Their eyes tearing when the flag goes up, the members of the Iraqi Olympic team are standing for unity. The president of its committee is a Kurd; the sprinter in the 100-meter dash is Sunni; the coach is Shiite.
The sprinter, Dana Abdul-Razak, has had to dodge sniper fire and cut deals with militia to allow her to practice on the track back home. Her Olympic dream might end in the first round, but that is not as important as the journey to get here.
(Photo courtesy of Sun Star)
Three whale species, the humpback, minke and southern right, are recovering from the threat of extinction according to a new study released by the world’s largest conservation network. Thanks to curbs on hunts since the 1980s, the status of both the southern right and humpback population has been lowered from Vulnerable to Least Concern.
Dell has met its carbon neutral goal ahead of schedule, achieving a major milestone in its commitment to green power sources and energy-efficiency. Dell pledged last September to move toward carbon-neutrality, and has already reached its goal through a series of environmental protection purchases, renewable energy investments and by offsetting carbon emmissions. Its headquarters in Round Rock, Texas is now powered by 100% renewable energy.
(Photo courtesy of Sun Star)
Twenty-one US cities, including New York and Denver, have announced they will measure their greenhouse gases emissions, in a joint effort to seek ways to halt and reverse global warming. A non-profit organization will help the cities report carbon emission data for their jurisdiction’s operations – fire department, ambulance and police services, municipal buildings, and waste transport, for example.
Once bleak and lifeless places degraded by years of high-impact farming, Peruvian coffee farms are being transformed by a growing trend for certification schemes offering ethical and environmental guarantees to western coffee drinkers.
An Iranian vice president said in rare comments that Iran was a friend of Israeli people, newspapers reported on Monday. “I say for a thousandth time that we are a friend of all people in the world, even Israelis and Americans,” the daily newspaper Etemad quoted Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, the vice president for tourism.
(Photo courtesy of Sun Star)
(Reuters) – Poles who risked their lives a half century ago by taking in fugitive Jews during the Nazi Holocaust were honored in Warsaw on Sunday, in what may be one of their final gatherings. They recalled how they risked the death penalty for themselves and their family. “At various times we had up to nine people living in our flat. They had free run of the house, but when they heard a knock at the door, they would all run down to a special hiding place next to the coal bin,” said Waclaw Nowinski, 83. (Read about the heroic Christians in Reuters report) Also read more of their stories at WTOP .
On Monday, King Abdullah II of Jordan became the first Arab head of state to visit Iraq since Saddam Hussein’s regime collapsed in 2003. The brief and previously unannounced visit was seen as a sign that Iraq’s Arab neighbors finally are shedding their fear of a Shiite Muslim-led Iraq. (Most nearby countries, like Iran and Jordon are Sunni Muslim-led.)
Here are 8 superfoods you should eat every day. Packed with nutrition and often called brain foods, they can protect you from heart disease, cancer and other malfunctions as you age. (MSNBC with photos)
Israeli president Shimon Peres, who is a Noble Peace Prize laureate, wrote lyrics to a song about peace, entitled Ray of Hope and posted them on Songweavers, a website where musicians from around the world — including Iran — have added music to go with the words.
Members of the Songweavers website have designed and compiled a humanitarian CD from which all proceeds will go to charity.
The CD was given to Mr. Shimon Peres this week and he has taken 100 copies, containing 20 versions of the song with him to Bejing, where he will give the Peace CD to other heads of State.
Here are his lyrics:
If you want to know what truly sets Dr. Isaac Eliaz apart, just ask Bonnie Bell, a spirited survivor of Stage 4 breast cancer, who experienced a near-miraculous recovery—one that most conventional doctors would have called impossible. But with Dr. Eliaz’ guidance, her passion for life prevailed—and what was once considered an “incurable” diagnosis became another inspiring example of triumph over a deadly of diseases.
Today, Bonnie is alive, well, and in full remission. And like so many of Dr. Eliaz’ patients, she attributes her healing not only to the strength of mind and body that she has found though her struggle, but also to the carefully integrated holistic protocol that led her there—an approach to fighting her disease that embraced both modern Western medicine and the centuries-old traditions of ancient healing wisdom.
This unique synergy is the heart of Dr. Isaac Eliaz’ practice—and Bonnie is just one of many patients at Amitabha Medical Clinic and Healing Center to have faced death and lived to tell their remarkable stories. A respected author, lecturer, researcher, product formulator, and clinical practitioner, Dr. Eliaz has been a pioneer in the field of integrative medicine for over twenty years now—and his contributions to the growing body of research on natural cancer treatment have been profound.
Among these many contributions is his discovery of modified citrus pectin (MCP)—a substance derived from the peel of citrus fruit that has proven to be one of the most promising breakthroughs in integrative oncology to date. Not surprisingly, it was also an integral part of Bonnie Bell’s treatment.
Research has revealed that cancerous cell communications are dependent upon a class of sticky cell surface proteins called galectins—a primary target in the search for new and effective cancer therapies. If these galectins can be bound and their communication cut off, then the growth and spread of cancer will be essentially disarmed. MCP is a modified form of ordinary citrus pectin, altered by means of a cutting-edge enzymatic process to meet the ideal size and molecular weight necessary for precisely this type of cancer inhibition.
Dozens of published studies in the past decade have been devoted to revealing the immense potential of this simple substance against a variety of cancers, including lung cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer, and prostate cancer. And the latest study provides some of the most compelling results so far.
Researchers at Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany enrolled 49 patients, each with advanced state solid tumors of varying types—colon cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, kidney cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer, liver cancer, and pancreatic cancer, among others. Each patient had completed conventional treatments, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation without success—nearly 90 percent of the cancers had metastasized.
During the trial, patients were administered 5 grams of MCP orally, three times a day. They would later be evaluated for clinical benefit—including pain reduction, improved physical functioning, increased appetite and sleep, and reduced fatigue. At just eight weeks, the results were already overwhelmingly positive, with 20.7 percent of the patients showing an overall clinical benefit response and stabilization of disease. The results for those completing 16 weeks of treatment showed an overall clinical benefit of 42.9%.
Perhaps most remarkably, one patient with advanced hormonal refractory metastasized prostate cancer demonstrated a 50 percent decrease in PSA levels after 16 weeks, accompanied by a significant increase in clinical benefit. By the conclusion of the study, response rates continued to improve, with a majority of the patients showing improved quality of life and pain reduction.
Meg Jordan, health journalist and professor of Integrative Health and Medicine at the California Institute of Integrative Studies, says Dr. Eliaz’s methods allow the body’s innate healing mechanisms to be supported. “If cancer is our immune systems failing to detect cancer cells and sweep them out of our body, then allowing our immune systems to do their job with more efficiency and greater surveillance is suddenly a noble undertaking.” It’s the opposite of chemotherapy and radiation, which act like a big hammer and a poison, taking a toll on our bodies.
Nutraceutical is a new word referring to the wise use of nutrients in an action that is almost pharmaceutical-like within the body. Like Vitamin C, nutraceuticals, such as Bilberry extract, are derived from botanicals and sold without a prescription.
“In the laboratory we watch closely what happens with the nutraceutical in a cellular reaction,” said Jordan. “The beauty is, what we see in the lab is so positive that going ahead and recommending their use to the general public generally has no downside.”
“We are at a tipping point now, as the evidence builds in the labs as to what these botanicals can do, and we try to educate conventional doctors,” Jordan explains. “If we’re erring, we are erring on the side of precaution, by suggesting people replicate what is happening in the laboratory.”
Dr. Eliaz would be the first to note that these impressive results don’t constitute a cure for cancer. But it is a major leap in the right direction, yielding benefits in this group of patients that were comparable to, if not better than, chemotherapy—without the adverse side effects or toxicity. The potential of MCP as part of an integrated and comprehensive approach to treating cancer is undeniable to many who’ve studied it—and the medical community at large is taking notice.
Dr. Stephen Strum, an oncologist who has devoted his practice and research to the treatment of prostate cancer, is among MCP’s greatest advocates. “My clinical experience using MCP (modified citrus pectin) in prostate cancer,” he says, “has been that it slows PSA doubling time in the majority of patients taking the standard dose of 5 grams three times per day.”
“Because this treatment is well tolerated,” he continues. “I use MCP in any situation where sustained increases in PSA may occur.”
Dr. Eliaz founded EcoNugenics in 1995 to deliver nutraceuticals to the general public beyond his practice. Meg Jordan sees value in offering these products for sale over the web to patients far and wide.
“I just got a call from my dear friend just diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer and I’m going to make sure she gets on it,” explained Jordan. “She is going to take it to her oncologist and show them the research, saying she’d like to be on it as well.”
For more information, visit EcoNugenics at www.econugenics.com.
Evidence is growing that new kinds of stem cells — immature adult stem cells extracted from bone marrow, hearts, kidneys or even the skin, which can be taken without destroying embryos — now have the potential to seriously transform diseases like heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure and liver failure.
Former President Clinton is honoring 43 schools for their anti-obesity efforts, including one that banished candy from its building and another that offers a student fitness club, reports AP in the San Francisco Chronicle.
(Photo by Elan Sun Star)
Iranian artists plan to weave a World Peace Carpet and feature an ancient declaration in its design, said to be the world’s first charter of human rights — a declaration issued by the Persian king Cyrus II, inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform on a cylinder. (Iranian Press TV)
One man decided to donate his kidney to a stranger, starting a chain of kidney swaps that changed the lives of 8 people, saving four.
This video will leave you with a terrific feeling! A must-see segment from CBS morning show…
(Photo by Elan Sun Star
China, pilloried as the world’s biggest polluter, has quietly taken a lead in moving to a low carbon economy, an independent climate advisory group said last month. China is making strides in renewable energy and green technology. China is also is a leading producer of energy efficient domestic appliances and rechargeable batteries. (Reuters has the story )
(Photo by Elan Sun Star)
A new UN campaign is giving Olympians a chance to be winners in the eyes of refugees. The “Giving is Winning” program, which seeks to encourage athletes to donate their surplus sportswear to refugees in Asia, was launched last week at the Olympic Village in Beijing.
(Photo by Elan Sun Star)
Honey is a more effective cough remedy for children than many over-the-counter medications, according to a recent study — especially for nighttime relief. Thanks to Sun Star for submitting the story! (Photo by Elan Sun Star)
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Stanford researchers say they’ve found a way to make a new rechargeable lithium-ion battery that produces 10 times the amount of electricity of existing batteries. A laptop instead of lasting 4 hours, could last 40, and electric cars could run ten times the distance. “It’s not a small improvement,” researcher Yi Cui said. “It’s a revolutionary development.” (Thanks to Sun Star for submitting the story!)
“Former President Clinton is honoring 43 schools for their anti-obesity efforts, including one that banished candy from its building and another that offers a student fitness club.” (Associated Press via WJLA-TV 7)
