Supplements – Buyer beware!

 General Health, My MCL  2 Responses »
Jan 212012
 

After a recent email, and several exchanges on a few of the message boards I frequent, I felt is was imperative of me to reiterate my stance on the use of vitamins, supplements and herbal remedies.

As long time readers of my blog may already know, I am against the taking of all vitamins, supplements and herbal remedies. But I wasn’t always that way. Prior to my diagnosis I truly believed the taking of Vitamin C, E, Calcium, fish oil (and a few other items) were essential for good health. Obviously that didn’t work, and now I’m even of the opinion it was that belief which led to my diagnosis of MCL.

That’s not to say all of the hype is a complete fabrication. After all, I am a firm believer in the efficacy of EGCG, a by product of green tea. Nor am I saying maintaining proper nutrition isn’t important, because it definitely is. What I am saying is, if you can’t get it naturally, it’s probably not worth getting. And that’s a policy I adhere to religiously, taking no artificially produced vitamins, supplements or herbal remedies.

There have been no clinical studies authenticating or substantiating any of the claims made for the numerous supplements sold on the market. In my opinion, all the hype about many [most, all] of these products is simply a scam by the pharmaceutical and supplement industries to instill fear into the minds of consumers, and separate them from their money.

Worst of all, the supplement industry is not regulated. So buyer beware. Even if the claims were substantiated, there is no guarantee you’re getting what you expect when you purchase any of those products online or at the market.

Even Dr Oz, who I consider the biggest shill for the pharmaceutical and supplement industries, warned about this on a recent show.

So even if you don’t want to take my word for it, at least take Dr. Oz’s.

It’s a bummer being sick :(

 General Health, My MCL  2 Responses »
Jan 072012
 

It’s even more so when you’re immune compromised, such as myself, because I can never be sure if my immune system is up to the task of fighting off the illness. Plus I can’t be sure if I’ve just contracted the run of the mill cold, flu or whatever, or if it’s the result of my MCL.

I find myself spending an inordinate amount of time dwelling on how I feel, how soon I’m going to start feeling better, and constantly searching for any evidence of my MCL acting up, such as inspecting for enlarged nodes under my neck and arms.

And that is exactly what I am going through right now.  I started feeling more run down than usual about midweek, but after having a cup of hot tea with lemon, I felt much better. Unfortunately, it didn’t last that long, and today my throat is much sorer, I have a minor headache, and I’m just feeling generally bad.

I’ve always managed to recover relatively quickly, without any long lasting side effects, whenever I’ve gotten sick in the past, so I’m hoping this time will be no different. I only wish I knew in advance how it was going to turn out. It would certainly relieve a lot of stress.

There is one upside though, at least I picked a good time to get sick. It’s heavily overcast this morning, and will likely stay that way most of the day, plus the NFL playoffs begin today, so at least I’ll have something to occupy my mind most of the weekend, should I not feel any better tomorrow.

Of course if the Steelers lose tomorrow afternoon, that could result in another set of issues.

 Posted by at 9:09 am

Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD)

 General Health, Life  No Responses »
Nov 212011
 

I know I posted earlier about how I hate this time of year, but I always seem to be so adversely affected by this time of year, I thought it was worth reiterating.

I just can’t seem to get motivated to do much of anything lately. Sure I go through the motions everyday, and put on airs, but in reality it’s nothing more than a facade. And the winter season has barely gotten started. There’s still over 30 days of continually shorter days left before the days start getting longer, and even after that, I still have to contend with the likelihood of even colder days ahead, especially in February. (Typically the coldest month of the year.)

There’s also the rain to contend with. Californians (and I do consider myself a Californian) don’t do good in the rain. After all, we don’t get much of it, that is except for this time of year. And yesterday was one of those days. It poured. It poured so much, more of San Pedro (just west of us) is falling into the Pacific Ocean. It’s a good thing that section of road had been cordoned off due to potential landslides.

And then of course when you add in all the other problems Edie and I have, it just doesn’t help the situation.

Fortunately writing about it does help [a little].

Angiogenisis [and green tea]

 General Health, My MCL  6 Responses »
Oct 242011
 

I know this topic may not sound that enticing, but bear with me. You might find it of some value.

A couple of weeks ago, while sitting at the coffee shop, one of the old[er] timers, who we used to ride with, stopped by. We hadn’t seen him in awhile, and were surprised to learn he was recovering from bypass surgery. He had a heart attack.

WOW! A heart attack. That’s not something I think about a lot, or at all for that matter. Why should I? I have Mantle Cell Lymphoma, and I’ve planned my life around that. Not having a heart attack.

I was more interested to find out he didn’t realize it at the time. It was only after he went to the doctor, because he wasn’t feeling so good, and had a blood test, did he learn he had a heart attack. I’ve heard that before, but it never dawned on me it actually happens.

The explanation he was given for the mildness of the heart attack was while he had [I think it was] 2 blocked arteries, because he was in such good physical condition the body compensated for that by producing additional blood vessels around the blocked arteries to allow for blood flow to and from the heart. A process known as angiogenisis.

I’ve known about angiogenisis. It’s the process by which cancers (hard tumor cancers) metastasize, and stopping it is a major consideration in the treatment of cancer. What I didn’t know is it’s also the body’s natural response to healing, including blocked arteries, and while I couldn’t find any studies disputing the correlation between physical condition and angiogenisis, it’s doubtful, at least in my opinion, that was the case.

Coincidentally, there has been some discussion on one of my message boards relating to angiogenisis, where I learned it’s the result of the body releasing a cytokine known as Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF). I also learned, based on a Phase I study performed at the Mayo Clinic, it is believed the use of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), the major component of green tea, can inhibit the VEGF cytokine, and result in the reduction of the number of leukemia cells in patients with CLL. Something I have direct knowledge of.

Since starting to drink large quantities of green tea (6 to 8 cups a day), I have seen a marked decrease of 25% in my absolute lymphocyte count, with all other counts remaining stable, except for a drop in my platelet count (although still above normal), another direct result of the green tea.

So at least for me, my embrace of green tea has been vindicating, but it may not be for everyone. Nothing is without consequence. You always have to take some bad with the good. If you’re worried about a heart attack, green tea might not be for you, but if you have CLL [or MCL] you might want to consider it.

It’s true I don’t have CLL, and while I have been cautioned by at least one expert, not to correlate my MCL with CLL, I do it anyways, since I have the leukemic phase of MCL, and my gut tells me otherwise. Remember, medicine is not an exact science.

Better late than never

 General Health, My MCL, Treatments  1 Response »
Oct 102011
 

Well, I managed to survive my colonography. I’m just not sure it’s a preferred alternative to a standard colonoscopy.

I still had to go through the cleansing process, and to my surprise they still had to stick this instrument (for lack of the correct term) up my butt, in order to fill my colon with air, before starting the scan. (For some reason, I didn’t think I was going to have to endure all that.)

The hardest part was trying to relax enough to keep from pushing the “instrument” back out, which seemed like it could easily be done.

Plus, the scan had to be performed while on my stomach and back. This required me to turn over half way through the procedure, which was made more problematic by that “instrument” sticking out my backside.

I can only imagine how comical this must have all been to those in attendance.

All I will add is, if you don’t have a good reason for a colonography, e.g. an enlarged spleen, go with a colonoscopy. I think it takes less time, and you should be able to request sedation if you’re so inclined.

Now all that remains is finding out the results. I’m not in any hurry, since I’m not sure how I’ll respond or what I’ll decide to do should the results be unfavorable, so I’ll just wait for my appointment the beginning of November.

I doubt that I’d be willing to go through a colonography anytime soon, so I am hoping for the best.

Stay tuned!

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