Cancer specialists warn about the high costs of excessive unproved cancer treatments

BBC News informs us that a "group of 37 leading experts from around the world say the burden of cancer is growing and becoming a major financial issue... Lead author Prof Richard Sullivan told the BBC: "It's not just pharmaceuticals. Biomarkers, imaging and surgery are all getting through with very low levels of evidence - the hurdles are set too low." The report calls for a proper evaluation of the relative merits of conventional surgery and less invasive robotic surgery."

This is a view that certainly finds favour with me. With the incidence of cancer so much on the increase, it is more and more clear that cancer prevention is of paramount importance. Most people know that smoking is the main cause of lung cancer. As well as cigarette smoke, many other chemicals, including household chemicals, are carcinogenic. Also radiation, so avoid scans unless they are strictly necessary. - See http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Cancer-What-Causes-Cancer?.htm And be wary of artificial sweeteners. And do you know that breast feeding reduces cancer risk in mothers? There is a great deal more information about cancer prevention on this page.

Added later: I forgot to draw attention once again to the need for a legal ban on food manufacturers adding transfats to so many of their products. Transfats have been linked to breast cancer risk, as well as to many other health problems. So these cancer experts may like to consider pressing Andrew Lansley, the 'Health' Secretary, to get transfats banned pdq, instead of leaving it to the food industry to go at their own, s-l-o-w, voluntary rate of reduction.

Kirstie brought her baby to see me today

My friend Kirstie brought baby George to see me today. It was so nice to see them. It is the first time I've seen them since George was born, nearly two months ago. He was wide awake and busy looking round and learning. Kirstie is giving him a good, healthy start in life by breastfeeding him, and she doesn't eat any salty food or other junk that would be bad for him. I gave her a tub of Yeo Valley whole milk probiotic natural yoghurt to take home with her. That will do them both good, with its no added ingredients, and the dairy calcium, vitamin D and Bifidobacteria it naturally contains.

British study finds that breastfed babies have higher IQs than bottlefed

The Telegraph reports study finding that breastfed babies are more intelligent than bottlefed: "there were two schools of thought on how breastfeeding had an effect: that long-chain fatty acids in breast milk helped the brain develop; and that the act of breastfeeding improved the mother-child bond."

I would ascribe much of the benefit babies get from being breastfed to the fact that breast milk is low in sodium, lower in sodium than formula milk. And breast milk is, of course, the food that has evolved over millions of years as that best suited to human babies, especially newborns. Children, and babies in particular, are harmed by too high intake of sodium/salt. See Children and Salt Intake.

Breastfeeding EXCLUSIVELY for six months helps babies to fight off infections

See BBC News report. "Researchers say the benefit only comes with exclusive breastfeeding - mixing breast and bottle will not achieve the same." ""Mothers should be advised by health professionals that, in addition to all the other benefits, exclusive breastfeeding helps prevent infections in babies and lessens the frequency and severity of infectious episodes," the researchers say."

Human breast milk is also low in sodium so is an excellent foundation for babies to escape becoming obese later on. See Children and Salt.

The Telegraph reports on study indicating that breastfeeding lowers risk of post-pregnancy metabolic syndrome, diabetes and heart disease.

The Telegraph reports that breastfeeding lowers the risk of post-pregnancy metabolic syndrome, diabetes and heart disease.

Also nursing mothers who breastfeed for longer are helping to prevent their baby from becoming obese. See Breastfeeding for longer helps to protect your baby from obesity

The main reason for this is that human breast milk is low in salt/sodium. Sodium is more harmful to children than to adults because of their small size, and it is particularly harmful to babies.

See Children and Obesity

and advice for pregnant mothers

Study Reinforces the Benefits of Breastfeeding, Especially in the First Few Days After Birth.

The Telegraph reports on a study that suggests that newborn babies who are breast fed are better protected against damage to their stomachs than those given formula milk.

Extract from the report: "Professor Ray Playford, who led the study, said: "This study is important because it shows that a component of breast milk protects and repairs the babies delicate intestines in readiness for the onslaught of all the food and drink that are to come.""

Cases of children with insulin-dependent diabetes are forecast to rise by 70% by 2020

Cases of children with insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes are forecast to rise by 70% by 2020.
See Telegraph article

Like type 2 diabetes, often called late-onset diabetes, type 2 diabetes is increasingly being found in young children. Both forms of diabetes are believed to be linked to obesity, and breastfeeding is helpful in reducing the risk of both types of diabetes.

Obesity is caused by salt sensitivity/fluid retention/oedema and can be easily and safely reduced by cutting down on salt/sodium and salty food.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it!

See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Sodium in foods

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

Walnuts are the latest food to be described as a superfood.

See a newscast from Australia about how walnuts reduce the risk of breast cancer and about how breastfeeding protects the mother's cardiovascular health as well as being good for the baby.

You can also reduce the risk of breast cancer and improve your cardiovascular health by eating less salt and salty food. And if you or someone you know is very overweight, try this. - Stop eating salt and lose weight like magic. - Absolutely no dieting required...(o:

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and Associated health conditions

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free...

Nursing mothers who breastfeed for longer are helping to prevent their baby from becoming obese.

Breastfeeding for longer helps to protect your baby from obesity

The main reason for this is that human breast milk is low in salt/sodium. Sodium is more harmful to children than to adults because of their small size, and it is particularly harmful to babies.

See Children and Obesity

See advice for pregnant mothers

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better! See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods

Vitamin D deficiency in infants and nursing mothers carries long-term disease risks

Once believed to be important only for bone health, vitamin D is now seen as having a critical function in maintaining the immune system throughout life. The newly recognized disease risks associated with vitamin D deficiency are clearly documented in a report in the December issue (Volume 3, Number 4) of Breastfeeding Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., and the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.
Read article at physorg.com

Breast feeding significantly 'cuts cancer risk in mothers'

Breast feeding 'cuts cancer risk in mothers'
Article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Whether they breastfeed two babies for six months each or one baby for a year, women can cut their risk of developing the disease significantly, said Dr Rachel Thompson, science programme manager for the World Cancer Research Fund.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women, with 45,000 cases diagnosed in Britain each year.

The protective effects of breastfeeding over a long period of time have been well documented.

Studies have shown mothers who breastfeed past a child's second birthday are half as likely to develop the disease as those who stop at 12 months.

However, a recent survey for the WCRF found that three out of four women were unaware that breastfeeding could cut their risk of developing the disease.

Speaking at the start of breast cancer awareness month, Dr Thompson urged mothers to breastfeed for as long as they could. She said brestfeeding for a year could reduce the risk of developing breast cancer by 4.8 per cent

"We want to get across the message that breast-feeding is something positive that women can do to reduce their risk of breast cancer," she said.

"Because the evidence that breast-feeding reduces breast cancer risk is convincing, we recommend women should breast-feed exclusively for six months and then continue with complementary feeding after that.""

Reducing salt intake, especially during pregnancy, also reduces the risk of developing breast cancer and many other diseases, as well as reducing obesity. - It's good for the baby too.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

Women can halve their chance of rheumatoid arthritis by breast-feeding their children for more than a year, researchers have said.

Breast is best to fight rheumatoid arthritis

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"Scientists compared 136 women with rheumatoid arthritis with 544 of a similar age who were free from the disease. They found that those who breast-fed for 13 months or more were 54 per cent less likely to develop the condition as women who had not.

Even women who breast-fed for between one and 12 months were 26 per cent less likely to suffer the disease."

"The study was published on the day that the singer Charlotte Church backed a Welsh Assembly campaign to encourage young mothers to breast-feed. Miss Church, 21, who breast-fed her eight-month-old daughter Ruby for six months, said she enjoyed bonding with her baby.

"Everybody knows mother's milk is best," she said."

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Breast-feeding makes children significantly smarter and helps to improve reading and writing, according to the biggest study of its kind.

Breast-feeding boosts a child's IQ, says study

Extract from the Telegraph:

"Researchers looked at almost 14,000 children over a period of more than six years and found that those who had been breast-fed performed far better in IQ tests.

At the age of six-and-a-half, children who had been exclusively breast-fed in infancy scored 5.9 points higher on average in tests of overall intelligence. Teachers also rated these children significantly higher academically than control children in reading and writing.

Previous studies suggested a link between breast-feeding and IQ but they were treated with scepticism because of claims that the findings said more about social factors generally than breast-feeding itself.

"Our study provides the strongest evidence to date that prolonged and exclusive breast-feeding makes kids smarter," says Prof Michael Kramer at McGill University in Canada.

He said the findings should help boost efforts "to promote, protect and support breast-feeding"."

I believe the main factor that makes breastfeeding advantageous for babies is that breast milk is low in sodium/salt. This also helps to prevent infant obesity. See Children and Obesity

Breastfeeding 'cuts mother's cancer risk' - and the risk of her baby becoming overweight/obese.

Breastfeeding 'cuts mother's cancer risk'

Extract from the Telegraph:

"Mothers should breastfeed for six months after giving birth to cut their risk of developing breast cancer, researchers have advised.

The advice follows a World Cancer Research Fund survey that shows three out of four women are unaware of the link.

Two thirds are unaware that being breastfed cuts a child's risk of being overweight - a major risk factor for cancer.

And just 13 per cent of men are aware it could cut a mother's risk of developing breast cancer."

You can reduce your risk of developing cancer by avoiding salt and salty food.

Tongue-tied babies and how they and their breastfeeding mothers can be helped

Breastfeeding: The kindest cut of all

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"Babies who have tongue-tie are born with a very short lingual frenulum, the piece of skin that joins the tongue to the bottom of the mouth. In my son's case, the tip of his tongue was anchored so firmly he couldn't move it at all, even when he cried. It looked extremely painful but I was assured it wasn't.

As the child gets older, this lack of movement can cause problems with speech and eating. In the short term it can cause severe problems with breastfeeding. It did for me. Having breastfed my daughter perfectly happily, I came to dread "the boy with the barbed-wire gums" latching on - or rather, failing to latch on. I got mastitis, he got hungry. We were both miserable."

"Prevailing medical opinion says, as my midwife did, that tongue-tie will usually right itself by the end of the baby's first year as the tongue grows. If the baby still has a problem after that, a paediatric surgeon might consider a frenulotomy - a procedure that divides the frenulum from the base of the mouth. Others will not perform surgery unless the child develops speech problems and has not responded to speech therapy. By that time, the child will require a general anaesthetic for the procedure.

However, some doctors believe in a more pro-active attitude, including Shailesh Patel, consultant paediatric surgeon at King's College Hospital in south London. "My view is that these cases are emergencies," he says. "If someone is referred to me, I try to fit them into my clinic that week. I believe that if a mother has to wait even another week, she will give up breast?feeding because it is too awful to carry on."

Given that Britain has one of the lowest rates of breast-feeding in Europe - only 21 per cent of babies are breastfed until six months, the age recommended by the World Health Organisation - you can see why he's so determined."

"The trouble is that attitudes towards treating tongue-tie appear to be lagging behind those towards breastfeeding. However, Mr Griffiths, something of a pioneer in the field, is optimistic. "Ten years ago, other paediatricians said I was doing dangerous things to babies," he says. "Now some of them are doing divisions themselves. We have done 10,000 procedures with only one case of mild infection and not one baby has had to have treatment for bleeding.

"We're training one lactation consultant every fortnight, from different parts of the country, to carry out division. After all, it's a really simple procedure - a few seconds of work resulting in a happy mother and baby.""

The Department of Health warns that rickets is on the rise in children and advises extra Vitamin D.

Ministers warn on rickets on rise in children

Extract from the Telegraph:

"The disease is making a resurgence, a spokesman for the Department of Health has warned.

Studies suggest between seven and eight children per 100,000 have vitamin D deficiency. But just 15 minutes of summer sunlight a day is enough for the body to manufacture the required amounts.

Families who qualify for the Healthy Start scheme can obtain free supplements. Dawn Primarolo, the health minister, said: "We particularly encourage women who are pregnant or breastfeeding to take vitamin D, to protect the health and well-being of their baby.""

In OK! magazine pictures, Katie Price (Jordan) appears to be promoting infant formula milk rather than breastfeeding

Breast-feeding lobby criticises Jordan for infant formula 'stunt' - Independent on Sunday

Extract:

"Pictures of the model Katie Price, also known as Jordan, feeding her new baby Princess with infant formula during World Breastfeeding Week have angered the National Childbirth Trust, which has condemned OK! magazine for carrying the photos, which clearly show the model using SMA baby milk.

The next page of the magazine is given over to an advertisement for SMA formula designed for older infants. Wyeth, the pharmaceutical company that makes SMA, said it was merely a coincidence that the advert had appeared in the same edition as the photos of Jordan and her baby.

The NCT condemned the promotion as "appalling". Its chief executive, Belinda Phipps, said: "It is an extremely cynical way of getting round the ban on advertising infant formula."

The pro-breastfeeding group Baby Milk Action, which campaigns to inform mothers about the benefits of breast-feeding, plans to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority and Trading Standards about the advert, alleging that product placement is being used in order to get round a ban on promoting infant formula for babies under the age of six months."

Jordan possibly does not understand/realise the harm that formula milk causes to babies in poor countries. - As the article goes on to tell us:

"In developing countries, the World Health Organisation estimates that 1.5 million children die every year because they are not breast-fed, largely due to malnutrition and a lack of sterile water with which to prepare the formula."

But whether in poor or a rich country, here are many reasons why, if you are able to manage it, breastfeeding is best for your baby. Here is a reason you probably do not know about. - Human breast milk is very low in salt/sodium.

A low sodium intake at the beginning of a baby's life helps to protect the baby from becoming obese. The longer you continue to breastfeed, the better the protection from obesity and the stronger your baby's blood vessels will be. - six months would be good; longer still would be better still. - A low salt intake is best for mothers too...(o:

Read about the damaging effect (obesity) of high sodium intake on children on my webpage http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
How to Lose weight!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - wider implications

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods

Associated health conditions

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Laughter improves breast milk's health effect - New Scientist

Laughter improves breast milk's health effect - New Scientist

Extract:

"Breastfed babies with eczema experienced milder symptoms if their mothers laughed hours before feeding them, according to a study by Hajime Kimata at the Moriguchi-Keijinkai Hospital in Osaka, Japan."

Both mothers and babies would benefit if mothers reduced their intake of salt/sodium and salty food to a minimum. This would improve many aspects of health, including the severity of eczema, and it would lower the risk of the babies gaining excess weight. See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html and http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Nursing mothers may gain the right to breastfeed their babies in cafes and shops.

Equality laws enshrine mothers' right to breastfeed in public - Guardian

Extract:

"New mothers will gain the right to breastfeed their babies in cafes and shops under proposed changes to equality laws announced yesterday.

The move to rationalise 40 years of piecemeal equality legislation, unveiled by the communities secretary, Ruth Kelly, would extend protection against discrimination for pregnant women and mothers with young babies beyond employment rights for the first time.

It would mean that women breastfeeding infants of up to a year could no longer be told to leave cafes, shops and other places - still a relatively frequent occurrence according to campaigners.

In Scotland the law was changed more than two years ago to make it an offence for any venue that normally admits children to prevent a mother breastfeeding.

The planned reform banning discrimination against pregnant women and new mothers in goods and services is contained in a green paper aimed at streamlining and plugging gaps in the UK's complex equality law. But the paper was attacked by a range of campaigners yesterday for failing to go far enough."

If these plans become law, the removal of some difficulties re: breastfeeding in public bodes well for child health. High salt/sodium intake is the main cause of obesity (because of fluid retention) in children. And breast milk, apart from the usually extolled virtues tha benefit the baby, is very low in sodium content and therefore does not set the baby on the road to obesity. The longer the breastfeeding continues, the better the protection from obesity. And since obesity brings in its wake the risk of a host of attendant health deficits - high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, depression, heart disease, etc etc - all of which are currently increasing in children. - You can read more about this on page http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html and
My Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Breastfeeding - here's another reason that it is good for your baby.

There are many reasons why, if you are able to manage it, breastfeeding is best for your baby. Here is a reason you probably do not know about. - Human breast milk is very low in salt/sodium.

A low sodium intake at the beginning of a baby's life helps to protect the baby from becoming obese. The longer you continue to breastfeed, the better the protection from obesity and the stronger your baby's blood vessels will be. - six months would be good; longer still would be better still. - A low salt intake is best for mothers too...(o:

Read about the damaging effect (obesity) of high sodium intake on children on my webpage http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)