Tag: Health & Fitness

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Wired News: Altered HIV Attacks Mice Tumors

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This falls under the category of “So weird, it’s gotta be true”:

Wired News: Altered HIV Attacks Mice Tumors

Researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles have tweaked HIV to create a gene therapy that attacks cancer tumors in mice.

The research is a step forward for the beleaguered field of gene therapy, which has enjoyed isolated successes and suffered repeated setbacks over the past 20 years. But tinkering and fine tuning will be the key to a successful gene therapy, UCLA researchers believe. They published their study in the Feb. 13 issue of Nature Medicine.

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Cured: The John Cleland Story

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Ran across this article tonight – it’s about the first guy with testicular cancer who was treated with Cisplatin and Dr. Einhorn, who is the guy who discovered it and is still considered the leading expert in TC. Cisplatin is the miracle drug that took TC survival rates from 10% to well over 90%. Once it spread into your blood stream and lymph system, it was only a matter of time. Even in my case, though it was caught early, I probably wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for Cisplatin and the research of Dr. Einhorn.

What’s even more amazing is that John was the first person to be treated with Cisplatin – because all other options had failed. And yet he is still alive and doing well 30 years later. Amazing stuff:

http://www.curetoday.com/currentissue/features/cured/index.html

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Freedom!

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As of three hours ago, I am officially on Thanksgiving vacation. Normally it’s not a big deal, but I really need some R&R, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m going to attempt to get a lot of stuff done I’ve been putting off for a while (like organizing my bedroom), having some good long workouts, and knocking out some games that have been sitting on my shelf for far too long. First up, Half-Life 2. I’ve played about four hours so far, and it is just incredible. Best game I’ve played, possibly since the first Half-Life, way back in 1998.

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Zoloft, Lexapro, Paxil and running

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I started taking Lexapro (an anti-depressant) last April when I was dealing with fears of having cancer (little did I know I was *right*). Anyway, now that I’m a year out from my diagnosis and no longer worrying as much about having a recurrence, I’m trying to get off of it. I’m slowly tapering off, but even so it’s leaving me in a foul mood most of the time.

In some good news, I ran another 5K Saturday, and did a little better than last time. I’m still slow as Christmas, but at least I’m progressing:

April 3 – 37:16
May 23 – 36:34
July 3 – 35:01

These people who can run it in 15 minutes just amaze me. Maybe someday. My goal was to run in the Nashville Marathon next April, but I think I may have to settle for the half marathon, and push the full marathon back another 6 or 12 months.