Alcohol Abuse Escalates Liver Cancer Risk

January 19, 2015

Alcohol Abuse and Liver Cancer

Liver cancer is a problem that has affected many people and lots is being done to help alleviate its effects on the world’s population. According to the American cancer society about 24,550 people (17,030 men and 7,520 women) will die of liver cancer. The number of people dying of liver cancer has increased greatly over the past decades. However, this disease has been found to affect men more than it affects women. On average a man’s lifetime risk of getting liver or intrahepatic bile duct cancer is about 1 in 81, while an average woman’s risk is about 1 in 196. On average people who are diagnosed with liver cancer are aged 63 with most of them being 45 years of age or older, the statistics state that more than 95 percent of those affected are aged 45 and above. About 3% are between 35 and 44 years of age and about 2% are younger than 35.

Liver cancer can affects anybody anywhere but researchers have found that it is more common in countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia than in the US. In fact in most of the countries in these regions it has become the most common type of cancer. In the entire world it is reported that more than 700,000 people are diagnosed with liver cancer each year throughout the world. Liver cancer is also a leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, accounting for more than 600,000 deaths each year.

Basing on the statistics above, it is therefore safe to say that liver cancer is a cause for alarm, with the risk of liver cancer growing everyday bearing on the toxins that are present in our environments, it is important to eliminate all the possible risk factors to liver cancer. Alcohol drinking has been linked to liver cancer. It is therefore reasonable to reduce the rate of alcohol you take or better quit it completely, of course you will need professional help to quit it but all the effort will be worth it.

Despite these statistics that have shown that liver cancer is a serious disease that ought to be fought at all costs, there has been controversy on the subject of liver cancer being linked to alcohol use. Past researchers established that drinking alcohol moderately has very many health benefits. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines moderate drinking as consumption of 14 drinks per week for men and 7 drinks per week for women. Exceeding these limits increases your risk to other diseases, liver cancer included.

There has been controversy on this topic and this may be because of the fact that alcohol itself doesn’t cause liver cancer but when consumed beyond healthy limits and hence abused for many years it will cause liver cirrhosis. Liver cirrhosis is a major cause of liver cancer and so if alcohol abuse causes liver cirrhosis then it will cause cancer in the long run.

Liver Cirrhosis to Liver cancer

Usually, a person who is addicted to alcohol will drink up to a point that he gets to suffer liver cirrhosis after stopping drinking he will develop liver cancer. Researchers opine that it is somewhat unusual for an actively drinking alcoholic to develop liver cancer. What happens is that when the drinking is stopped, the liver cells try to heal by regenerating. It is during this active regeneration that a cancer-producing genetic change (gene mutation) can occur, which explains the occurrence of liver cancer after the drinking has been stopped.

Alcohol abuse has far more ways to contribute to cancer however its links to liver cancer can majorly be apportioned to development from liver cirrhosis. The fact that alcohol is converted into a toxic chemical called acetaldehyde in our bodies may be considered though it hasn’t been linked specifically to liver cancer. Acetaldehyde can cause cancer by damaging DNA and stopping our cells from repairing this damage. The International Agency for Research on Cancer have classified acetaldehyde formed as a result of drinking alcohol as being a cause of cancer, along with alcohol itself. It also causes liver cells to grow faster than normal. These regenerating cells are more likely to pick up changes in their genes that could lead to cancer.

Alcohol is made up of other carcinogens and these carcinogens interacts with the liver, the liver being a vital filter organ through which every pint of alcohol consumed passes through. When these toxins overburden the liver, it becomes easier for infections that may later escalate into liver cancer to be initiated.

Drug addiction is a vice that should be fought by all means that is why we at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center are committed to availing help to addicts and offering them a place to call home. We offer NER Treatment and Amino acid therapy that are the most effective approaches to addiction treatment and recovery. You call on Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) today and begin your journey to victory against addiction.

Alcohol Abuse and Liver Cancer

Alcohol and Breast Cancer

January 18, 2015

Alcohol Abuse Increase the Risk of Breast cancer

The risks of alcohol abuse are well known by even elementary school kids. However the link between breast cancer and alcohol abuse is something ma y people have never known. This is not so appropriate given that most recent research findings have shown the clear link between these two conditions. Studies have proved the links between alcohol use and breast cancer. Research findings points out that one in five (21.6%) of all alcohol-related deaths are due to cancer globally. Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women coming second after lung cancer.

According to Drinkaware’s Chief Medical Advisor, Professor Paul Wallace, people should know that alcohol abuse can increase women’s risk of getting breast cancer.

“My impression is that my patients don’t know about the link between alcohol and breast cancer any more than they do about the association between alcohol and fertility. We can do more to increase awareness.” he says

The professor continued to give the following details on the link between alcohol abuse and breast cancer. True to his words there seems to be a lot of evidence that alcohol abuse increases the risk of breast cancer. However, he made it clear that drinking alcohol does not guarantee that you will get breast cancer but it increases your risk of getting the disease. How much you drink over your lifetime is what increases the risk.

He opines that although alcohol does increase the risk, taken with all the other factors, its contribution to overall causation of breast cancer is estimated to be about 4%. The advice is that if you do regularly drink it should be within the government’s lower risk guidelines.

However the evidences availed by Dr. Wallace aren’t the only ones available to back up this link between alcohol abuse and breast cancer. There are older evidences which show that alcohol increases the risk of developing breast cancer. Professor Wallace confirms that they have known for years that your risk of developing breast cancer increases when you overindulge in alcohol consumption. Overall, women have a 9.5% chance of getting breast cancer before they are 75.In one of these studies it was found that drinking every day even a small amount raises that risk to 10.6%. (4) Professor Wallace says, though, that the overall risk (anything that affects your chance of getting a disease) is based on how much you drink on average each day over a lifetime.

According to Professor Wallace, this link is real based on past research findings which have been reinforced by a recent research that was even done on a larger scope to establish the link between alcohol abuse and breast cancer. This study however is still going on. This study is done on 1.3 million women across the United Kingdom. This study has indicated that the overall risk of a woman to develop breast cancer increases by 7.1 percent for each 10 grams of alcohol drank

Despite the evidences that have been availed, the exact ways alcohol increases the risk of developing breast cancer are still not fully understood but researchers have made known some of the highly potential mechanisms through which alcohol consumption links to breast cancer. one of the mechanism that is suspected to be the major contributor here is the fact that ethanol is broken down into a toxic substance known as acetaldehyde, which can cause genetic mutations, a permanent change in the DNA sequence that makes up genes. This can trigger a response from the body leading to the development of cancerous cells.

Several studies have also reported that alcohol can potentially increase the production of the female hormone estrogen in pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women. One characteristic of a cancer cell is that it multiplies out of control and in certain types of breast cancer; high circulating levels of estrogen can make this more likely to happen. Alcohol also weakens the immune system leading to nutritional deficiencies, including folic acid, vitamins A, B6, D and E and zinc, all of which may make it more difficult for the body to fight cancerous cells making a person more vulnerable to breast cancer.

The risk of developing breast cancer as always known is much higher in women than in men; this can be attributed to the higher levels of hormone estrogen in women which has been known to increase risks of developing breast cancer. Professor Wallace therefore advices women to stop indulging in excessive drinking and to drink below statutory drinking regulation limits as that is the only way they can reduce this risk of breast cancer apart from dropping alcohol use entirely.

Breast Cancer “Drink within the government’s lower risk guidelines. When taken overall, looking at all the things alcohol does, the risk at these levels is minimal. Life isn’t about zero risk. Even if you lived in a bubble and didn’t ever go outside, you would still be likely to get osteoporosis because you didn’t exercise!” He adds.

Even men are at risk

The risk of breast cancer is not only to worry women but men as well. Though breast cancer is synonymous to women, men also are at a high risk of getting this disease especially later as they age since that is the time when their levels of hormone estrogen increases. It is therefore advisable for men to reduce the amounts of drinks they take and reduce this risk.

Finally, Alcohol abuse, addiction and cancer are problems that people cope with every day. These problems need to be treated effectively through integrative medicine. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an expert at this. Call her on (843) 213-1480 for help.

Alcohol Abuse and Breast cancer

Gabapentin for Alcohol dependence

October 23, 2014

Gabapentin: New Hope for Alcohol Dependence

Gabapentin In the past treating alcohol and drug addicts has never been easy. Alcohol and other drugs dependence is a vice that has not only affected adversely the lives of the addicts and their dependants but also the community as well. In most cases we think that drug and alcohol dependence only affects the addicts, hell no we are wrong. The cost of these drugs and alcohol might be cheap since alcohol is readily available and can be bought at different quantities and prices. The reality is that the cost of alcohol dependence is too high to the society than it really is to the addicts themselves. Alcoholism has rendered many people jobless since their employers could not put up with their addiction. In this case the addict will not have means to get his daily quantities of alcohol to get high but the craving will be at its peak, the addict will therefore have to find other ways of getting money to buy alcohol even if it means breaking some laws. Being dependent on alcohol has made many people criminals and that is a cost that the society has to pay but unfortunately it is a cost hidden to many people.

The cost of alcohol dependence does not end there. Think of the government sponsored researches that have to be done to find ways of helping the addicts to overcome their nightmare. The cost of putting up rehab centers to cater for alcohol addicts who have become pests to their families, the very people they have a responsibility to provide for. In the past many researches have been done to find out the best medicine that could be of help to those dependent on alcohol. Alcohol dependence has affected the economy of most continents but according to a recent research finding there is a ray of hope to treatment of alcohol dependence.

A recent study that was done at San Diego by Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute declared new hope in the treatment of alcoholism in November 2013, following the results of a new study to treat the disease with a drug that is already on the market. The presence of the drug in the market is already a breakthrough as no more will be spent to establish the medicinal ability of this drug to treat alcoholics and set them free from the chains of alcohol dependence. Unlike in most cases where after a research finding the search for drugs sets in , this finding has an already available drug and that is an advantage to the would be users.

According to the research finding; Gabapentin which is already being used as a prescription drug for people suffering from epilepsy as well as for patients with some pain, including migraines is equally good for fighting alcohol dependence. This new study found the drug appears to be safe and effective in the treatment of alcohol dependence. This research finding has brought some new hope in the field of alcohol addiction treatment and recovery.

More effective in treating alcohol dependence

“Gabapentin’s effect on drinking outcomes is at least as large or greater than those of existing FDA-approved treatments,” said Barbara J. Mason in a news release from the Scripps Research Institute. Mason is the co-director of the Pearson Center for Alcoholism and Addiction Research, who led the new research. If what Mason said is to be believed then people will begin using Gabapentin in place of the drugs that have been approved by FDA already.

“Plus, it’s the only medication shown to improve sleep and mood in people who are quitting or reducing their drinking, and it’s already widely used in primary care—that’s an appealing combination,” Mason said in the release.

It is a known fact that there has never been a cure for alcoholism, but the doctors have always availed drugs to treat the symptoms that are associated with alcohol withdrawal. Some of the prescription drugs that have been used in treating symptoms related to alcoholism include naltrexone, which the National Institutes of Health describes as a prescription to prevent relapse. Alcoholism can also be treated with 12-step programs and psychotherapy. For the 12-step programs and psychotherapy you will need to find a rehab that will best individualize your treatment to help you out.

According to the TRSI researchers , this drug has more benefits as it helps with cravings, depression and sleeplessness often experienced by alcoholics, other drugs that are already approved by FDA for alcoholism are not as effective as gabapentin.

In three months of treatment, TRSI researchers also said the high-dose group refrained from heavy drinking twice as often as the placebo group, and entirely abstained four times as often as the placebo group. They reported the drug also reduced the number of drinks consumed, and said none of the patients reported serious side effects.

“I think that we can now have confidence in the pharmacological effect of this drug,” Mason said in the news release.

gabapentin Alcoholism affects millions of people. In America alone, More than eight million are thought to suffer from alcoholism. The NIH estimates more than 700,000 of them seek treatment every day and with this discovery they might as well be helped.

The new study was described as a “150-patient randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind clinical trial” in the news release. With many researchers still trying the best drug to treat alcohol dependence we should be ready for some new stuff but as for now gabapentin may just be the best for you.

We at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center are committed to helping all addicts overcome the vice by availing critical information and treatment. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is experienced in integrative medicine for addiction. Visit her at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for help.

Gabapentin: New Hope for Alcohol Dependence

Mitochondrial Disease And Ebola

October 11, 2014

Mitochondrial Disease And Ebola

The basis of mitochondrial disease

At the root of the mitochondrial disease is the manner in which mitochondria, tiny microscopic organelles that are found within the cells of the body, function. The mitochondria are made up of different much smaller structures that include ribosomes, granules and two membranes. The internal structures of the mitochondria are the actual sites where the primary function of the mitochondria, which is formation of energy at the cellular level, takes place.

Through complex biochemical reactions that take place inside the internal structures, mitochondria serve the all important purpose of providing the energy that is needed to maintain the process of life. This takes place in all the body cells. It is through the process that takes place inside the mitochondria that body cells are able to get all the energy required to drive their vital processes.

At times and for various reasons, the mitochondria may fail in their primary function. This is the basis of mitochondrial disease. When this happens, the mitochondria are unable to provide energy to the body cells. This translates to complicated physiological conditions in the body of a person. It is in the same manner that the possible relationship between the disease and Ebola Virus Disease is being examined. Just as mitochondrial disease makes it easy for other disease to attack an individual, the same may be said about Ebola Virus Disease.

Signs and symptoms of mitochondrial disease

The different signs and symptoms that are manifested by this disease vary from person to person. Furthermore, they all arise from the fact that the disease results from internal damages to the structure of the mitochondria. This makes them unable to produce energy as is the norm, thus leading to direct interference in the manner in which the body cells function. This condition causes a number of signs that appear on the body of the affected person.

mitochondrion

Because of lack of energy, a person may feel fatigued and fall short of breath at all times. Further, the effect of destruction of the mitochondria is usually seen in the form of overall weakness of the muscles and poor coordination of the limbs.

In the case of children, destruction of the mitochondria has adverse effects. First of all, it leads directly to developmental problems in the affected child. A child who has been diagnosed with mitochondrial disease will fail to fully develop mentally and physically. This results to learning problems and other forms of medical conditions which, if not checked, may lead to death.

Breakdown of the mitochondria in the cells of the body may also be manifested in the form of a number of different diseases. For instance, it is common to find persons who have been affected by the disease complaining of problems with the thyroid. Furthermore, some problems such as seizure have been associated with mitochondrial disease.

How mitochondrial disease is detected

So far, a single test that can be used to detect this disease has not been developed. However, doctors are able to accurately diagnose its development in an individual with relative ease. This is because the symptoms of the disease are quite observable and unique to it. However, in some cases, a DNA test may be carried out to ascertain the existence of the condition in an individual who is showing symptoms.

Treatment options for mitochondrial disease

Getting an effective treatment of mitochondrial disease is not easy. It requires finding a means by which the process of destruction of the structure of the mitochondria is reversed. Currently, there is no particular conventional therapy that has been developed to achieve this objective. Research on how to develop a single drug to reverse the process by which the internal structure of the mitochondria gets damaged as a result of the disease is undergoing.

The fact that there still lacks a single drug that can treat mitochondrial disease does not mean that all is lost. There exist different alternative approaches that are used to counter the effects of the disease. The basic idea behind such approaches is that although it may be difficult to undo the damage to the mitochondria, it is actually possible to tackle the effects of the disease. Effects on the body of het patient such as persistent fatigue, muscle weakness and other physiological conditions can actually be tackled by use of different medical methods.

The alternative approach to treating mitochondrial disease seeks to restore the health of the individual to the best level that is possible. There are several methods that are used to achieve this. Various therapies of vitamins and other nutrients are used to counteract the impact of mitochondrial disease on the bodies of patients. Furthermore, other natural supplements whose efficacy against particular symptoms and effects that are produced by the disease are used to improve the overall health of the patients.

Further, nutritional therapies are usually used to help patients remain healthy. By using a well developed diet, physicians are able to help patients of mitochondrial disease lead healthy and fulfilling lives. Such an approach has proven useful in helping patents attain and maintain a particular level of energy in their bodies, thus reducing the effect of the disease on their lives completely.

Dr. Dalal Akoury of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Centre can help in using natural methods to restore the functioning of the mitochondria. In general, maintaining the mitochondria in good shape translates to overall wellness and health. That is why here at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Centre, we seek to help our patients achieve overall health through different alternative methods that have been tried and tested. Our methods of treatment work well to complement other conventional methods being used. We believe that taking such an integrative approach to medicine is the way to go.

Mitochondrial Disease And Ebola

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Ketamine Intoxication Abuse Could Lead To Dependence

September 26, 2014

Ketamine Intoxication Abuse and Dependence

Ketamine Intoxication Any drug when taken for non-medical purposes then it is termed abused. Today there are very many drugs that are being used for sheer feeling of euphoria the users derive from them. These drugs are common in streets needless to mention some of the drugs that are used in hospitals for medicinal purposes have also been abused greatly. When a particular drug is used for quite a long time for non-medical purpose it becomes very toxic to the body. Substance abuse is a vice that needs to be fought at all costs and from all fronts as it has opened avenues through which lives have been lost. The problems that a person can suffer from long-term drug abuse spring from all the dimensions of a person’s health be it psychological health, mental health, physical health as well as his social relations. A person who is a victim to drug abuse may fail to cater for family needs, school obligations and even fail to have peace within him as he will be having lots of personal and interpersonal conflicts. Drug and substance dependence is commonly known as addiction. Drug or substance dependence is characterized by change in behaviors of a person. Most common behavior being the need to use more quantities of the substance. When a person is dependent on a given substance his life begins to revolve around it and it seems rather hard for him to live without using the substance. The person often suffers such symptoms as withdrawal among other symptoms associated with drug abuse and dependence.

Drug abuse and dependence are dangerous for an individual; however when a person has just began using a particular substance he may be easily helped to quit the habit than when he has used it for so long that he has become dependent on the drug and has begun showing those side effects that are associated with drug dependence. It is also good to note that a person may become dependent on a drug without abusing it. It is also good to note that person may abuse substance for quite a long time without ‘graduating’ to drug dependence.

One of the drugs that are being abused today is the Ketamine. Ketamine is one of the drugs that are very useful in hospitals. It is a perfect example that even some drugs that help us in gaining good health can also be abused. Ketamine is a medication that has been used to treat many illnesses. It is used in medical procedures with humans and other animals and that means it is an accepted medication in hospitals hence can be easily accessed by medical practitioners such as nurses and doctors. In hospitals it is mainly for starting and maintaining general anesthesia especially in scenarios where the patient is to go through intense pain. It also has other uses and these include sedation in intensive care, as a pain killer. It is however commonly used as a painkiller in emergency cases when the patient is allergic to other known drugs used in suppressing pain such as opiate drugs. This drug can be used as treatment of bronchospasm, and as a treatment for complex regional pain syndrome.

Ketamine has been found to work better since its administration does not affect the Respiratory function. For this reason it has become a very valuable anesthetic. However one of the known side effects often associated with administration of ketamine is agitation.

Ketamine is a NMDA noncompetitive Receptor antagonist

Ketamine is an arylcyclohexylamine derivative of phencyclidine. It is also a non-competitive NMDA antagonist. Scientist, Lodge and his colleagues the first showed that ketamine, phencyclidine, related arylcyclohexylamines and congeners were antagonists of excitatory amino acids like aspartate and glutamate in 1983. The early history of the development of ketamine as an anesthetic agent was documented by McCarthy in 1981. Other scientists Corssen and Dundee reviewed the historical introduction of ketamine into human anesthesia and the term dissociative anesthesia in 1990. These scientists found that for ketamine to be used safely in clinical therapies, it had to be tamed.

Low doses of ketamine in humans do not necessarily alter perception in a negative way. Foster gave an IV infusion of three different sub anesthetic doses of ketamine (0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/kg/h) to six patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The patients showed no drowsiness and their reaction times and digit span were unaffected by any of the doses of ketamine used. This study however is rather controversial. This is because NMDA receptors are involved in brain function, including arousal and memory, this study requires further research and explanation because one would have predicted exactly the opposite effects even with the small doses of ketamine used.

Ketamine Intoxication

Ketamine as nicotinic inhibitor

Initially the effect of ketamine blockade on niconitic receptors was unknown. But today after many researches and experiments scientists have shown that racemic ketamine and the isomers inhibits nAChRs and K channels in a concentration-dependent and reversible manner. In an experiment racemic ketamine inhibited nAChRs and K channels, with the anesthetic concentration inducing the half-maximal effect being 1.4 and 300 micrometer, respectively. Only inhibition of the nAChRs was stereo selective. The half-maximal concentrations were 0.8 and 3.6 micrometer for S (+) – and R (-)-ketamine. The K channels were 350 and 70 times less sensitive to the effects of S (+) – and R (-)-ketamine.

Ketamine at concentrations found during clinical anesthesia exerts stereospecific effects on human ganglionic nAChRs but not on voltage-dependent K channels. The results found from this experiment supports the view that ketamine impairs sympathetic ganglionic transmission. Nonspecific effects on voltage-dependent K channels may underlie psychomimetic side effects.

Finally, Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an experienced doctor who has been in the frontline fighting drug addiction. He runs a website that equips readers of better ways to overcome not only drug addiction but also serious health problems that have caused nightmares to the world population. Get in touch with her today and learn more.

Ketamine Intoxication Abuse and Dependence

Tag Archives: National Institutes of Health

Alcohol Abuse Escalates Liver Cancer Risk

Alcohol Abuse and Liver Cancer

Liver Cirrhosis to Liver cancer

Alcohol Abuse and Liver Cancer

Alcohol and Breast Cancer

Alcohol Abuse Increase the Risk of Breast cancer

Even men are at risk

Alcohol Abuse and Breast cancer

Gabapentin for Alcohol dependence

Gabapentin: New Hope for Alcohol Dependence

More effective in treating alcohol dependence

Gabapentin: New Hope for Alcohol Dependence

Mitochondrial Disease And Ebola

Mitochondrial Disease And Ebola

Signs and symptoms of mitochondrial disease

Mitochondrial Disease And Ebola

Ketamine Intoxication Abuse Could Lead To Dependence

Ketamine Intoxication Abuse and Dependence

Ketamine is a NMDA noncompetitive Receptor antagonist

Ketamine as nicotinic inhibitor

Ketamine Intoxication Abuse and Dependence

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