Breakthroughs Today

THE Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), a New York-based human rights group, released on July 14 a study entitled “Forsaken Lives: The Harmful Impact of the Philippine Criminal Abortion Ban” to provide an argument on their call to have abortion legalized in the country. The study mentioned the more frequently used unsafe abortion methods such "as hilot (abdominal massage), use of a catheter, and intake of a labor-inducing drug.” It argues that our anti-abortion laws “violate international law and major political commitments” in protecting women’s health and rights... ( Read more. ) This article appears in SunStar Cebu newspaper on 27 October 2010.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) acts as an intergovernmental agency that forms part of the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations (UN). It has its main offices in Lyon, France, and conducts and coordinates research into the causes of cancer. IARC Classification IARC categorizes various substances and mixtures thereof into five categories based on its cancer-producing capability as far as available scientific studies indicate. Group 1 Agents are scientifically confirmed carcinogenic to humans. Group 2A Agents are probably carcinogenic to humans based on available studies. Group 2B Agents are possibly carcinogenic to humans. Group 3 Agents are probably not carcinogenic to humans. So far there is only one substance placed in this category--caprolactam. Credibility Critics of IARC have claimed that it has become susceptible to industry influence and suffers from lack of transparency. In 2003, Lorenzo Tomatis (IARC director, 1982-1993) was barr

THE Cebu City Health Department reported in August an increase in the half-year (January to July) cases of dengue fever (DF) by 35.3 percent compared to last year’s. For 2010, DF infection reached a rate of one for every 1,000 Cebu City residents. It is good to know that the viral infection claimed only six lives for the same period compared to 13 in 2009. But as of Sept. 7, 11 children already died, with ages running between three and nine. The Cebu City Epidemiology Statistics and Surveillance Unit already recorded 1,175 DF cases this year, up 66 cases from last year. And the National Nutrition Council for Region 7 blamed it on malnourishment of city children, which weakened them against invading dengue viruses. A recent genomic study on dengue shock syndrome (DSS), the severe and life-threatening stage of dengue fever, indicated that DF influenced the expressive variations of 2,959 genes in the blood. The researchers found that individual genes strongly associated with DSS influ

IN THIS year’s Pink October, it is good to look back in history to understand how October came to be “colored” pink. In 1985, AstraZeneca, the makers of breast cancer drugs Arimidex and Tamoxifen, founded the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in an effort to promote mammography, believed as the most effective weapon in the fight against cancer, in the spirit of Henry de Bracton’s classic adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Eight years later, senior corporate vice president of the Estee Lauder Companies, Evelyn Lauder, founded The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and established the Pink Ribbon as its symbol. In the fall of 1991, the Susan G. Komen Foundation handed out pink ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors. And the rest is history. Each October, accepted internationally as the Breast Cancer Awareness Month, people raise money for donation to breast cancer care or research programs. In fact, some famous landmarks

The National Epidemiological Center (NEC) of the Department of Health (DOH) announced that dengue fever cases in the Philippines went up 135.14 percent only for a period running from January through September 25 this year. Last year, there were only 42,075 dengue cases nationwide. At present, the cases have reached 98,934 and apparently still counting with the remaining three months to go before 2010 ends. NEC warned that areas with more rains must brace for a possible second of dengue among them.

AS DENGUE fever cases and deaths increase nationwide, clinical research worldwide continues search to find the ultimate predictor of impending dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF). It is like anticipating where the road leads so that a detour can be made (hopefully it does not end in perdition like that movie The Road To Perdition). Well, not all dengue fevers are deadly. That’s a big comfort to know, but “neglecting caution” remains lethal in this disease. Classic dengue fever (CDF), as the World Health Organization defines it, needs only measures to support the weakened body of the patient. This allows the patient to get through as the disease takes its natural course, just like a kettle losing its steam when the burner is turned off. But, apart from neglecting to seek medical help on time, some patients tend to deteriorate. What initially appears as CDF worsens into the blood-losing... ( Read more . )  This article appears in Sun-Star Cebu newspaper on 6 September 2010.

Daniel J. DeNoon of WebMD Health News reported on 30 September 2010 that a new gold standard in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) chemotherapy has been established. The new standard added Rituxan to the old standard chemotherapy, and so far raises three-year survival to 65 percent. "Nobody expected Rituxan to have such a dramatic effect in CLL," De Noon wrote. CLL is the most common form of leukemia afflicting adults. Five out of 100,000 people get hit with it each year, mostly the middle-agers and elderly. About 8 percent of those with CLL, the high-risk group, lost the p53 marker in their cancer cells. This marker fortunately becomes CLL's Achilles heel that standard chemotherapy exploits. Rituxan however does not work through p53, and cannot be used when p53 exists. Rituxan is a chimeric monoclonal antibody that attacks protein CD20, which is primarily found on the surface of B cells. It can destroy B cells in the process. Chemically, it contains 6416 Carbon molecu

WHAT I know is that people who provide massage services have been called masseur (if male) and masseuse (if female). But lately, particularly here in Cebu, personnel providing these spa services have been renamed as “massage therapists” or “spa therapists.” Well, if we have to be correct with the word “therapy,” we must know that it is meant to effect a “cure.” A physician cannot treat an unknown disease. Yet Europe has been prescribing spa therapy for knee osteoarthritis. In 2007 alone, 403,381 French patients received spa therapy for rheumatism, without recommendation from the European League Against Rheumatism. Well, seven French scientists sought to find out if spa therapy really works. Will spa therapy improve the effects of standard treatment on osteoarthritis? ( Read more. ) This article appears in SunStar Cebu newspaper on 29 September 2010.