From: Technotranscendence (neptune@mars.superlink.net)
Date: Sat May 12 2001 - 11:22:51 MDT
LEF Email List1 - http://www.lef.org
LIFE EXTENSION UPDATE MAY 11 2001
MAY IS NATIONAL SKIN CANCER AWARENESS MONTH
May 7 was designated Melanoma Monday. Melanoma Facts: Melanoma is now
the seventh most common type of cancer in the United States. Although the
US population increased 10% from 1980 to 1987, the number of melanomas
increased 83%. Twenty-five percent of melanoma cases occur in people 39
years old or younger. Melanoma is the most frequent cancer among women
aged 25 to 29 and the second most frequent among women aged 30 to 34. The
death rate from melanoma has tripled in the past four decades.
IN THIS ISSUE, MAY 11 2001:
LIFE EXTENSION UPDATE EXCLUSIVE: Three hundred-fifty cancer treatments
await approval
PROTOCOLS: Skin Aging, Cancer Surgery
FEATURED PRODUCTS OF THE WEEK: The Dream Cream, Solarmax
LIFE EXTENSION MAGAZINE COVER STORY: What's wrong with the FDA
LIFE EXTENSION UPDATE EXCLUSIVE: Three hundred-fifty cancer treatments
await approval
Lack of participants in clinical trials has caused a delay in the approval
of new cancer therapies, and less options for people facing cancer. More
effective and less toxic than their predecessors, new cancer treatments
have yet to complete the approval process due to a lack of trial
volunteers. An estimation of less than three to five percent of cancer
patients participate in the trials, mostly due to lack of awareness of
their existence.
Robert L Comis MD is president of the Coalition of National Cancer
Cooperative Groups, a network of cancer clinical trial specialists. He
announced, "Right now there are 350 new treatments out there ready to be
tested. If we're stuck at three to four percent of adult patients
participating in clinical trials, it will be years before these new
treatments are not only tested but become available once we show that
they're effective."
Clinical trials of cancer drugs involve giving the patient the current
best known treatment for a particular cancer, or giving cancer patients
the opportunity to try a new one. Patients receive leading-edge care
during the studies. The drugs have already been screened for safety.
Ellen Stovall, president of the patient advocacy organization, the
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, stated, "The most notable
misconception about clinical trials is that if you participate in a
clinical you're going to be a guinea pig, or that you are going to get a
'placebo,' or no treatment. The fact is both of those things are totally
incorrect."
For cancer patients for whom other therapies have failed, participation in
a clinical trial of a new therapy could offer renewed hope. For a list
of some open clinical cancer trials, go to
http://www.cancertrialshelp.org/patient_caregiver/trial_list.html
PROTOCOL
Skin Aging
The sleep hormone (melatonin) and the antistress hormone (DHEA) are both
found in human skin. Both are converted to other entities with important
jobs to do.
Studies show that both DHEA and melatonin are absorbed by skin when
applied topically. A study from CHUL Research Center (in Canada) shows
that the activity of DHEA applied topically is 85-90% greater than when
taken orally (at least in rodents). No special carriers are needed to get
DHEA and melatonin into skin. A properly formulated topical preparation of
melatonin and DHEA will contain just enough hormone to benefit skin
without providing enough to escape into circulation.
DHEA has another important defense: it keeps chemical carcinogens from
binding to DNA. According to some very interesting rodent studies
conducted at Fels Research Institute and Temple University, cancers simply
can't get started if enough DHEA is present. If this research holds up in
humans, topically applied DHEA is an exciting prospect for skin cancer.
Avoidance of more than modest exposure to the sun's ultraviolet light is
critically important to protect the skin against the oxidizing effects of
solar radiation. Ultraviolet rays are categorized by wavelengths: UVA,
UVB, and UVC. The ozone layer filters out the UVC and much of UVB rays,
but the ozone layer is not what it used to be, and it seems to have little
or no effect on UVA rays which make up 90% or more of the sun's radiation
that reaches the earth. Indeed it is exposure to UVA that causes most of
the photoaging damage: the premature wrinkles, loss of elasticity,
hyperpigmentation, and dry and leathery dull texture.
Rejuvenex with Advanced Vitamin C contains minimal sunscreen protection
(SPF-12), but ingredients such as vitamin C complex, vitamin E, ceraphyl
GA-D, vitamin A, and RNA do more to prevent and repair DNA damage than
even the strongest sunscreen.
The Dream Cream, also known as RejuveNight, contains all the antiaging
ingredients (including DHEA and melatonin) to help the skin repair, renew,
and revitalize itself. Although it was intended as an intensive night
recovery cream, it can be used any time. The precise DHEA amounts and
melatonin, together with associated factors, work specifically in the
epidermis of the skin, not transdermally. There is no sunscreen in the
Dream Cream, so if using it during the day in the sunlight, the user
should wear makeup that contains zinc oxide or a sunscreen (and most of
them do), or use a sunscreen.
http://www.lef.org/cgi-local/welcome.cgi/id=151064015/sgroup_id=699/welcome.
html
Cancer Surgery
Scientists believe that a primary tumor sends chemicals to signal new
blood vessels to grow into itself, but at the same time also sends a
chemical signal that prevents other tumors from growing in other parts of
the body. Advanced biomedical technology has now pinpointed those signals,
and most scientists accept that the angiogenesis process (stimulation of
new blood vessel growth) regulates the growth of metastatic tumors.
Once the primary tumor is removed, there is nothing to stop other tumors
from growing elsewhere. That's why some cancer patients often get worse
after undergoing tumor removal.
In recent years, several drugs-including interferons, steroids, and
certain hormonal agents-have been developed to stop or slow angiogenesis.
In fact, at least 11 anti-angiogenic drugs are now in clinical trials and
three have proved effective enough to make it to final phase.
Some of the drugs, like endostatin, are derived from natural proteins,
while others are based on smaller molecules. Ironically, one promising
drug on trial now is thalidomide, which once was sold as a sedative which
caused notorious birth defects in the children of women who took it.
For more information about human trials of endostatin, call the M.D.
Anderson Information Line, (800) 392-1611 and select option 3. For more
information on current clinical trials from PDQ, the National Cancer
Institute's database, call the Cancer Information Service, (800) 4-CANCER.
Physicians may request information about trials from the PDG Search
Service by calling (800) 345-3300, faxing (800) 380-1575, or e-mailing
pdqsearch@icicc.nci.nih.gov
http://www.lef.org/cgi-local/welcome.cgi/id=151064016/sgroup_id=699/welcome.
html
FEATURED PRODUCTS OF THE WEEK
The Dream Cream
The Dream Cream contains DHEA and melatonin, both of which protect and
moisturize skin when applied topically. DHEA protects skin cells from
injury, particularly thermal injury, and improves blood vessel integrity
within the skin to help protect cells from oxidative damage. It softens
rough, dry skin for a moist, dewy look. Topical melatonin protects against
UV-induced skin damage and skin aging. Research from Zurich University in
Switzerland has demonstrated the benefits of melatonin as a potent free
radical scavenger in skin. According to Dr. Nichols Hall, it is during
slow-wave "delta sleep" that our body recovers from the stress and fatigue
of daily living. Since melatonin is secreted only at night, applying the
Dream Cream at bedtime will augment the rejuvenating ingredients your skin
needs to enhance its ability for repair, renewal and revitalization.
http://www.lef.org/cgi-local/welcome.cgi/id=151064017/sgroup_id=699/welcome.
html
Solar Max
Formulated by Life Extension scientists Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw Solar
Max 17 is a waterproof and sweat resistant sunblock that is instantly
absorbed by the skin and provides the latest scientific protection without
that greasy messy feeling. Now you can get the UV protection you want
while moisturizing your skin to feel luxuriously smoother and softer.
Great for daily use during outdoor activities.
UV exposure from the sun causes skin damage. Regular use of sunscreens may
reduce the chance of skin damage, some types of skin cancer, premature
aging of the skin and harmful effects due to the sun.
http://www.lef.org/cgi-local/welcome.cgi/id=151064018/sgroup_id=699/welcome.
html
LIFE EXTENSION MAGAZINE COVER STORY
Congressional committees and investigative journalists have exposed
massive incompetence, neglect and fraud at the FDA. In the Courts, the
agency continues to lose critical cases as Federal Judges rule that FDA
policies are blatantly unconstitutional.
In the article that begins on the next page, we reveal the most recent
defeats the FDA has suffered in the Federal Courts. We then follow with a
report that deals with FDA problems uncovered by Congressional committees
and investigative journalists.
For the past 21 years, The Life Extension Foundation has compiled evidence
indicating that the FDA is the number one cause of death in the United
States. The FDA causes Americans to die by:
Delaying the introduction of life saving therapies
Suppressing safe methods of preventing disease
Causing the price of drugs to be so high that some Americans do without
Denying Americans access to effective drugs approved in other countries
Intimidating those who develop innovative methods to prevent disease
Approving lethal prescription drugs that kill
Censoring medical information that would let consumers protect their health
Censoring medical information that would better educate doctors
Failing to protect the safety of our food
Misleading the public about scientific methods to increase longevity
http://www.lef.org/cgi-local/welcome.cgi/id=151064019/sgroup_id=699/welcome.
html
Visit our website at www.lef.org
If you have questions about this issue or past issues of Life Extension
Update, or concerning any other life extension topics, email
ddye@lifeextension.com
For longer life,
Dayna Dye
Editor, Life Extension Update
ddye@lifeextension.com
Life Extension Foundation
www.lef.org
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