Welcome! This site can be easily viewed with a PDA or a mobile phone. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Well, it looks like the scientists have actually made a real breakthrough at last. It has long been established that cancer cells out live normal cells and have been deemed ‘immortal’.

The process whereby cancer starts has also been known for a number of years. The drug concerned in this breakthrough has been used for a number of years to treat other conditions, and is known to be safe.

Interestingly, the drug, called dichloroacetate has no patent, so any of the major drug companies could manufacture this drug cheaply and quickly.

Cancer is known to start when these cells switch from using oxygen to generate energy, to a method using sugar called glycolysis, which is essentially creating energy anaerobically, or without oxygen. The cells actually do this as a survival trait, (and I’ll be dealing with this in another series of posts relating to cancer).

In the process, the cells mitochondria are turned off, (as the mitochondria are responsible for using the oxygen energy process), to allow the sugar energy process to start.

Unfortunately, the mitochondria are also responsible for the self-destruction of abnormal cells, and once turned off, and cells continue to replicate abnormally. Ironically, the process also creates a waste product, lactic acid. Lactic acid breaks down the cell walls and allows abnormal cells to break away from the tumour. These cells can then travel to any part of the body and create secondary tumours.

Dichloroacetate or DCA, as it is known attacks cancer cells by returning the cells energy process back to using oxygen, by switching back on the mitochondria. This triggers the cells to self-destruct. Previously it was assumed that this was impossible because it was believed the mitochondria in a damaged cell were beyond recovery.

You will also see in further posts that followers of natural cancer treatments have always believed the cells were capable of recovery.

There are a few side-effects to using DCA. It can cause numbness, upset to your gait and pain.

It looks promising, and DCA appears to be effective against all forms of cancer. Hopefully DCA will soon be more generally available.

Tags: cancer, cancer treatments, dichloroacetate

Do you know how the term vitamin originated? In 1912 a Polish biochemist called Dr Casimir Funk concluded that foods contained vital substances necessary for the well-being of the body. He thought these substances were nitrogen compounds known as amines, so he called them vital amines and years later published a scientific paper titled ‘The Vitamines’.

When some of the chemicals that he had identified were discovered not to be amines, the ‘e’ was dropped from the word leaving us with the term vitamin.

Vitamins are of two types, water-soluble, (the more common known), vitamins B and vitamin C, and fat soluble, vitamins A, D, E, and K.

The fat soluble vitamins can be stored and fatty tissues and therefore are retained longer in the body. For this reason you can overdose on fat soluble vitamins if you are careless.

The water-soluble vitamins pass quickly through the body and need to be replenished daily.

Vitamin A is needed for good eyesight. It helps you see in dim conditions and at night. It helps maintain healthy hair, mucous membranes, skin, bone and teeth. It has anti-oxidant qualities and combats free radicals in the body.

Vitamins B are essential to the body for energy metabolism, digestion, making new blood cells, and making antibodies.

Vitamin C helps promote healing and helps strengthen blood vessel walls, helps prevent loose teeth, bleeding gums, bruises, scurvy, and haemorrhaging.

Vitamin D is necessary for calcium absorption and therefore also helps maintain teeth and bones.

Vitamin E helps maintain muscles and red blood cells and is an important antioxidant.

Vitamin K helps blood clotting and helps prevent easy bruising.

The following are recommended daily intakes in adults.

Vitamin A 700 mcg
Vitamin B 10 - 200 mcg
Vitamin C 40 mg
Vitamin D 10 mcg
Vitamin E 4 mg
Vitamin K 1 mcg