What if there was a cure for cancer?

By cure, I mean an herb or medicine that attacks only the cancer and causes no ill side effects.

What would happen?
1. Entire wings of hospitals would have to be put to different uses. Oncologists would have to learn a different specialty.
2. The American Cancer Society, the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Cancer Association, the state-based cancer associations, and the International Kidney Cancer Association, among others, would fizzle out.
3. Everything pink would need a new color...there'd be no need for all of the money-raising campaigns for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
4. Fewer hospice patients because there would be none on their death-bed from terminal cancer.
5. The life expectancy age would probably increase since chances of cancer typical increase with age. So maybe curing cancer wouldn't produce less hospice patients, just older ones who die from some other ailment.
6. Insurance companies couldn't raise premiums on people who have had cancer in the past.
7. Smoking cigarettes wouldn't be quite such a big deal since lung cancer wouldn't scare anyone. (though there'd still be heart disease)
8 Companies could start using any number of chemicals and compenents labled as "carcinogenic" because they would no longer be deadly...they'd just cause an inconvenience. Sure, people could still sue because they got sick, but the amount of money the person could get would most likely be less than it would be today.
9. The health industry (namely pharmacuetical companies, but doctors as well) would make less money off of cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation are much more expensive than an herb or medicine. According to a 2007 article from USA Today, roughly 1 in every 26 people in America have or have had cancer. In 2005, that meant 11.7 million people. By 2020, it's estimated that 1 in 19 people will have cancer at some point. Those kind of numbers equal a very lucrative business for the ones selling the treatment.

Can you think of other ways that things would change?

Obama says he will slow the rise of healthcare costs.

Healthcare costs are constantly up for debate right now, but costs are high enough already...there should be a way to decrease them rather than slow the increase. In our current healthcare system, we try to cover up whatever ails us. Have a headache? Take an Advil. Don't worry about asking why you have a headache. But what if we did ask why? What if we actually started targeting the root causes of the diseases and ailments rather than simply treating the effects? As a whole, we would require fewer doctor visits, fewer tests, and fewer medications. That would equal less cost for us.
However, for this to be cost effective for the average American consumer, insurance companies would actually have to pay for more than medication. They would have to look at chiropractors, certain therapists, nutritionists, and others as vital to healthcare. Also, doctors don't get paid for talking. The typical goal is to see how many patients can be in and out each day. They don't get paid extra to talk for an hour to diagnose the cause of the problem.
Targeting the cause instead of the effect is not easy. Most of us don't want to change our lifestyle or give up our favorite foods. But if we're unwilling to change any of it, then we can't complain about higher health costs. As a nation, our health is getting worse. With the current healthcare system, our worsening health requires more doctor visits, more tests, and more medication. That all has to be paid for somehow.
I believe the government is looking backwards at the healthcare problem. Their current stand keeps us sick so that an expensive healthcare system is necessary. They slack on junk food advertising regulations and allow medicines to enter the market without proper testing (Have you ever noticed how many medicines are recalled or taken off the shelves because of health problems that arose from it? Or the TV commercials where a lawyer asks if you took a certain medicine because you may be able to sue the pharmaceutical industry for a disease caused by that medicine?)

I'm not sure where all of this rambling got me or if I even made any sense. I just heard it in a radio broadcast that "Obama says he will slow the rise of healthcare costs" and thought it was a ridiculous statement.

3 Cheers for Wawa!

My vacation took me to the northeast of the US where I encountered my first Wawa gas station. I stopped by one morning on my way to another overly-sweet pancake breakfast, and was very pleasantly surprised to see apples, oranges, bananas, carrots, grapes, and assorted fruit cups for sale. I hadn't seen a grocery store nearby, so I assumed there would be no fruit for breakfast this day. I was so excited to be wrong!
Now we just need to encourage other gas stations to follow suit. Are there some in your area that already sale fruits or veggies?

I know there have been many times I have had to pick up a few food items at a gas station because it was closer than a grocery store and there just wasn't time to go the extra distance. Unfortunately, the healthiest things I can usually find are a can of ravioli and a Nature Valley granola bar. If people are going to have more access to healthier options, gas stations need to be the first to jump on the wagon.

Here's my thumbs up to Wawa! I hope Exxon, BP, Shell, and the others will do the same.

Back Home!

I've been on vacation for the last few days. I had so much fun, but my eating has also been so messed up. Something about long road trips makes me want to eat...especially junk food. Debbie cakes, Reese cups, Twizzlers, candy.

And then I felt miserable.

The healthier I eat, the worse I feel after too much junk food. Does that mean before I started eating healthier, my body thought junk food was all there was so it put up with it? Or did I feel worse than I realized because I thought it was "normal"?

Anyways, I'm ready for a detox or something. I missed my smoothies! I ate fruit when it was around, but it just wasn't the same as my morning smoothie. Waffles just can't compare. Don't get me wrong...I love waffles (and pancakes and French toast), but only occasionally. I ate them for 3 mornings while I was gone. Ugh.

On one good note, I still stayed away from sodas. The Pepsi was tempting sometimes since there were usually so few drink options where I was, but I still stuck with water.

Grill It

Grilled Squash from Allrecipes

We're in the middle of grilling season, and I'm ready to throw everything onto those hot racks. Here are some fruits and veggies you may or may not have already thought to grill:

Pineapple: slice it and drizzle with pure maple syrup. Lightly grill, then top with pecan pieces

Grapes: Drizzle a little honey over small clusters and lightly grill.

Pears: Combine brown sugar, melted butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg to drizzle over pears and toasted hazelnuts in a tin foil packet. Grill a few minutes on either side.

Try apples, bananas (sliced lenthwise), honeydew or cantaloupe kabobs, or peaches or nectarines (with skin so they'll hold together. They'll get really mushy if grilled for long.) Be creative with spices and flavors - ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc.

Tomatoes - Cut in half and grill cut-side down until the cut part is darkened.

Try onions, mushrooms, yellow summer squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes, peppers, corn on the cob, or asparagus - Any of them can be drizzled with a little olive oil or butter, sprinkled with salt and pepper or your favorite seasonings, and grilled. They can also soak in a marinade first.

Or make kabobs with a variety of the veggies.

I really want to try Grilled Eggplant, Tomato, and Goat cheese and Grilled Zucchini Boats.

Kitchen Behavior

Off-topic from healthy eating, my cooking methods were recently described as the following:

"She's like an artist in the kitchen. Instead of splashing paint on a canvas, she's creating with food. She'll throw anything together just to see what the end result will be."

I liked that description. It fits, though I suppose it should say abstract artist. I'll try any combination of food once just to see if it works.

The Things People Come Up With

I was told about a recent show on the food channel that featured gimmicky restaurants. Here's one we can award with "Most Unhealthy"...

Heart Attack Grill

Taste Worth Dying For

Photo credit: www.epsteinstudios.com & www.wpphotos.com

Heart Attack Grill is a hospital-themed restaurant in Chandler, Arizona. Customers are referred to as "patients," orders are "prescriptions," and the waitresses are dressed as nurses. The menu consists of the Single Bypass Burger®, Double Bypass Burger®, Triple Bypass Burger®, and the Quadruple Bypass Burger®, ranging from 1 slab of beef to 4 slabs. There are also "Flatliner Fries" that are cooked in pure lard, no filter cigarettes, hard liquor, beer, and full sugar coke. Doctor John, the owner, flips burgers in a white lab coat and stethoscope.

Anyone weighing over 350 pounds can eat for free every day. Customers who finish a Quadruple Bypass Burger are pushed out to their car in a wheelchair by the nurse of their choice.

I bet the skinny nurses/waitresses don't eat the food they serve...

Hormone Therapy

It seems like everytime I turn around, there's an article beginning with "A recent study showed..." A bit later, there's another article that debunks what the previous article said.

I recently read an article in the May 09 edition of Natural Awakenings titled "Hormone Therapy Linked to Brain Shrinkage." The title honestly doesn't surprise me at all. Menopause is a natural thing for women, and we're trying to make it unnaturally symptom-free. There had to be some kind of consequence or reaction to this. Granted, when I hit menopause, I'll most likely be looking for whatever kind of treatment will make me feel more normal, too.

The entire (short) article is below, but the part that made me laugh was the quote by one of the researchers of how "this is not what we expected to find." Really? What kind of side effects did you expect?

Two new studies report the hormone therapy - a still commonly prescribed form of postmenopausal treatment - may slightly accelerate the loss of brain tissue in women 65 and older, beyond what normally occurs with aging. "This is not what we expected to find," reported one of the researches.

The investigating scientists, using MRI scans to look for increased volumes of brain lesions among women who had taken therapy, discovered their brain volume had shrunk in two critical areas: the frontal lobe and the hippocampus. Both of these areas are invovled in thinking and memory skills. Loss of volume in the hippocampus is also a risk factor for dementia. More than 1,400 women ages 71 to 89 participated in the study.

Source: Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, 2009

While I don't doubt the results of the study, I do take every "study result" with a grain of salt. Most studies are not completely clear about the factors involved, steps taken, and who paid for the study. With so many contradicting studies, I expect very few to be 100% accurate. With this one for example, it sites the study group as 71-89 year olds, yet they say the therapy effects brain tissue in women 65 and older. How did they decide it effects age 65 and older?

Not All Water Is Equal

I used to think that all bottled water was the same. I assumed it was taken from a clean mountain stream and filtered to whatever extent it needed. I figured it was healthier than the chlorine & flouride laced tap water.

I can admit it when I'm wrong.


According to an article (October 2008) by the Environmental Working Group, Walmart's Sam's Choice and Giant's Acadia bottled brands have levels of chlorine byproducts that are similar to tap water. Giant's brand even has flouride, making it "chemically indistinguishable from tap water."


My Spring Water lists Pepsi's Aquafina, Coke's Dasani, and Evian as "good quality" but with significant differences. Aquafina comes from a municipal source (just like tap water) and is purified through charcoal filtration, reverse osmosis, and ozonination. These processes remove virtually all natural minerals (which is good stuff).
Dasani is also taken from a municipal source and goes through reverse osmosis. A blend of minerals is mixed back in with the water after the purification process.
Evian, which I believe to be the best of the 3, is from the northern French Alps. The only filtration is the flowing of the water through the ground's sand and clay, which leaves the natural minerals.

Just from these few examples, it's obvious not all bottled water is "spring" water. Here, My Spring Water explains the different kinds of water, such as spring, municipal/tap, purified, mineral, etc.

Side Note: I rarely buy bottled water. I have a couple of travel mugs and a BPA-free plastic bottle that I refill with filtered water from home. I just thought it was interesting that bottled water could vary so much between brands. Next time I buy bottled water though, I think it'll be Evian since that's not something I can get at home.

I Want a Doctor Like This

I like my family doctor - really I do. She's personable with a great bedside manner and listens well to whatever the issue is. But her focus is solely on whatever issue I came in for. We haven't discussed my lifestyle, typical diet/nutrition, or how to prevent whatever I may be at risk for. I wait for 30 minutes, see a nurse for 5 minutes, see the doctor for 5 minutes, and am out the door with a prescription in hand.

I wish my doctor was a little more like Dr. Peter Anderson, who's discussed in this article about family doctors and health-care costs. The article says:

Unlike most primary-care doctors, Anderson and his team take ample time to counsel patients, guide them through lifestyle changes, and monitor chronic conditions with frequent checkups. He has helped patients avoid heart attacks, diabetes, and unnecessary surgeries by focusing on prevention and disease monitoring. He does all this while seeing 30 to 35 patients a day, compared with 20 to 25 for most practices. And he accepts Medicare.

Anderson says he's able to do this because his nurses fill out the patient history, which is work that used to take hours of his time. According to the article, the nurses also spend about 30 minutes with each patient to assess new health problems, review old ones, and discuss preventative treatment options. The nurse also remains in the room with the patient and doctor during the exam to point out details in the medical history that a busy doctor could easily overlook.

So...when's the last time your family doctor asked about your diet or spent some time just talking about your health risks? Or suggested lifestyle changes rather than medication?