Journal and Blog - Health updates Janet Macy

Time for bloodwork!

Oh, boy...one would think I would be an expert at getting blood drawn..I still have anticipatory jitters and put it off for as long as possible!!! But you know, I have been studying LOTS of pain control techniques and recently hosted a class with Scott Sandland as speaker through the Hypnotherapy School, California Professional Hypnosis Institute, CalPHI. I have also been studying the work of Dr. Angel Escudero, and, from what I can tell, Dr. Escudero uses a 10 minute progressive relaxation, then has the patient moisten their mouth, then inserts a needle in their arm or leg and has them do the same, then instructs them that as long as they keep the saliva flowing (think lemon) that one would be pain free. Now, the plebotomists always have a hard time drawing blood from me...sometimes takes over 4 tries...even though they are supposed to stop after two, but the most recent one was very talented, she got it in one. And I used the above technique..and felt no discomfort! I kept my mouth moist...and as she was drawing the blood - they take out 5-6 tubes - I also wiggled my toes as a distractionary (hypnotic) device. YIPPEE! It was almost great! No discomfort, NONE, no nausea, no lightheadedness, and no bruising afterwards! I look forward to the next time!

Let's Exercise!

Exercise May Help Avoid Some Cancers

Skin and Bowel Cancer Benefits Seen in Lab Tests of Mice That Exercised By Miranda Hitti WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD on Friday, May 12, 2006

May 12, 2006 -- Getting regular exercise may lower the risk of skin and bowel cancers, two new studies show.

The studies are published in the May 13 online edition of the journal Carcinogenesis. Both teams of researchers studied mice, not people. It's not yet known if the results apply to humans.

One study focused on skin tumors. The other concentrated on precancerous intestinal polyps.

Both experiments showed that tumors and polyps were rarer, slower to appear, and smaller in size in mice that voluntarily exercised on running wheels, compared with those without access to running wheels.

Here's a closer look at the findings and what clues they may offer about exercise and cancer.

Skin Cancer Study

The skin cancer study was conducted by scientists including Laura Michna of the Joint Graduate Program in Toxicology at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Few other studies have tracked skin cancer and exercise, note Michna and colleagues.

Michna's team studied hairless female mice exposed to various doses of ultraviolet B (UVB) and ultraviolet A (UVA) light. The light came from lamps that give off ultraviolet light.

Ten mice shared each cage. For 14 weeks, the researchers kept one group of mice in cages with access to running wheels. They kept the other mice in cages without access to running wheels.

Both groups of mice ultimately developed skin tumors from UV light exposure. On average, mice with no access to running wheels developed tumors in 3.5 weeks, compared with seven weeks for the mice with access to running wheels. The total number of tumors was 32% less in the exercise group of mice.

Throughout the study, the mice with no access to running wheels had tumors that were larger in volume than those with running-wheel access.

The study didn't pinpoint how far each mouse ran on the running wheels. Up to four mice could run on the wheel together, the researchers note.

Bowel Cancer Study

The researchers who worked on the bowel cancer study included Lisa Colbert, PhD, MPH, of the University of Wisconsin's Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Observational studies in large groups of people have linked lower colorectal cancercolorectal cancer risk to high levels of physical activity. But it's not clear how that process works, or if exercisers have other factors working in their favor against cancer.

Colbert and colleagues studied 47 male mice that had a genetic tendency to develop intestinal polyps that can turn into cancer. For 10 weeks, half of the mice had access to running wheels in their cages. The other mice had no access to running wheels.

The mice were studied for 17 weeks. During that time:

Six mice died before the end of the study due to complications from polyps; all of them had no access to running wheels.
The mice with access to running wheels had fewer, smaller polyps than those without access to running wheels.

The mice with access to running wheels ran about 2.4 miles (3.8 kilometers) per day, on average. They weren't forced to run.

"In summary, 10 weeks of voluntary wheel running exercise increased survival and decreased polyp number by 25% in [the] mice compared with mice without wheel access," the researchers write.

Why the Difference?

The studies don't show exactly why cancers were rarer, slower to appear, and smaller in mice that were allowed to exercise.

In Michna's study on skin cancers, the mice with running-wheel access lost body fat and gained muscle, compared with the mice with no access to running wheels.

"How decreased body fat or increased exercise may inhibit carcinogenesis is poorly understood," Michna and colleagues write. "Carcinogenesis" means the development of cancer.

Michna's team suggests that possibly exercise helps trigger the death of skin cancer cells.

In Colbert's study on bowel cancer, the mice with running-wheel access actually ended up with more fat than the nonexercising mice. That finding might be because the nonexercising mice were already wasting away because of their disease, the researchers note.

Colbert and colleagues point out that they cut the calories of the exercising mice in their study so that those mice burned more calories than they consumed. It's not clear if that calorie gap influenced the results or if exercise was what mattered most.

Yesterday I went to the radiation oncologist for "films". These films are like a simulation of the actual radiation treatment, but more a refinement of the earlier films.

The staff is so kind & warm & friendly that I felt instantly at ease once again even as I continue to venture deeper into the unknown. The table is rock hard with a little cushy pillow and a mold which they place above my head for the placement of my arms. I have to admit lying there for 30 plus minutes yesterday with my arms above my head made for slightly stiff shoulders.

As the machines went round and round my body, and the staff gently realigned my body, I again began to consider how lucky I was that this was caught so early. And as I continue to learn more about cancer, I realize that it is not anyone's fault that this happens...though I do take full responsibility for everything that happens to me, one should release negative emotions as they come up.

After the staff had finished the initial run, they asked me to lie quietly as they reviewed the films making certain that the films were well done. As I lay there, quietly, reflecting on what was happening to me, I gently and quietly began to cry. Partially feeling sorry for myself and partially feeling a great big fear of the unknown were what I revealed was responsible for my emotional response. I like to use NLP-like techniques to "chunk down" my behavior.asking myself, "why" am I having this response. Continuing to use NLP, I took the response a step further beginning a "reframe". Was the scene in color or black and white, moving or still, where in my space was this scene, what distance or proximity, was I associated or dissociated? Answers: Color, moving, up close & in my face, very associated. So I changed the sub modalities, made the scene black & white, made it still rather than moving, moved the machine farther away and out of my face ( I made it smaller and moved it off to the side) and, finally, I dissociated - I separated myself from the machine, so I became me again and not part of the machine/scene. And I wasn't crying anymore, I felt at peace.