My theories - probably without basis!

Someone asked me what theories I had formed over the ten years that I have studies this disease. Below is my responce.

I believe that this disease is a combination of many different cell types any or all may be present at any given time. Further each of these cell types may respond differently to various treatments. For example Cell Type A may be cured only by treatment D or partially cured by treatment C, but not touched by treatment A, etc. We need to better understand the cell types and the best treatment for each cell type.

It is my belief that our research is at the wrong end of this disease. We should be spending more money on the front end, identifying the various cell types and following them up in long term studies. No one at this time is identifying cell types in the individual disease and following them up to see which treatment works best.

Then we have the far forward research that I would like to see done starting with a boy before puberty and following him for 50 years or so. Again my theory is that this disease starts in the teen age years when the boys are playing and eating a lot of junk foods and not eating good at all or even taking care of themselves. We need to look for causes at this age and treatments at this age rather than waiting to an old age and maybe incurable cancer.

Finally I believe a well rounded diet is needed from beginning to end without an excess of anything. I am not yet convinced that red meats are bad for us or some of the other things that they preach that are bad for us - are actually bad - but it is the excess of these things that may be bad. All too often we see things preached as being good only to discover in later years that they were bad.

I am in agreement with the recent findings on vitamins and supplements that appear to cause a more aggressive cancer. If you think about it at the time we are trying to make our bodies better by these vitamins and supplements might we also be feeding the cancer growth - I would guess they like the stuff as well as we think we like it.

To many of the studies and the trials are so often just repeats of what we have done before. I would guess that most of the doctors involved really already know the answer before they start. The industry runs on money, money that is funded from government to the Universities where it is necessary to pay the salaries and the costs of running the research groups in the Universities. If the government didn't fund the Universities we would see far less research. Then the research would have to be funded by drug companies, who are profit making institutions, and are in need of the Trials to get their drugs approved for sale. There is a big difference here in the reasons for fundings and the real needs of the industry.

If I had the money to fund - my funding would all go to research at the front end. When does this disease start, why and what can we do at the very beginning, maybe even before the tumors are formed, to treat the causes and do away with the old man's disease.

All theories, of course, just theories.

A return to the China problem!

More on China
Added July 3, 2007
An addition to "Vitamins and China" below.

Since this all started we are learning more and more about China. Let me start by telling you the last time we were there we could not drink any water other than the special water prepared by the hotel or beer. With that in mind let me continue on the new revelations.

Today's press says that seafood from China raises alarms. The FDA is restricting the sale of certain seafood products because the regulators are finding carcinogens and excessive antibiotics. Many of the seafood products are raised in the Pearl River Delta which is well know for the dumping of industrial chemicals, farm runoffs and I believe human and animal waste. The reason for the excess antibiotics is they have to keep the fish alive.

One company, Xulong, is the worlds largest processor of eel and claims to be the cleanest food processor in China yet on occasions they cannot pass muster with our regulators. If they can't understand what is required than not many others would be able to. China is the leading producer of seafoods, garlic and apple juice concentrates imported to the US who imports 80% of our seafoods. China is gaining market share of processed vegetables and frozen foods.

Last week the FDA banned some of China's biggest imports including shrimp, catfish, eel and a type of Carp.

They are presently third behind Canada and Mexico in food imports to the US. As this increases out regulars are not staffed to properly inspect that much food coming from China.

In a sense this reminds me of the early 1900s where we had no regulation on foods and they were coming to us in any form and with any dirt they picked up along the way. The big difference is the dirt that is picked up today from China comes along with industrial chemicals, human waste, farm runoffs, and the never ending air pollution (sometimes you can't see the ground from a tall hotel the pollution is so bad. By the way much of the pollution from China ends up along our West coast and we have no control over reducing that pollution. The same pollution may be effecting our own California grown food products over time.

We buy far more things from China than China buys from us. They are loudly protesting the problems their products are causing in this country and the little we do in restricting their imports. Food exporting is a very large business in China and if the word gets out and we stop buying - they have a real problem.

To me the present scare is far worse than the "Mad Cow Disease" scare of some years ago.