QUIGLEY'S CORNER ARCHIVE FOR 2006:
More recent Quigley's Corner Articles can be found here.

DECEMBER 2006: Soy is So Good
Eating soy regularly as a young girl may help protect against the development of breast cancer later on in life, according to a study reported recently in Boston at the American Association for Cancer Research's 'Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research' Meeting.

Among 587 Asian-American women with breast cancer and 966 without the disease, researchers found those who ate the most soy-based foods (mainly tofu) between 5 and 11 years of age, had a 58 per cent lower risk of breast cancer than those who ate the least amount of soy during childhood.

The study leader announced that for high soy intake during adolescence and adulthood, there was about a 25 per cent lower risk of breast cancer. He suggested therefore, that the timing of soy exposure may be critical.

The study is the first to look at childhood soy intake and breast cancer risk, and found a strong and consistent protective effect for high soy intake in childhood. For those in the highest childhood soy group, the investigators estimate that children ate soy on average a little more than twice a week, while those in the lowest soy group ate soy about once a month. Stated another way, those in the high intake group ate on average about ten times more soy than those in the lower group.

It's long been noted that women living in China and Japan have much lower rates of breast cancer than those living in Western nations. And when women migrate to the U.S. from Asian nations, their risk rises over several generations to approach that of U.S. white women. This suggests that the lower risk in Asian women is primarily due to lifestyle factors and one popular theory is that soy intake plays a role.

The data suggests that soy intake in early life is itself protective, and not just a marker of a broader Asian lifestyle pattern that is protective.

The effect of soy was strikingly consistent in the study. It was noted that the protective effect was evident in women of Chinese, Japanese and Filipino ancestry, and in women with or without a family history of breast cancer.

The study suggests that soy intake during childhood may have a biologic effect on breast carcinogenesis, and further research will be necessary to elucidate the mechanism behind this effect.

NOVEMBER 2006: Group Therapy for Women
For women who have recently begun treatment for breast cancer, structured group therapy can reduce unwanted and uncontrolled cancer-related thoughts, alleviate anxiety about the disease and reduce overall stress levels, a team at the University of Miami, Florida, reports.

As reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the research team recruited one hundred and ninety nine patients who had surgery within the previous eight weeks for newly diagnosed breast cancer. The women were randomly assigned to group therapy or to a control group, which had the option of attending a one-day seminar.

Patients in the therapy group attended ten weeks of cognitive behavioural treatment that focussed on stress management. This consisted of relaxation training, thought restructuring, and training in coping skillls.

The team followed the participants for one year after the group therapy sessions ended. Reports of intrusion by unwanted cancer-related thoughts were recorded, anxiety levels were assessed by the researchers, and levels of emotional distress were reported by the patients at three assessment visits during the follow-up.

Cognitive behavioural therapy was associated with a "moderately large" decrease in thought intrusion and anxiety, and the effects persisted well past the completion of the breast cancer treatment, the team found. Reports of anxiety were reduced in the intervention group not only in response to thoughts about cancer, but to stressors in other areas of life.

These improvements were also significantly greater among the women who received group therapy compared with those in the control group.

The researchers conclude that "a group-based stress management intervention can significantly decrease cancer-related intrusive thoughts, general anxiety symptoms and overall cognitive negative mood in women who are moving through their medical trteatment for cancer."

OCTBER 2006: Cancer Prevention: 7 Steps to Reduce Your Risk
You've probably heard conflicting reports in the news about what can or can't help you in terms of cancer prevention. The issue of cancer prevention gets confusing - sometimes what's recommended in one report is advised against in the other. What you can be sure of when it comes to cancer prevention is that making small changes to your everyday life might help reduce your chances of getting cancer. Try these seven cancer prevention steps.

Step 1: Don't use Tobacco
All types of tobacco put you on a collision course with cancer. Rejecting tobacco, or deciding to stop using it, is one of the most important health decisions you can make. Avoiding tobacco in any form significantly reduces your risk of several cancers, including lung, oesaphagus, larynx, mouth, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, stomach and acute myeloid leukemia.

In the United States, cigarette smoking is responsible for about 90 per cent of all cases of lung cancer - the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women. Smoking cigars and pipes or chewing tobacco isn 't safe either. Even if you don't smoke, reduce your exposure to secondhand smoke.

Step 2: Eat a Variety of Healthy Foods
Though making healthy selections at the grocer and at mealtime can't guarantee you won't get cancer, it may help you reduce your risk. About 30 per cent of cancers are related to issues of nutrition, including obesity.

It is recommended that you eat an abundance of foods from plant-based sources. Eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day. In addition, eat other foods from plant sources, such as whole grains and beans, several times a day. Green and dark yellow vegetables, beans, soybean products and cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, brussel sprouts and cabbage, may help reduce your risk of colon and stomach cancers.
-limit fat.

Eat lighter and leaner by choosing fewer high-fat foods, particularly those from animal sources, High-fat diets may increase your risk of cancers of the prostate, colon, rectum and uterus.

Drink alcohol in moderation, if at all. Your risk of cancers, including oral, oesophageal and other cancers, increases with the amount of alcohol you drink and the length of time you've been drinking regularly.

Step 3: Exercise and Maintain a Healthy Weight
Maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly also may play a role in cancer prevention. Obesity may be a risk factor for cancers of the prostate, colon, rectum, uterus, ovaries and breast.

Physical activity may help you avoid obesity by controlling your weight. Physical activity on its own may also lower your risk of other types of cancer, including breast cancer and colon cancer. Try to be physically active for 30 minutes or more on most days of the week. Your exercise sessions can include low-key activities such as brisk walking.

Step 4: Protect Yourself from the Sun
Skin cancer is one of the most common kinds of cancer - and one of the most preventable. Most skin cancers on exposed parts of your body, including your face, hands, gorearms and ears. Try these tips:

-avoid peak radiation hours
-stay in the shade
-cover exposed areas
-don't skimp on sunscreen
-don't use indoor tanning beds or sunlamps

Step 5: Get Immunized
Certain cancers are associated with viral infections that can be prevented with immunizations. Speak to your Doctor about hepatitis B, which can increase your risk of developing liver cancer and human papillomavirus, which can lead to cervical cancer.

Step 6: Avoid Risky Behaviours
Reduce your risk of certain cancers by avoiding sexually transmitted viruses including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B and C

Step 7: Get Screened
Regular screening and self-examination for certain cancers may not prevent cancer, but it can increase your chances of discovering cancer early - when treatment is more likely to be successful. If you notice any changes, see your Doctor.

SEPTEMBER 2006: Shift Work
The results of a study recently published in the American Journal of Epidemiology suggest there is a significant association between rotating-shift work and prostate cancer.

Experts announced that shift workers are known to be a high-risk population for some cancers.
The researchers looked for a link between shift work and the incidence of prostate cancer among 14,052 male workers enrolled in the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk. A survey on lifestyle factors was conducted between 1988 and 1990.

The subjects were asked what their most common work schedule was: day work, rotating-shift work, or night work. Overall, 11,269 (80.2%) were day workers, and 1801 (12.8%) worked a rotating-shift.
Thirty one cases of prostate cancer were reported over an average follow-up period of 8 years.
When the data was adjusted for the effect of age, the researchers noted a three-fold increase in the risk of prostate cancer among the rotating-shift workers. A slight increase was also observed among the night workers.

These results were not significantly altered by further adjusting the data to account for other possible risk factors including family history of cancer, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, job type, physical activity at work, perceived stress, educational levels and marital status.

The research team suggests that reduced secretion of the hormone melatonin may be involved, since it helps induce sleep and has anticancer effects.

Because this is the first time that shift work has been identified as a risk factor for prostate cancer, they announced that the association needs to be replicated and confirmed in other settings.

AUGUST 2006: Oral Cancer
Mouth cancer develops in two distinct ways which determine the seriousness of the disease, scientists have announced, in a finding which could lead to new ways of preventing or treating it.

In laboratory experiments using healthy, early and advanced cancer cells, the researchers discovered differences in the cells that determined the aggressiveness of the cancer. The data collected provides strong evidence for the first time that some mouth cancer tumours are more aggressive than others and therefore are linked to poor patient survival, announced the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, Scotland.

Oral cancer often develops from pre-cancerous lesions, which are changes or patches in the mouth, and these could be early signs of the disease. Knowing which pre-cancerous changes are more likely to develop into aggressive tumours would enable doctors to determine the best treatment. The work suggests that it may be possible to identify, in advance by molecular approaches, which of these pre-cancers are likely to progress and which need to be taken seriously at the outset.

The scientists found that faults in the p53 gene, which stops damaged cells from dividing, and in the p16 gene, which helps to regulate and prevent cancer from developing, were two changes linked to more aggressive tumours. The faults could form the basis of a diagnostic test for the illness, but other molecular signatures will be needed to make it a reliable test.

Smoking, chewing tobacco and heavy alcohol consumption are leading causes of mouth cancer. Smoking and drinking are a particularly dangerous combination. Cigarette smoke contains carcinogens which cause mutations and changes in cells which generate cancer formation.

Like lung cancer, oral cancer usually develops in people in their 50's or older. The best thing to do with any cancer is to prevent it, if possible. In mouth cancer, we know two of the major players. Smoking is a major factor, but not everyone appreciates that heavy drinking is also a risk factor.

ABOUT GERALD QUIGLEY:
Gerald Quigley is a practicing Community Pharmacist, as well as an Accredited Herbalist. These joint qualifications have given Gerald a unique overview of health from a holistic perspective. What this means to you is that Gerald just doesn't look at the symptomatic relief of a health challenge, but offers support through the recovery process with advice on complementary medicines, integrating them with any prescribed medicines, to encourage a healthy outcome. Gerald believes that the current system of symptomatic treatment only, leaves a gap in the recovery phase. Our health is something we value and, just like servicing a car, needs constant fine tuning in times of illness and exposure to constant stress, whatever the type.

Gerald is concerned that as newer medicines are released, patients need more and more information to help them understand the medicine's actions and expected outcomes. What medicine can be taken with what vitamins and nutritional support, are they safe in the long term, are they any better than the tried and true medicines that have been around for a long time... these are questions which Gerald is constantly challenged by. The information on this website will not, and never should, take the place of direct consultation with a health professional. The information is a guide only, to help you understand the complex health issues which confront all of us.

PROFESSIONAL DETAILS:
Bachelor of Pharmacy
Diploma of Botanical Medicine
Post Graduate Diploma of Ayurvedic Herbology
Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Pharmacy Practice

Member of:

Pharmaceutical Society of Australia
Australian College of Pharmacy Practice
National Herbalists Association of Australia
Australian Traditional Medicine Society
The Assoc. of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia
Australian Homeobotanical Institute of Australia
Australian College of Environmental and Nutritional Medicine

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