilders go on strict “cutting” diet phases to prepare for competition or photo shoots, but even when they’re not in competition mode or doing any fitness modeling, they can maintain very small and tight waists and stomachs by maintaining the muscle mass and controlling their diet.
However, you need not sculpt your physique into competitive caliber to dramatically shrink your stomach.
But I point out the bodybuilders so that you can appreciate just how effective increasing muscle mass is for melting off stomach fat.
If you’re already kind of skinny but have a plump belly, dieting is not the solution.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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