RELATED MEDICAL ISSUES RIGHT NOW! #2: Osteoporosis And YOU! (What???)

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

From the first moment I discovered my dad had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it seemed like I was alone in this ugly place. Even ones who had loved ones suffering in this way; even though people TALKED about the disease, it felt for me like they did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…

The immediate crisis that was Breast Cancer and Alzheimer’s have passed. There are, however ancillary issues like testing and treatments that may not be directly related to BC or A but intersect with them. Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: Osteoporosis!

My wife recently had a DEXA Scan (DEXA is an acronym for a truly incomprehensible medical procedure: Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry.), though the author of the article, who is a retired med tech, notes, “a mouthful of a term that actually tells a lot about this procedure”…I would argue that it doesn’t mean ANYTHING to a normal person!

So let’s break it down. First of all, it’s a special kind of x-ray. OK, that’s pretty easy. X-rays are something we all understand (I marvel that it’s no longer necessary to “develop the film”. It all pops up on a computer screen now, pretty much instantly!)

“As the scanning arm is moved slowly over your body, a narrow beam of low-dose X-rays will be passed through the part of your body being examined. This will usually be your hip and lower spine to check for weak bones (also called osteoporosis)”.

The doctor looks at the how thick (which is (mostly) what “density” is) and she makes a determination based on what’s normal and what’s not.

There are two scores they give you, the T-score and the Z-score. I'll stick with the more understandable T-score!

The T-score compares your bone density to the BEST bone density for your gender. [For the mathematically inclined: “It is reported as the number of standard deviations below the average, which is based on the bone density of a healthy 30-year-old adult.”] If it’s more than -1 your bone density is normal. Between -1 to -2.5 shows something called “osteopenia” means it’s less dense than it SHOULD be, but not disaster yet. You are at some risk of developing osteoporosis. But if it’s less than -2.5 (-2.7, -3.0, -3.2, etc.) that generally means osteoporosis.

What’s osteoporosis? Simple: It’s the weakening of bones in the body. It is caused by lack of calcium deposited in the bones. That means that when you DO smack a bone and you have osteoporosis, the bone’s more likely to break – rather than just getting a bone bruise.

What can you do if you have osteopenia (pre-osteoporosis) or actual osteoporosis? Well, listen to your doctor for one! But what about BEFORE the emergency?

Include plenty of calcium in your diet.
Good sources of calcium include dairy products, almonds, broccoli, kale, canned salmon with bones, sardines and soy products, such as tofu. If you find it difficult to get enough calcium from your diet, ask your doctor about supplements.

Pay attention to vitamin D.
Your body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium. Good sources of vitamin D are salmon, trout, whitefish and tuna. Also, mushrooms, eggs and fortified foods, such as milk and cereals, are good sources of vitamin D. Plain old being out in the sun also contributes to the body's production of vitamin D.

Include physical activity in your daily routine.

(Isn’t it WEIRD how doing exercise can help you feel better and live longer?) Weight-bearing exercises, such as walking, jogging, and climbing stairs, can help you build strong bones and slow bone loss.

Avoid substance abuse.

Don't smoke. Woman should avoid drinking more than one alcoholic beverage a day. Men? No more than two alcoholic drinks a day.

There’s stuff you can do before an emergency. And if you’ve hit the panic button? The same things are helpful, PLUS doing what the doc says!

Resources: https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-a-dexa-scan-190167, https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/bone-health/art-20045060
Image: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQWFDJVgpz0G9kdb-eRXgRxMiv-Qz-Moaiw9w&usqp=CAU

Putting It All Together: EXERCISE ISN'T MAGIC -- BUT DO IT!

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Doctors harp on exercise and this is the last time I’ll harp on it at length, too!

Despite the harping – or in my case, perversely because of it – I avoid exercise like the plague.

Even so, as I read more and more sites promoting the “exercise makes you better if you have breast cancer” meme, I found that almost none of them give any kind of evidence as to WHY exercise fights cancer and promotes healing.

So I dug into the sites and finally found some evidence supporting this wild, “Do this one weird thing…” kind of meme.

10) “The complicated nature of the physical activity variable, combined with lack of knowledge regarding possible biological mechanisms operating between physical activity and cancer, warrants further studies including controlled clinical randomized trials.”

Translation?

We haven’t got a good, clear idea of why exercise makes some kind of difference because we can’t quite dig deep enough or look small enough into the Human body to really understand this.

It seems clear that we know a few things: exercise gets rid of fat cells that make estrogen and estrogen drives cancer cell growth; exercise makes insulin more effective; exercise reduces the amount of leptin (which gives cells more cancer receptors) in your blood because you have fewer fat cells to make it; exercise suppresses the production of LH, FSH and “other ovarian hormones” like estrogen and progestogens. At MUCH lower levels, exercise can mimic the effect of the anti-cancer drug, tamoxifen; exercising means that more fat is metabolized and you don’t need as MUCH of the hormone to do the work of fat destruction so there are fewer hormones to drive cancer cell growth; exercise decreases the markers of inflammation; exercise boosts the immune system by circulating more wbcs and T cells, lowers the chemicals that cause swelling, lowers the number of fat cells which make estrogen which strengthens breast cancer cells and keeps the immune system working like this LONGER; and lastly, even the exercise of DAILY MOVEMENT can increase the effectiveness of insulin in those who are insulin resistant.

So we know that exercise is helpful in preventing and recovering from breast cancer. I guess that’s a big “duh” for me. Of course keeping the body healthy would prevent and fight breast cancer.

But now we know the HOW – and that’s been my goal all along!

Image: http://ak3.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/895183/preview/stock-footage-attractive-woman-runs-on-beach-against-dramatic-sunset-hd.jpg

Another “HOLD ON THERE BABA LOUIE!” Moment

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Doctors harp on exercise.

Despite the harping – or in my case, perversely because of it – I avoid exercise like the plague.

Even so, as I read more and more sites promoting the “exercise makes you better if you have breast cancer” meme, I found that almost none of them give any kind of evidence as to WHY exercise fights cancer and promotes healing.

So I dug into the sites and finally found some evidence supporting this wild, “Do this one weird thing…” kind of meme. This week, it’s number:

9) Physical activity appears to enhance proliferation of lymphocytes, increases the number of natural killer cells and increases lymphokine-activated killer cells activity.

What’s a “lymphocyte”?

What’s a “natural killer cell”?

What’s “lymphokine-activated killer cell activity”?

To tell you the truth, these appear to fade from easily definable to mumbo-jumbo-ish, so let’s have at it!

But we need to take one more step backward and start with White Blood Cells.

In contrast to the RED blood cell, which are the cells that make up the visible part of the blood. The red blood cells – or rbc’s – are the part of the blood that makes it RED! It’s red because each of the rbc’s has many heme molecules in it. The heme molecules are the ones that carry a tiny iron atom in their center. It’s the iron atom that OXYGEN grabs hold of so that the rbc’s can carry oxygen from the lungs, allowing cells everywhere to "BREATHE" (technically to carry on cellular respiration...but this isn't a textbook). There are zillions of these little suckers in your bloodstream at all times and THEY come from the marrow in your bones.

So white blood cells – or wbc’s – don’t have heme in them; therefore they are, by comparison, WHITE. But they still travel in the bloodstream. Instead of carrying oxygen, they attack and destroy any germs that get into your body. They also take care of any other junk that gets in.

Lymphocytes are a kind of wbc. There are three kinds of lymphocytes – natural killer cells, T cells and B cells. Another name for the natural killer cells are NK cells. T cells are the kind of cells that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) targets.

NK cells have the specific duty of protecting the body from tumors and viruses by “popping” the cells to destroy them; the other two handle the release of cytokines, lysis and immune regulation and creating antibodies.

The effect of exercise on NK cells however, seems to be blasted out of the water by the study referenced below and quoted here: “…latent CMV infection is associated with lowered numbers of NK-cells expressing inhibitory receptors and a blunted mobilization of NK-cells in response to acute exercise. This may indicate a compromised immune response to ‘fight-or-flight’ situations in those infected with CMV.”

Conversely, “Moderate exercise has been reported to produce an anti-inflammatory environment and thus reduce the risk of infection. Conversely, continuous, intense exercise may increase oxidative stress (an overproduction of reactive oxygen species compared to the body’s ability to detoxify), inflammatory responses, as well as the risk for infection.”

And blasting back from the other side: “Longitudinal training studies in previously sedentary people have failed to show marked changes in T and B cell functions provided that blood samples were taken at least 24 h after the last exercise bout.” Also: “Evidence suggests that the prophylactic effect of exercise may, to some extent, be ascribed to the anti-inflammatory effect of regular exercise mediated via a reduction in visceral fat mass and/or by induction of an anti-inflammatory environment with each bout of exercise (e.g. via increases in circulating anti-inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1 receptor antagonist and IL-10). To understand the mechanism(s) of the protective, anti-inflammatory effect of exercise fully, we need to focus on the nature of exercise that is most efficient at allieviating the effects of chronic inflammation in disease. The beneficial effects of endurance exercise are well known; however, the antiinflammatory role of strength training exercises are poorly defined. In addition, the independent contribution of an exercise-induced reduction in visceral fat versus other exercise-induced anti-inflammatory mechanisms needs to be understood better. There is consensus that exercise training protects against some types of cancers. Training also enhances aspects of anti-tumour immunity and reduces inflammatory mediators. However, the evidence linking immunological and inflammatory mechanisms, physical activity, and cancer risk reduction remains tentative.”

Translated: “We don’t know enough yet to say if exercise is magic”.

I’m NOT saying exercise is a waste of time. There are enough other benefits listed above to induce anyone who is hesitant or ridicules the IMPORTANCE of exercise in fighting and recovering from cancer (in this case breast cancer specifically) to start a regimen of moderate exercise and make it a regular part of life.

BUT if anyone says that the data are in and it’s a win and then runs out to hire a trainer or join an exclusive club offering personal coaching and cutting edge vegetable-fruit mixed drinks…well, like everything else that has to do with breast cancer, there’s no “cure all”, no magic bullet and nothing that works for everyone all the time.

Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphocyte, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21933704, http://www.nsca-lift.org/HotTopic/download/Immune-Function.pdf, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21446352
Image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2hgCC9tHO2iEZsKGEqnFHMCX2akUSi5fgEg6LmwALVLbD4sg0TQqsN5F5R8Qwaf3MVwKV072SFbUgd2nAZGBPZLbEd19V6HxPUgneVrCi0WbwCmQeU2VH1r9F3hyGmcqk85qk5NOa8Y/s1600/white-blood-cell-amungst-red.jpg

“HOLD ON THERE BABA LOUIE!” – Exercise “reduces cytokines in adipose tissue” might be PURE HYPE!

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Doctors harp on exercise.

Despite the harping – or in my case, perversely because of it – I avoid exercise like the plague.

Even so, as I read more and more sites promoting the “exercise makes you better if you have breast cancer” meme, I found that almost none of them give any kind of evidence as to WHY exercise fights cancer and promotes healing.

So I dug into the sites and finally found some evidence supporting this wild, “Do this one weird thing…” kind of meme. This week, it’s number:

8) Increased levels of pro-inflammatory factors and decreased levels of anti-inflammatory factors have been linked with increased cancer risk. Physical activity might reduce systemic inflammation alone or in combination with reduction in body weight or composition through reducing inflammatory cytokines in adipose tissue.

What are pro and anti-inflammatory factors?

Let’s start with CYTOKINES and let me warn you, even researchers are still a bit fuzzy about these molecules, which explains the “might” in the paragraph above. We’ll take this subject as a “details at 11” kind of thing – it’s changing every day, but TODAY and to the best of our knowledge, we can say that we’re pretty sure that cytokines are small molecules that are given off by numerous cells and are used to communicate with each other. Cytokines are a large and diverse family of molecules with many jobs. One thing we are pretty sure they do to control the immune system – that collection of white blood cells and chemicals that spring to work when you’re hurt or sick and the body has to fight off an infection. The line between cytokines and hormones is also pretty blurry but PROBABLY, cytokines come from lots of places and there are only set amounts in the blood – though that amount can leap up during trauma or infection. Hormone levels are steady. Many cells produce cytokines. Most hormones come from specific glands (adrenal, pancreas, etc). Also, while usually specific, some cytokines act like hormones to have an effect on the entire body. Last of all, some cytokines act outside the immune system and affect the development of the human body.

As to breast cancer, at least one cytokine affects both the presence of and severity of breast cancer: “In a study published in the January 15th issue of Cancer Research…researchers showed that activation of the CXCR4 [cytokine] receptors [on the cancer cells] resulted in increased tumor growth and metastasis…and less dependent on estrogen for continued growth…to become metastatic and resistant to endocrine therapy…[in] A second study published in the current issue of Surgery…authors reported that all benign breast tissues had no detectable CXCR4 levels, whereas all 101 breast cancer patients showed at least some level of this cytokine receptor. Of these breast cancer patients, 79 had low levels of CXCR4 and 22 had high levels of CXCR4. These high CXCR4 levels were linked with increased breast cancer recurrence and worse chances of survival…overexpression of CXCR4 cytokine receptors is linked to worse breast cancer outcomes…blocking this pathway might become a valuable breast cancer treatment for patients overexpressing this cytokine receptor.”

The big “might” up above has given breast cancer, cytokines and exercise a high level of interest. The third reference below cites a study that, as of my referencing of it, was still recruiting participants.

So – I’m going to label THIS particular aspect of exercise and breast cancer as a big MAYBE, LET’S WAIT AND SEE. So don’t go spreading the word that exercise reduces cytokines and decreases breast cancer.

Nobody knows enough yet to say one way or the other.


Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine, http://breastcancerfightnowbydraarontabor.blogspot.com/2011/01/cytokine-receptor-cxcr4-worsens-breast.html, http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00851812

Image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQV27CfFqnrNKvU6XZxscA3VxfzsVsRCskJ-0N2kSxqeiQz68i0Ld8jpfompfrpBXhsivcIFRFUdF8_o96szMppuTJU3rtggjJ5Rm-o0yM8UZcfkqiZwmpzquBl2v1ER2CzAii3M_YQok/s1600/LYIN+LION+(11).png

NORMAL LIFE Exercise Reduces Insulin Resistance!

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Doctors harp on exercise.

Despite the harping – or in my case, perversely because of it – I avoid exercise like the plague.

Even so, as I read more and more sites promoting the “exercise makes you better if you have breast cancer” meme, I found that almost none of them give any kind of evidence as to WHY exercise fights cancer and promotes healing.

So I dug into the sites and finally found some evidence supporting this wild, “Do this one weird thing…” kind of meme. This week, it’s number:

7) Insulin resistance, hyperinsulinaemia, hyperglycaemia and type 2 diabetes have been linked to increased risk of breast, colon, pancreas and endometrial cancers. Physical activity decreases insulin resistance, reduces hyperinsulinaemia and reduces risk for diabetes, which could explain the link between increased physical activity and reduced risk for these cancers

I talked about the connection between insulin and breast cancer earlier (http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2012/03/exercise-reduces-estrogen-in-blood-and.html), so I’ll talk more about EXERCISE here.

But before I go on, I’d like to say something about “non-exercise exercise”. My wife and hero works with kindergartners all day long: teaching reading, going out to recess, going to lunch, chasing down stragglers and generally corralling the little munchkins so much that she comes home with aching feet.

My question has always been: at what point does what I DO in everyday life become exercise?

There are advocates of daily exercise that explain: “We don't expend energy doing anything. We've actually engineered regular daily physical activity out of our lives…He says a lot of things stop us from burning calories…We come to work in almost any vocation and we sit. And we sit for eight hours and then we get up and we sit in the motorcar, you know, in automobile and we go home. When we arrive at home, we sit in front of the television. We have frozen TV dinners. We have pre-prepared, prepackaged food that doesn't require energy to collect it. We don't hunt, cook it. It's mostly just put in microwaves and simple systems…We don't even chop vegetables anymore. Bauman says that's very different from the way life used to be. He cites research by a colleague who studied people living and working in a historical Australian village, recreating life in the 19th century…Their energy expenditures were three to five times the amount that people spend today. And that was just a regular person going to and from work. It wasn't a lumberjack or someone who was working on the land or someone who had a huge heavily physical job…And, of course, three to five times more energy expenditure burns a lot more calories… Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for death and for illness. It contributes to about one-sixth of heart disease, cardiovascular disease, about the same for diabetes, about 12 percent for falls in the elderly, and about a tenth of all breast cancer and colon cancer are attributable to being physically inactive.” (Interview, Bauman/Silberner)

But what if my wife isn’t DOING that? Is what she DOES every day considered “exercise”?

YES!

“Even if you don’t have a 15 or 30 minute window to dedicate to yoga or a bike ride, that doesn’t mean you can’t add physical activity to your day. If you're not ready to commit to a structured exercise program, think about physical activity as a lifestyle choice rather than a single task to check off your to-do list. Look at your daily routine and consider ways to sneak in activity here and there. Even very small activities can add up over the course of a day: Clean the house, wash the car, tend to the yard and garden, mow the lawn with a push mower, sweep the sidewalk or patio with a broom; bike or walk to an appointment rather than drive, banish all elevators and use the stairs, briskly walk to the bus stop then get off one stop early, park at the back of the lot and walk into the store or office, take a vigorous walk during your coffee break. Walk while you’re talking on your cell phone; walk or jog around the soccer field during your kid’s practice, make a neighborhood bike ride part of weekend routine, play tag with your children in the yard or play exercise video games. Walk the dog together as a family, or if you don’t have your own dog, volunteer to walk a dog from a shelter. Organize an office bowling team, take a class in martial arts, dance, or yoga with a friend or spouse; gently stretch while watching your favorite show, do push-ups, sit-ups or lift light weights during the commercial breaks—you'll be amazed at how many repetitions you can fit in during the commercials of a half hour show! Better still, once a week turn off the TV and take a walk outside instead”

And the benefit of all that movement?

The very same ones as ANY form of exercise provides, and in this particular case, it results in an increased effectiveness of insulin in those who are insulin resistant!

So MOVE! If we can do it, so can you!

Resources: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127525702, http://www.helpguide.org/life/exercise.htm

Image: http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a07/qg/bv/games-kindergartenage-children-800x800.jpg

Exercise Reduces the Circulation of Female and MALE Hormones????

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

I am behind this week on all my writing. For a number of reasons. Firstly, I’m consumed by the novel I’m writing right now. Then Thursday night I had a meeting for summer school, good, but busy after a day of preparing for MAJOR testing over the next three weeks. Then a student in the school I work at unexpectedly died. Finally, Saturday was invested in the grandkids being here. So I posted Free Fiction Thursday late and now GUY’S GOTTA TALK. Sorry!

Doctors harp on exercise.

Despite the harping – or in my case, perversely because of it – I avoid exercise like the plague.

Even so, as I read more and more sites promoting the “exercise makes you better if you have breast cancer” meme, I found that almost none of them give any kind of evidence as to WHY exercise fights cancer and promotes healing.

So I dug into the sites and finally found some evidence supporting this wild, “Do this one weird thing…” kind of meme. This week, it’s number:

6) Studies in postmenopausal women indicate that physical activity might affect postmenopausal breast cancer and endometrial cancer risk by reducing body fat, thereby lowering circulating levels of estrogens and androgens

This one, while it seems different is an iteration of the research I’ve translated above. In the interest of screening out my chit-chatting, I’ll quote the pertinent information from previous posts:

“What hormone levels does exercise reduce? Primarily estrogen. Estrogen does things besides produce secondary sexual characteristics and feed breast cancer tumors. It also increases fat stores in the body (important for energy), increases bone formation, increases triglycerides in blood, promotes fluid balances and decreases fat deposition. Exercising to a point of fat loss causes a decrease in the number of cells in women that make estrogen in fat cells (this begins in menopause) , therefore the amount of estrogen in the blood goes down and the cancer cells grow more slowly.

“Insulin and insulin-like growth factor from the pancreas and the liver respectively, regulate the uptake of glucose and fats in the body as well as regulating cell growth. With exercise, insulin absorption and effectiveness increases which shows up as less insulin in the bloodstream and doing its job in the body – which is to cause cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood and store it as glycogen rather than allowing it to float around the bloodstream – which is toxic.” (from – Exercise Reduces Estrogen)

“The fat cells are where the leptin is manufactured, therefore, when you bomb the factories with walking, eating sensible amounts and kinds of food, using your elliptical machine, parking farther out in a parking lot and walking in and taking the Pup for a quick walk to the park; you reduce the amount of leptin in your blood because you have fewer fat cells to make it!” (from – Exercise Reduces Leptin)

“In other words, the more you exercise, the more fat is metabolized (duh!); but the more you exercise, the LESS these hormones work (huh?); but because of exercise, you don’t need as MUCH of the hormone to do the work of fat destruction (“lipolytic activity”); therefore, there are fewer hormones to drive cancer cell growth. (The last sentence is a layman’s interpretation of everything I’ve read. I’m NOT a doctor. I am a biology major and I’ve read constantly and regularly both popular and scientific articles. None of the articles says this outright – but I believe that it is implied.)” (from – Exercise Reduces Metabolic Hormones)

“Exercise pumps up the immune system and lowers estrogen levels. With as little as four hours of exercise per week, a woman can begin to lower her risk of breast cancer. You’ll be able to maintain a healthy weight. Regular exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight by building muscle and burning fat... fat cells make estrogen; extra fat cells mean more estrogen in the body and estrogen can make hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers develop and grow.” (from – Exercise May Improve Immune Functions)

Lastly: ANDROGENS??? Aren’t those “male hormones”?

Yes. Like testosterone.

So: “The role of endogenous steroid hormones in pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer has been investigated in EPIC in the largest studies conducted to date on this topic. We have shown that both estrogens and androgens increase breast cancer risk while SHBG decreases risk after menopause. In parallel, overweight and low physical activity increase breast cancer risk after menopause. On the contrary, before menopause, androgens increase breast cancer risk, progesterones decrease risk and SHBG and obesity are not associated with risk. These findings provide strong clues for further investigations of the metabolic and hormonal factors specifically related to pre- and post-menopausal breast cancer…[as a side note] We found that the consumption of fruit and vegetables is not associated with breast cancer risk. This is an important finding as it helps to narrow down the factors potentially involved in breast cancer etiology and prevention.” (from – see source below in Resources)

I know this entry is more summary than translation – but at this point, I thought it safer to NOT reinvent the wheel and start all over again!

Resources: http://epic.iarc.fr/keyfindings.php
Image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5d/Testosterone-from-xtal-3D-balls.png/200px-Testosterone-from-xtal-3D-balls.png

 

Exercise May Improve Immune Functions! How Can THAT Happen???

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Doctors harp on exercise.

Despite the harping – or in my case, perversely because of it – I avoid exercise like the plague.

Even so, as I read more and more sites promoting the “exercise makes you better if you have breast cancer” meme, I found that almost none of them give any kind of evidence as to WHY exercise fights cancer and promotes healing.

So I dug into the sites and finally found some evidence supporting this wild, “Do this one weird thing…” kind of meme. This week, it’s number:
5) Physical activity may decrease risk for various cancers by improving immune function

I was a biology major in college – not because I wanted to be a doctor when I grew up. Not because I loved animals. I was a bio major because I loved LIFE! (No, not THAT kind of life. I hated crazy parties with drunken young adults wandering around, trying to shout over obnoxiously loud music and the inevitable whiff of various and sundry “recreational substances” in use. Thanks, but no thanks…) I loved diatoms and dinosaurs; liver flukes and lilies; Euglena and elephantiasis...I didn’t have FUN with it always, but I loved it.

One of the “basic” classes I took was Immunology. I still have the text in my basement library. Published in 1978, it has absolutely NO mention of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome – what we call AIDS. In fact, Immunology was an ELECTIVE class any bio major could take. No one HAD to take it because, after all, while interesting, the immune system wasn’t all THAT important in the broad sweep of things...

“The immune system is a system of biological structures and processes within an organism that protects against disease. In order to function properly, an immune system must detect a wide variety of agents, from viruses to parasitic worms, and distinguish them from the organism's own healthy tissue... [the system includes] enzymes, phagocytosis (cells that eat other cells – the white blood cell in particular), antimicrobial peptides (molecules that kill microscopic creatures), and the complement system (a biochemical cascade that attacks the surfaces of foreign cells – one you might know is “histamine” – most of you reading this have at some time or another taken Benadryl®, which is an ANTI-histamine) as well as the well-known antibodies that zap very particular body invaders and the ability to adapt over time to recognize specific pathogens more efficiently.”

So how does exercise “boost” the immune system?

“Moderate exercise has been linked to a positive immune system response and a temporary boost in the production of the cells that attack bacteria (like wbcs)...there are physiological changes in the immune system as a response to exercise...immune cells circulate through the body more quickly and are better able to kill bacteria and viruses...consistent, regular exercise seems to make these changes a bit more long-lasting...when moderate exercise is repeated on a near-daily basis there is a cumulative effect that leads to a long-term immune response...those who walk [vigorously] for 40 minutes per day had half as many sick days due to colds or sore throats as those who don't exercise.”

And how does this relate to breast cancer?

“Exercise pumps up the immune system and lowers estrogen levels. With as little as four hours of exercise per week, a woman can begin to lower her risk of breast cancer.”

“You’ll be able to maintain a healthy weight. Regular exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight by building muscle and burning fat... fat cells make estrogen; extra fat cells mean more estrogen in the body and estrogen can make hormone-receptor-positive breast cancers develop and grow.”

Lastly: “Compared with the other women in the study, the women in the exercise group also boosted their number of activated T cells, made more lymphocytes, and lowered their levels of an inflammatory marker (a kind of chemical that signals parts of the body to “swell and get warm”). That data came from blood tests done after chemotherapy and at the study's midpoint and end.”

“Improvements in T cells with post-chemo exercise were also recently reported by Canadian researchers. They say they saw the benefit in a small group of postmenopausal breast cancer survivors who worked out on stationary bikes three times per week for 15 weeks.”

What are T cells? “T lymphocytes belong to a group of white blood cells known as lymphocytes, and play a central role”…when the immune system uses CELLS to attack infections. Exercise stimulates the making of these cells in the thymus part of the brain.

So – exercise boosts the immune system in several ways: helps to circulate wbcs and T cells, lowers the chemicals that cause swelling, lowers the number of fat cells which make estrogen which strengthens breast cancer cells making them harder for the immune system to fight and regular exercise keeps the immune system working like this LONGER.

Hmmm – pretty good excuse to get on those treadmills, recliner bikes, ellipticals or just go out and WALK!

Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immune_system, http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/injuryprevention/a/Ex_Immunity.htm, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,159201,00.html

Image:
http://www.perfectafrica.com/img/galleries/110/sunset-walk.jpg

Exercise Reduces Metabolic Hormones and Inflammation! (HUH?)

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Doctors harp on exercise.

Despite the harping – or in my case, perversely because of it – I avoid exercise like the plague.

Even so, as I read more and more sites promoting the “exercise makes you better if you have breast cancer” meme, I found that almost none of them give any kind of evidence as to WHY exercise fights cancer and promotes healing.

So I dug into the sites and finally found some evidence supporting this wild, “Do this one weird thing…” kind of meme. This week, it’s number:

4) Physical activity may decrease risk for various cancers by several mechanisms including reducing metabolic hormones and inflammation

First of all, what are metabolic hormones?

Let’s back up and start fresh. What is metabolism?

Metabolism is the collection of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of the body that sustain life – things like growth, reproduction, structure maintenance, and response to the body’s environment. These reactions are controlled by things inside the cells and things outside of the cells.

Hormones come from outside the cell and are “messengers” that travel through the blood and attach themselves to specific landing sites on the outside of a cell then pass their “message” into the cell.

Among the hormones that control the metabolism of cells are Insulin (controls glucose or sugar uptake); Thyroxine and Triiodothyroxin (controls the basal metabolism rate [BMR] – what we’d call the “resting state” of the body);Growth Hormone (obvious); Cortisol (stimulates the making of sugars and causes a decrease in sugar uptake); Estradiol (has a complex job in that it controls female body structure, protein synthesis, blood coagulation, and the amount of LDL and HDL fat in the blood).

“…exercise is one of the major links between the hormonal modulators of energy intake and output. [These hormones] directly affect adipose metabolism and metabolic hormones that influence adipose metabolism. Acute low- and moderate-intensity exercise causes hormonal changes that facilitate lipolytic activity. Exercise training reduces these hormonal responses, but the sensitivity to these hormones increases so that lipolysis may be facilitated.”

In other words, the more you exercise, the more fat is metabolized (duh!); but the more you exercise, the LESS these hormones work (huh?); but because of exercise, you don’t need as MUCH of the hormone to do the work of fat destruction (“lipolytic activity”); therefore, there are fewer hormones to drive cancer cell growth. (The last sentence is a layman’s interpretation of everything I’ve read. I’m NOT a doctor. I am a biology major and I’ve read constantly and regularly both popular and scientific articles. None of the articles says this outright – but I believe that it is implied.)

How about the inflammation?

Inflammation is part of an extremely complex reaction in the human body basically aimed at removing some sort of damaging event so it can start healing. In the human body, inflammation is caused by vasoactive amines, eicosinoids, cytokines (antiviral, immunoregulatory, and anti-tumor properties), growth factors, reactive oxygen species and hydrolytic enzymes.

“Inflammation orchestrates the microenvironment around tumors, contributing to proliferation, survival and migration. Cancer cells use selectins, chemokines and their receptors for invasion, migration and metastasis. On the other hand, many cells of the immune system contribute to cancer immunology, suppressing cancer.”

Regular physical activity is reported to decrease markers of inflammation although the correlation is imperfect and seems to reveal differing results contingent upon training intensity…long-term chronic training may help reduce chronic low-grade inflammation…low-intensity training can reduce resting pro-inflammatory markers (CRP, IL-6), while moderate-intensity training has milder and less-established anti-inflammatory benefits.”

Therefore exercise, while it is NOT a miraculous cure for breast cancer CERTAINLY has the following positive effects on lowering metabolic hormones and inflammation:

• more fat is metabolized

• you don’t need as MUCH of the hormone to do the work of fat destruction

• fewer hormones to drive cancer cell growth

• decrease markers of inflammation
Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_hormones, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15896089 , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflammation
Image: http://i.usatoday.net/tech/_photos/2010/03/08/fat-cellx.jpg

Exercise Reduces Sex Hormone Levels!

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Doctors harp on exercise.

Despite the harping – or in my case, perversely because of it – I avoid exercise like the plague.

Even so, as I read more and more sites promoting the “exercise makes you better if you have breast cancer” meme, I found that almost none of them give any kind of evidence as to WHY exercise fights cancer and promotes healing.

So I dug into the sites and finally found some evidence supporting this wild, “Do this one weird thing…” kind of meme. This week, it’s number

3) Physical activity may decrease risk for various cancers by several mechanisms, including decreasing sex hormones

My first reaction to this was, “Huh????”

On second examination and with a little reading, it’s become more obvious.

Most of us know that “Many breast cancers are sensitive to the hormone estrogen. This means that estrogen causes the breast cancer tumor to grow. Such cancers have estrogen receptors on the surface of their cells. They are called estrogen receptor-positive cancer or ER-positive cancer.”

My wife has to take a five year regimen of anastrazole pills that block estrogen uptake by healthy cells. I wrote about that here: http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2011/12/next-five-years-anastrazole-whats-it-do.html

But are there OTHER sex hormones that affect the growth of breast cancer tumors and can be lowered with exercise? “Exercise affects hormone production in both females and males. According to the December 2009 issue of "Sports Medicine," exercise suppresses production of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and hormones produced by the ovaries. A study published in the June 2010 issue of "Journal of Sports Science and Medicine" indicates physical activity inhibits production of sex steroid hormones including estrogen.”

According to recent research, “...LH[RH] agonists [a chemical that binds to a receptor of a cell and triggers a response by that cell...often mimic the action of a naturally occurring substance.]...suppress ovarian function and sex steroid production; the reduction in sex steroids is predicted to lead to the prevention of breast cancer... Ovarian hormones (estrogens and progestogens) are critical factors in the genesis of human breast cancer. During the premenopausal years breast cancer risk increases steeply, but after menopause it increases at a much lower rate. Epidemiologic studies have clearly demonstrated that early menopause...substantially reduces breast cancer risk.”

I covered the effects of estrogen both in the essay linked above and in the first one of this series. What effect does LH and FSH and “hormones produced by the ovaries” have on breast cancer? In a recent study, researchers found that: “the more potent hydroxylated tamoxifen metabolite 4OHNDtam (endoxifen) was the only tamoxifen metabolite positively associated with FSH levels suggesting anti-estrogenic effect on the pituitary. This may explain the observed positive association between a better prognosis and FSH levels during tamoxifen therapy.”

All of this means...WHAT????

Exercise suppresses the production of LH, FSH and “other ovarian hormones” like estrogen and progestogens. At MUCH lower levels, exercise can mimic the effect of the anti-cancer drug, tamoxifen. It does NOT mean “QUIT ALL DRUGS, EXERCISE WILL CURE BREAST CANCER!”!!!!!!! It DOES NOT MEAN “Quit all dugs, exercise will cure breast cancer!”

There IS no miraculous, take-a-pill, jump-on-a-treadmill, move-to-Arizona-and-soak-up-sun cure for breast cancer.

It’s hard. It’s ugly.

A breast cancer survivor needs all the help she can get. Exercise helps.

So, just do it!

References: http://www.livestrong.com/article/476775-hormonal-imbalances-exercise/#ixzz1qhGvuOID
, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC138786/

Image: http://experiencepilates.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/bc-exercise-for-health.jpg

Exercise Reduces Leptin Levels!

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…
Doctors harp on exercise.

Despite the harping – or in my case, perversely because of it – I avoid exercise like the plague.

Even so, as I read more and more sites promoting the “exercise makes you better if you have breast cancer” meme, I found that almost none of them give any kind of evidence as to WHY exercise fights cancer and promotes healing.

So I dug into the sites and finally found some evidence supporting this wild, “Do this one weird thing…” kind of meme. This week, it’s number

2) A home-based physical activity program had a beneficial effect on the fitness and psychological well-being of previously sedentary women who had completed treatment for early-stage through stage II breast cancer. Increasing physical activity may influence insulin and leptin levels and influence breast cancer prognosis.

As “psychological well-being” isn’t really something scientists can QUANTIFY (quantify means to put numbers to something, as in measuring the HbA1c levels in the blood of a diabetic) and while they can QUALIFY it (“I feel so much more alive when I exercise!”) and it’s a perfectly valid measure of health, I’m going to skip over it in this analysis because different things make different people happy on different days.

I looked at how exercising can have a profound impact on insulin and insulin-like hormone last week, so we’ve been there already.

But what are “leptin levels” and why do they matter in breast cancer – and should they be going up or down?
Leptin is a hormone, like insulin, but it is made in the white fat tissue of a human body rather than in the pancreas. The amount of leptin in the blood is proportional to how much body fat a person has. Like all hormones, leptin has a purpose in the body. It travels to the brain where it finds its place in receptors in brain neurons where it is involved in regulating energy intake and expenditure.

What’s important HERE is that leptin controls food intake and energy expenditure. But what does that have to do with breast cancer?

According to some fairly technical abstracts I read (I have a BS in biology and I’ve been teaching, reading and going to conferences for 31 years; I can read “scientese”) leptin causes its target cells to have more receptors to particular hormones (for those of you who want to check it out, Google “leptin upregulation”). In this case, estrogen – and it is estrogen that initiates and continues the growth of breast cancer cells. That’s why after chemotherapy my wife has to continue to take estrogen-suppression tablets for five years.

Exercise then, apparently affects the levels of leptin – but it AIN’T a magic bullet, folks, so don’t go asking your doctor for leptin injections! The reason that leptin levels go down with exercise is because you LOSE WEIGHT and FAT! The fat cells are where the leptin is manufactured, therefore, when you bomb the factories with walking, eating sensible amounts and kinds of food, using your elliptical machine, parking farther out in a parking lot and walking in and taking the Pup for a quick walk to the park; you reduce the amount of leptin in your blood because you have fewer fat cells to make it!

So WALK people!

Original Essay: http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2012/03/exercise-how-freak-is-it-miraculous.html

Image: http://www.rkm.com.au/cell/cellimages/fat-cells-adipocytes.jpg

Exercise Reduces Estrogen In the Blood and Strengthens Insulin In the Blood!

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…

Doctors harp on exercise.

Despite the harping – or in my case, perversely because of it – I avoid exercise like the plague.


Even so, as I read more and more sites promoting the “exercise makes you better if you have breast cancer” meme, I found that almost none of them give any kind of evidence as to WHY exercise fights cancer and promotes healing.


So I dug into the sites and finally found some evidence supporting this wild, “Do this one weird thing…” (http://www.fatburningfurnace.com/index.php?hop=zthfitaff&pid=1974) kind of meme.


1) Exercise may prevent tumor development by lowering hormone levels, (particularly in premenopausal women), as well as lowering levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor



“Tumor development” – tumors are the things that create the ghastly dark shadows on the mammogram. Characterized by being a lump, the tumor is “abnormal breast tissue cells, growing in an uncontrolled way.”


Hormone levels in a human body mean lots of things. When we thing of hormones, we think of estrogen and testosterone, what most people call “sex hormones”. Essentially, hormones are chemicals made by cells and organs that send messages to other parts of the body. Chemicals we are familiar with but don’t usually call hormones are things like calcitonin, glucagon, human chorionic gonadotropin, serotonin, prostaglandin and of course, insulin. Early pregnancy detection kits are made to show the level of human chorionic gonadotropin. If it’s there, there is a 99% chance you are pregnant. It doesn’t EXIST in a woman’s bloodstream unless she is pregnant.


What hormone levels does exercise reduce? Primarily estrogen. Estrogen does things besides produce secondary sexual characteristics and feed breast cancer tumors. It also increases fat stores in the body (important for energy), increases bone formation, increases triglycerides in blood, promotes fluid balances and decreases fat deposition. Exercising to a point of fat loss causes a decrease in the number of cells in women that make estrogen in fat cells (this begins in menopause) , therefore the amount of estrogen in the blood goes down and the cancer cells grow more slowly.


Insulin and insulin-like growth factor from the pancreas and the liver respectively, regulate the uptake of glucose and fats in the body as well as regulating cell growth. With exercise, insulin absorption and effectiveness increases which shows up as less insulin in the bloodstream and doing its job in the body – which is to cause cells in the liver, muscle, and fat tissue to take up glucose from the blood and store it as glycogen rather than allowing it to float around the bloodstream – which is toxic.


To make a long story short: exercise lowers estrogen and makes insulin more effective.


OK – now I’m starting to see it!


References: http://breastcancer.about.com/od/risk/a/lump_overview.htm, http://www.aphroditewomenshealth.com/news/20030123215938_health_news.shtml, http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/1996/05/01/611/how-does-exercise-affect-insulin-levels/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_human_hormones


Image: http://www.fernlifecenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/estrogen1.jpg

Exercise -- HOW THE FREAK IS IT A MIRACULOUS CURE FOR CANCER?????

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…(Sorry this is late today, but my new granddaughter was born on Thursday and we just moved the newly expanded family home this afternoon!)

I’ve talked about this subject before, but it’s one that doesn’t seem to yield to mere discussion:

http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2011/05/husbanding-bigger-middle.html

http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2012/01/10-exercise-hints-for-cancer-folk-and.html

http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2012/01/guest-post-david-haas-fight-cancer-with.html

As of this moment, I still alternately loathe exercise and acknowledge its importance. Even acknowledging its importance, I rarely do it. And to tell you the truth, I’m completely unsure about the connection between exercise and avoiding or helping cure cancer. So I decided to do some research and was surprised by what I found – or more precisely what I DIDN’T find. I didn’t find a clear explanation of the biological mechanisms connecting exercise and cancer survivorship.

I am ALWAYS leery when “researchers” make broad, sweeping, seemingly miraculous claims about anything – like those constantly irritating little “do this one weird fact” ads promise. In this article, identical statements are made but completely unsupported: “Researchers have established that regular physical activity can improve health by helping to control weight, maintaining healthy bones, muscles, and joints, reducing the risk of developing high blood pressure and diabetes, promoting psychological well-being, and reducing the risk of death from heart disease, reducing the risk of premature death. In addition to these health benefits, researchers are learning that physical activity can also affect the risk of cancer. There is convincing evidence that physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of cancers of the colon and breast. Several studies also have reported links between physical activity and a reduced risk of cancers of the prostate, lung, and lining of the uterus (endometrial cancer). Despite these health benefits, recent studies have shown that more than 50 percent of Americans do not engage in enough regular physical activity...”

There you have it: wild claims of miraculous health benefits and a sad lamentation that half of us are lazy slobs. How helpful! The fact is that beyond the hyperbole fostered by the Nordic Track (and its ilk) INDUSTRY, there are buried some real facts. It took me quite a bit of time to ferret these out and once I was done I realized I’ll be doing an article for EACH of the ten things below. I’ll start next Saturday, so for now, I leave you with these to ponder:

1) Exercise may prevent tumor development by lowering hormone levels, (particularly in premenopausal women), as well as lowering levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor

2) A home-based physical activity program had a beneficial effect on the fitness and psychological well-being of previously sedentary women who had completed treatment for early-stage through stage II breast cancer. Increasing physical activity may influence insulin and leptin levels and influence breast cancer prognosis.

3) Physical activity may decrease risk for various cancers by several mechanisms, including decreasing sex hormones

4) Physical activity may decrease risk for various cancers by several mechanisms including reducing metabolic hormones and inflammation

5) Physical activity may decrease risk for various cancers by improving immune function

6) Studies in postmenopausal women indicate that physical activity might affect postmenopausal breast cancer and endometrial cancer risk by reducing body fat, thereby lowering circulating levels of estrogens and androgens

7) Insulin resistance, hyperinsulinaemia, hyperglycaemia and type 2 diabetes have been linked to increased risk of breast, colon, pancreas and endometrial cancers. Physical activity improves insulin resistance, reduces hyperinsulinaemia and reduces risk for diabetes, which could explain the link between increased physical activity and reduced risk for these cancers

8) Increased levels of pro-inflammatory factors and decreased levels of anti-inflammatory factors have been linked with increased cancer risk. Physical activity might reduce systemic inflammation alone or in combination with reduction in body weight or composition through reducing inflammatory cytokines in adipose tissue.

9) Physical activity appears to enhance proliferation of lymphocytes, increases the number of natural killer cells and increases lymphokine-activated killer cells activity.

10) “The complicated nature of the physical activity variable, combined with lack of knowledge regarding possible biological mechanisms operating between physical activity and cancer, warrants further studies including controlled clinical randomized trials.”

References: http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfje/5230/cancer-ex-Thune-01.pdf
, http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/prevention/physicalactivity
, http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/545870_2


Image: http://allthingsdepression.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/doctor_and_elderly_patient.jpg