>>A Blog About the Science and Technology of Living Forever

Have a can of cannabis and cure your cancer. Sounds far fetched doesn’t it? And yet there’s some evidence that the controversial plant has cancer curative properties. And it can be consumed in a liquid form and without the “high” associated with the psychoactive plant.

A new technique to treat early prostate cancer may have far fewer side-effects than existing therapies, say experts. A 41-patient study in the journal Lancet Oncology suggests targeted ultrasound treatment could reduce the risk of impotence and incontinence. Researchers say it could transform future treatment if the findings are repeated in larger studies. The Medical Research Council (MRC), which funded the study, welcomed the results, which it said were promising. Each year 37,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with prostate cancer. Many face a difficult dilemma: the disease kills about 10,000 men every year, but for some it may not get worse if left untreated. Standard treatment with surgery or radiotherapy involves treating the whole prostate gland, and can harm surrounding tissue, with a serious risk of side-effects, including urinary incontinence and impotence. Targeted treatment Doctors at University College Hospital in London have carried out the first trial using high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) aimed at small patches of cancer cells on the prostate. This was a “proof of concept” study involving 41 patients. Read the full article...

by Cheryl Poirier Dr. Thomas Perls has developed a Life Expectancy Calculator and based on your current lifestyle,  it will give you an idea of how long you are going to live. We all know that things like stress, physical activity and genetics play a role. I was surprised, however, to be asked questions about friendships, flossing and sunscreen. Answering the questions from the calculator made me think more carefully about what I eat, my exercise routine (could use a little tweaking) and the things that I stress about. Are there really people who stress daily about how they COULD die? One of the great things about this particular tool is that, at the end, it gives you tips to live longer. Little things you can change here and there that will increase your life expectancy. In order to live longer I need to strengthen my brain, move to a place where the air quality is better, wear sunscreen and eat less sweets. Okay, I’m convinced, I’ll move to...

Regular aspirin use significantly reduced risk of cancer, metastasis and cancer mortality, findings from the largest-ever analyses exploring the drug’s effects on cancer indicate. Overall, aspirin users had a 38% reduced risk of colorectal and other gastrointestinal cancers compared with nonusers. Mortality risk was 15% lower and metastasis was 35% to 40% lower among regular aspirin users. Aspirin use also reduced risk for major vascular events, but these benefits were initially offset by an increased risk for major bleeding events. Both of these affects diminished over time, however, leaving only a reduced risk for cancer after three years, Peter M. Rothwell, FMedSci, of the University of Oxford in England, and colleagues reported in three studies published online in Lancet and Lancet Oncology. “In view of the very low rates of vascular events in recent and ongoing trials of aspirin in primary prevention, prevention of cancer could become the main justification for aspirin use in this setting, although more research is required to identify which individuals are likely to benefit most,” they wrote. Read the complete article and see a video at The Clinical...

A study from Harvard University announced they have developed a nano-scale robot, made entirely of folded DNA, that can target and kill cancer cells in the body. So far, these findings can only been observed in the laboratory, but these robots made of DNA reveal that a new caner treatment may the answer to curing cancer. The folded DNA strands form a clamshell structure that can open and close, referred to as ‘DNA robots.’  In the presence of leukemia and lymphoma cells invitro, the researchers controlled the DNA robots to deliver antibodies to the cancer cells, which caused the cancer cells to self-destruct. Proving this concept is ground breaking for drug delivery systems and cancer treatments. The DNA robots open and close, like a clam, in the presence of cancer cells.  The researchers have designed the DNA to unlock one end of the clam and open, when the lock comes into contact with a specific molecule, specific to the cancer cells.  When the DNA robot lock and the specific cancer cell molecule come into contact, the DNA robot unzips, releasing antibodies that stop the cancer cells’ growth. These DNA robots take on the role of the immune system’s white blood cells, which target and destroy damaged or foreign cells.  Immune cells are designed to recognize viruses or other foreign invaders, and engulf them.  These DNA robots function using a similar mechanism. This study has observed this outcome in the lab, so the next step involved injecting these DNA robots into animal models to see how the DNA robots function under different conditions.  In the animal models, there will be more challenges, such as maintaining sufficient levels circulating through the body, minimizing toxicity levels, and searching for accumulations.  These DNA robots are not cells, so...

A study by the British Journal of Cancer has found eating processed meats such as bacon or sausage may increase a person’s risk of developing pancreatic cancer. The study, which pooled together 11 other studies involving 6,643 people with pancreatic cancer, suggests eating two strips of bacon a day, one hot dog, or a few slices of sausage or salami, increases pancreatic cancer risk by 19 per cent. The reason is that most processed meats (but not all) contain nitrites and possibly N-nitroso compounds which can induce pancreatic cancer in animals. Sodium nitrite is the most common of the nitrite family and is found in almost all brands of hot dogs, sausages, bologna, salami and similar processed meats. Hams and some bacons are not treated with nitrates. If you do eat processed meat, it is important to buy meats that are naturally cured or made from real ingredients, not chemicals. Previous research has linked consumption of both red and processed meat with colorectal cancer....