Yesterday, the first conclusions of a study on prostate cancer patients were made public. It seems that for the first time in history a cancer vaccine is delaying the progression of the disease and patients can live longer.

This vaccine was desperately needed because asymptomatic advanced prostate cancer is known to be resistant to hormone therapy used in early detected prostate cancers and no other treatment is effective against it.

Eric J. Small of the University of California at San Francisco said that this trial is an important one because it will open the way to other treatments regarding prostate cancer.

L. Gulley of the National Cancer Institute was very excited about the discovery and declared that the vaccine is important not only for those who suffer of the disease but also for the field. This vaccine confirms what everybody denied, that vaccines can really work.

This vaccine is not like the others that are designed to prevent a disease. This is made to treat advanced prostate cancer by increasing the immune system’s response to cancer cells.

The vaccine has been made out of a genetically engineered protein and a dendritic cell provided from the patient’s bloodstream. Three shots of the vaccine were made over the course of a month. The immune system will react and will activate immune T-cells to find and destroy the cancer cells.

Eric J. Small along with other 19 US institutions conducted the study which was funded by the Dendreon Corporation (the developer of the vaccine) based in Seattle, Washington. Small included in the study 127 patients suffering of asymptomatic metastatic hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). 82 of them received the vaccine and 45 got placebo.

For those treated with the vaccine, the median rate of survival was 25.9 months. For those who got a placebo treatment, the overall of survival was 21.4 months.

The conclusions were that 115 patients of this group had progressive disease at the time of data analysis and all patients were followed for survival for 3 years.

The vaccine was well tolerated by patients and the side effects were mild: fever and chills. Five of the subjects declared they had mild urinary problems. This is good news because chemotherapy gives a lot of unbearable side effects.

Most of the patients can follow a treatment based on surgery, radiation and hormone therapy, but asymptomatic metastatic HRPC is known to be resistant to hormone therapy and every year more than 30,000 men die because and no other treatment is effective against the disease, this is why a treatment was urgently required.

For more information about prostate cancer treatment and about prostate cancer please review this web site http://www.prostate-cancer-center.com

Groshan Fabiola
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/prostate-cancer-vaccine-allows-patients-to-live-longer-132185.html

People go on diets a variety of reasons including health reasons or trying to fit into new summer beach cloths. If you are going to go on a weight loss diet program, think about the reasons for why you want to do it in the first place. Now ask yourself, are you going to “Lose weight for Health or Cosmetic Reasons?”

But now, there is another reason why it is important to eat less and lose weight.

According to a recent study by scientists in the United States by eating less and losing weight, reducing our calorie intake we can increase our life span.

By restricting calorie consumption over long periods scientists show that it increases the lifespan of rodents and other short-lived species, but it has never been shown to occur in humans.

A team at Louisiana State University studied four groups of 48 men and women over six months, who were given varying amounts to eat.

In the “very low-calorie” group, subjects were given 890 kilocalories a day until they lost 15 per cent of their weight, followed by a weight maintenance diet. Scientists found evidence of changes in the body that have been linked to prolonging human life.

The studies show that sustained calorie restriction caused a reversal in two of three previously reported biomarkers of longevity, a decrease in energy expenditure and a reduction in DNA fragmentation, reflecting less DNA damage,” a paper in the journal Jama said.

While these studies are preliminary longer term studies are needed insure prolonged effects on the human ageing process.

Scientists found that a strict low-calorie diet can decrease DNA damage linked with aging.

During the study people ate as little as 890 calories a day for six months. Their insulin levels fell and metabolisms slowed changes that are thought to increase longevity.

The findings are provocative, but preliminary. Longer-term research will try to sort out whether such changes can meaningfully extend people’s lives, said senior author Eric Ravussin of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University.

“They are the first proof that what has been observed in rodents seems to be also working in humans,” Ravussin said.

The latest study appears in Journal of the American Medical Association.

“It’s very exciting,” said Dr. Evan Hadley, director of the NIA’s geriatrics and clinical gerontology program.

“It’s a step forward but not the whole journey,” said Hadley, whose agency is part of the NIH.

Dietary guidelines for weight maintenance recommend about 2,000 to 3,000 calories a day, depending on age, gender and activity level, with the higher amount generally for very active men.

Non-liquid weight loss diets used in the study were high in fruits and vegetables with less than 30 percent fat.

Blood tests showed substantial decreases in the amount of age-related DNA damage in each of the three dieting groups, compared with their initial levels. That kind of microscopic damage is linked to cancer and other age-related ailments, but it’s unknown whether the small changes seen in the study would affect the study volunteers’ disease risks.

Insulin levels also decreased after six months in all three reduced calorie groups. Core body temperature also dipped slightly in two low-calorie groups but not in the liquid-diet or control group.

The results show that the diets are safe, and not impossible to follow, Hadley said.

Everyone wants and desires to lose weight. We all have different reasons why we should lose weight and try to decide on a diet. You have to know what these reasons are and who to ask to help you in achieving all your weight loss and health goals. Now if you want live longer just go on the weight loss diet of your choice. It’s as easy as that. As they say, “Just Do It”!

Glenn Freiboth
http://www.articlesbase.com/fitness-articles/if-you-want-to-live-longer-just-lose-weight-21474.html

Always get sufficient sleep, eat a balanced diet and at all times wear your seatbelt are just a few of the recommendations linked with living longer, nevertheless an anti-aging diet is an even stronger recommendation to assist in the achievement of a longer life.

In the past 200 years many people, both men and women alike, are living longer lives, furthermore many physicians are of the belief that how long you live is significant; what an anti-aging diet can achieve is assist with the level of value of a extended life span.

The Proper Care and Feeding Of Your Cells

Within the human body there are billions of living cells, all with the capability to reproduce themselves when they die. Human cells are continually dying and revitalizing nevertheless when regeneration occurs the quality of the fresh cells are reliant on the quality of the dietary values they draw from. When a person utilizes an anti-aging diet incorporating suitable nourishment it can assist in creating the fresh cells more resilient than the dead ones they restore.

The mainstream advice for an anti-aging diet support the use of saturated fats to be around 10% of the total energy, though the American Heart Association advises roughly 30% as satisfactory. This would be around 3 times the amount consumed by groups with the least amount of heart disease.

The vast majority of suggested anti-aging diets are comprised of exercising more and eating less, and reducing intake of undue calorie junk food and even many fast foods. Many vegetarians persevere in the perception that by steering clear of consuming animal fat as an incredibly valuable means of diminishing the aging process and is an essential ingredient of every anti-aging diet.

Faster Aging Is Blamed On Certain Foods

Among the consumables thought to be the cause of cell decline, meaning the cells that are replicated are weaker than the original cells, are the ones with elevated levels of carbohydrates. Also, consumables contained in this group are chocolate, sugar, chips, preserved meat, soy products and French fries, among many others as well. An anti-aging diet takes into account food and produce with an elevated level of concentration of heavy metals, which is thought to accelerate how fast a person ages.

Provisions such as, green leafy vegetables, seeds, raw nuts, seaweed, olive oil and barley greens are believed to aid in regeneration, which is how replicated cells turn into healthier cells compared to the dead ones being restored. An anti-aging diet consists of foods high in omega-3 fatty acids and vegetables and fruits, each of which have elevated amounts of antioxidants. In view of the fact that the total amount of food for this type of diet will be reduced, vitamin supplements are suggested.

In addition because of the modernization of farming procedures, not all foods that are grown include the indispensable supplements and minerals of B vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin A as well as folic acid. Supplementation of these vitamins are frequently required due to the lessor amounts contained in foods.

Korbin Newlyn
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/an-antiaging-diet-can-help-you-live-longer-108201.html