Cancer Awareness

A Gift for South India : TrueBeam STx for the first time in Asia Pacific

2012-01-20T04:57:00.001+06:00

HYDERABAD: As a landmark development for cancer patients, the Global hospitals group announced on Wednesday the launch of BGS Global Cancer Institute at Bengaluru. Considered as one of the world’s most advanced radiation therapy machine, the TrueBeam Stx is an advanced radiation therapy machine engineered to perform the most sophisticated radiation therapy and radio-surgery procedures with pinpoint accuracy and ultra-fine precision. It works by choreographing highly sophisticated systems - imaging, beam delivery and motion management -making it possible to deliver treatments quickly while monitoring and compensating for tumor motion. It will enable faster, accurate tumor targeting in the treatment of challenging cancers throughout the body, including those in the brain, pancreas and liver. Already installed and operational, radiation oncologists at BGS Global Hospitals have begun routinely performing complex procedures with seemingly amazing precision and patient comfort.

In India while there are some centers which are equipped with normal TrueBeam, the BGS Global Hospitals is introducing TrueBeam STx for the first time in Asia Pacific.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr K Ravindranath, chairman and managing director, Global hospitals group said, “We have been continuously investing on the most advanced technologies. I am personally very delighted to bring to the people Asia Pacific’s first TrueBeam STx. Since, inception, we have been routinely performing medical and surgical procedures to treat a variety of cancers. The addition of TrueBeam STx will now help us in bringing the cancer patients requiring radiation therapy, the best radiation technology ever. We will soon be commissioning Gamma Camera and Brachy Therapy machines too, while PET CT is already commissioned.”

Mr David James, director of Surgical Sciences at Varian Medical Systems, Germany, makers of TrueBeam STX, said, “The high precision, accuracy and visibility of Trubeam STx provide the cancer professionals with the tools they need to eliminate even complex tumors. With this technology, they will have the ability to expand their practice by treating in new and innovative ways. They now can spare more surrounding critical structures and deliver more ablative treatments with leading-edge delivery of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). ”

Courtesy - Express News Service , The New Indian Express

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Cancer Natural Ayurvedic Cure

2011-11-05T04:48:00.001+06:00

According to ayurvedic thought, having the three doshas out of sync might be a cause of cancer. One possible explanation for the rise in cancer diagnoses in modern times can be traced to the increased use of chemicals and other synthetic materials in our diets. These chemicals prevent us from obtaining the natural minerals our bodies need in order to function correctly. Also, anxiety and stress lead to increased toxins in the body, which then puts us at higher risk for cancer. Because there are so many different types of cancer, this makes determining the causes and treatments that much more difficult for ayurvedic practitioners.

Treatment
Medicines
Diet
Panchakarma
Panchakarma is a set of five ayurvedic remedies that may or may not all be used as part of a therapeutic cleansing program.

The five parts of panchakarma are:

Emesis
Purgation
Enema
Nasal application of herbal remedies
Blood-letting
Diet is also considered a very important part of treatment. Visiting an ayurvedic practitioner is important in order to develop the proper diet for your body. The practitioner will determine which of the three humors is the predominant one in your body, and then based on this information, can develop a diet for you that will bring the three humors back in balance.

Another important aspect of diet is maintaining the energy level of the food. According to ayurvedic thought, making food cold, for instance, by refrigerating, destroys the natural energy of the food. They believe that this causes the loss of more energy than is lost through cooking. This then leads to poor metabolism, which in turn may lead to someone eventually developing cancer. Of course, not all people who eat refrigerated foods develop cancer. This is because everyone is different. Some people are capable of producing the proper stomach acids to counteract the coldness of the food. These people have what is referred to as “agni” or fire. These people more frequently develop fevers and diarrhea more often than do people who eventually develop cancer, which seems to imply that they are better at excreting the toxins.

Based on these ideas, here are some suggestions:

Take supplements to increase your hydrochloric acid levels
Eat spicy foods to help stimulate the gastric juices
After eating, use digestive bitters to make sure the food moves quickly through the digestive system before the toxins can build up

It is also important to note that ayurvedic medicine does not have to be used to the exclusivity of Western medicine. They can be used together as long as you make sure that all practitioners are aware of what the others are doing. Using ayurvedic techniques for cancer treatment in addition to receiving treatment via Western methods often helps to reduce stress levels which then leads to a better reception of the other treatments.

In particular, be careful when taking herbal supplements when also taking other medications, as they may interact with each other and produce undesired effects. Ayurvedic treatments like yoga and massage are usually safe and provide more benefit than harm.

'My Sister's Keeper'

2011-09-04T06:12:00.003+06:00

'My Sister's Keeper' a movie that waves many unhidden enmotions for me. A film based on Cancer. A film that shows how a family deals an uncontrolled situaton with immense hope.A sister's dedication to give a thread of hope to her elder sister. Ailing Kate has a hope in Anna. Anna has hope in its wish. Mother has a hope in care. Father has a hope in Family and Brother hopes for all. Its a brilliant movie. I shed tears sometime. I feel that something is attaching myself. Something I am going to miss. Anna and Kate, the protagonists, two sisters, two bodies and one feeling. I am moved by the depiction.

Cancer, is not a word to undestand. It may be debatable that its cure and care is depend on your wealth and faith, but surely its heart rendering that many families has lost many lovely souls.

I dont know how to keep pain in positive words, I dont know how to console a person, who is losin faith in life, but I know that one day its surely 100% curable.

I must suggest everyone to see this flick and understand that relations matter utmost.

Yours

Bhavya

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

A Vaccine for Cancer Treatment..

2011-04-16T22:36:00.004+06:00

Few News Reports....
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Tumour vaccine will be ready by 2013-end ANI, Apr 15, 2011, 11.55am IST Tags: Cancer A ''universal'' vaccine, which is part of a new generation of drugs that use the body's own defenses to fight the disease, stopping tumours in their tracks, could be available in just two years. The TeloVac jab could revolutionise the treatment of cancer. But it is hoped it will be effective against many other tumours, including those of the skin, lung and liver. Breast and prostate cancers may also be within its grasp.
Courtesy - Times of India
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Cancer patients begin vaccine trial (UKPA) – 1 day ago More than 1,000 patients with advanced cancer of the pancreas have begun a major trial of a vaccine which could lengthen the lives of sufferers. The final stage of the TeloVac trial, taking place in 53 UK hospitals, is testing an injection which "primes" the body's immune system to recognise and kill cancer cells. Medics hope the therapy will make chemotherapy more effective. Around 7,600 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Britain each year. It is particularly difficult to treat, and only 3% of those diagnosed live more than five years. Smaller studies have found people given the vaccine, called GV1001, as well as chemotherapy live three months longer than those given chemotherapy alone. Even then, they lived an average of just 8.6 months. John Neoptolemos, director of the Liverpool Cancer Research UK Centre and a leader of the research, told The Times: "This will be a pivotal trial. If it's successful, it would make a real difference to the way clinicians behave and patients are treated." GV1001, made by South Korean pharmaceutical company KAEL GemVax, contains a fragment of an enzyme called telomerase, which is normally found in human embryos and which cancer cells use to divide unchecked. The vaccine teaches T-cells, a part of the immune system, to recognise cells that express telomerase - which in adults are all cancer cells - and attack them. The results of the 1,110-person trial will be announced next autumn, and, if successful, a vaccine could be approved in late 2013 or 2014. Scientists hope the method could work on other types of tumour and a trial for lung cancer is planned for later this year. Cancer Research UK, which funded the research, stressed the vaccine was not a cure for cancer, but could prolong the lives of sufferers.

Courtesy - UKPA
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TeloVac pancreatic cancer vaccine trial launched in UK By Fergus Walsh Medical correspondent, BBC News How does the pancreatic cancer vaccine work? A trial has begun on a vaccine treating pancreatic cancer, which has the lowest survival rate of all common cancers. More than 1,000 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer have joined the TeloVac trial at 53 UK hospitals. Vaccines are usually associated with preventing infections, but this is part of a new approach to try to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer. The trial involves regular doses of vaccine together with chemotherapy and compares this with chemotherapy alone. The vaccine contains small sections of a protein, telomerase, which is over-produced by cancer cells. The aim is to stimulate the immune system to recognise the telomerase which sits on the surface of the cancer cells and to target the tumour. “Start Quote For someone who's never smoked and hardly ever drank, it was a big shock”End Quote Rhona Longworth Patient Professor John Neoptolemos from Royal Liverpool University Hospital, who is helping to co-ordinate the trial, said: "The problem is tumours are clever and are able to turn the immune cells into traitors which help to guard the tumour. "The vaccine takes away the masking effect of the tumour." Pancreatic cancer has the worst survival rate of all common cancers. Just three in 100 patients survive the disease for five years or more. Rhona Longworth, 43, who was diagnosed with the cancer in February, said: "For someone who's never smoked and hardly ever drank, it was a big shock. "I just hope the vaccine works and I'm one person who goes on to live a happy, healthy life after this." Joan Roberts, 69, said the vaccine appeared to have few side effects and she is keeping her fingers crossed about the impact on her cancer. "I'm pleased that it's stable and it hasn't got any bigger. You've got to remain positive," she said. “Start Quote There is rarely positive news about pancreatic cancer. It has the worst survival rate of all common cancers - worse even than lung cancer”End Quote The TeloVac trial is being funded by Cancer Research UK. The charity is supporting trials against a range of cancers, using vaccines or antibody treatments to stimulate the immune system. Cancer Research UK's chief clinician Professor Peter Johnson said: "One of big problems with cancer treatment is you are almost always left with a few malignant cells and it is from those few cells that the cancer can regrow. "If you can programme the immune system to recognise those cells and get rid of them altogether or keep them in check then you can effectively stop the cancer from growing back lifelong." The South Korean manufacturer of the vaccine, KAEL-GemVax, is planning a lung cancer trial later this year using the same technology. Last year the first therapeutic cancer vaccine was licensed in the US as a treatment against prostate cancer. The Phase III or final stage TeloVac trial should produce results in just over a year which will show whether the vaccine has a positive effect. Cancer Research UK is keen to stress that the vaccine is not a cure, but if it works, might prolong life.

Courtesy - BBC
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Pancreatic Cancer Vaccine Trial Could Bring Hope April 15, 2011 11:21 AM By Nina Sen Pancreatic cancer Vaccine trials have begun at 53 hospitals in the U.K. According to BBC News, more than 1,000 patients with an advanced stage of the cancer are part of the TeloVac trial. Researchers say the vaccine will stimulate the immune system to fight the disease. "This will be a pivotal trial,” lead researcher John Neoptolemos told The Times. "If it's successful, it would make a real difference to the way clinicians behave and patients are treated." Smaller studies have found people given the vaccine, as well as chemotherapy, live three months longer than those given chemotherapy alone. Called GV1001, the vaccine contains enzymes of telomerase. Telomerase is normally found in embryos and cancer cells. They encourage other cells to grow and in cancer, can multiply unchecked. The vaccine hopes to reach the body’s natural immune-fighting T-cells and prompt them to recognize cells that are malignant. “The problem is tumors are clever and are able to turn the immune cells into traitors, which help guard the tumor,” said Professor John Neotolemos of the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, one of the hospitals coordinating the trial. “The vaccine takes away the masking effect of the tumor.” According to the National Cancer Institute, 36,800 people died of pancreatic cancer annually and more than 43,000 new cases of the disease were diagnosed in 2010. If successful, the vaccine could be available as early as 2013.

Courtesy - www.thirdage.com

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Pallium India's Newsletter -1

2010-12-27T12:14:00.002+06:00

From ths week, we share you the Pallium India Newsletter, its an efforts to aware more about the ongoings.

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December 2010 Newsletter
A Carer, Your Support and Forgiveness
Last week, “Suma” committed suicide.
Suma (not her real name) was a 26 year old postgraduate diploma holder in computer science, but had been unable to go to work because she had to care for her mother in their precarious thatched hut, perched on a strip of land that, according to Government records, did not belong to them.
Suma had given up her life to look after the mother. If there was a support system to help care for people like her mother, Suma could have had a good career, built a life and still looked after her mother. But it was not to be. The medical system bled the family and forced them into abject poverty. Neighbours found the mother dead, with Suma hanging right above her.
We palliative care workers are too often overwhelmed by stories like this. We reach them too late, or when we do, our support is nowhere near enough. And, not infrequently, we are forced to reject people who need us most, because they live too far away or simply because their social or other problems are beyond our ability to solve. Some of us burn out, unable to cope with the suffering. Some of us go on, because so many of you out there wish us well and support us.
This Christmas season, we share our pain with all of you for feeling so impotent that we were not able to support Suma and her mother enough.
Suma, you lived a brave and meaningful life while it lasted. We pray for your forgiveness for not being supportive enough.
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Palliative Care Workshop at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Centre
One of the greatest failures of the Indian palliative care scene is poor integration into routine health care.
The little palliative care that is in the country, is too often limited to end of life situations, so that patients often have to go through a lot of suffering during months or years of potentially curative treatment. But things are changing, though slowly.
Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Centre at New Delhi has been having a home visit program for a long time and is now seriously considering integration of palliative care into their routine services.

(Dr Dewan addressing the workshop, above.)
As a first step, on December 10th 2010, they organised a one-day workshop on palliative care, which Pallium India had the privilege of participating in.
Mrs Jyotsna Govil, one of the founders, and Dr Dewan, Medical Director, were the chief organizers.
Their enthusiasm was infectious, and we look forward to working with them on their noble mission.
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CanSupport 10th Annual Foundation Course in Palliative Care
Dr. Ambika Rajvanshi, Director of Home Care at CanSupport sends us an invite from CanSupport and Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, AIIMS to their:
10th Annual Foundation Course in Palliative Care
21-23 January, 2011 at India International Centre, New Delhi
Course Objectives
To introduce the principles of palliative care to a multi-disciplinary group of doctors, nurses, counselors, social workers and volunteers
To equip participants with knowledge and skills to improve pain and symptom control of patients under their care at home, hospital or hospice
To enable participants to improve their communication skills and handle difficult issues, such as breaking bad news and coping with loss and grief
To demonstrate the need and viability of multi-disciplinary team approach in providing palliative care to patients
Course Details
The course is a concentrated, multidisciplinary introduction to the growing specialty of palliative care. Although the focus is on patients with advanced cancer, the principles discussed are applicable to the care of all patients with life-limiting illnesses. It is a practical structured course aiming to tackle the subject of palliative care in the Indian context. Besides expert trainers from CanSupport and Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, AIIMS, the faculty will consist of national and international experts in palliative care. (Delhi Medical Council accreditation of 19 CME hours)
Course Fee: Rs. 1000/-
Last date for registration: 10 January 2011 (Limited Seats)
Get full registration details on the CanSupport website…
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CanKids Capacity Building Workshop, New Delhi

CanKids, in association with INCTR and Pallium India, is held their 2nd Capacity Building Workshop in New Delhi recently.
CanKids 2nd Capacity Building Workshop for Pediatric Cancer Support Services & Pediatric Palliative Care – 14-17th December 2010, New Delhi, India
Trainers included:
Dr Anjay Babu Sadasivan, CanKids Pediatric Palliative Care Physician & Palliative care consultant – GCCI, New Delhi
Dr. Amita Mahajan, Senior consultant & Pediatric Oncologist – Apollo Hospital & CanKids Vice president, Technical
Dr Sindhu Nair, Oncologist and Palliative Care Physician, Global Cancer Concern India
and the CanKids Training Team
More information on the CanKids website…
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Access to Pain Relief is a Human Right
Please Sign the Declaration of Montréal
The International Association for Study of Pain (IASP) had organized a “Global Pain Summit” on 3 October 2010 at Montreal, Canada. The chairman of Pallium India was a member of its steering committee.
The summit had announced “The Montreal Declaration“, which has now been accepted by the IASP council. Essentially, the document declares access to pain relief as a human right, and spells out the components of that right.
You can view the declaration at the IASP website and sign the declaration either as an individual or on behalf of an organization.
Please support the cause by signing it.
It will take only a minute of your time!
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JCNC Health & Wellness Fair
Pallium India-USA was invited to participate in a Health and Wellness Fair at the Jain Center of Northern California, in Milpitas on 13th November 2010. The event was organised jointly with the South Asian Heart Center.
The topic was Palliative Care and Advance Health Care Directives for the US based South Asian population.
Quite a lot of people expressed interest with two pages of our guestbook filled with names of people who want to know more about Pallium India – many of them want to consider volunteering.
Many thanks, you wonderful people. Expect an email from us soon!
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Places Available for APHN Palliative Care Certificate at Flinders University
Ms Wei-Yee from Asia Pacific Hospice Network (APHN), writing on behalf of APHN Chair Dr Cynthia Goh:
The 2011 intake of the APHN Diploma/Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care of Flinders University still has vacancies.
The course fee for selected candidates from India will be at a subsidised rate of USD2,000.
The course application form and funding information can be downloaded from the APHN website…
Wei-Yee goes on to say that additional funding is also possible from Help the Hospices.
If you have questions, plesae contact Wei-Yee by email: aphn@aphn.org
See our previous blog entry on: APHN Diploma Of Palliative Care / Graduate Certificate In Palliative Care
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Pediatric Pain Master Class Scholarships
Dr Frank Ferris has informed us of a wonderful scholarship opportunity open to physicians from developing countries, offered by The Foundation of Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota and Children’s Institute for Pain and Palliative Care (CIPPC).
Dr Ferris says, “Dr. Friedrichsdorf and his team are very committed to advancing pediatric palliative care in low and moderate resource countries.”
APPLICATION DEADLINE: JANUARY 15, 2011
Scholarships to applicants from developing countries for the Pediatric Pain Master Class, Minneapolis, MN, USA (June 11-17, 2011) plus a one-week clinical practicum (June 6-9, 2011) with the Pain and Palliative Care team. [PDF]
Funded by The Foundation of Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, the Children’s Institute for Pain and Palliative Care (CIPPC) is offering two competitive scholarships for physicians from developing countries currently working in the field of pediatric pain and/or palliative care.
The recipients of this scholarship will be selected based on leadership abilities, commitment to moving the field of pediatric pain and palliative care forward, and attending to underserved pediatric populations. The goal of this scholarship program is to identify medical professionals who are in a position to improve acute and chronic pain management for children both in their institution and beyond (region or country).
This 2-week International Scholarship includes:
Airfare to and from Minneapolis/St. Paul
Hotel accommodation and meals
1-week practicum with the Pain & Palliative Care Team at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota (June 6-9, 2011)
100% course tuition for the Pediatric Pain Master Class, Minneapolis, MN, USA (June 11-17, 2011)
Ongoing mentorship
Click here for full details & Application Guidelines… (PDF)
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Two out of three Brits want to die at home…
The DEMOS report, Dying for Change, finds that two out of three Britishers would prefer to die at home, but actually 60% of them die in hospital today. And that is in a country in which the concept of palliative care was born and bred and which is in the forefront in the international palliative care scene.
The report mentions that UK needs 500 billion pounds a year to provide sufficient support at home. Is that not a lot of money? It sure is, but think of the huge amount of money it will save from needless hospital costs!
Dying for Change

The institutionalised ways we cope with dying do not align with how most people aspire to die. Most people want to die with family and friends nearby, cared for, free from pain, with medical support available when needed. Yet most people will die in hospitals and care homes, often cut off from friends and family, dependent on systems and procedures that feel impersonal, over which they have little control and which too often offer them little dignity. We spend large sums of taxpayer’s money – at least £20 billion a year – on services that leave too many people feeling confused, frustrated and distressed too much of the time.
The UK should be able to provide people with better ways to die. The pamphlet argues for improvements to existing services: making end of life advance care plans the norm; training more in the medical profession in palliative care; and more greatly integrating the care services provided by the public, private and voluntary sectors. It also suggests radical innovations: a new infrastructure of home hospices, the creation of a compassionate care benefit and a properly trained volunteer support network providing palliative care – a perfect opportunity for the Big Society. The challenge is to help people to achieve what is most important to them at the end of life. Dying for Change describes how that challenge can be overcome.
When we consider developing countries like India, even if the health care system does not care about the feelings of dying people and their families, it should at least consider the reduction in health care costs!
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Palliative Care at the 30th India International Trade Fair 2010
Volunteer palliative care group, Delhites’ National Initiative in Palliative Care (DNipCare), has been exhibiting at the India International Trade Fair 2010 in the Health Ministry pavillion.
The 30th India International Trade Fair is being held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi and runs from 14-27 November, 2010 – more information here…
From the DNipCare blog:
Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Honourable Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare appreciated DNipCare by his jotting down in the Visitor’s book, “I am extremely happy the way DNipCare is providing home to home service. I wish the organization best of luck”.
It is the first time in the history of India International Trade Fair that Palliative Care concept has been given a chance to propagate to the masses. We are grateful to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and also to all our wellwishers who encouraged us in our mission for the ailing patients.
– Visit the DNipCare blog for more pictures…
Congratulations, DNipCare! And thank you Mr Suresh Thaliyaril for sending the information to us.
We’ve blogged about DNipCare before: Indian Express: Weekend Visits
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Institute of Palliative Medicine: WHO Collaborating Centre
Dr Suresh Kumar, Director of the Institute of Palliative Medicine (Calicut) informs us of a new designation from the World Health Organization:
Dear All, Happy to inform you that Institute of Palliative Medicine has been designated as a World Health Organization Collaborating Center (WHOCC) in Palliative Care. IPM becomes the fifth WHOCC in Palliative Care in the World and the first one in the Developing world. We hope that this important designation to a center in India can be used to strengthen the evolving national palliative care initiative in the country.
Regards,Dr Suresh KumarDirector, WHO Collaborating Center for Community Participation in Palliative Care and Long Term Care
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HIV/AIDS, India and Our Collective Conscience

Do you see a scar going round the neck?
That scar should be on our collective conscience.
“Ramesh” (not his real name) is just 25. The industrialization of our brave new India drove him from his agricultural land in rural Karnataka and made him a truck driver. When he got pain in his tummy and eventually was given a diagnosis of HIV, that world rejected him. Pain, HIV and the rejection together forced him to try to hang himself. “I did not succeed even in that,” he says ruefully.
How many thousands of desperate men in every state in India are like him, in pain and suffering, rejected by the medical system and the society?
Enormous advances have been made in India in developing a care system for those with HIV, but that system does not yet embrace pain relief or palliative care.
“Ramesh” is one of a small minority of people with HIV and pain who get care and pain relief. He has been taken in by Asha Jyoti, a care centre run by “Samraksha“ in Kushtagi, Northern Karnataka.
Over the last two months Pallium India has been collaborating with Samraksha to bring in routine pain assessment and symptom control as part of the routine care at Asha Jyoti.
There is a long way to go yet at Asha Jyoti, but a good beginning has been made, and an amazingly sincere team is doing a wonderful job.
But how long will it be before pain relief and palliative care become essential components of HIV care in India?
Watch more video testimonials on Samraksha’s Youtube channel which includes Paramesh’s on Asha Jyoti in Kushtagi.
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Sea of Poppies

The issue of opioid availability is such a huge concern for palliative care people that all their antennae go up when they hear the word ‘poppy’.
Well, you will not regret it if you pick up “Sea of Poppies” by Amitav Ghosh (Penguin Books, 2008) – a book short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2008.
Set on the Gangetic plains and the wide ocean during the days of the British Raj, it is indeed a masterpiece. Read it and it will take you inside the Opium and Alkaloid Factory in Ghazipur. And the poppy is indeed a major character in the book,
Like all the gifts that Nature gives us – fire, water and the rest – it [opium] demands to be used with the greatest care and caution.
Wise words indeed. We palliative care people in the developing world particularly need to remember this. In our enthusiasm to improve access to opioids, do we sometimes forget to ensure that it is stored, dispensed and monitored with caution?
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The Avastin Debate
One of the fundamental ethical principles of medical practice is “Justice” – the fair allocation of available resources. So, should the National Health Service of UK offer Avastin, a drug that can possibly prolong survival in cancer?
When the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) announced that it would not approve funding for Avastin, it set off a predictable firestorm of protests from concerned groups.
The Guardian points out that a rational discussion should take into consideration a recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine which showed that early access to palliative care improved survival by as much as three months in people with lung cancer.
It also showed that access to early palliative care increases the likelihood of people getting precisely what they want out of their final months and reduces suffering, depression and burden on their family at the same time enabling them to live longer.
Interesting, is it not, that despite this evidence, there are people to fight for Avastin, but not for the much less expensive option of early access to palliative care!
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New Section: Your Health

Pallium India is honoured to partner with American Cancer Society (ACS) in disseminating an excellent resource on cancer “prevention to palliation with an additional focus on their caregivers”.
The material, created by an expert ACS team of medical editors from India and the US under the guidance of a National Advisory Board (India), falls into two categories:
KEEP YOURSELF HEALTHYA series of documents about healthy behaviours and prevention & early detection for breast, cervix, and oral cancers and
IF YOU HAVE CANCERDocuments addressing common issues such as side affects, pain, lab tests, etc. that patients and their caregivers are concerned about when undergoing cancer treatment.
Access these precious documents FREE from our new ‘Your Health’ page…
The PDF files are available in English, Hindi and Gujarati. Please share them with your colleagues, friends and family.
If you have taken a good look at the WHO’s definition of palliative care, you would recollect that it includes “prevention of suffering”.
Why should we wait till a cancer has progressed to the incurable stage and then only provide tender loving care? Let us do what we can to prevent suffering.
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Medicated into Poverty

We have, on this blog, talked about the high costs of modern medical treatment and its impact on society.
The 2009 edition of the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Medicine says,
… a study in rural Kerala, South India, of those below the poverty line, the main reason for the poverty in nearly 30 percent of cases was the cost of medical treatment.
Well, India does not seem to have monopoly on the matter. The UK’s Independent newspaper reports in “Counting the cost of a drugs revolution” that Western medicines are making China’s ancient medical practices increasingly redundant, but their high price tag is also pushing millions further into poverty.
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A Beautiful Death – Facing the Future with Peace
Cheryl Eckl shares her poignant story in “A Beautiful Death – Facing the Future with Peace”, her book on facing death, grief and loss with confidence, peace and grace,
I wrote this book because I was moved to share what I learned from facing death.
In 2004 I was living a dream. I had been married to Stephen, the love of my life, for 14 years. But when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I suddenly found myself on an unexpected and unwelcome journey with no road map.
At first I did my best to keep him alive, to preserve our life together, to give us more time to love each other. When it became horribly clear that he was not going to make it, I had to change my focus from his survival to easing his pain and helping him through the dying process as authentically as he had lived.
A Beautiful Death is our story of love and loss, of learning and letting go, of my doing absolutely all I was capable of for the one I loved. And of believing that, while nothing could save him, everything I did could contribute to a better end.
I wrote this book to explain to myself what happened so I could bear to go on with my life alone. And I wrote it for you as proof that not only can you handle whatever challenges life sends you, but you can also become more present to life’s joys in the process.
Dying is something we will all do in this life, and it is likely to be difficult; but what matters is who we are being while we’re doing it. Stephen taught me that and that’s the story I fashioned from the journals I had kept during our 18 years together.
Throughout Stephen’s illness, I found that reading about how other people faced death gave me courage and confidence that I could walk up to that final doorway with my beloved. I hope that reading A Beautiful Death does the same for you.
Cheryl offers plenty of helpful advice on her blog…
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A Letter: Parent to Parent
Here is a letter from a parent who suffered prolonged pain and finally loss of a child – to any parent whose child has been given a difficult diagnosis or who has lost a child. The writer is Ms Dianne Gray of Elisabeth Kübler Ross Foundation.
Dear Parent,
First, my most sincere condolences on the diagnosis of your child.
Second, hold on to your to hat, your heart, your mind, and most of all, get ready for the ride of your life.
You will no longer see life as expendable, and you will never be able to go back to a time when the candles of a birthday cake mean looking forward with hope or with an eager anticipation of joyous beginnings.
I know because, like you, I was once the parent of a child who was newly diagnosed with an incurable disease. The most honest advice I can give is this: Let the dishes pile up in the sink (though mold is just plain gross) and let the fresh air in, because there is no time like the present to enjoy your child’s laughter and smell his or her skin. Kick your shoes off, eat popcorn in bed, then have a good hard cry. First for your child, then for yourself.
Honestly, not only is your child’s life ending, but your lifetime dreams have just been “put to sail”, so to speak. Feel sorry for yourself, because you deserve it. Then get up, and make the most of the incredible life lesson that you have just received. It’s called, “Life is Short.” You will never, ever, take a day or an hour with your child or any other loved one, for granted again.
Trust me, there are millions of drugs sold every day to people who are filled with a life lacking gratitude or an appreciation for those around them. You will not be in line for those, though at times you will feel like you need some sort of pharmaceutical assistance to get through the day. Shockingly, you probably will not need them because your drive to protect and love your child will act as a drug itself.
Most important, listen to your gut, your intuition. You know what I’m talking about. Some of you already knew before you were told by your child’s physician, that you were in deep, deep “doo-doo” as they say, when it came to the topic of your child’s health. On those days when you look into your child’s eyes, and you “know” something is wrong, listen. No one knows your child as well as you do. You have probably been “connected” way before the moment of his/her diagnosis, so trust your intuition and take seriously your role as your child’s advocate, mouthpiece, and protector.
Finally, remember that you are loved by a community that is by far larger than you can possibly imagine at this moment. The “club” of parents who have had sick kids is many and we are mighty. We may not carry on our backs a placard that says “mother of dying or dead child”, but we are there and we love you though we don’t know you. We are in line at the grocery store and the mall. We are in the elevator, at the gas station, and on airplanes sitting next to you. We ache for you and somehow, we know of your unspeakable burden.

Reach out for help sometimes when it seems completely ridiculous or terrifying to do so. You never know who will standing beside you. It may even be me.
Blessings as you continue your journey,Dianne Gray
-
As We Close Out 2010…
No matter how much we read about suffering or watch other people suffering, it is only when we ourselves suffer that we know what pain is.
This Christmas season, let us take a pledge to be sensitive to the suffering of others.
Life does not require us to make good, it asks only that we give our best at each level of experience.
Wishing You All a Happy New Year. We Look Forward to Your Continued Support and Encouragement in 2011.
Thank you for reading & subscribing to our newsletter!Please share this with your colleagues & friends.Don't forget to check our blog and follow our Twitter @PalliumIndia.
Editorial Board: K Govindan Kutty, A Salahuddin Kunju, C Mohanan, Dr Michael Minton, Rakesh Menon & M R Rajagopal.
Please send us feedback about the newsletter here...
PALLIUM INDIA (A REGISTERED CHARITABLE TRUST) Address: II Floor, S.U.T. Speciality Hospital, Plamood, Trivandrum 695004, Kerala, India Phone: +91 471 244 0306 (office) & +91 938 729 6889 (mobile) Fax: +91 471 244 0306 Email: info@palliumindia.org Web: palliumindia.org

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A way to help

2009-10-13T18:27:00.003+06:00

Hello All,

After returning from Global Cancer summit, I am much aware of the concern, world has. 'Cancer is Curable', this the motto. 26 Indian NGO's are there, they are working passionately for the cause.

This information is about one NGO, who is working from New Delhi.

Hope this works for betterment of the cause.

Aware Cancer

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INDIAN CANCER WINNERS’ ASSOCIATION

A mission to “Win over Cancer”

(A Unit of I Can Win Foundation) Regd. Office: D-10/54, Sec-7, Rohini, New Delhi– 110085
Tel: +9111-27933358. Email: http://in.mc952.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=icanwinassociation@gmail.com
http://www.icanwinassociation.blogspot.com/
http://www.winovercancer.com/

President : Dr Pawan Gupta M.Ch. Oncosurgeon; mob: 9811290152
Vision:

To change the way cancer is perceived by the society

Dear Winners',Greetings from Indian Cancer Winners' Association and best Wishes for the festive season ahead.With your help I CAN WIN Association has been able to change peoples' perception towards cancer. The associations endeavour to win over cancer creating awareness and early detection is possible only with your active participation.We are making more WINNERS, by changing lives helping in staying well with a positive spirit.I thank you on joining the campaign "WIN OVER CANCER",

I invite you for your comments and suggestions on our blogspotto keep this movement up and about
http://icanwinassociation.blogspot.com/search/label/ACTIVITIES

Just in case you are not already a member/friend/volunteer/donor, the form is attached for your ready utilization.

POSITIVE ABOUT LIFE - I CAN WINregardspawanDr Pawan Gupta MS, M.Ch, FSOG, FAISPresident Indian Cancer Winners' AssociationSr. Consultant Cancer Surgeon-- INDIAN

CANCER WINNERS ASSOCIATION“A mission to Win over Cancer ” (A Unit of I Can Win Foundation) Regd. Office: D-10/54, Sec-7, Rohini, New Delhi– 110085Tel: +9111-27933358. http://in.mc952.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=icanwinassociation@gmail.com http://www.icanwinassociation.blogspot.com/(Donations are exempt from Income Tax under Section 80G of the IT Act 1961)National Chapter:President:Dr Pawan Gupta M.Ch.Delhi 9811290152Vice President-Mr R.K.Goel MBA Ghaziabad 9810705342Dr Manish Wadhwa MD Faridabad 9811661298Secretary-Mr Suresh Prakash MBA Ghaziabad 9891948444 Faridabad Chapterhttp://icanwinassociation.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-can-win-faridabad-chapter-office.htmlPresident -Dr B.C.Gupta MD Faridabad 9810373490Secretary-Dr Prashant Gupta MD Palwal 9813389010 Moradabad ChapterPresident-Mr Yogendra Agarwal 9412244844Secretary-Mr J.S.Agarwal 09837050906Ghaziabad Chapter:President-Mrs Prabha Gupta 9650295190Secretary-Mr MAnish Goel 9999994737 Gurgoan Dr Amitabh Singh M.Ch. 9910302483

-- INDIAN CANCER WINNERS ASSOCIATION“A mission to Win over Cancer ” (A Unit of I Can Win Foundation) Regd. Office: D-10/54, Sec-7, Rohini, New Delhi– 110085Tel: +9111-27933358. http://in.mc952.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=icanwinassociation@gmail.com http://www.icanwinassociation.blogspot.com/(Donations are exempt from Income Tax under Section 80G of the IT Act 1961)National Chapter:President:Dr Pawan Gupta M.Ch.Delhi 9811290152Vice President-Mr R.K.Goel MBA Ghaziabad 9810705342Dr Manish Wadhwa MD Faridabad 9811661298Secretary-Mr Suresh Prakash MBA Ghaziabad 9891948444 Faridabad

Chapterhttp://icanwinassociation.blogspot.com/2009/07/i-can-win-faridabad-chapter-office.htmlPresident -Dr B.C.Gupta MD Faridabad 9810373490Secretary-Dr Prashant Gupta MD Palwal 9813389010 Moradabad ChapterPresident-Mr Yogendra Agarwal 9412244844Secretary-Mr J.S.Agarwal 09837050906Ghaziabad Chapter:President-Mrs Prabha Gupta 9650295190Secretary-Mr MAnish Goel 9999994737 Gurgoan Dr Amitabh Singh M.Ch. 9910302483

---------------------------
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LIVESTRONG GLOBAL CANCER SUMMIT 2009

2009-08-28T14:19:00.003+06:00

bhavy

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LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit 2009- Day1

2009-08-25T00:27:00.008+06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr2U_cZV_Es

Hello All,

Its an achievement. The Global Cancer Summit organized by LIVESTRONG is a history. Around representatives from 60 coutries are attending this summit in Dublin Ireland. Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and famous cyclist is behind all.

Its a great honour for India, that the summoit begins with an movie from Kerala. Some reacted positively on this.

The first day is little talky. Lance Armstrong attended two sessions, many health ministers, activist, NGO people, industry guys discussed cancer.

The summit first day is worthy, it generated a new view and discussion beyond various cultures, repreneted by people.

I also loved to listen the Egypt Health minister, regarding his views on expensive drugs and the take on industry.

Have connected...there is lot more to come..

Yours

Bhavya

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Eye on Cancer

2009-05-23T17:56:00.004+06:00

Keep an eye on your child’s eyes: that white spot might be cancer

It was the third World Retinoblastoma Awareness Week from 10-16 May 2009. Time to take a look at a disease that is not be so deadly if diagnosed early

About 1500 children are diagnosed with a rare eye cancer, or retinoblastoma, every year in India। If an average Indian classroom has 50 students, the number afflicted with retinoblastoma would cover one whole school each इयर

The irony is, many of these children diagnosed with retinoblastoma will never go to school. Retinoblastoma primarily affects children between the ages of one and five years. Sadly, most of these children could have been learning their standing and sleeping lines if one informed adult had given a seemingly innocuous eye problem more thought.
According to Santosh Honavar, ocular oncologist with LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, and one of India’s most highly regarded retinoblastoma specialists, “The lives of 95% of children who receive protocol-based treatment can be saved.” Treatment can save the eyes of at least 70% of the children diagnosed overall. That’s 2,100 eyes saved every year. For the others, the only viable option is to remove the eye.
The reasoning sounds simple; but reality, whether in rural India or the national capital, is different.
What that long word means
Retinoblastoma is literally cancer that attacks the retina. Till a decade or so ago, this rare condition was fatal since just 3 of 10 advanced cases were curable.
Also Read more about retinoblastoma in our earlier article ‘Looking Ahead’
Advancements in early diagnosis and in treatment made it possible to cure 9 of 10 patients. In the last few years, say experts in India, the introduction of new treatment techniques such as periocular chemotherapy with nanoparticles has ensured that the vision and lives of 70% of children with advanced retinoblastoma are saved. This is a huge jump from the earlier 30%.
When ignorance is not bliss
Sadly, the 30% of children who lose their vision or even their life to retinoblastoma are not entirely let down by technology being beaten by a raging tumour. “The major loose link in retinoblastoma is the delay in diagnosis,” points out Dr Santosh Honavar, who continues to see patients in advanced stages. As you read this, Shreyas Barthwal of NOIDA, just 22 months old, battles retinoblastoma.
His parents were concerned about a squint in the right eye of their two-month-old baby and took him to several established hospitals, but paediatricians dismissed the squint as innocuous. Shreyas also had white flecks on his eye ball from the time he was a few months old. By the time the cancer was detected and treatment began at LV Prasad Eye Institute, Shreyas, an active and seemingly healthy baby, was about 18 months old. The tumour had spread to both eyes by then. While the average eyeball measures about 25mm across, the tumour in Shreyas’ right eye was 20mm. The right eye may have suffered irreparable damage, those treating him fear. Doctors are trying to save what they can of his left eye.
The Barthwals are coming to grips with the harm that the delay in diagnosis has caused. Says Shreyas’ father Naveen Barthwal, “My anger and agony are directed at the paediatricians we go to for routine vaccinations. They are authorized to treat the child, and it is their duty to spot minor abnormalities and conduct a complete examination of the child.”
Vijay Anand P Reddy, Director, Apollo Cancer Institute, Hyderabad and Consultant Oncologist, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, agrees: ”For children in the 0-4 years age group, the primary physician is the paediatrician: It is quite likely that every parent takes the child to see a paediatrician for either vaccination, a common cold or other problem. So I feel that paediatricians should be alert and consciously look into the eyes of the child who is in their care”. And it is incumbent on them to do so even when the parents do not report an eye problem.Yet, the eye check is often overlooked while doctors peer into problems of the ear, throat and nose. Just “asking the parents a question or two… will help the paediatrician identify if the child requires a complete eye examination,” adds Dr Reddy.
Vasantha Thavaraj, from the Department of Paediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi is also Deputy Director (Indian Council of Medical Research). She has seen over 1,200 cases of retinoblastoma since 1990. Dr Thavaraj says, “Even ophthalmologists have misguided parents by prescribing eye drops for up to one year.”
Spreading the word
Some hospitals, such as AIIMS, are stepping up awareness drives among the lay parents as well as among doctors. The L V Prasad Eye Institute has distributed posters in Hindi, Telugu and English among paediatricians and ophthalmologists in Andhra Pradesh. And the initiative is working. Dr Thavaraj, who has spearheaded several awareness camps, has seen a change since 1990. “Earlier, I’d see patients in the advanced stage 4 all the time... Now, more than half the cases I see are intraocular retinoblastoma, which is a much earlier stage and curable. About 40% are advanced extra-ocular cases.”
Dr Thavaraj is now studying the possibility of introducing an eye screening programme with the mandatory immunization schedule. He would like to see each child have a separate eye health card and get screened for retinoblastoma. “I hope to train district-level doctors, including paediatricians, through workshops repeatedly for a year and then see how it goes.”
She has already carried out something similar in Najafgarh, Delhi, screening 700 children at the district hospital after their pulse polio immunization in 2005.
Two years down the line
That would bring some peace to the Barthwals who now spread the word about early symptoms of retinoblastoma wherever they can. “We cried all day when we learnt about Shreyas’ tumours,” recall the Barthwals. Through the six cycles of chemotherapy, they “wept and shattered a thousand times”. Because they know now what Dr Reddy points out: “With early diagnosis, we will be able to save the life of the child, the cancer can be treated so that the eyes are not removed and the child’s eyesight can be protected. The paediatrician is key to early diagnosis of retinoblastoma.”
Watch out!
Make it a habit to observe children’s eyes. Get them checked if you notice:
cat’s eye’ or a whitish pupil that reflects light
• a squint
• photograph shows no healthy red glint in the pupil (deplored as ‘red eye’, this is actually a sign of a normal retina)
• a spot growing on the iris
• a bulge in the eye
• unusual or uncoordinated eye movements
• complaints of floating spots or flashes of light
• a family history of retinoblastoma (the faulty Rb gene can lead to bilateral retinoblastoma, which affects both eyes: one of three cases is genetic, so if there is a family history, screen the child regularly until she is five years old)

Link- http://www.livemint.com/2009/05/18221318/Keep-an-eye-on-your-child821.html?h=B
Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com

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help ramani

2009-04-12T01:09:00.003+06:00

Venkat Ramani is 40, an architect, employed with a Project Management firm.
During a routine health check up in the third week of December 2008, he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) with Philadelphia positive (PH+) chromosome, a type of blood cancer.
He was immediately admitted to a hospital in Mumbai and has undergone 4 out of the total 8 rounds of chemotherapy.
He has already spent substantial funds – several lakhs of rupees – during the last three months of hospitalisation. It will take atleast six months for Ramani to resume work full-time.
Ramani is in complete remission and the consulting doctors have advised Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT). Unfortunately, his bone marrow type has not matched with either of his two siblings and we have initiated a global search for a matched unrelated donor (MUD).
The minimum estimated cost for this procedure ranges from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 2 crore (US $400,000) depending on the chosen transplant centre. He has pooled in all his savings and liquidated his assets to generate funds to the tune of Rs 50 lakh (US $100,000). This is in addition to the amount already spent during the last over three months.
But since his resources are not going to cover the above-mentioned cost, this is an appeal for voluntary financial help.
Your contribution could go a long way in giving him a new lease of life.
Ramani has an eight year old daughter, Tanaya, who wishes to see her father fighting fit again.
NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL – EVERY PENNY COUNTS.
Ramani looks forward to the day when he is no longer considered just a cancer survivor, but an activist for cancer awareness. Help make his dreams come true.
For any queries please mail us at ramani.vi@gmail.com.

Send your doing's to ।cancer@gmail.com%22%3Eaware।cancer@gmail.com">।cancer@gmail.com">aware।cancer@gmail.com

India Online Childhood Cancer Survivor Network

2009-01-29T18:06:00.003+06:00

Hello all,

How can you share you pain, agony, trauma. A social system always helpful. So, scoial networking is very popular nowdays.

Cancer need discussion. Poonam better understand the need.

-----------------------------------------------------

Dear Doctors,

It gives me the greatest pleasure to inform you that our young childhood cancer survivors and their friends are ready to launch the KCK India Online Childhood Cancer Survivor Network on Sunday Feb 15th in NEw Delhi, on the occasion of the 8th International Childhood Cancer Day.

I am proud to forward this message from them.

Please do encourage your Cancer Survivors to become founder members of the network.

Thank you

Warm regards
Poonam Bagai
President Cankids
+919811525745

----------------------------------------------------

Dear Doc

A very Happy New Year from the gang of KidsCan Konnect (KCK).

KCK, the youth club of CanKids...KidsCan, is a group of teenage & young adults who have faced/are facing cancer( survivors/patients) and non-sufferers. it aims at reintegrating the cancer survivors back into the society.

KCK's growing bigger & better.
We are creating an India Online Childhood Cancer Survivor Network in it's name.
A SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITE where cancer survivors/patients and non-sufferers interact, express, share their life, pour their hearts out through features like Chatrooms, Discussion forums etc
here's how KCK looks like

http://bsquareinternational.com/kck/index.html

we urge you dear doctor to lend KCK your support in building up of this network.
U just need to encourage Cancer Survivors whom you might know, to become Founder members of this network.
Founder members....who will get the privilige of being among the select few already logged in, on the day of its launch. In addition to this, they also get to give in their ideas & improve the look of it..

We will be launching this network on the 15th February '09, The Interntional Childhood Cancer Day.

And we want maximum Cancer affected kids to be involved, benefit and help others like themselves.

So kindly help us out!!

Thanx
Megha Bahl Kapil Chawla
KCK Co-President KCK President (Survivor - Hodgkins Lymphoma)
9868844842

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Acheivement for sincere work

2008-12-01T13:51:00.006+06:00

CANKIDS IS PROUD AND HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE

Our President, Poonam Bagai, has been awarded the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award 2008 for outstanding services, achievements and contributions in the field of social services on the occasion of the 91st Birth Anniversary of Late Smt. Indira Gandhi, on Wednesday, 19th Novemeber , 2008. The award was presented by His Excellency, Mr M..C Bhandare, the Governor of Orissa, at a ceremony organized by the All India National Unity Conference, at India International Centre in New Delhi.

A total of 57 awards were given to men and women from all over India, from different walks of life, in recognition of their effort to strengthen India's unity and economic development. THe Awards are organized by the All India National Unity Conference, which is working for people's movement for national unity and integration and decided by an Advisory Board of Ministers, high profile politicians, MPs, Judges and journalists. Poonam Bagai, a colon cancer survivor, is the founder President of CanKids…KidsCan, a family support group enabling children and their families faced with cancer, and the children's unit of Indian Cancer Society, Delhi branch. She is also the Deputy Chairperson of Pallium India, a charitable trust dedicated to providing quality palliative care in India, Joint Secretary Indian Cancer Society, Delhi Branch, Member Cancer Sahyog, an emotional support group of survivors and caregivers. . She supports Forum for Breast Cancer Protection and has acted in a film on Breast Self Examination. She is also alumni of American Cancer Society University. She loves children and is passionate about making a difference to the causes of Childhood Cancer and Palliative Care in India. Her motto also the motto of CanKids:

"Because I am Able…Because I Can" (In Hindi "Kyonki Hum Saksham Hain…Kyonki Hum Kar Sakte Hain" Details of the Award and some pics are attached.

Regards,

Joe Sahgal,

Director Admin, HR and Finance

email: joesahgal@cankidsindia.org

pH: +91 9810082188

Poonam Bagai, President,

Cankids...Kidscan

D 7/7 Vasant Vihar

New Delhi-110057

Mob: +91 9811525745

Off: +91 11-41663670/71/72

BECAUSE WE ARE ABLE…BECAUSE WE CAN

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Life after

2008-11-11T10:00:00.001+06:00

Harmala is a cancer survivor and started CanSupport, a cancer support group in Delhi
It’s a few days to Deepavali. At the bright and airy day care centre run by CanSupport in Delhi, the energy is palpable. As the crowd of children, parents and volunteers watch, a magician in a cheerful green cape transports us all into a land where wonder and magic still exist. A mundane Monday morning, the diagnosis of cancer, hospital visits and medicines are forgotten for a magical half hour. Sharing in the joy is Harmala Gupta, president, CanSupport.

In 1986, while she had enrolled at McGill University, Montreal, for a PhD, Harmala was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. Her son was just three. Apart from the numbing thought that cancer can kill, Harmala knew little about the disease. She knew even less about Hodgkin’s and still remembers wondering if it was something similar to Parkinson’s since they both sound “distinguished.” It was only later that she found out that it is a lymphoma that gets its name from Thomas Hodgkin, who first described it in 1832. It is also one of the first cancers known to have been cured by radiation and later, by chemotherapy.

Harmala has been there, facing the numbing reality of diagnosis, going through the various phases on an emotional roller coaster. That is why today, she can advise others diagnosed with cancer not to take it personally. Most often, after the shock wears off, is the ‘why me’? phase and then, guilt and blame and even a stage of bargaining. “That’s wrong,” she stresses of the self-reproach and blame, “It leads nowhere and adds to the existing trauma. Come to immediate acceptance, pick up as much information on the problem as you can and help yourself. This is where we often fail.”

She even went through denial and wondering if her problem was tuberculosis. That’s when her practical doctor helped her snap out of the delusion. “Stop clutching at straws. I need your help in this fight,” the doctor said. That transformed Harmala from feeling victimised to knowing she was empowered.

Her doctor also helped her focus on the fight with a diet to follow and with advice but in spite of it all, Harmala recalls one chilling panic attack she suffered that began with a pain in her chest. “I thought I was dying, and was rushed to emergency.” There, another doctor identified the problem as a panic attack, reminded her to breathe easy and saw her through. “My doctors assured me that nothing is too small to discuss,” she recalls with gratitude.

When she was better, Harmala returned to India. The reality here hit her hard. This, when she went to some of the best doctors in the country. One doctor dismissed the Canadian doctor’s diagnosis. Another did not bother to see her earlier liver function records and pronounced the cancer had spread to her liver. “It just added to my trauma,” she remembers.

Harmala knew she had to bring to cancer patients in India the support structure that had seen her through in Canada. In 1991, she began Cancer Sahyog, a voluntary organisation of cancer survivors and caregivers offering emotional and other help to people living with cancer.

From that experience was born CanSupport, a home care project that got an impetus from Ruth Wooldridge, a nurse from the UK who had started a hospice in Kenya. The day care programme, where the magician left the children agape, began later, on August 1, 2003. The message the team carries is essentially: don’t let the flame die out. It may be flickering today, but we are all there to fight the wind that threatens to blow it out.

Benita Sen

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A 'leaf' of HISTORY...

2008-09-15T23:00:00.000+06:00

Health enemy numero uno!

Benita Sen

Tobacco has been smoked or chewed for thousands of years. And yet, the knowledge of the huge health dangers from this plant is rather recent, laments Benita Sen

As an amateur gardener, one is often looking for ‘green’ or organic ways to keep the garden pest-free. Perhaps the most lasting home remedies for pests is tobacco water. Most stubborn invaders balk at the treatment.

That is one indication of the damage tobacco can wreak. Little wonder, then, that two philanthropists got together to fight the use of tobacco across the world. On 23 July 2008, Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates pledged $500 million “to help governments in developing countries” reduce the use of tobacco.

New knowledge

As Bill Gates pointed out about his involvement with the scheme, “Tobacco-caused diseases have emerged as one of the greatest health challenges facing developing countries.”

To many of us, the operative words there are “have emerged.” This knowledge is barely a couple of generations young. Tobacco has been smoked or chewed for thousands of years. And yet, the knowledge of the huge health dangers from this plant is rather recent. Millions of people in ours and several other countries, in the 40+ bracket, took for granted the notion, perpetrated by films, advertisements and other media, that smoking is hip and happening.

If you grew up goggle-eyed as Clark Gable sauntered across the scene, the cigar was not far from your consciousness. If you tramped to movie halls to catch Hindi films, you imitated icons like Dev Anand and hummed his Hum Dono song, har fikar ko dhoonye mein udata chala gaya as a yardstick of nonchalance.
The more bindaas would opt for a beedi. Our generation may not have imagined we’d live to see a film titled No Smoking. We did not know that tobacco could be that harmful. Not till we were adults. Not because science hadn’t caught on, but because the news had not been disseminated as much as it has been in the next few decades.

Long history

The realisation of what imbibing tobacco can do, is almost a century old. In 1911, Dr Isaac Adler (1849 – 1918) raised the first suspicion that tobacco was linked to lung cancer.

That inkling may be as pathbreaking as Dr Ronald Ross’ 1897 comprehension of a link between mosquitoes and malaria. August 20, the day of Ross’ realisation, is earmarked as World Mosquito Day. May 31 is earmarked as World No Tobacco Day but given the dimensions of the problem, perhaps tobacco could have more days earmarked to drawing attention to its dangers.

Just three years after Adler, a concerned Thomas Alva Edison wrote to Henry Ford expressing his fear that cigarettes are dangerous to brain cells, although he noted that the danger "comes principally from the burning paper wrapper” which produces acrolein, a toxic, instable aldehyde that is a known lung irritant and a suspected carcinogen in humans. “Unlike most narcotics,” warned Edison, who did not employ smokers, “this degeneration (of brain cells) is permanent and uncontrollable.”

One of the most convincing findings came in the middle of the last century. In 1950 Dr Morton Levin of the Department of Epidemiology noted in a study what many before him had suspected: tobacco was linked to lung cancer.

Newer findings

But now that tobacco is recognized as a health enemy, it is crawling camouflaged into products you and I may not suspect as dangers. Prabha Chandra and Uzma Mulla of NIMHANS pointed out in their 2007 report, ‘Areca Nut: The hidden Indian ‘gateway’ to future tobacco use and oral cancers among youth’ (Indian Journal of Medical Sciences vol 61 issue 6), Indian youth are faced with a new enemy their parents were not up against: camouflaged deadlies like areca nut and tobacco in most brands of pan masala.

What is alarming is that the perceived respectability of pan masala makes it a deadly gender equalizer: although fewer Indian women smoke, both men and women consume pan masala with equal fervour. The gender inequity does not stop there. According to the Bloomberg Foundation, “On average, male beedi smokers lose about 6 years of life, (while) female beedi smokers lose about 8 years of life.”

The buck stops here

Does all this knowledge mean we are better armed to fight the deadly leaf? Yes and no. Studies have found that most developed countries reported a fall in the sale of cigarettes among those with more education. Logical, since self-preservation runs strong in all forms of life.

But that’s where the truism ends for us. This is the opposite in India. Even the World Bank notes in Economics of Tobacco in India, “As the education increases, (people) in urban and rural households with a higher education smoke more cigarettes compared to lower educated households.”

The answer to this perplexing trend could lie in the newly-found purchasing power that makes one throw caution to the winds. Perhaps these consumers could be reminded of the findings shared by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, “Tobacco use is deadly.” In any form. Whether as cigarettes, beedis, gutkha or even the innocuous pan masala. Period. We cannot afford to lose 2,200 Indians every day because of a tobacco-related disease.

Courtesy: Deccan Herald

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Indian children with cancer nominated at Australian Children’s film festival

2008-08-10T21:03:00.000+06:00

CANKIDS.. .KIDSCAN
enabling children and families faced with cancer

(A unit of Indian Cancer Society, Delhi Branch)

D7/7, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi 110057, INDIA

Ph : (91) 11 41663670/1/2 Mobile: (91) 9953591578

e-mail: poonambagai@cankidsindia.org Web: www.cankidsindia.org

“Fight for Life” – a film made by Indian children with cancer nominated at Australian Children’s film festival – only Indian entry to be nominated

It was a long awaited dream for UK based young professionals freelancing in film-making and design - Mantavya (Indian) and Daria (Russian) that was made possible by the Philip Russell Travel Scholarship from Kingston University London and the Seagate Creative Fund. They had one desire in their hearts, that was to give something back to the communities from where they have come. With this in mind they embarked on a journey that would test their existence as creative individuals and passionate human beings. They wanted to share their knowledge and experience with children who might not get a chance to do so.

Their first stop was New Delhi in India. Mantavya and Daria visited the children of Cankids Kidscan – a unit of Indian Cancer society of India. Their plan was to empower these children with the techniques and abilities to film and create stunning designs for film. The goal was to help these children embrace film and design techniques that would not only better their skills but also benefit them in the future.

The duo worked with a group of 12 children and parents for two weeks, teaching them everything from scratch. The main aim for the children in the project was to come up with an idea for a short film, write a script, shoot the film, edit it, design the posters for the film and then have a grand premier for everybody to see.

The children’s film ‘Fight for Life’ is based on a true story, and is about facing realities with cancer. Scripted by the children themselves, the story follows Sonu, a child with cancer whose mother has left him due to the pressures of poverty, and Sonam, a woman, whose son did not survive the disease. The children were so excited about the film and having their roles of directors and actors that they were willing to shoot twenty four hours a day without stopping. Some of the children were finishing off their home work and visits to their doctors early just so that they could put in an extra hour of creating magic on film. Fight for Life premiered in Delhi in Feb 08.

Soon after, Mantavya and Daria travelled to a boarding school in Yekaterinburg (Russia) to teach visually impaired children film making. Here too the the project lasted fifteen days. Children between the ages of twelve and sixteen were put incharge of devising an idea for a short film and then shooting it all by themselves. The children came up with a film titled ‘Blind Love’ which follows a ‘strange’ girl Sonya as she finds herself in midst of a love triangle and tries to make sense of where her heart truly lies.

And now, both sets of children are hugely excited as both the films ‘Blind Love’ and ‘Fight for Life’ have been nominated for the Auburn International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults in Australia and now will compete for a prize in September 2008.

Other than teaching these children film making and design in both the countries Mantavya and Daria were also documenting this process. In India they met Uday, a talented twelve year old boy suffering from osteosarcoma of the leg. His wish was to become the designer of the film. Daria took him under her wing and taught him graphic design within two weeks, so that he could finally make the film poster for the day of the premier. The premier came swiftly and film was finally released. Uday’s mother on seeing his poster was so proud of him that she burst into tears.

At the moment Mantavya and Daria are working on their documentary titled ‘What Colour is Black’ about their experiences of working with children in both the countries. The documentary is in its final stage of post production and the DVDs with all extras including the children’s films will be available soon from their website www.thingamagic.org. The money collected from the DVD sales will be donated to Cankids...Kidscan and the boarding school in Russia. The trailer will be available on the Thingamagic wesbite by the end of August 2008.

“This trip has changed us. We found a new beginning in ourselves and the children we worked with. We also learnt a lot from these children who are challenging themselves every day with their own problems and fears. Now we are planning to continue with such trips and are constantly looking for opportunities where we can share our knowledge and experiences while helping people to believe in themselves and their future regardless of their situations.”

You are cordially invited to attend. For details contact Poonam Bagai, President, Cankids at 9811525745, or Abhijit Roy, Program Officer at 9971841305.

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

CANKIDS ANNOUNCES कैंसर SCHOLARSHIP

2008-08-10T21:00:00.003+06:00

2008-08-10T20:56:00.000+06:00

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

Cankids Scholarship Program

2008-06-08T22:20:00.002+06:00

CANKIDS.. .KIDSCAN
enabling children and families faced with cancer
(A unit of Indian Cancer Society, Delhi Branch)
D7/7 (Basement) Vasant Vihar, New Delhi 110057, INDIA
Ph : (91) 11 41663670/1/2 Mobile: (91) 9811525745
e-mail: poonambagai@cankidsindia.org Web: www.cankidsindia.org

Dear Sir/ Madam,

We are writing to you to request your help with our Cankids Scholarship Program for children with cancer who either have survived the disease or are undergoing treatment, with the aim to recognize and appreciate their indomitable courage and spirit and also to motivate and encourage those children who have fought cancer and emerged as winners.

You may be aware that CANKIDS….KIDSCAN is a family support group for children with cancer and their families in India, providing a full range of support services from moment of diagnosis, through treatment and after, into survivorship, palliation or bereavement.

Scholarships are being awarded in five categories,

a. Cankids…KidsCan Scholarship for Academic Excellence: junior level (class 1 to 6),
b. Cankids…KidsCan Scholarship for Academic Excellence: senior level (class 7 to 12),
c. K.K. Mehta Cankids Scholarship for Excellence in Sports
d. Prem Nath Bagai Cankids Scholarship for Creative Arts/ Music
e. Kalavati Shanta Anup Kumar for Creative Writing and Authorship

The Scholarships are a cash award for Rs 7500/ and a trophy.

Children who have survived cancer or those undergoing treatment, are invited to fill in the forms attached and submit them with the required documents (as listed for the different categories). Last date for submitting the forms will be 30th June.

A panel of eminent educationists will form part of the process of selection and a formal award ceremony will be organized to present the scholarships. The scholarships will be announced on 15th of August 08 in Delhi.

We would like to request your support in encouraging children who you think may be worthy of these awards to apply.

We would appreciate if you could spend little bit of your valuable time by referring deserving children for the scholarships and join us in appreciating and honoring children with cancer
I am attaching the poster and the scholarship registration form. We would request you to put up the poster in your clinic/hospital, encourage children you believe are deserving and could compete for the scholarship to apply. If you could give us their names and contacts. we would be happy to contact themselves ourselves.

Thanking you

--
Poonam Bagai, President, Cankids...Kidscan
D 7/7 Vasant Vihar New Delhi-110057
Mob: +91 9811525745 Off: +91 11-41663670/71/72

BECAUSE WE ARE ABLE…BECAUSE WE CAN

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

Rohit's Life & WE..

2008-05-22T19:27:00.003+06:00

It always felt you happy that things happen by your will, last time when kiwi was bedridden, I was really upset. She was not with us...she gets fund, operated, but the efforts are failed.

This time I am more positive. Rohit's life is now a issue for few concern minds. I feel happy and publish the emails, coming one by one in my email box...

From Poonam Bagai to all.... ON MAY22, 4:59 pm

Gosh and all. Bhavya, have had any no of emails in response to your appeal to all. and have sent you details as well an hour ago. SHal, have met the boy and his grandfather today, and we are assisting

Cheers

From Poonam Bagai to all.... ON MAY22, 4:10 pm

Met Nanaji, the child was treated at Jaipur Govt hospital for ALL since June 2007. He relapsed while on treatment in APril this year (not a good sign and lowers prognosis significantly) and was refeferred to the "superior" hospital AIIMS for further treatment.

He came to AIIMS Pediatrics Dr Rachna Seth, who then referred him to IRCH for possibility of BMT. They saw Dr Bakshi and Dr Lalit. Unfortunateley since the child has no siblings and no possibility of having one either, a BMT is completely ruled out.

They will now go back to Dr Rachna at AIIMS Pediatrics for the Saturday OPD, where he is likely to commence chemo treatment once again. I have asked for an estimate. I will keep you posted.

Cheers

From Benita to all.... ON MAY21

thanks a ton, poonam. if there's anything i can do, please let me know. best, benita

From Bhavya to all.... ON MAY21

Sorry, I was busy in some work in office....Its nice to hear that u
talked rohit's nanaji...

From Poonam to all.... ON MAY21

Hey, I was trying to call Bhavya. He is not picking up the phone. I called and spoke to Nanaji of Rohit. He will meet me at AIIMS -IRCh tomorrow. We will do all we can. Bhavya I'll keep you posted.

PoonAM

From Benita to Poonam Bagai.... ON MAY21

Poonam, Here is a mail from Bhavya.
The first person I thought of, was you.
Thanks and best, Benita

From Shalini C Vallabhan to All.... ON MAY21

Bhavya, Poonam Bagai might have resources for Rohit.

Poonam, could someone from CanKids reach out to Bhavya to see what support
can be provided? Thanks! Shalini

________________________

Shalini C. Vallabhan, PhD
Strategic Director, Asia Programs
International Affairs Department
American Cancer Society
588 Broadway, Suite 504
New York, NY 10012

phone) +1-212-941-5745 ext 19
cell) +1-202-210-4312
fax) +1-212-941-5684
email) svallabhan@cancer.org
skype) shalini.vallabhan

From Dr.Rakesh Gupta to Bhavya.... ON MAY21

Hi Bhavya,

Please consider getting in touch with Dr. Lalit Kumar, Prof. of Medical Oncology at AIIMS to know the prognosis in this case- his likelihood of responding to the proposed therapy and an expected average survival.

he can be helped at Jaipur. My younger brother, Dr. Rahul Gupta is a medical oncologist, contemporary to Dr. Lalit at AIIMS. He works at SDM Hospital. He can be reached through his cell- 91-98283 76349. In viiew of his being busy mostly, please advise to seek his convenient time for another opinion.

With best wishes,

Rakesh
-------------------------------------------
Dr. Rakesh Gupta, MS, FAIS,
Consultant (India),
Cancer Control Strategies- Workplaces,
American Cancer Society,
B- 113, 10 B Scheme, Gopalpura Byepass,
Jaipur. Pin 302 018. India.
T & F). 91-141-2763135;
Mobile- 91-93516 24313
skype) dr.Rakeshgupta

From Bhavya to All.... ON MAY20

Hello All,

This time we have to save life for a child of 5 years old Rohit. He is
victim of Blood cancer. Living in Ajmer, Rajasthan. He need urgent
attention, in terms of bone marrow transplantation and the expenses(8
lakh indian rupees).

Very soon I provide you all contact details of him....

www.awarecancer.blogspot.com

From Bhavya to all.... ON MAY20

But is anyone is trying for large funds, needed for Rohit's BMT. If anyone take press help..he can get funds...

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

For a future...

2008-05-20T21:29:00.007+06:00

Hello All,

This time the childness of a 5 year old boy is on the edge of death. He is a patient of Blood Cancer. And brought to AIIMS for treatment.

We have a chance to save life friends..

He is in delhi now...Rohit, S/o of Omprakash, Address- Jaleeya, Second Panchayat Samiti, Masuda, Distt Ajmer, Rajasthan.

Contact no. 09983038471

Hope We help this child to see future with us...

Aware Cancer
Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

DETECT RETINOBLASTOMA EARLY

2008-04-29T12:13:00.003+06:00

http://www.livemint.com/2007/05/21234645/Looking-ahead.html

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TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2008 11:27 AM IST e-paper TODAY'S NEWSPAPER mint CODE Posted: Mon, May 21 2007. 11:53 PM IST
Business of Life

Benita Sen

Looking aheadRetinoblastoma, a cancer of the eye, can cause blindness, even death, if left untreated. However, it is fairly easy to spot the condition’s telltale symptomsBenita Sen font size
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You’ve heard of blood cancer, cancer of the lungs, mouth, colon, cervix and breast. But cancer of the eyes? If you ask people at random, most of them would be incredulous that cancer can strike the eyes. Retinoblastoma affects a large number of children between the ages of one and five.
Till a few decades ago, this rare cancer that attacks the retina was considered fatal. Of late, however, early detection and medical and technological advances have turned that tide. Today, nine of 10 child patients can be cured in ‘advanced’ countries. In Europe, for instance, the five-year survival rate in children suffering from retinoblastoma went up from 85% in the 1970s to 90% in the 1980s and stood at 91% in the 1990s even while the incidence of retinoblastoma for the same period fell from 3.6 per million in the 1970s to 3.1 per million in the 1990s (Source:The Cancer Atlas published by the American Cancer Society).
Ocular oncology is a relatively new field of ophthalmology, and that perhaps explains to some extent why in India ocular oncologists see more of advanced retinoblastoma. An alarming number of general practitioners and even general ophthalmologists are not too knowledgeable about it. Says Dr Santosh Honavar, ocular oncologist at the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad: “Delayed diagnosis of retinoblastoma is a problem unique to the developing world, and a problem that historically has poor prognosis.”
If detected early, the spread of cancer can be arrested, salvaging the eye, optimizing residual vision and, in extreme cases, saving a life. About 95% of children with retinoblastoma can be saved and vision kept useful in about 85% if the tumour is detected before the cancer destroys vital parts of the eye or spreads to other parts of the body, says Honavar.
Sadly, we still lose children to cancer that begins in the eye. In India, adds Honavar, cancer is among the leading causes of death among children below 14. Retinoblastoma and other eye cancers account for about 20-30% of all cancers; of these, about 30% cases are in children. In every 10 cases of retinoblastoma in children in India, about seven are unilateral or in one eye. While the disease can affect both eyes, cases where one eye is affected are generally detected by the time the children are about two or three years old. Those with both eyes affected are diagnosed between one and two years and seldom after they turn five.
An attentive adult, whether a member of the family, a doctor or a teacher, can save a child’s life. Take, for instance, the case of New Delhi’s Krish, who completed a year this March. He was about two months old when his parents took him to a paediatrician for diarrhoea.
One look at his eyes which could not coordinate, and the doctor suspected trouble. A specialist diagnosed retinoblastoma in both eyes. Krish was completely blind, a fact that his parents had not suspected since they did not know the symptoms. Treated for over 10 months, Krish has got back 50% vision in one eye and 20% in the other. He awaits a cataract surgery in June, after which he should be able to see better.
One of the surest indicators of retinoblastoma is to look at a photograph taken with a flash. Many parents have missed the healthy red glint in the child’s eye and consulted the doctor reporting a white reflex, only to confirm retinoblastoma. While most children with retinoblastoma appear like any other, attentive parents should watch out for the cat’s eye or a pupil that looks white and reflects light in what is called the cat’s eye reflex. Some children have a squint or persistent redness that comes with the cornea being clouded over, while some may have problems with their vision, even though they do not complain of pain in most cases. It may be difficult for the parents to detect poor vision in one eye, so check if the child resents closure of one eye at random. “This simple test can be done at home while the child is at play or watching television,” suggests Honavar. Some mothers suspect something wrong when they observe the eye bulge or move unnaturally.
What goes wrong and where?
As with some other cancers, retinoblastoma can be caused by the faulty Rb gene, which makes children more prone to bilateral retinoblastoma (affecting both eyes). That is why children born into a family with a history of retinoblastoma ought to be screened regularly till they are five years old. About one out of three cases are genetic, but several DNA mutations develop later in life. The retinoblastomas that are not inherited generally affect one eye. There is no conclusive evidence about what causes retinoblastoma. Nor is there any proven way of preventing retinoblastoma except by prenatal genetic diagnosis, which is recommended when there is a family history of the disease. So, till further research provides any conclusive answers, technically speaking, any child can get retinoblastoma even though statistics say that about one in 15,000 to one in 18,000 live births are diagnosed with it.
Although ocular oncologists work towards a day when they can restore complete vision and save the lives of every child, sometimes the treatment has to be guided by the fact that it is most important to stop the spread of cancer, even if vision cannot be preserved.
If the eye is removed, new techniques ensure implantation of a life-like prosthetic eye identical to the other eye that can even move on volition.
Retinoblastoma, when completely cured, does not often recur later in life. Nor does the treatment leave any significant long-term side effects. Which means, in a couple of years from now, Krish will be packing his books for school.
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PALLIATIVE CARE

2008-04-29T11:58:00.002+06:00

http://infochangeindia.org/index.php/200804097028/Health/Features/The-pain-of-Roshanara.html
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The pain of Roshanara
By Benita Sen

Cancer patient Roshanara’s morphine tablets keep her relatively pain-free. Morphine is part of palliative care, which allows terminally ill patients to live a life of dignity, free of pain. Why, then, is it so scarce in India?

All we have is an address from the hospital records. As we scour the bylanes of the approximate locality in Lucknow, that proves insufficient. Up and down the lanes we wind looking for the home of a fruit seller. And then, just when we are about to give up the search, one young man remembers a woman in pain. He leads us to the door of Roshanara.

The door opens. A woman sits up in bed. “Doctor saab! It’s you!” she exclaims, her pain almost forgotten for a moment. “I heard your voice outside and couldn’t believe it was you,” she says as Doctor Shakeel, in charge of the palliative care unit of the King George Medical University Hospital, checks the swelling on her foot.

The pain in the blue-green painted room is palpable. Not just the physical pain of Roshanara, but the pain of her two daughters who see her suffer and wait to give her the next dose of the white pill that will relieve some of the suffering.

Roshanara has spreading bilateral breast cancer. She was first diagnosed with cancer about 14 years ago and responded to treatment. But she had a relapse recently and this time, the pain has been so bad, it has kept her bedridden.

She doesn’t know what the white pills by her bedside are, but she does know that these tablets have brought her immense relief. “That’s morphine,” Dr Shakeel says. Roshanara takes one every 12 hours.

“Before they started me on these tablets, I would shriek in pain,” she recalls. “Her cries could be heard down the gully,” remembers her daughter.

Morphine use in India

Morphine looks innocuous. But the issues behind it are not. Roshanara does not understand the chemistry of morphine, an opiate analgesic extracted from dried poppy pods and stems, first isolated in Germany in 1804. Its extraction and purification was patented by Hungarian chemist Janos Kabay.

As a pain killer, morphine does not cause any alarming side effects nor is it addictive, a fact that many doctors do not know, say activists working in palliative care. “There is the fear of misuse and the morphine falling into wrong hands (read, the drug mafia) but for that, policing needs to be stringent,” points out one activist.

The World Heath Organisation Collaborating Center for Policy and Communications in Cancer Care notes that approximately one million people experience cancer pain in India, every year. ‘Unrelieved pain not only affects the patient, but also the family and the community,’ it says. It also accepts that ‘morphine is an essential drug for cancer pain management’, as a safe and effective treatment for severe pain. Ironically, the study notes that ‘India supplies much of the opium to make morphine for increasing use in the rest of the world, but it produces very little for domestic use due to lack of demand.’

Demand from the powers that be, perhaps, not the end-user writhing in pain. India gets barely six per cent of the world’s legal morphine. Palliative care is needed not just by cancer patients but by those with several other chronic illnesses including AIDS. Morphine is also given to patients recovering from heart surgery. That translates to over two million patients suffering avoidable pain when the answer can be the cheap, effective morphine. The United States’ 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy believes 20-30 per cent of India’s opium crop is diverted to the grey market.

The Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985 raised the stringency bar. Anyone found misusing morphine could be put behind bars. Every Indian state has its own version of the Act. As a result, between 1985 and 1997, there was a 97 per cent fall in the use of morphine. From 573 kg, it plummeted to 18 kg.

“Two or three generations of doctors have not used morphine,” points out Poonam Bagai, a cancer survivor, founder of CanKids…Kids Can, and the vice chairman of Pallium India.

What of the side-effects?

In a presentation during a recent workshop on ‘Addressing pain and palliative care through improved cancer pain policy’, in Lucknow, Dr Sushma Bhatnagar of Dr B R Ambedkar Institute-Rotary Cancer Hospital (IRCH) Delhi, made the point that “allergy and intolerance are rare”. The landmark Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Project, 1980 (by J Porter and H Jick) found that of about 11,882 patients who received opiods, only four became addicted and ‘only one of these cases seemed significant’. The report notes: ‘A patient’s need for escalating dose of a narcotic, due to a cancer or other chronic illness, is most often due to progression of the disease rather than addiction. Patients with stable disease can be maintained on the same dose for extremely long periods of time.’

Why suffer needless pain?

At a very basic level, palliative care addresses any pain. “Not many doctors, nurses, paramedics and other professionals involved in health care understand that,” says cancer activist Samiran Das of the Saktipada Das Memorial Foundation who is trying to offer pain relief as part of palliative care at a clinic in the Sunderbans, West Bengal.

The availability of pain killers for a routine headache or a gripe in the stomach could be taken as the rock bottom of the palliative care ladder. This perspective also helps one empathise with the need for pain relief – as an important part of palliative care -- for people with serious, life-threatening diseases.

Although the first National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) was initiated in 1975, it was only in 1984 that it recognised pain relief as a basic service. The modern medical concept of palliative care was introduced in India only in the mid-1980s. While the government has had a role to play, a good amount of the infrastructure and care that is in place is due to the efforts of individuals, NGOs and international players, including the World Health Organisation.

In the 1970s, the medical community had to think beyond aspirin. Patients in excruciating pain were given pure opium dissolved in tea. This was effective but impractical, since the opium had to be collected frequently from the authorities. Oral morphine entered the scene around 1986. The first pain clinics opened in the Regional Cancer Centre, Trivandrum, and at Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bangalore, and they dispensed oral morphine free of charge for the first time. The first hospice, Shanti Avedna, started in Mumbai in 1986.

Today, morphine is available for pain relief, but the process is cumbersome and time consuming. Even a hospital running a palliative care centre needs to take licences from about five departments. As K M Mishra of the Cancer Aid Society found when he tried to get 300 tablets for Sanjay Gandhi PGI, this can mean that by the time the morphine arrives, the permit has expired. Dr L Jaichand Singh, a professor at Imphal’s Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) faced something similar when he ordered 10,000 morphine tablets that should have helped cancer patients be free of pain for about six months. By the time the licences were through, the company ran out of stock.

For patients like Roshanara, too, the pills are not easily available and her husband has to go far to get her doses. Dr M R Rajagopal, the chairman of Pallium India and widely acknowledged as the father of palliative care in India, says that oral morphine reaches less than one per cent of the needy.

A drop in the ocean

Even today, 21 years after it was first introduced in the country, palliative care has barely pushed beyond the metros to some state capitals and larger cities. In 2005, the Department of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India appointed a task force of 15 experts to assist and advise in the framing of the National Cancer Control Programme for the next five-year plan. Palliative care was one of the six features looked into.

Palliative care includes not just the patient but patient support and support of the family, for whom care-giving and watching a near one in unbearable pain is traumatic. It is about reversing crippling pain and giving the patient the opportunity to return even to a near-normal, self-reliant and economically viable life.

On April 28, 2007, the activist group Pallium India wrote to Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss that although the budget for the National Cancer Control Programme was likely to be raised to Rs 2500 crore, the focus was on awareness and early detection. There was no separate allocation for palliative care although the Palliative Care Task Force had recommended a budget of Rs 50 crore to develop palliative facilities at various levels, besides training medical professionals.

Pallium India feared that not much attention and resources would be given to palliative care. They were taken aback to learn from the secretary of health that it was hoped that early detection would make palliative care redundant in 10 years. Scientifically, this is a wish that is yet to be proved true even in the most medically advanced nations. As Pallium India’s letter had pointed out, the world statistics for palliative care is one out of every two cancer patients.

Not allotting sufficient resources to palliative care, says Dr Rajagopal, means the medical establishment “will be free to continue expensive, high-tech treatment, even when futile, as most of them do now”.

In July 2007, the Supreme Court admitted a public interest litigation by the Indian Association of Palliative Care (IAPC) demanding “improved access to palliative care for those who need it in the country”, and arguing for the right to life and death with dignity.

IAPC requested the Supreme Court to direct both central and state governments to develop a palliative care policy.

Teaching palliative care

The only hope for patients like Roshanara is concerted effort at all levels. “It is easy to blame the red tape and the government, but the medical and nursing professions at large, have not accepted palliative care as an essential part of health care,” says Dr Rajagopal. Palliative care needs to be included in undergraduate medical and nursing curricula; it has been referred to as the forgotten chapter in medical education.

Young medics like Dr Shakeel, who was selected for the Lucknow Palliative Care Centre, need to be exposed to palliative care. When he was asked to go to Kochi to train, he wondered what he’d learn in six weeks that he didn’t know from medical school. He came back transformed.

“I learnt to communicate with patients, to break the news of the diagnosis, to prescribe analgesics and morphine and adjuvants.” The stress, he believes, is still on curative rather than palliative, but few realise that the two can go hand in hand.

The concept of palliative care is going from the metros to smaller cities and villages, but will the morphine get there?

(Benita Sen is a journalist and author)

InfoChange News & Features, April 2008

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Ketan's Writings on Cancer

2008-01-25T16:37:00.000+06:00

Hi All,

Pasted are series of articles on cancer and people dealing with them that I have written and were published in Times Of India

Regards

Ketan

***********

HOPE FLOATS

When They Say You’re Going To Die

What goes on inside the minds of people with terminal illnesses. Ketan Tanna goes that side

On Thursdays, 37-year-old Ankita Anil Gurav used to wake up at five in the morning. She had to be ahead in the queue for tokens issued by the outpatient department of the Tata Memorial Hospital in central Mumbai. The token enabled her only son, 12-year-old Aniket to get his dose of chemotherapy. Only 20 tokens were given every day and they were exhausted by 7:30 am, minutes after the counter opens.

Life had been tough for Ankita but some choices are easy to make. The Gurav family sold almost all its possessions for the treatment of the boy and were ready to sell the oneroom home if necessary. But they did not curse their fate. “We don’t feel angry with god. We know that our son has an uncertain span of life. God has given us life. He has his plans for us,” said Aniket’s father, Anil Gurav who gave up his job as a diamond polisher to spend more time with his ailing son.

A few weeks ago, the family had gathered at the Make A Wish Foundation to celebrate a simple moment of joy. The Foundation had gifted Aniket a 5-in-1 music system. The boy, with a cloth tied over his mouth to avoid infection, tinkered with his new gift, forgetting the intense pain that had impaired his sense of sight and speech. “I want to be a pilot once I grow up,” he said feebly. On January 2, Aniket died.

Death terrifies us all. But there are many who live with it as an immediate prospect. How do they deal with it? How do children, especially, deal with it?

Children are aware of the concept of death but somehow they isolate themselves from the fate and very often make deep future plans. That’s why, with great effort, seven-year-old Arjun Jalandhar Naik folds his fingers to make an imaginary pistol. Because of surgeries, Arjun can barely speak. “I want to be an inspector,” he mumbles. It has been four months since Arjun and his father have been uprooted from their home in Vasco, Goa to the sterile rooms of the Tata Memorial Hospital. “I can’t dictate terms to god. What he has planned for us has to have a meaning. It is important that we go through what he has planned,” says the boy’s father Jalandhar Naik. Arjun’s grandmother calls from Vasco and the kid asks his grandmother how she is in Konkani and reassures her that he is fine. His father begins to cry.

In the palliative care department of the hospital, scores of cancer patients await their turn with crumbled bits of paper and files. Vasant Kadam, who says he is 50, though his file says he is 45, can barely speak. He has throat cancer and every time he tries to speak, there is wheezing sound. A pipe is attached to a hole made in his throat. Kadam has to press a small button on the tube so that he can speak properly. “I know that I am very ill. But I am not blaming god. I am just asking him to give me some time so that I can see my daughters settled.”

The left eye of 62-year old Kabir was burnt during radiation and what is left of it is one deep hollow socket. The right eye just about functions. Endless rounds of treatment since 1995, when his eyeballs started getting enlarged, saw him down painkillers on a regular basis only to discover that the medicines were causing more damage. Radiation and chemotherapy followed. Kabir says he is not disheartened. “I try to live a normal life. The more you think of your difficulties, the more you are bound to feel miserable. All I can say to those who do not have illnessse or have been given disease free bodies is please don’t complicate your lives over trivial issues,” he says, smiling.

The head of Tata Palliative Care department Dr M A Muckaden says that the common thread that runs through most of the patients is their ability to meet life head on despite having a limited lifespan. “I’m amazed at how they cope with their life when I see other human beings crumble at small problems,” she says. TNN

THE PILOT WHO FLEW AWAY: Twelve-year-old Aniket, who had dreamt of flying, passed away on January 2

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Outstation cancer patients can put up here for free

Ketan class Tanna meets the man who has put his spare flat to good use.

Mumbai: Cancer is a cruel and expensive disease. It drains you physically and exhausts you financially. And for the thousands of families who travel to Mumbai for treatment, one of the most challenging hurdles is to find a cheap and safe place to stay while the patient is being treated. Which is why a threebedroom flat in Kandivli is like an answer to a prayer.

A few years ago, businessman Suresh Agarwal, 47, realised that accommodation for outstation families was a crying need. For the last two years, his spare flat in Kandivli’s Lokhandwala area has been hosting cancer patients and their relatives who have not been able to get accommodation at Tata Memorial Hospital or Hinduja Hospital.

On an average, four patients are allowed to stay in the flat for up to three months. The flat is furnished and has a proper kitchen where the patients or their family members can cook as well.The lodging is free, and all that is needed is a letter from the doctor treating the patient. So far, 45 patients have used this generous facility.

It’s not just free boarding that Agarwal provides. Last week, he organised a musical show called Amit Kumar Night that raised Rs 35 lakh for Hinduja Hospital. Around two years ago, another musical event called the Vinod Rathod Night had raised Rs 15 lakh for the hospital.

Agarwal, who runs a plastic factory in Daman, knows too well the havoc cancer can cause to family life. His younger brother Sushil, now 45, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1987. His brother-in-law, too, developed lung cancer in 1992 and later the wife of his brother-in-law was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

What followed were almost daily visits to Hinduja where he became friends with the doctors and the management of the hospital. Even after his brother and relatives recovered, Agarwal continued to visit the hospital. On one such round, he noticed a frail person sobbing in the waiting area. He found out that the man’s treatment had been stopped midway as he was unable to pay.

It was then that Agarwal decided that he had to do something. After consulting the management, Agarwal decided to create a corpus so that each time there was a needy patient, the corpus could be used. It has helped many patients.

The Agarwal family has its roots in Assam. Soon after Sushil was treated successfully, they started getting requests for help from cancer patients from that state. “An empty flat near my home spurred me into offering it free to needy cancer patients,’’ says Agarwal.

Dr Asha Kapadia, head of the oncology department at Hinduja Hospital, says, “I wish we had more people like him.’’ Suresh Agarwal can be contacted on 98200 65184.

ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com

WARM WELCOME: More than 40 patients have so far used the accommodation facility offered by Suresh Agarwal

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She helps them keep pain at bay

Ketan Tanna I TNN

Life is what one makes of it. Knocked by life’s hard lessons, some turn cynical and others simply crumble. Bandra resident Usha Nagpal, 68, had a good life with a caring husband, three children and four grand children. She assisted her financier husband till 2000, when he had a heart attack and decided to wind up the firm. After nursing her husband back to life, Usha found herself with plenty of time on her hands. Her children were grown and leading their own lives.

An opportunity to do something useful presented itself in 2004, when a friend told her that the Tata Memorial Hospital was looking for people to train as volunteers for palliative care, which is pain treatment administered to patients in the terminal stages whose cancer is no longer responsive to curative treatment. Usha enrolled.

But life had more complicated plans for her. Two days into the course in what seemed like an ironic stroke of fate, her husband Narain Nagpal was diagnosed with malignant prostrate cancer. Despite the worrying news, Usha persevered with the course, encouraged at every step by her children and husband. But since her husband needed her time and attention, she decided not to immediately join the hospital as a volunteer.

In the new year, Mohan Nagpal was better. Usha called up the hospital to ask if she was still wanted. Of course, was the answer. Ever since January 2005, Usha has been working with the palliative department, counselling patients and encouraging them to improve the quality of their lives. She talks to them about yoga, meditation, music therapy, group sharing and Reiki, all of which are available at the OPD on different days of the week. She also helps train family members in wound care and other symptom management.

Initially, Usha found the paediatric unit daunting. “It was heartbreaking to work there, more so because one had to deal with the parents of the children. What does one say to children who have not even seen life but have so many hopes and aspirations which in all probability will remain unfulfilled? What does one say to the parents whose children may never grow up?’’ she asks.

One case really hit her hard. A lower middle class mother who was in her late twenties was sent to the palliative care department. She knew she was dying. Her husband knew she was dying. But all she could think of was her two little children. In the last stages of her life, the young mother was forced to separate her children
and send them to two different families since her daily wage-earning husband would not be able to care for them on his own. “She sobbed bitterly while sending away her children but we knew and she knew that there was no other option,’’ recalls Usha. “It was a particularly difficult case and I can never forget the pain of that mother.’’ A few days after giving her children way, the woman died.

Such tragic cases only strengthen Usha’s resolve to continue working as a volunteer, and she continues to go to the hospital at least twice a week. “I will never leave the hospital,’’ she says quietly. “I want to keep at it as long as I am wanted.’’

(Usha Nagpal can be contacted on 9819588567)

AGAINST ALL ODDS: Usha Nagpal is a volunteer at Tata Memorial Hospital with patients in the terminal stages of

ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com

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Fruits, vegetables and a war against cancer

Ketan Tanna | TNN

Life was good for Shaila Bhagwat. Married to a senior executive, this teacher’s life was closely tied to her husband’s transferable job that took her to different corners of the country. But days after arriving in Mumbai in 1999, her husband was diagnosed with lymph node cancer.

During her husband’s treatment at Hinduja Hospital—which meant spending five hours there, five days a week, she came in touch with other cancer patients. What stood out was the fact that most of them, struggling as they were with radiation and chemotherapy, barely gave any importance to their diet. Eating right was the least of the worries among cancer patients, especially those who belonged to the poor and the middle classes. Moved by the suffering of those around her during her daily visit to Hinduja, Shaila decided that she wanted to do more with her life. She decided to help cancer patients with the aspect they ignored the most—diet.

“I had a standing job offer from a prestigious Mumbai school, but I did not want to be constrained by time. I was welloff. My two grownup daughters were also able to take care of themselves. My husband had recovered and I had plenty of time. That is how my journey began,” she says.

For the last eight years, Shaila, now 57, has been a familiar face at the radiation oncology department of Hinduja Hospital. Twice every week, she can be found in the waiting area, talking to patients, asking about their problems and guiding them. Her emphasis is on advising the patients on what they need to eat and how to make food an ally in fighting cancer.

Radiation and chemotherapy, not to mention a heavy dose of drugs, rob the patients of their energy, says Shaila. The desire to eat also vanishes. The body becomes weak and it takes a lot of effort to go through the drudgery of everyday life, she adds.

A postgraduate in microbiology, Shaila decided to fortify her knowledge in nutrition and enrolled herself in a course conducted by SNDT University. This was enhanced by voracious reading on the internet and extensive interaction with doctors and friends.

Though there is a general diet in place for cancer patients, Shaila often prepares more specific food charts. There are times when poor patients cannot afford to eat the recommended fruits or medicines. For such patients, an alternative is given.

In case of oral cancer, patients are advised on the right combination of daily liquid diet. There have been times when well-off patients overhear Shaila counselling the poor and they anonymously pay for the drugs and fruits needed by those who cannot afford them. Besides drugs and diet, daily exercises and yoga can heal the body faster, says Shaila.

Suman Jadhav, a 60-yearold who was recently diagnosed with cervical cancer, found hope in Shaila in the corridors of the hospital. Her daughter Lalita says the first few days were tough. “But Shailatai gave us time, guided us on what to eat, how to do yoga and how to cope with the disease. (Contact Shaila Bhagwat on 022 26058214)

ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com

A FRUITFUL LIFE: Shaila Bhagwat’s efforts give hope to many

***********

Ketan Tanna

Special Correspondent,

The Times Of India,

Mumbai.

Phone: 91-22-22735240

Mobile:91-9821034500

Email:ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com

or ketan@ketan.net

-------------------

Websites

Work: www.thetimesofindia.com

Personal: www.ketan.net

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ACS Report on Global Cancer Death Rate

2008-01-11T16:30:00.000+06:00

Dear Friends,

I am transmitting it just in case it has not come to your attention. Below is the link to the Report:

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/NWS/content/NWS_1_1x_ACS_Report_Puts_Global_Cancer_Death_Rate_at_76_Million.asp

I consider that it has immense utility to effectively implement the advocacy of cancer control in your respective regions.

Also, please do consider its utility as a telecast brief or a press note in the local media to heighten the public awareness and to seek its support to your initiatives.

Your feedback regarding its coverage through the local media to the Society shall be much appreciated.

You are welcome to seek any clarification.

With best regards,
Dr. Rakesh
-------------------------------------------
Dr. Rakesh Gupta, MS, FAIS,
Consultant (India),
Cancer Control Strategies- Workplaces,
American Cancer Society,
B- 113, 10 B Scheme, Gopalpura Byepass,
Jaipur. Pin 302 018. India.
T & F). 91-141-2763135;
Mobile- 91-93516 24313
skype) dr.Rakeshgupta

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Andrew Becker

American Cancer Society

Phone: 212-237-3899

Email: andrew.becker@cancer.org

-------------------------------

FOR RELEASE 12:01 AM ET

December 17, 2007

New American Cancer Society Report Predicts

Increase in Global Cancer Cases and Deaths

“Global Cancer Facts & Figures” Cites Increasing Tobacco Use, Adoption of Western Diets in Developing Countries Among Causes

ATLANTA, December 17, 2007—A new American Cancer Society report estimates that there will be more than 12 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths (about 20,000 cancer deaths per day) worldwide in 2007. The estimate comes from the inaugural edition of Global Cancer Facts & Figures, the latest addition to the American Cancer Society’s family of Facts & Figures publications. The report estimates that 5.4 million cancer cases and 2.9 million deaths (53%) will occur in economically developed countries, while 6.7 million cases and 4.7 million deaths (70%) will occur in economically developing countries. These projections were calculated by applying the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Globocan 2002 cancer incidence and mortality estimates to population demographic trends reported by the United Nations.

In economically developed countries, the three most commonly diagnosed cancers in men are prostate, lung, and colorectal cancer. Among women, they are breast, colorectal, and lung cancer. In contrast, the three most commonly diagnosed cancers in economically developing countries are cancers of the lung, stomach, and liver in men, and cancers of the breast, cervix uteri, and stomach in women. In both economically developed and developing countries, the three most common cancers are also the three leading causes of cancer death.

In developing countries, two of the three leading cancers in men (stomach and liver) and in women (cervix and stomach) are related to infection. Approximately 15 percent of all cancer cases worldwide are infection-related, with the percentage of cancers related to infection about three times higher in developing than in developed countries.

“The burden of cancer is increasing in developed countries as deaths from infectious diseases and childhood mortality decline and more people live to older ages when cancer most frequently occurs,” said Ahmedin Jemal, PhD, American Cancer Society epidemiologist and co-author of the report. “Developing countries are facing a ‘double burden’ as cancers due to infectious agents remain a problem while people are also increasingly adopting ‘western’ sedentary lifestyles with higher consumption of tobacco, saturated fat and calorie-dense foods, reduced physical activity, and changing reproductive patterns.”

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) estimates that in 2002 there were approximately 24.6 million people (2.46 crores) worldwide who had been diagnosed with cancer in the past five years. Survival rates for many cancers are lower in economically developing countries than in developed countries largely due to the unavailability or inaccessibility of early detection and treatment services. For example, the five-year breast cancer survival rate in the U.S. is approximately 81 percent but in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is only 32 percent.

Special Section: The Tobacco Pandemic

The publication includes a special section on tobacco, the leading preventable cause of death worldwide. An estimated five million people worldwide died from tobacco use in the year 2000. Of these deaths, about 30 percent (1.42 million) were due to cancer, with 850,000 lung cancer deaths (~60%) alone. Globally, tobacco was responsible for about 100 million deaths (10 crores) during the 20th century, and it is projected to kill more than 1 billion (100 crores) people in the 21st century, with the great majority of these deaths occurring in developing countries. The report notes that halting the rapid spread of tobacco consumption in developing countries is an urgent global health priority.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 84 percent of the smokers in the world live in countries with a developing or transitional economy. In China alone, there are 350 million smokers, more than the entire population of the U.S.

If current smoking prevalence patterns continue, there will be two billion smokers worldwide by the year 2030, half of whom will die of smoking-related diseases.

The American Cancer Society is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by saving lives, diminishing suffering and preventing cancer through research, education, advocacy and service. Founded in 1913 and with national headquarters in Atlanta, the Society has 13 regional Divisions and local offices in 3,400 communities, involving millions of volunteers across the United States. For more information anytime, call toll free 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org.

# # #

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The final days of Kevi...

2007-11-03T19:50:00.000+06:00

A concern social activist Ningreichon was the last person who was near Kevi. She is a young activist based in delhi. She is also from Nagaland. This account was written by her. Its a story of Kevi. Her last days, her smile and her final fate.....

These lines tell the spirit of Kevi...

("She added how the doctors are still contemplating her case because they are 'afraid' to operate on her "they are scared that I will not survive" and she laughs!)

------------------------------------

Friends

Thank you all for your concerns.

Sorry for takin time to let you all know what is with Kevis case.
The parents are also informed about you all and they send their greetings and wishes to you all who makes their burden lighter. The inhuman people around like those in Max "super speciality" hospital who are just the antithesis of what it claims "caring for you… caring for life"; the slogan they use that betrays many there are also people like you all who cares. We don't know who Kevi Angami is but humanity comes calling in the yet another form and this time in the face of kevi and for those of us who cannot tolerate atrocities and injustice kevi is seen in the faces of many; faces whose voices are silenced, faces who have been betrayed by systems they cannot fight against(corporates in this case!) May we never fail when such faces appears.

kevi is out of Max hospital but not without great humiliation. Some friends who happened to know the owner intervened. They did not charge the remaining amount other than the money that was paid(1,35000) . The fact that these friends are lawyers helped immensely and my assumption is that one strong point that speaks of the grave injustice meted to kevi which is legally and ethically wrong was the fact that max hospital stopped her medication for 2 weeks yet did not let her go. They were not treating her but just adding on to her pain and the medical bills. A hello in Max and the likes cost 500 and euphemistically they call it 'consultation fee'. Consultation when the patient nor the parents were informed about what all is happening. I am not able to put what all they went through. It just drives ones mad just listening to their story. The soft spoken and tired father narrates what the admin head said 'if you are poor why did you come to such a place'. The father said he was so hurt and it only goes on to say nothing can put some sense into such people but I am happy that the father said ' some people love money, some people love life'….. May the woman and the band of criminals learn that life is not just about money and making money.

The endless hours of paperwork went on till sunday morning. We were told that AIIMs would not admit the case so the option was to go to some private hospital after making some rounds mahinder in green park said they will admit her. kevi was taken around 3am there but after they saw her condition they refused to take her in. This is despite the fact that they were told about the case beforehand.

At that wee hour options were running out..but but even if the door is closed the window is wide open..wider than the door.

We woke a doctor friend who works in safdarjung hospital. kevi was admitted in the same hospital Sunday morning at around 5.00. She had a colostomy the following evening. It is not a beautiful sight and she is in pain but

Medically it is a 'hopeless' case but she has not given up hope. Every ounce left in her is defying and fighting against medical proclamation.

While she was kept waiting in the hospi she called her fren to tell her that she is now in safdarjung and that she hands over 'the money' to her mother the next day because they have no money. She added how the doctors are still contemplating her case because they are 'afraid' to operate on her "they are scared that I will not survive" and she laughs!

She is the 25 year old Kevi Angami who is too strong for wimps in max hospital to handle.

PS:YOu can write to her as well and I can take a print out and pass it on to her. May she be comforted knowing that all of you are with her

chon

--
" I am the escaped one, after I was born they locked me up inside me but I left. My soul seeks me, through hills and valley, I hope my soul never finds me." Fernando Pessoa

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

A smile of HOPE...

2007-11-02T14:43:00.000+06:00

My Last Photo with Kevi Angami....

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Kiwi is no more...

2007-11-01T20:34:00.000+06:00

Its the saddest moment of my life. Kiwi is no more. She died yesterday. When I met her on 15 Oootber, she was weak, lean pessimist about her life. I too feel embarrased. On that day, I decided that I do my level best for Kiwi.

After running continous news ticker on Star News and story, she got good financial help and go through for Operation of her intestinal obstrction.

Then, I went home, and not in position to contact her, her phone was switched off.

And finally today, I got an email, ragrding her demise.

We are helpless.....I pray God gave peace to her soul...

Bhavya

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Help Kiwi

2007-10-11T18:04:00.000+06:00

Hello all,

As you all know about Kiwi story, I am glad that some concern people contact me and want to help her.

Kiwi is still in the hospital.....

Name : Kiwi Angami
Address: B-6 Market, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi
Native Address: ADC Court, House No- A-1, Dimapur
Father's Name: Mr. Khriezelhau

Hospital Room No. 3404, MAX Super Speciality Hospital, Saket

Kiwi's Mobile No. 09910912653
Pls make a call to her, atlest boost her morale for life, he has left.

Bhavya
9873402949

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The Life of Kiwi

2007-10-08T23:04:00.000+06:00

Its ridiculous!

Kiwi is lying on a bed of a Private Hospital of New Delhi. She is in the last stage of Cervical Cancer. And bound to die!

The Hospital, MAX, SAKET, is denying her future treatment. The bills are unpaid. It is near about 4 lakh (4,00,000 India Rupess). And Kiwi is waiting for a light.

I fell disgruntled, when I contact an NGO, Can Support, NewDelhi for accompanying Star News Reporter Divya Sachdev (+91-9811411323) to take the details of the patient. They ask me to give him more details. I said that accompany the reporter and also take a stand on the mike to unleash the barbaric act of private hospital.

But, alas. They are not ready to support the cause, without details.

Star News is going to cover a story on 09 Oct, 2007. And if we got all details, the story goes on AIR on the same day. Possibilities are that we make an issue, and Slot it to the prime time at 6:30 pm (IST)

The sad aspect is this that Kiwi is 25 years old, belongs to Nagaland, and deserted by his boy friend to the hospital. Her father, in Nagaland is trying to sell his land to pay the bills!

Kiwi tried to admit her in Government Hospital, but at that time The All India Institute of Medical Sciences is on Strike.

Kiwi worked in Call center and obviously lost her job. (No details yet)

I personally ask everyone who go through this article to support the Girl and raise a Question on the Policy of Government, which may be the reason of the plight of Kiwi.

My senior ask some NGO to help her. Hope she get some help.

Bhavya Srivatsava
Star News
+91-9873402949

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Oriya scientist proves garlic’s curative potency

2007-09-22T16:41:00.000+06:00

Thursday September 20 2007 09:15 IST
BIBHUTI BARIK

BHUBANESWAR: A US-based Oriya scientist has found out that garlic can indeed fight deadly brain cancer or ‘glioblastoma’.

South Carolina-based scientist Arabinda Das has identified three chemical compounds containing sulphur from garlic which might effectively control malignant or uncontrolled growth of cells causing brain tumour.

Das, a post-doctoral fellow in neuroscience/ neurology at the prestigious Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) along with his professors Naren Banik and Swapan Ray, has studied these organo-sulphur compounds and their effects on human brain tumour cells.

These compounds i.e. diallyl sulphide (DAS), diallyl disulphide (DADS) and diallyl trisulphide (DATS) provide significant protection against cancer, but DATS with three sulphur atoms provides the most effective control as compared to others, the scientists found out.

These findings published in the September issue of ‘Cancer’, the premier journal of American Cancer Society, prove the great promise of plant-derived compounds as natural medicine for controlling the malignant growth of human brain tumour cells.

Garlic derived compounds are tiny molecules and perhaps will not need complicated methods of delivery for treating brain tumour patients, he says adding for those who seek to take advantage of any potential anti-cancer benefits, however, have to go by certain regulations.

‘‘People should cut and peel a piece of fresh garlic and let it remain in the open for 15 minutes before eating or cooking. This amount of time is needed to release an enzyme called ‘allinase’ that produces these anti-cancer chemicals,’’ Das says. However, eating too much of garlic can cause diarrhoea, allergies, internal bleeding and body odour among other problems. So it is better to monitor its intake, he advises.

Das, a native of Daitapada Sahi in Puri town says the findings will finally trickle down to the clinics for patient care.

‘‘But we have to wait for a few more years before its application is quantified through several clinical investigations,’’ he feels.

Earlier, he worked under professors like AC Dash and Prakash Mohanty during his research work at Utkal University before moving to the US for the post-doctoral studies at MUSC

Courtesy:

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“Early detection of cancer includes… education and screening.”

2007-09-22T16:32:00.000+06:00

A nice article to read and understand the new awareness way to detect cancer. I got this link by Benita Sen. Enjoy reding....

Scripted for goodwill

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Shocking! Eating chicken daily raises breast cancer risk: Study

2007-09-07T18:56:00.001+06:00

Broilers injected with steroids leads to hormonal imbalance in the body, reveals Goa Medical College's research

by Preetu Nair

PANJIM: This is for those who love to have their daily quota of chicken or ham. It will perhaps be just a matter of time before you end up in a hospital, diagnosed with breast cancer.

Harsh, but shockingly true!

Latest research by the department of Pathology, Goa Medical College, reveals that broiler chickens, which are injected with steroids, if eaten regularly and for a long time, leads to an hormonal imbalance in the body, which increases the risk of breast cancer.

Worse still, eating chicken daily, added up with other factors - reproductive life (early menarche and late menopause), nulliparity, late child birth, genetic conditions, obesity, lack of physical activity, age, pesticides and tobacco - the risks increase manifold.

Dr R G Wiseman Pinto, Head, Pathology department, who is conducting the study said, "The body produces estrogen and progesterone, which is good, but by regularly eating broiler chicken, the exo (produced outside the human body) - estrogen and progesterone - acts on the body. If there is excess of the hormones in the body for a time, added with other factors, it increases the risk of breast cancer".

Five years of research reveals that while regular eating of broiler chicken is actually harmful because they are injected with steroids to ensure faster growth, packed ham and salami have certain chemicals (preservatives) that are actually carcinogenic in nature.

In the last few years, many young girls in the age group of 21 to 30 have been detected with breast cancer. Incidentally, a study of 571 cases reveal that the number of patients with breast cancer in the age group of 21 to 30 is 4.7 percent, in 31 to 40 years in 22.9 percent, in the age group of 41 to 50 is 29.4 percent, 51 to 60 years is 22.9 percent and above the age of 61 is 19.3 percent. The percentage of breast cancer below the age of 20 in Goa is 0.34 percent.

Dr Pinto attributes this to early menarche amongst today's girls.

"Earlier, the girl child used to have menarche (menstrual period) by the age of 13 or 14, but today a girl of 8 has menarche. This is mainly due to excessive consumption of broiler chicken, ham and salami from a young age. The youngest patient we have had with breast cancer was 18 years old," said Dr Pinto.

Though the research is yet to be completed, the departments along with NGOs are conducting camps advocating that people go vegetarian.

"We are emphasizing that instead of eating boiler chicken daily, they should eat it once a week or shift to eating fish," added Dr Pinto.

The study being conducted in Goa Medical College reveals:

TYPES OF CANCER AMONG WOMEN

Breast: 31.9 %
Cervix: 15.1 %
Ovary: 4.6 %
Thyroid: 3.7 %
Stomach: 3.5 %
Rectum: 3.5 %
Lymphoma: 2.5 %
Mouth: 2.3 %
Colon: 2 %

Cases of breast cancer
From 1974-1983: 196
From 2001+2002: 590
2003: 205
2004: 230
2005: 243
2006: Not available
2007: Not available (but tentative figure is more than 300 cases)

Article published in Gomantak Times, Panaji, Goa dated 06 September,2007
--

"Live unnoticed"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preetu Nair
Senior Reporter
Gomantak Times
St.Inez, Panaji
Goa-403 001
India
http://goadourado.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm

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In U.S., many cancer patients get lost in a maze of uneven care

2007-07-31T22:41:00.000+06:00

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Karen Pasqualetto had just given birth to her first child last July when doctors discovered she had colon cancer. She was only 35, and the disease had already spread to her liver. The months she had hoped to spend getting to know her new daughter were hijacked by illness, fear and a desperate quest to survive. For the past year, she and her relatives have felt lost, fending for themselves in a daunting medical landscape in which they struggle to make sense of conflicting advice as they race against time in hopes of saving her life.

"It's patchwork, and frustrating that there's not one person taking care of me who I can look to as my champion," Pasqualetto said recently in a telephone interview from her home near Seattle. "I don't feel I have a doctor who is looking out for my care. My oncologist is terrific, but he's an oncologist. The surgeon seems terrific, but I found him through my own diligence. I have no confidence in the system."

It was a sudden immersion in the scalding realities of life with cancer. This year, there will be more than 1.4 million new cases of cancer in the United States, and 559,650 deaths. Only heart disease kills more people.

Cancer, more than almost any other disease, can be overwhelmingly complicated to treat. Patients are often stunned to learn that they will need not just one doctor, but at least three: a surgeon and specialists in radiation and chemotherapy. Diagnosis and treatment require a seemingly endless stream of appointments. Doctors do not always agree, and patients may find that at the worst time in their lives, when they are ill, frightened and most vulnerable, they also have to seek second opinions on biopsies and therapy, fight with insurers and sort out complex treatment options.

The decisions can be agonizing, in part because the quality of cancer care varies among doctors and hospitals, and it is difficult for even the most educated patients to be sure they are receiving the best treatment. "Let the buyer beware" is harsh advice to give a cancer patient, but it often applies. Excellent care is out there, but people are often on their own to find it. Patients are told they must be their own advocates, but few know where to begin.

"Here it is, a country with such a great health system, with so many different breakthroughs in treatment, but even though we know things that work, not everybody who could benefit gets them," said Dr. Nina Bickell, an associate professor of health policy and medicine at the Mount Sinai medical school in New York.

Death rates from cancer have been dropping for about 15 years in the United States, but experts say far too many patients receive inferior care. Mistakes in care can be fatal with this disease, and yet some people do not receive enough treatment, while others receive too much or the wrong kind.

"It's quite surprising, but the quality of cancer care in America varies dramatically," said Dr. Stephen Edge, the chairman of surgery at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo. "It's scary how much variation there is."

Government and medical groups acknowledge that the quality of care is uneven. In 1999, a report by the Institute of Medicine in Washington said, "For many Americans with cancer, there is a wide gulf between what could be construed as the ideal and the reality of their experience with cancer care." The institute noted that there was no national system to provide consistent quality.

In March, cancer organizations tried to address the problem by issuing the first set of quality measures that can be used to judge whether hospitals are giving patients up-to-date care for breast and colon tumors, two of the most common cancers.

The list of measures calls for treatments that seem so basic even to a layperson that it is shocking to think any hospital would skip them. For instance, it says that women under 70 who have lumpectomies for breast cancer should also have radiation, and that doctors should consider chemotherapy for people with colon cancer that has spread to their lymph nodes.

Edge, who worked on the measures, said, "While they're fairly simple and straightforward, and they seem very basic, it's quite surprising how many people do not get the care that's recommended."

Treatment guidelines approved by experts already exist for 70 to 80 types of cancer (http://www.nccn.org/), but the new measures are the first to be formally endorsed by cancer organizations to assess whether hospitals are performing up to par. The measures were developed by the American College of Surgeons' Commission on Cancer, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and are available online at www.facs.org/cancer/qualitymeasures.html.

It took more than two years, Edge said, before experts even agreed on these basic principles. The first goal is to give doctors and hospitals a chance to see how they stack up to national standards. Eventually, the measures may be used by regulators and payers, including Medicare, he said.

First Sign of Trouble

Karen Pasqualetto is slight and dark-haired, with a soft voice that belies how tough she is. After giving birth by Caesarean section last July, she noticed a lump under her ribs. It was the size and shape of a banana. Doctors noticed it but did nothing. She was sent home and was told it was probably a bruise. Within a week she was back in the hospital, terribly ill — swollen with fluid, vomiting, so anemic she needed a transfusion and suffering from severe abdominal pain. Tests found colon cancer that had already spread, or metastasized, to her liver — stage 4, the final chapter of the disease.

"The doctor came in with a tear in his eye," she recalled. " 'It's bad.' Those were his exact words. 'You have maybe six months.' "

Surgery was not recommended because the liver tumors were too extensive. She was referred to an oncologist, who offered "palliative" chemotherapy, given strictly to ease symptoms, not to try for a cure.

"His attitude was that it wouldn't really make a difference," Pasqualetto said.

Palliative treatment was all her health plan would cover. But she had read enough about the disease to know that the proposed regimen did not include the full program of drugs typically recommended for stage 4.

Look for other opinions, her family urged. Her husband had a new job that provided better health coverage, and they switched to a different insurer.

"I think I'd be dead if I'd stayed with the first provider," she said.

Pasqualetto, a self-described Type A go-getter, knew better than most how to find information. She has a law degree and worked for several technology start-ups. She had made enough money to quit that career and do something she loved, teaching sixth grade at a Catholic school in Seattle.

She rejected the first oncologist after one visit and consulted the well regarded Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and Swedish Cancer Institute. Both recommended aggressive chemotherapy. Surgery might be possible, they said, if the drugs would shrink the tumors enough. She chose an oncologist at the Swedish institute Dr. Philip Gold, who brushed aside her six-month death sentence and assured her that people with stage 4 colon cancer could live three to four times that long.

"His message to me as a patient was, 'I have a lot of tricks up my sleeve, this is what we start with, and if it doesn't work I have this, and then I have a clinical study,' " Pasqualetto said. "The feeling I got was, there was hope, and a plan of attack."

Eleven months later, after 22 courses of treatment, she gave Dr. Gold credit for keeping her alive and giving her extra time with her daughter, Isabel.

Location, Location, Location

Where patients are treated can make all the difference. Some doctors and hospitals may not see enough cases to stay sharp, especially when it comes to rarer kinds of tumors, complicated operations or advanced stages of the disease — all areas in which studies have shown that experience counts. This factor may leave people in rural areas or smaller cities, and poor people, at a distinct disadvantage.

Communication also plays a crucial part: some patients may not understand that surgery alone is not enough and that they also need chemotherapy or radiation or both.

Even when treatment guidelines are based on solid evidence, hospitals or doctors may not stick to them. But sometimes, the science is not clear, and experts do not agree on the best course — or even on whether there is a best course.

"In cancer, there is frequently no one best doctor and no one best treatment," said Dr. John H. Glick of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

When patients consult him for second opinions or to transfer their care to his center, Dr. Glick estimated that he and his colleagues concur completely with the original doctor in about 30 percent of cases. But in another 30 to 40 percent of cases, they recommend major changes in the treatment plan, like a totally different chemotherapy regimen or the addition of radiation. Sometimes his team makes a completely different diagnosis.

In about another 30 percent of cases, his team recommends minor changes in chemotherapy, or additional tests. "We interpret things differently, maybe because we have more experience," Dr. Glick said. "We see hundreds of patients with Hodgkin's disease. A community oncologist may see only a couple."

Warning Signs Overlooked

Looking back, Karen Pasqualetto thinks she had cancer symptoms that were dismissed by doctors in 2003 or 2004 — at least two years before the disease became horribly obvious. She noticed blood in her stool, a classic warning sign of colon cancer. But it lasted only a few days, and such bleeding can also be caused by minor ailments like hemorrhoids. Many doctors do not even think of colon cancer in a young person with no family history of the disease, and her doctor said anal fissures had probably caused the bleeding. There is no way now to know whether that was correct. No sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy was done to examine the inside of her colon or rectum. Other warning signs were also missed or ignored: anemia and blood in her stools during pregnancy and in the hospital after giving birth .

Ninety percent of colorectal cancers occur in people 50 and older — the reason screening generally starts at 50 — but that still leaves more than 15,000 new cases a year in younger people, some of whom have no symptoms.

The sad paradox of colon cancer is that it is often preventable — but not prevented. It is one of only two cancers (the other is cervical) for which screening tests can find cancers or precancerous growths early enough to cure the disease or even prevent it with surgery alone.

Only 39 percent of colon cancers are detected early. The disease is still the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States (lung cancer is first), with about 154,000 new cases and 52,000 deaths expected this year.

Doctors say the main reason the death toll remains so high is that not enough people are screened. Screening is unpleasant: it requires stool tests or scopes inserted into the rectum. It should start at age 50 for most people, earlier for those with risk factors like a family history of colon cancer. But many people refuse the tests or put them off. Some cannot afford colonoscopy, which costs $2,000 to $4,000; not all insurers cover it, even for people over 50.

Whatever the reason, only about half of those who should be tested actually are. Deaths could be cut in half, experts say — meaning 26,000 lives a year could be saved — if all those who need screening were to receive it. It is possible that screening tests have saved President George W. Bush from developing cancer. He has had colon polyps removed on several occasions, including last Saturday, when five were snipped out. Most polyps do not become malignant, but they are removed when found because nearly every colon cancer starts out as a polyp.

Screening has no advocate like a patient who has been through it all — surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, or slash, burn and poison, as some people call it — for a tumor that might have been easily cured if it had only been found sooner.

"If people knew what they had to go through with colorectal cancer, they wouldn't hesitate to have this silly little colonoscopy," said Rebecca Michalovic, who has rectal cancer that was diagnosed in 2003. Michalovic, 60, has had the works: radiation, three operations and a half-dozen ferocious drugs. Despite it all, the cancer has spread to her lungs. Even so, she continues to work full time as a counselor and administrator at Daemen College in Amherst, New York But one drug after another has stopped working, and she is down to the last two. She was 56 and had always been healthy when the disease was diagnosed, after she noticed a bit of rectal bleeding. She had never been checked for colorectal cancer.

"I should have done it," Michalovic said.

Elation and Then a Setback

One aspect of Karen Pasqualetto's care has particularly troubled her. She was told that the first few months of chemotherapy had shrunk the liver tumors enough to make them operable, and surgery was scheduled for last January. She was elated, figuring that removal of the tumors was her best shot at staying alive. But in December a hospital review panel known as the tumor board refused to approve the surgery.

"I was adamantly told it was off the table, and I don't know why," Pasqualetto said. Even she, the feisty patient, felt powerless.

"Who is this tumor board, and do they hold the keys to my life?" she asked.

"You feel a total lack of control when you're in a position like mine," she said.

Her oncologist, Dr. Gold, who is chairman of the tumor board, said it was a group of doctors who met informally to review cases and decide what treatment would help a patient most. In Pasqualetto's case, the board thought chemotherapy would accomplish more than surgery.

"Patients don't always hear what you're telling them," Gold said.

The decision haunts Pasqualetto because it soon became clear that her tumors had been at their smallest in January. By March, they were growing again, defying the chemotherapy. She feared she might have lost her best chance.

In May, she said: "I didn't even think I'd make it to today. The baby is starting to talk. I feel happy to be here for that moment. Next thing, maybe I'll get to see her walk."

Last month, she watched her daughter take her first steps.

But she had a severe allergic reaction to a new cancer drug in which she had placed a great deal of hope. With that reaction, another opportunity was gone. It was a huge setback.

The same day she had the reaction, a surgeon who had reviewed her case said he thought he could help her.

"It was almost like life and death in one day," she said. "I know my chances are dwindling."

The surgeon was Dr. Michael Choti, at Johns Hopkins, whom her sister had found through a patients' advocacy group, the Colon Cancer Alliance. He specializes in colon cancer that has spread to the liver. Though the surgery would be difficult and more than one operation might be needed, he told her that she seemed young and strong enough to withstand it.

She was torn. Her oncologist in Seattle hinted that it might be too late to operate, and that surgery could even make matters worse by spreading tumor cells around inside her body. She trusted him, and the thought of leaving his care frightened her.

But she clung to the hope of becoming "cancer free," and though surgery offered only a slim chance of that, she believed it was her only chance.

"It would almost be easier if there was somebody telling me what to do," she said. "But there's nobody saying, 'This is what you should do.' "

Missing the Right Treatment

Studies suggest that significant numbers of patients miss out on cancer treatments that could prevent recurrence, prolong survival or save their lives.

Among women with breast cancer, 15 to 25 percent who should have radiation do not receive it, and 20 to 30 percent do not take the anti-estrogen drugs that are a mainstay for most patients, Dr. Edge said.

Women miss out for various reasons.

"Because they don't get referred to the right doctor," he said. "Or the doctor doesn't explain things well and they get afraid of side effects. Or they don't have insurance and the drug costs $200 a month."

Race and ethnicity come into play in ways that are not understood. A study published last year in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Dr. Bickell and other researchers assessed how likely a woman who had surgery for breast cancer was to miss out on other needed treatments — drugs or radiation — at several high-quality teaching hospitals. If she was white, she had a 1 in 6 chance of failing to receive the treatment; black, 1 in 3; and Hispanic, 1 in 4.

A second study published last month by the same group suggested that breakdowns in communication played a part: a third who did not receive the recommended treatment had refused it, and another third missed out because of "system failures," meaning it was recommended but, for some reason, never happened (and in another third, doctors ruled out the treatment for medical reasons).

With pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest types, people at early stages have a chance of surviving only if they have surgery. But a study released in June by the American College of Surgeons found that 38 percent of patients who were eligible for surgery were not even offered it.

With ovarian cancer, a deadly disease for which inadequate surgery has been proved to shorten a woman's life, many do not receive the correct operation, which may require the removal of tumors from the intestine, diaphragm, liver, spleen and bladder.

"A third of the women in the United States are not getting the right surgery, not even close," said Dr. Barbara Goff, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. "We have so many resources, but we still do so poorly with ovarian cancer."

For complex operations, numerous studies have shown higher success rates if the hospital and doctor have a lot of experience. But Dr. Goff and other researchers have found that 25 percent of ovarian cancer patients are operated on by surgeons who see only one case a year, and 33 percent in hospitals that treat fewer than 10 cases a year. Too many women are operated on by gynecologists or general surgeons, Dr. Goff said, adding that ovarian cancer operations should be done by gynecologic oncologists, who train specifically in cancer surgery. But she also said that many women do not know what kind of surgeon they need, or they cannot get to that surgeon.

In addition, although a major study in 2006 showed that pumping chemotherapy directly into the abdomen, instead of dripping it into a vein, added an average of 16 months to women's lives and the National Cancer Institute endorsed the technique, some oncologists still do not offer it.

Uneven quality persists even in colon cancer, one of the most common types. Dr. Jane Weeks, a professor of medicine at Harvard, said half a dozen studies had found that in stage 3, when tumor cells have spread to lymph nodes, only about 65 percent of patients are given chemotherapy — even though it has been proved beneficial and is recommended for about 80 percent of patients.

Numerous studies have suggested that men with prostate cancer face the opposite problem — too much treatment, which wastes resources and money and needlessly subjects men to the pain and risks of surgery or radiation.

Prostate cancer, particularly in older men, often grows so slowly that men can be treated with "watchful waiting," which means monitoring the cancer and treating it only if it starts to grow rapidly or turns more aggressive.

But a study last year of records of men treated from 2000 to 2002 found that among 24,405 with cancers considered to be of relatively low risk, 10 percent were overtreated with radical surgery, and 45 percent with radiation.

The surgeon's expertise is crucial in prostate cancer. A study published this month in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that the cancer was less likely to come back in patients whose doctors had performed 250 or more operations. Their recurrence rate was 10.7 percent, compared with 17.9 percent in men whose doctors had performed the operation only 10 times.

A Plan for Action

On June 17, a Sunday, Karen Pasqualetto, her husband and Isabel caught a red-eye flight to Baltimore. Pasqualetto made a point of bringing Isabel, 11 months, to her first appointment with Dr. Choti, hoping that the baby's blue eyes and cheerful grin would remind him just how high the stakes were and inspire him to try even harder to save her.

She emerged from the meeting a bit wistful. Though Dr. Choti had not criticized her previous care, he did say he would have operated much sooner, after a few months of chemotherapy.

In an interview, Dr. Choti said that Pasqualetto was a borderline case because the liver tumors were so extensive, and he could understand why the doctors in Seattle had decided not to operate.

Laughing as Isabel tottered around a hotel room in Baltimore, Pasqualetto looked so healthy it was hard to believe she was not. Only her stubbled scalp, mostly hidden by a bright pink ball cap, gave her away.

"I have fears about dying and about getting sicker, but I don't explore them, except maybe 10 percent of the time," she said. "The rest of the time, I just think it will all work out. I don't know what that really means."

If all the tumors could be removed, she might not even need more chemotherapy.

"Think of what a perspective I'd have on life," she said. "I don't allow myself to go there."

'A Complex Operation'

"They got them all," Pasqualetto's husband, Chris Hartinger, said shortly after her operation ended on June 21. "It turned out to be five tumors."

Four were in her liver. The one in her colon was the size of a tangerine. Dr. Choti operated for eight hours, removing 12 to 18 inches of intestine and about 70 percent of her liver.

The day after surgery, Dr. Choti said, "I think we got away with quite a complex operation."

The tumors were gone, but metastatic disease can be tough to beat in the long run.

"Roughly a third of patients will remain cancer free for a long time," Dr. Choti said. "About half will still be alive after five years. In a minority, there's a long-term cure. In some, we turn it into a chronic disease, if you will. She may recur, and we might be able to reoperate. We can prolong survival significantly."

A few days after surgery, Pasqualetto was walking laps around the hospital corridors, thinking about things she had not allowed herself to consider, plans she had not dared to make, like whether Isabel would someday like to have a horse.

"I can't believe it," she said. "This is pretty exciting."

But weeks later, at home again, she found herself back in the trenches, unsure of what the next step in her care would be. Her oncologist refused to see her until he spoke with the surgeon, and yet neither of them had called the other. Meanwhile, she was trying to decipher a worrisome report indicating that a CT scan had found minute lesions on her spleen.

"It's like I'm flapping in the wind," she said.

Far From Typical

Karen Pasqualetto is exceptional not only for her determination and confidence in dealing with problems that would intimidate many other people, but also for her financial wherewithal. So far her treatment has cost more than $400,000, almost all of it covered by health insurance from Starbucks, where her husband works in disaster-response planning.

When she joined a cancer support group, she recalled, "It was amazing to me the different experiences people were having based on what they could afford or who their provider was. I was able to say, 'If the provider won't pay, my family will. I don't care, I'm going for a second opinion.' "

In the support group, it saddened her to hear other patients with advanced disease take the word of a single oncologist, because she believes that if she had done that, she would already be dead. She has come to think that survival may depend on money and access, and, she said, on "your own drive and motivation — are you Type A? — your education and your ability to sort through the medical world and the insurance world terminology."

Pasqualetto's doctors have accepted her insurance payments, but if they had not, she said, "I would find resources. I would get people to pay. I do have resources. I have access to people who wouldn't sit by and let me die because of $200,000."

By Denise Grady
http://www.iht.com/

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Laser Surgery Check Oral Cancer spreads

2007-07-19T11:50:00.000+06:00

Bibhuti's New Story on Cancer is out.We must appreciate his work and zeal...Well go through the story and have made comments....

Laser Surgey Check Oral Cancer spreads

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

2007-07-09T13:25:00.000+06:00

M R Rajagopal is a restless person, in his deeds and dedication. We all know the value of palliative care, and little reciprocative towards it. Sir Rajagopal efforts are remarkable. He files a PIL in the Supreme Court regarding induction of Palliative care. Hope you all support and make a good news for the better cause.

Aware Cancer
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In an unprecendented move, the Supreme Court of India has admitted a public interest litigation by the Indian Association of Palliative care (IAPC) demanding improved access to palliative care for those who need it in the country. Currently, more than two million people with cancer and other incurable diseases are in needless pain and suffering, as the medical system rejects them once they are incurable. Kerala is the only state in the country that has a network of palliative care services, providing pain relief, symptom control and psychosocial support. Ms Poonam Bagai, a cancer survivor from Delhi and Dr Ravi Ghooi, a pharmacologist from Pune are co-petitioners. Dr M R Rajagopal, the chairman of its opioid availability committee represents IAPC. Ms Poonam Bagai had gone through the cancer journey herself. Dr Ravi Ghooi has seen his own mother suffering pain from cancer while the medical profession turned its back on her.

Palliative care is aimed at quality of life, rather than cure, and can go hand in hand with curative treatment. It has evolved into a well-developed medical and nursing specialty in the west. But though it came to India in 1986, it is still in its infancy in India. The Government, since 1980s, has paid lip service to it, and though palliative care was accepted as an integral part of cancer care, even today, majority
of even the Regional cancer centers do not have any palliative care facility.

The petitioners argue for the right to life with dignity for the hapless people with cancer and other incurable diseases. Morphine is an essential drug for pain relief; but unfortunately, unnecessarily complex narcotic
drugs and psychotropic substances (NDPS) act of 1985 prevents availability of the drug for people in pain. Modern science has clearly shown that oral morphine can be used with no reasonable chance of addiction, but still the medical community and the legal system refuse to change their attitude, leaving people in pain.

One of the petitioners, Dr Ravi Ghooi, moved the High Court of India in 1997, when his mother was in pain. But despite a favourable High court order, the situation continues with no substantial improvement. In 1998, the department of Revenue of Government of India asked all state Governments to amend and simplify the narcotic regulations, but majority of states and UTs have failed to comply, even after 9 years.

The petitioners argue for the right to life and death with dignity of patients with incurable illnesses, many of whom are awaiting their death with intense but avoidable pain, because of:

1. Non-implementation/inadequate implementation of the directives of the Government of India by the State Governments to modify the rules governing availability of morphine and other opioids required for pain control.

2.Absence of mechanisms and infrastructure for providing pain relief through palliative care centers and services, as palliative care continues to be a weak priority for many of the respondents in spite of the National Cancer Control Plan and States Governments' Cancer Control Policies.

3.Lack of education of doctors, nurses and medical and nursing students in palliative care.

The petitioners have requested the Supreme Court to instruct the central and state governments to develop palliative care policies. They also ask for adoption of realistic narcotic regulations and for standard operating procedures for their implementation. They also pray for inclusion of palliative care in undergraduate medical and nursing curricula by Medical and Nursing councils of India.

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

Palliative care is being dropped from the National Cancer Control Program (NCCP)

2007-06-18T14:11:00.000+06:00

Palliative Care, two word can change the life of an advanced stage cancer patient.
I personally see it, and also done a television story for that, I am little worry, why my fellow journalist are not covering this care...well in the mean time we have an effort of some NGO's and groups, who tell us that the 'ministry of health' is not so keen to care of this healthy idea!

Pallium India is working from last few years for this great cause. Hope you all 'pen friends' support the cause and have some idea to compel the policy makers to wake......

Aware Cancer

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June 13, 2007

Palliative care is being dropped from the National Cancer Control Program (NCCP).

In a strange move, the department of Health & FW seems to have decided to ignore its own policy, the recommendations of WHO and the decisions of a task force of experts that it had appointed itself, to decide that people in pain must continue to be in pain and suffering! And there seems to be no reason at all behind such a decision except possibly the lack of understanding of the problem by some officials in the corridors of power!

The background:

From 1986, the NCCP has proclaimed that pain relief should be an essential part of cancer care.

From 1991, numerous workshops conducted by Ministry of Health of Government of India planned the development of palliative care services in cancer hospitals.

But even now, there is hardly any progress. Palliative care continues to be available in a few pockets as a result of NGO action.

Finally in 2005, the Department of Health and Family Welfare of Government of India appointed a task force to assist in formulating strategy for National Cancer Control Program in the next five year plan from 2007-2012. One of the six arms of the task force was on palliative care.

The 15 experts in the palliative care task force had numerous discussions and meetings and finally submitted its recommendation. We were told that this time palliative care would get its due share and people suffering needless pain in the country will finally get some reprieve.

But recently, all the experts’ recommendations have been ignored and palliative care has been left out altogether. The apparent reason given is that we can prevent all cancers and if some do occur, we can cure them! While even in all developed countries, despite all research, even today, only a minority of cancers get cured!

What sort of people are we, if in our arrogant state of health, we ignore those who are less fortunate and need a little inexpensive medication and care to help them spend the remainder of their days with some comfort and dignity!

We understand that it is not too late and that the Minister can still bring palliative care back into the NCCP.

Please see the following letter that we sent to the Hon. Health Minister in April 2007 and please do whatever you can to help those in pain and suffering!

Dr M.R.Rajagopal

Chairman, Pallium India

PJRRA 65, Pothujanam Road

Kumarapuram

Trivandrum 695011

Kerala.

mrraj47@gmail.com

April 28, 2007

To,

Hon’ble Minister Sh. Ambumani Ramadoss

Hon’ble Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare

Nirman Bhavan

New Delhi

Dear Sh Ramadoss,

Sir, you met with us at the American Cancer Society University Program on Tuesday 24th April evening. Some of us were on the Palliative Care Task Force for the National Cancer Control Program, NCCP, 2007-12.

We were extremely happy to hear from you that the budget for cancer the XI Plan NCCP is likely to be Rs 2500 crores. We recognize that the quantum increase in this budget from the X to the XI Plan is because of your direct involvement and intervention.

However the very next day we heard from the Joint Secretary, Mrs Bhawani Thayagarajan, in her address to the Scholars, that with the Ministry of Health’s focus on Awareness and Early Detection and the funds assigned for this purpose, she hopes that in the next 10 years there will be no need for Palliative Care in the country. The fact is in spite of all technological advances, awareness and early detection in developed countries, worldwide, 50% of cancer patients require palliative care. It appears too that the Budget for Palliative Care may have been folded in to the total NCCP budget.

Hon’ble Minister Sir, this is deeply disturbing news. We most earnestly beseech you to intervene, before it is too late and the NCCP and XI FYP get approved and finalized.

Our Palliative Care Task Force had recommended a budget of Rs 68 crores, a paltry amount compared to the overall Cancer budget, but critical for the development of Palliative Care Services in RCCs and other cancer treatment facilities, education and training of medical professionals, many of whom continue to be ignorant of the need for Palliative Care, improvement of Opioid Availability in the country and public awareness programs. As you are well aware, Hon’ble Minister Sir, availability of palliative care services and well-trained palliative care specialists, will indeed be very cost-effective, because they will help to avoid expensive anti-cancer therapy which brings little relief to them, but also becomes a drain on their own the family’s and even the nation’s resources.

On behalf of over 2 million patients of cancer and other chronic diseases who are in avoidable pain and in dire need of palliative care and morphine, we request your help. We request your personal attention to the matter to ensure that budgetary allocation as recommended by the task force be included in NCCP.

Thanking you

Yours sincerely,

For Pallium India.

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Defy post-cancer deformities with surgical precision

2007-06-13T21:00:00.000+06:00

I always want to know about the post traumatic feeling on a cancer patient. And fortunately Bibhuti's article has all, that you want to know....Thanks Bibhuti.

Defy post-cancer deformities with surgical precision

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

We are twenty and become two!

2007-06-13T16:07:00.000+06:00

We are twenty! and on the tone of 'kitne aaadmi the'...only two are actively doing stories on cancer...Why? Is your boss didn't agree from the cancer problem, or you also not seen any glamrous aspect.

Well, the more input u gave, the more we become happening.

I hope in few days, our inbox full by something worthy emails.

Dont get confuse, you can sent any article, by you or by anyone, on cancer.

And what is the hesitation to become a member of this blog? Are you not want to be known internationally!

Bhavya

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

INVITATION FOR WORKSHOP

2007-06-13T14:05:00.000+06:00

Burning Brain Society shall be conducting two day’s activity to polish the skills of activists and civil society members on issues relating to tobacco control.

This is a special event and only selected people are being invited to the workshop. The workshop intends to enhance the skill set of activists for effectively working on tobacco control with a result-oriented approach. Successful models from other countries, lessons learnt from other civil rights movements and the possibility of adapting them with a comprehensive approach shall also be discussed. “Action” is the buzz word for the workshop.

We would like to invite you to attend the workshop on the 16th and 17th of June 2007 at ICSSR Centre, Punjab University, Sector 14, Chandigarh. We may be able to reimburse train fair to some of the participants on need basis.
Kindly confirm your participation at the earliest to G. Poonam at poonam@burningbrain.org or register yourself here.

(Visit: http://www.burningbrain.org/workshop2007/register.htm)

Burning Brain Society
Telephone: +91-172- 5165555, 5185600 Mobile: +91-9463396313
E-Mail: info@burningbrain.org

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What they don't tell you about cancer

2007-06-11T16:40:00.000+06:00

Ketan is awesome, in his work and in talking...he done a good story...enjoy reading...

What they don't tell you about cancer

Along with " Kitne aadmi the " and " Mere paas maa hai ", one of the most enduring expressions in Hindi cinema is, " lymphocircoma of the intestine ." Rajesh Khanna is diagnosed with it in the film Anand. Long before that, and long after, cancer was, has been and will be the most powerful brand of death in mainstream cinema. Heart attack is too sudden. AIDS is film festival cinema. TB interferes with dialogues. "He has cancer," is perfect. It is a dramatic statement that a viewer understands as the morbid certainty of pathos in the climax. But this really annoys those who work with cancer patients. The truth is cancer doesn't always mean death. If detected in the early stages, more than 50% of those who are diagnosed with it can lead a fruitful life. But the branding of cancer is so strong that patients equate it with death.

In India, the number of people who are claimed by heart attack is three times more than cancer fatalities, says Dr Rakesh Gupta, India Consultant of the American Cancer Society. In the case of blood, ovarian and breast cancers, the survival rate is between 40% and 50% over a five year period. This means that if a person suffering from this type of cancer survives beyond five years, it is highly probable that the patient is cured of the disease.

It's not just Hindi cinema that has contributed to the morbidity associated with cancer. Television soaps have efficiently used it as a mechanism to get rid of characters. For instance, in Kumkum, a cult serial for housewives, one of the main characters, having outlived her purpose for the production company, discovers that she is dying of cancer.

There are hundreds of cancer survivors who lead a happy life after battling the disease for years. Anurag Basu, who directed one of the most acclaimed films of the year, Life In A... Metro , is a testimony to the fact that not only can one combat cancer but also plan for a better future. Basu catapulted to fame with the film Murder and was flooded with offers thereafter. Halfway through his next film, Tumsa Nahin Dekha, he was diagnosed with acute leukemia. The year was 2004 and he was 30. Basu was given two months to live. "I was in a bad shape and was on a ventilator," Basu says. "My attitude was that I am not going to think cancer is different from other diseases. People take pills for blood pressure, heart problems and I take pills for cancer. Yes, there were times when I felt God had been unfair but I fought back," says Basu.

In fact, Basu even directed parts of the film from his hospital bed as shooting could not be cancelled. To complete the film, he would give instructions on a dictaphone, talking about camera angles and the script. Mahesh Bhatt and Mohit Suri finished the film later. Now, Basu is fighting fit even though he is undergoing chemotherapy and taking medication. His family and unit stood like a rock behind him.

In 1986, Sobha Doshi, now 51, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She seemed to be getting well but had a relapse in 1989 which saw six months of painful treatment. "It was one of the worst periods of my illness. I could not swallow food. I would vomit constantly and many times my only hope was that I should not vomit after my kids came home from school," she says. It has been over 17 years since the relapse but Shobha is doing well and working as a volunteer with V Care, an NGO. "Cancer should not mean death. Yes, often the treatment can be painful and there is always the chance of a relapse. But one can survive, progress and live a dignified life," she says.

V Care volunteer Sandhya Vora's son, Rishab Vora is a spirited 17-year-old. Ten years ago he was diagnosed with neurogenic sarcoma on his right hand. Painful cancer treatment followed and as a result, one arm is smaller and thinner than the other. But the family never gave up hope nor did they moan in self pity. "It was clear that we would seek the best possible treatment. Today Rishabh is just like any teenager and has his problems though cancer is not one of them" says Vora.

There are many such success stories that go against the melodramatic prognosis of cinema. In general terms, the survival rate of cancer is 20% in developing countries as compared to 60% in developed countries according to Dr Rakesh Gupta. According to Gupta, apart from the influence of cinema, cancer and death are synonymous in India because it's usually detected in the advanced stage. "Prevention and early detection are the key to controlling cancer. Unfortunately, there is lack of awareness and a feeling among many of us that cancer is something that happens to others." Like, Rajesh Khanna in Anand

Ketan Tanna
Special Correspondent,
The Times Of India,
Mumbai.
Phone: 91-22-22735240
Mobile:0-9821034500
ketan.tanna@timesgroup.com
ketan@ketan.net
------------------------------
http://www.timesofindia.com/
http://www.ketan.in/

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"Bidi jalaile jigars se piya"

2007-06-06T13:03:00.000+06:00

"Nicotine is as addictive as heroin". Bollywood heroines are flamboyantly dance on songs like- Bidi jalaile jigar se piya, and slowly pampering the feeling of smoke...Bibhuti's New Article has some answers.....

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Habit Kills you!

2007-06-04T12:38:00.000+06:00

Habit kills you...your time, your career and of course your life. How habits relate to cancer! Bibhuti's article has some insight...

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

In Washington for FCTC.

2007-06-02T12:49:00.000+06:00

To draw the attention of the world to the failure of the US government to
ratify the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and to highlight
the double standards of the US government with regard to tobacco, Hemant
Goswami, social activist and chairperson of the India based NGO Burning
Brain Society conducted a day long hunger fast and sit-in outside the White
House in Washington DC.

To date, 147 countries have ratified the FCTC, thereby making it legally
binding ona them to regulate the tobacco industry. U.S. signed the treaty,
but probably under the influence of the tobacco industry, the Bush
Administration has thus far refused to send it to the U.S. Senate for
ratification, as required by the U.S. Constitution.

In recognition that children have a right to live in a healthy world and
that U.S. policies pertaining to tobacco have a worldwide impact, Goswami
also called on the U.S. to end tobacco industry political donations,
prohibit people with tobacco industry ties from participating in public
health and economic policy formulation, and exclude tobacco from
international trade treaties.

Mr. Hemant said, “It’s an irony of the civilized world, that sheer greed
and political patronage has allowed unabated commercial trade of a deadly
product like tobacco. For petty individual commercial gains, shortsighted
politicians have shirked their responsibility of ensuring common welfare
and protecting the people from one of the largest preventable cause of
death, disease and disability in the world. By not acting against tobacco,
these politician-traders are trading the health and lives of our children
for fistful of money.”

Tobacco products currently kill 5 million people worldwide annually, a
death toll that the World Health Organization projects will double to 10
million annually. 70 percent of these deaths shall take place in low-income
countries by 2025.

The open petition to President Bush further mentions that “The policies of
the United States impact all nations worldwide. When the United States
chooses to protect the health of the tobacco industry over that of people,
at home and abroad, it is in violation against the most basic principles of
humanity and is detrimental to global public health objectives. Economic
wellbeing should enhance public welfare, not rob people of it.”

“It is an accident that tobacco became a legal product; but in the light of
the current scientific evidence we must rectify this mistake,” Hemant
emphasized.

(Anna White, Katie Kemper and friends were also present for the White House
Protest)

* GPO Box 137, General Post Office, Sector 17, Chandigarh 160
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Chandigarh 160 017 INDIA
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Looking ahead

2007-05-22T12:19:00.000+06:00

Hope you all are happy to see Benita Sen on board...U all r welcome, passionately.
Benita is intelligent and have good sense of writing, she wrote millions words in her career, and this time few thousand words for Cancer....Read this, and surely it is an eye opener...

Looking ahead

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

here i am!

2007-05-21T20:49:00.000+06:00

aware.cancer@gmail.com
hi all bootcampers, i seem to be on board finally. thanks, bhavya.

Bibhuti's Story on Cancer

2007-05-21T18:05:00.000+06:00

As a participant Bibhuti is lucid..He ask questions and brief everyone..He is awesome in communication...Well his article deserves this place..

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Important Information on diseases of our time: CANCER

2007-05-21T17:44:00.000+06:00

*Every person has cancer cells in their body. These cancer cells do
not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few
billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more
cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests
are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached
the detectable size.

*Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

*When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be
destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

*When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple

*Nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,
environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

*To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and
including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

*Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and
also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow,
gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver,
kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

*Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages
healthy cells, tissues and organs.

*Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce
tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not
result in more tumor destruction.

*When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and
radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence
the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and
complications.

*Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and
become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause
cancer cells to spread to other sites.

*An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by
not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

- Cancer Cells Feed On -

Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one
important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like

NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is
harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses
but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to
make it white in colour.

Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk
and substituting with unsweetened Soya milk cancer cells are being
starved.

Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is
acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than
beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth
hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people
with cancer.

A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds,
nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline
environment.

About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable
juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to
cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of
healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try
and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean
sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are
destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea
is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water: it
is best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins
and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive
enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied
and leads to more toxic build-up.

Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or
eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of
cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer
cells.

Some supplements build up the immune system (anti-oxidants, vitamins,
minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy
cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause
apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of
disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and
positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger,
unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic
environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to
relax and enjoy life.

Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising
daily and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular
level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer
cells.

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

Regular testing helped him beat cancer

2007-05-07T18:34:00.000+06:00

Its all in yuor hand. You do you save...be a regualar goer of clinics. It hels you, in detecting any evolvement in your body.

Regular testing helped him beat cancer

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

New assessment model gauges lung cancer risk

2007-05-07T18:29:00.000+06:00

Clinicians may be one step closer to having a critical tool in identifying which smokers are at higher risk for developing lung cancer, the deadliest of all cancers, thanks to an assessment model generated by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

New assessment model gauges lung cancer risk
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Researchers Examine Bio-Magnetic Sensors

2007-05-07T18:26:00.000+06:00

Detection is starting. By knowing your disease, you can cure it. Scientist overall the world are searching new ways to detect Cancer.

Read this to know the new way!

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

Eat to prevent cancer year-round

2007-05-02T18:45:00.000+06:00

Eat healty and you become immune to every disease. Read this good article to keep cancer away from you....

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=26603&sc=102

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Smoking in movies influence youth to smoke

2007-05-02T13:46:00.000+06:00

CNS-MEDIAWATCH: Smoking in movies influence youth to smoke
Keep-The-Promise Campaign
------------------------------

In the recent past, English and Hindi newspapers have been carrying editorial indepth articles on portrayal of tobacco use in cinema/ films, in India and globally as well. One of the major influences on the uptake of teen tobacco use is the glamourisation of tobacco use in movies and on television. It has been well documented in India and internationally too, that portrayal of tobacco use in films influences youth to begin tobacco use. Keep-The-Promise Campaign team has put together a bulletin of such media clippings below (see the list):

===============================================================
KEEP THE PROMISE DR RAMADOSS!!!
Below is the statement of Dr Ramadoss (dated 12 July 2006). Close to a year later, we are yet to see any change in effect!

"Curbing exposure to children and adolescents to tobacco in films/TV is the single most effective public health intervention for any society in the world" said Dr Ambumani Ramadoss, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Government of India.
===============================================================

27 April 2007: Editorial article by CNS Journalist Amit Dwivedi (Hindi) published in JANSATTA (Hindi national newspaper)
Available online at: http://mycitizennews.blogspot.com

Movie magic up in smoke
The Statesman, India
Available online at: http://www.thestatesman.net

Link between tobacco use and films
The Korea Times, (South Korea)
http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=4829

Untold story of films’ link to tobacco
Brunei Times (Brunei Darussalam)
Available online at: http://www.bruneitimes.com.bn/details.php?shape_ID=22915

Tobacco shown in movies influences youth to begin tobacco use
Morocco Times (Morocco)
Available online at: http://www.moroccotimes.com/paper/article.asp?idr=22&id=17307

Tobacco shown in movies influences children
The Seoul Times (South Korea)
Available online at: http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=4111

The unwritten script: Link between tobacco and film industry
The Daily Star (Bangladesh)
Available online at: http://www.thedailystar.net

Youth begin smoking by seeing tobacco use in films
The Kathmandu Post (Nepal)
Available online at: http://www.kantipuronline.com/ktmpost.php

Tobacco shown in movies influences youth
The News (Pakistan)
Available online at: http://www.thenews.com.pk

Tobacco shown in Movies influences youth
The Monitor (Uganda)
Available online at: http://www.monitor.co.ug

---------------
Keep-The-Promise Campaign is a 120 days (7 April – 4 August 2007) media advocacy and communications campaign dedicated to raise awareness about existing tobacco control legislations (including FCTC) in countries in Asia and Africa, bring out challenges in their enforcement and increase media coverage of the same. The campaign shall also remind of promises made on tobacco control by policy makers of different countries in Asia and Africa and strengthen advocacy to Keep The Promises! More details about the KTP Campaign are available online at:

http://mycitizennews.blogspot.com/2007/04/keep-promise-campaign.html

Send your doing's to aware.cancer@gmail.com

Weblinks to palliative care

2007-05-01T13:31:00.000+06:00

Palliative Care Formulary
http://www.palliativedrugs.com

Cancer Pain Sample Prescriptions
http://www.pallcare.info/

Guide to palliative care websites
http://omni.ac.uk/browse/mesh/D010166.html

Palliative Care Matters
http://www.pallcare.info/

Cochrane reviews
http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/index.htm

Cochrane Palliative Care

British National Formulary
http://www.bnf.org/bnf/

MERCK MEDICUS
http://www.merckmedicus.com

Pain multimedia guidelines
http://www.stoppain.org/multimedia/index.html

Prodigy guidelines palliative care - Cough
http://www.prodigy.nhs.uk/guidance.asp?gt=Palliative%20care%20-%20cough

Prodigy guidelines palliative care - Dyspnoea
http://www.prodigy.nhs.uk/guidance.asp?gt=Palliative%20care%20-%20dyspnoea

Prodigy guidelines palliative care - Ulcer
http://www.prodigy.nhs.uk/guidance.asp?gt=Palliative%20-20malignant%20ulcer

Prodigy guidelines palliative care - Oral Problems
http://www.prodigy.nhs.uk/guidance.asp?gt=Palliative%20care%20-20oral%20problem

Prodigy guidelines palliative care - Pain
http://www.prodigy.nhs.uk/guidance.asp?gt=Palliative%20care%20-%20pain

Prodigy guidelines palliative care -Nausea/ Vomiting /Malignant Bowel Obstruction
http://www.prodigy.nhs.uk/guidance.asp?gt=Palliative%20care%20-%20nausea/vomit

Cochrane Palliative Care
http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/topics/85.html

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Today Cancer is the Deadliest Killer

2007-04-30T16:01:00.000+06:00

Cancer is traditionally synonymous to death. But the medical advancemnets and awareness is key to life. But there is also a fact that it is the deadliest killer....

http://www.medindia.net/news/view_news_main.asp?x=20421

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Tropic of cancer

2007-04-30T14:39:00.000+06:00

India is on the edge. Cancer is growing like forest fire. At a time when mass media is very active, the awareness toward cancer is low! 0.8 million cancer patients are suffering from pain.

And sure this indian article is an eye opener...

Tropic of cancer

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Scientists have new tools to see how cancer works

2007-04-30T13:00:00.000+06:00

The word of Cancer is always in news. We got an link, that tells you about the detection and tools...

Enjoy Reading...

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/21977

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A Camp to fight Cancer...

2007-04-27T13:36:00.000+06:00

So, we are here. We the journalist, the social activist, the concerning bodies, the doctors and the society. For telling the people that you have got a life for good. Then there is a word came to our personal medical dictionary, CANCER. And you lost all faith in life! A life which is very precious to you become the most unwanted thing! How? Why?

The answer is Ignorance. The ignorance you pay to life and information. Every day you heard abouut a perso, who is challenging life with some will power. You met several people who work vigoruosly for a cause, and you ignore them, but in this process you ignore the cause, and one day you are effected by the cause!

We must appreciate the concern societies and the institutions for thier sheer will to aware us.

As a part of BOOT CAMP, organized by CDC+ACS is an insightful experinece for all of us. We know, share, discuss, think and ready to emit mesagge vigorously in the society.

We know its a challenge to fought with the tendencies, but we have the power to fight with odds.

I am sure you send your entries to our email address and also become member of this noble cause.

Yours

Bhavya