Cell Division in body: benign and malignant conditions

Every day our body continues renewing the cells. Old cells die and new cells replace them. “Normal” division of cells as needed by the body is a benign or innocent process. However, when this new cell formation process goes out of control because of any reason, producing large number of such cells, creating a lump on a site or in circulating blood, capable of spreading to another site, where those cells are not normally supposed to be present, it is called cancer or “malignancy”. Such “abnormal” growth happens at an expense of nutrition of other normal cells. Hence the individual looses weight and gradually becomes weaker. The lump may become bigger creating local pain, ulceration, or pressure on adjacent tissues causing issues directly or indirectly.

Most active replenishment goes on in skin, intestine and blood cells. It is normal to have such continuous replacement of old dying cells.

As mentioned elsewhere, cancer is a generic name of a unique disease condition, in which the normal growth in body turns abnormal and uncontrolled. The cells from one organ may travel to another, where it does not belong. In the process, to put it differently, the new abnormally growing cells soak away the nutrition from body necessary for its normal functioning, using it for the abnormal unnecessary growth of the tumor forming due to the excessive division of the cells at a place or many places. Lots of research is being done to understand the cause, spread, and control of both. Because today we do not understand this all, it is baffling and inexplicable. From the way we know medical science and its evolvement, we expect to be able to understand many of these issues in next decade or two.

Cancer, Religion and Faith

Most Western cultures believe very little in Karma and rebirth, like Hinduism does. However, the three large monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam believe in resurrection at the time of Day of Judgment. Buddhism also believes in similar doctrine.

Almost all cultures in the world believe in combination of body and soul allowing a life together for some predetermined and predestined amount of time. Some may be a few seconds; others may be for many years. When soul leaves body, as believed in many religions and cultures, the body’s usefulness ends. All the minerals making the body, then get back merged into its own original self. The soul is believed to be eternal in most religion and is supposed to have connection with the Creator of the universe.

This happens in both, animal and plant kingdoms. The number of lives being produced and made extinct every day, or to that matter every minute, may be in such a large number that it is almost incomprehensible.

There are many Eastern cultures that believe in “Karma”, and reincarnation. Hindu religion in particular believes in multiple rebirth of the soul in different forms, usually from a lower form to higher form, human form being the highest. Those who believe in this firmly, also believe that there is no death, because the soul is eternal. The soul travels from one body to another, only changing the cover or body. Hence while the body keeps changing, the soul remains eternal and will be around forever, until, as the belief goes, the soul meets back into the Creator or the God Almighty.

Many experiences have been described to substantiate such belief. But since “science” believes in replicable incidences and experiences only, the students of science always keep digging in until this acid test is met with. They call it research in metaphysical experiences. But then be it whatever, many books have been written about authenticated experiences describing such moments.

All the religions do not teach the doctrine of reincarnation as Hindu religion has. However, they all seem to believe in the Day of Judgment and that the body in flesh will be resurrected and will pay for the wrong doings in this world and eventually an eternal life of soul in heaven with best of rewards. However, Islam’s different factions and sects believe in spirituality and spiritualism in different degrees. Some less, other more. Sufism is the staunch believer of spiritualism and esoteric side of religion. Sufism by itself has no definitive origin in anything that is recorded. However, in Turkey and Iran in particular and many other countries in general have Sufism and its traditions firmly established. Those who believe in Sufism are not strongly ritualistic and believe in The Creator, its creation and the return of that into the Creator at the end, whenever that is to be. Despite their belief in spiritualism, there is no definitive views and belief in resurrection even in Sufism.

An interesting side of such belief is that the Creator is considered to be WITHIN every single living being. Every day life is full of demonstrations of the Creator within and amongst us in the shape of growing plants, colors of flowers, memory, intelligence and the likes.

Etiology of Cancer : Viruses and Bacteria

Only one bacterium and a few viruses are implicated in causation of cancer. These viruses infect human cells. Such instances are found in cervical, liver cancer, and certain lymphomas, leukemias, and sarcomas. Susceptibility to these cancers can sometimes be spread from person to person by infectious viruses in rare cases.

Cervical Cancer: It is now known that the risk of cervical cancer is increased in women with multiple sexual partners and is especially high in women who marry a man whose previous wife had this disease. Transmission of the human papillomavirus (HPV) during sexual relations appears to be involved in such cases. Of the 100 different types of HPVs, about 30 are known to be passed from one to another person, and about 13 of them are considered to be higher risk types, since they are recognized as cancer causing HPVs.

A screening technique called the Pap test (or Pap smear) allows early detection of cancer of the cervix. Cervix is the narrow portion of the uterus that extends down into the upper part of the vagina. In this procedure, a sample of cells from the cervix and upper vagina is removed and checked under microscope for abnormalities. Since the 1930s, early detection using the Pap test has helped lower the death rate from cervical cancer more than 75 percent.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration have approved an HPV test. This test can detect the viruses even before there are any conclusive visible changes to the cervical cells

Stomach Cancer: Viruses are not the only infectious agents that have been implicated in human cancer. The bacteriumHelicobacter pylori, which can cause stomach ulcers, has been associated with the development of cancer, so people infected with H. pylori are at increased risk for stomach cancer. Research is under way to define the genetic interactions between this infectious agent and its host tissues that may explain why cancer develops

Immune hope for chemotherapy patients

Monash University Monash University scientist, Professor Richard Boyd has identified a group of cells that help to rebuild the immune system following chemotherapy. Professor Boyd and Dr Daniel Gray from Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories have found that mesenchymal cells are involved in restoring a damaged thymus by supporting the growth of surrounding cells. The thymus is a major engine room of the immune system, producing T lymphocytes which are needed for defence against infections. Their results have been published in the latest edition of The Journal of Immunology. Chemotherapy, necessary to kill off cancerous cells, also severely depletes the immune system and injures the thymus, affecting a cancer patient's recovery rate and level of immunity. The thymus recovers in children, but rarely if at all in adults, severely compromising the ability to fight infections and potentially help ward off the return of the cancer. Although other researchers have examined the role of mesenchymal cells, Professor Boyd's group is the first to discover how these cells behave once the thymus has been damaged by treatments such as chemotherapy. "We now know that mesenchymal cells act as 'immune conductors' in the thymus," Professor Boyd said. "They reduce the inflammation caused by chemotherapy in surrounding cells." In response to chemotherapy, the mesenchymal cells increase their production of several growth factors (proteins) which help stimulate other cells to begin rebuilding the thymus. "The research has not only shown us how the cells operate, but also how they work together. Understanding how this organ behaves, has implications for enhancing the recovery rate of a damaged thymus which we hope will increase cancer recovery rates," Professor Boyd said. Professor Boyd, together with Professors Alan Trounson, Claude Bernard and Ban Hok Toh, currently hold a newly awarded program grant from the National Health and Medical Research Centre which combines stem cell therapies with rebuilding the thymus to treat autoimmune diseases. Their research combines an integrated picture of immunology and stem cells. The program grant investigates how the cells create, maintain and repair the thymus. The team will also look at how cells within the thymus and bone marrow behave through different stages of chemotherapy and work to develop therapeutics to improve recovery times.

Alcohol cleans up blood infections

University of Otago A research nurse specialist completing her Masters in Health Sciences at the University of Otago, Christchurch has shown that using ethanol as a ‘disinfectant’ in intravenous catheters (plastic tubes fixed into patients’ veins for weeks or months in order to give drugs or blood) reduces blood stream infection rates in immune-suppressed patients. Joanne Sanders has demonstrated for the first time that by using diluted ethanol (pharmaceutical grade alcohol), catheter-associated infection rates (CABSI) in patients having chemotherapy are four times lower compared to conventional methods. “What really surprised us when we analysed the results was not that the patients with ethanol-lock catheters had fewer infections, but that the difference was so significant. “ “Only 9 per cent of patients administered ethanol developed infections in the blood, but in contrast four times as many, 37 per cent, of those who were given the placebo saline solution, developed bloodstream infections. Patients with infections have to be treated with antibiotics, or have the catheter removed and a new one put in; much more problematic in anyone who has had their immune systems suppressed.” The research, which was supervised by Drs Alan Pithie and Peter Ganly at Christchurch Hospital, looked at two groups of patients. 34 had ethanol locked into their central venous chest catheters for two hours every day to prevent infection, while 30 were given conventional treatment using a saline solution. “It’s a very exciting result although in a relatively small sample of 64 patients,”she says. “However it’s generated a lot of interest both here and overseas as bloodstream infections can be life-threatening for patients who’ve been immuno-suppressed during chemotherapy for leukaemia, or those having a bone marrow transplant.” Joanne says the ethanol seems to work well because it attacks all bacteria which have lodged in the biofilm on the inside of the catheter - unlike conventional antibiotics which only kill certain bacteria and have nowhere near the wide ranging hit rate of ethanol. The big plus is that it’s cheap, at about $4 per patient per day; much cheaper than trying to deal with infections in seriously ill patients. This is the first study ever to demonstrate that ethanol can prevent catheter- associated blood infection, and the results have produced interest in the USA and Australia. Joanne expects further replication studies to be carried out. This study has been published in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and was funded by the Canterbury District Health Board.

Fighting chemotherapy fatigue

Queensland University of Technology It's often far from what they feel like doing, but women who do mild aerobic exercise during chemotherapy for breast cancer report significantly less fatigue. Queensland University of Technology nursing researcher Professor Patsy Yates, from the Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovations, said the debilitating fatigue that accompanied chemotherapy treatment could be reduced by giving patients techniques to self manage their tiredness. "It is not just physical fatigue that women receiving chemotherapy report," Professor Yates said. "Women also describe emotional fatigue and can feel so tired they cannot imagine getting out of bed the next day, as well as cognitive fatigue such as not being able to concentrate on usual day to day activities such as reading." Professor Yates said it was almost counterintuitive for women undergoing chemotherapy to exercise. "We found the two key techniques that helped women to manage fatigue were to do light exercise, such as walking, and to pace themselves so they they had energy to do the things they enjoy. "Chemotherapy patients tend to rest because they feel unwell and tired but rest alone is not beneficial - it seems to set up a vicious cycle: the less active you are the less energy you have for daily life." Professor Yates studied 109 Queensland and Victorian women starting chemotherapy for stages I or II breast cancer. The women were divided into a group who received three 10 to 20-minute sessions on managing fatigue and a control group who received general education about living with cancer. The study found that the women in the control group consistently had an increase of at least 50 percent in reported fatigue compared with those who received the self management information. "The study shows even a small amount of discussion about what can be done to manage fatigue can be helpful," Dr Yates said. "We are not sure why exercise works but it could be because it keeps your body conditioned so the effort to do other things is less." Professor Yates said further research would look at how to incorporate the fatigue-fighting message into routine clinical practice.

Chemotherapy:

Chemotherapy is made up of two words "Chemo" and "Therapy". Chemo means use of chemicals and therapy means treatment. Chemotherapy is a way of treating cancer by using chemicals which kills cancerous cells. Cancer is the disease which is characterized by out-of-control cell growth. These damaged cells divide uncontrollably to form lumps or masses of tissue called tumors which interfere with the digestive,nervous and circulatory systems. Chemotherapy is a systematic treatment of cancer, in which drug enters through the blood stream,travels throughout the body and destroys the cancerous cells. Chemotherapeutic drugs are chemically designed to target the cancer cells. Cancer can affect all age groups and Patients of any age can be treated with chemotherapy. For chemotherapy, patients can visit hospital or to a doctor but sometimes patients has to stay in hospital for the treatment. Patients may experience some side effects of chemotherapy such as hair loss, fatigue etc but side effects usually disappears at the end of treatment.

Read more on chemotherapy - www.chemohelp.info