How long you can live: Determination through the genes! DO YOU KNOW YOUR FOXO3 VARIANT?

Many patients that I meet these days stress during my interview with them that their own parents died of "old age".  Meaning that there seems to be a certain finality to life of humans.  There will be a time when despite good care and prevention, human life will end.  Patients deny their parents died of heart failure, stroke or any other cause but "old age" as if at some point we are doomed to a programmed death.  Inquisition into people who live longer (more then a hundred years) point to the existence of a gene, a particular variant FOXO3 (see below).  DO YOU KNOW YOUR FOXO3 VARIANT?
Evidence abounds now that how long we shall live is encrypted in our genes, but no one seems to rush to offer this option of an approach to care because it is not as simple as that!  But I still believe that for proper "advance directives" preparation of this information should be included as we gauge our sens of survival!   At the individual cellular level, basically this FOXO3,4,6 upregulates BIM and PUMA (wild animal in us keeping us alive!) and downregulates (FLIP) to slow programmed cellular death (Apoptosis).  The interesting thing is this FOX ability to work is very tightly linked to energy!  Yes, when you touch the FOXO, Galactose and Insulin metabolisms come right at you! As if telling you if you monitor me closely (as in Biomarkers) you may know what FOXY is doing.  In other words, the GALT gene is a good Biomarker of FOXO3.  And may tell you the status of cancer cells! (think carefully) during and after treatments!"
A variant of FOXO3 has been shown to be associated with longevity in humans. It is found in most centenarians across a variety of ethnic groups around the world.^[7][8] The homologous genes daf-16 in the nematode C. elegans and dFOXO in the fruit fly are also associated with longevity in those organisms."
DAF-16 is the sole ortholog of the FOXO family of transcription factors in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.^[1] DAF-16 is notable for being the primary transcription factor required for the profound lifespan extension observed upon mutation of the insulin-like receptor daf-2.^[2] Moreover, the tractability of C. elegans as a model and interest in teasing out this conserved aging-associated genetic pathway allowed the intricacies of Insulin and Insulin-like growth factor (IGF) Signaling (IIS) to be thoroughly characterized primarily through studies using this model organism.^[3]wikipedia

 "The expression of GALT is controlled by the actions of the FOXO3 gene. The absence of this enzyme results in classic galactosemia in humans and can be fatal in the newborn period if lactose is not removed from the diet. The pathophysiology of galactosemia has not been clearly defined.^{[1]wikipedia"}

Random News: MELATONIN and NIH GrantsInfo

RANDOM NEWS

*Melatonin which helps with sleep at 3mg, was tested at 20 mg to see if it could help to stop or delay cachexia.  It was not different then placebo.  Case closed. IT FAILED!

*IT IS ESTIMATED THAT 12000 DEATHS COULD BE PREVENTED WITH AN INSTITUTION OF AN AGGRESSIVE LUNG CANCER SCREENING IN THOSE WITH HISTORY OF 1 PACK/DAY FOR 30 YEARS OF MORE!

*We have shown that in the united states more than 3000 African women could be saved yearly if the Breast cancer paradox (low incidence, but high mortality) was corrected by the institution of a comprehensive prevention program.  Well, things are getting worse as recent studies continue to show a decrease of screening in world of corruption and politics.  At CPRIT, they want Commercialization.  The NIH is heavily political.  Just look at a recent submission response:

Thank you for your e-mail to GrantsInfo at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  We provide general information about NIH extramural medical and behavioral research, research training programs, and the grant application process.

I suggest you discuss potential funding of your project with the appropriate Scientific/Research staff linked in the announcement’s Section VII:  http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-11-260.html#_Section_VII._Agency

Regards from GrantsInfo
Web:   http://www.nih.gov

Linking you to NIH Funding

This is an automatic reply when you submit a project
no referral to some review board
they will keep you going here and there
leading nowhere because they have their political friends to award money to. another example, not here go somewhere else!

Dear Dr. Kankonde,

In the table shown below, you will find all currently active NIH funding opportunities related to support of tissue, specimen, and biospecimen banks.  It does not appear that there is any specific funding opportunity that will work for your purposes.  You can search further in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts by going to http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/search_guide.htm.  You might also try to connect and collaborate with scientists and pathologists who have mutual interests to find out if your proposed tissue bank might be supported through affiliation with a large research program (e.g., medical center, cancer center, program project, clinical trials network/consortium, special program of research excellence, epidemiology/population cohort, etc.)

Good luck with your efforts.

Comment: and it goes on and on, you get nowhere and after many attempts, you just give up (but at the CRBCM, we do never give up!)

It is a rough world, and they claim to help, but indeed they try to discourage any pursuit of new research and prevention with good old political tactics!

"I say to you today, my friends that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream"

Christmas Reflections at CRBCM!

"I say to you today, my friends that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream" and with this dream we will rise again to fight another day because we have understood that as long as we live another day, a door may be opened again, another chance may come along, we got to stay prepared and keep looking forward for an opportunity.  There are in life many pits, but all have a bottom here on earth, and even in the darkness of those pits, as long as we live, our imagination will help us rise again.  It is our call, the cause is too important to quit.
Those who came before us have left these words because they lived the horrors of life, went through them and came out the other side still whole.  They left these words so that we do not give up, but instead keep strategizing even when faced by a wall of negative forces.  We need to keep on advancing because only positive steps can generate new consequences.  Not doing a thing is to lose control of the outcome.  So at CRBCM we believe in new steps until life is irreversibly taken from us.  So in these Christmas days, let celebrate persistence and resolve.  What we fight against will not go away until we stand up to it!  Merry Christmas to all.

IT IS A CIVIL RIGHT ISSUE, CURE OF CANCER FOR VULNERABLE POPULATION.

We have found an El Paso Chapter of the NAACP.  We at CRBCM have understood that the field is not leveled given the limited funds available.  Larger organizations will crush us and lead us to oblivion.  But we will fight until the enemies relent!  They have built futile barriers and discriminatory processes to shield us away from participation, they have put propaganda to cast doubt in the community while they are ripping the goods!  What they are afraid of is the competition in this race for the cure!  What they don't know  is that they cannot deny the facts that some people are more vulnerable to cancers, and that huge institutions gobbling up all the resources do not necessarily you in mind as a priority.  Do not believe that someone else will think of you as a priority.  The proof is in the pudding!  EL PASO HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN.  CPRIT SENT LESS THEN 1 PERCENT OF CLOSE TO A BILLION DOLLARS TO EL PASO WHICH IS THE 6TH LARGEST CITY IN TEXAS! AND IT IS NOT BECAUSE EL PASO DID NOT ASK FOR THE MONEY.   GRANT APPLICATIONS ARE BEING SYSTEMATICALLY REJECTED AT THE HEST OF SO-CALLED REVIEWERS WHO ARE UNIVERSITY BIASED REPRESENTATIVES!  OTHER APPLICATIONS ARE "ADMINISTRATIVELY WITHDRAWN" WITHOUT ANY REVIEW!  They call a party, but El Paso is not allowed to dance and show how good it is really.  Not even a chance to be reviewed!

They claim we have been removed from the competition because the Coalition did not have a product to be produced!  What is services to our community?  Under the survivorship program well detailed in our plan, most of the services are reimbursed by the federal government. This will assure survival and revenues for El Paso.  No, in their mind, services are not a product. They prefer gambling away money in research that will yield less 10-20% possible return in 10-15 years.  At the pace of progress,  most of these research RESULTS will be old by then.  Changes need to be implemented today to yield results in the near future.  Lifestyle need modifications today for a better Texas tomorrow.   If we agree that close to 3000 African women are dying yearly  from a breast cancer that could be prevented, when do you prefer having a solution? Now or in 10 years?  At CRBCM we believe that denying people participation in a race for the cure, is a civil right issue.  We call to the senses of our leaders to take positive steps to reduce politics!

Greed has entered the fray. Universities are shaping and packaging their products to fit funding requirements.
Since the old CPRIT was avidly gobbling up companies located outside Texas, old patents/research products developed in Texas, are quickly being sold to outside Companies so that CPRIT money is relocating these old patents to Texas!  and believe this, this has been funded reportedly! And funded 5 times the millions it was originally sold by the TEXAS university!  Do not tease me because I have the facts!  CPRIT now has been renovated, the new CPRIT will not let itself untangled in politics, at least we believe and hope!

We will continue our planned talk with the local chapter of the NAACP, because it is a CIVIL RIGHTS' issue to protect women from a disease they could be saved from today!

New contacts for the CRBCM

Several El Paso Home Health Providers came to visit and are offering to help with networking and informing patients about opportunities to participate in our clinical research studies and in our healthy living program and survivorship program. They all insist on one thing: DON'T GIVE UP! Your intervention is so much needed, even though many patients will initially deny any health issues and say they are doing just "fine".

More HYPOTHESIS FOR CANCER RESEARCH

Given what we know now, could intermittent use of Cipro and laxative (5 days every 6-8weeks) be the most effective prevention against Colorectal cancer?  The CRBCM is reviewing data to make this assumption. There is sufficient scientific data to suggest this is true and a larger clinical trial is warranted to assess this hypothesis.
Through the work of others, we now know that Ciprofloxacin has anti-topoisomerase activity.  That is comparable in its mechanism  to some powerful chemotherapy drug.   But compared to chemotherapy drugs, it has been used for longer periods safely.   It is not innocuous, nothing is, however, it has been used broadly and side effects denounced to date may all be reversible.  The major concern of such broad use of an antibiotic will be potential hematologic toxicity and bacterial resistance. This is to be balanced against prevention of a deadly disease (colorectal cancer).  Intermittent use could address some of these concerns.
Development of other safer mild anti-topoisomerase could result to avoid CIPRO use, and preserve it in our Antibiotic armamentarium.

It is now known that certain bacteria produce chemical molecules such as nitrates that affect the colonic epithelium.  And that the progression to Colon cancer is an evolutionary process, possibly this evolution to cancer cells is driven by chronic continuous irritation.  Cleaning intermittently the colon has been assumed to be good as it provides an interruption in these irritations.  It would make sense if the laxative follows the Cipro.

ADDING AN ANTI-PROSTAGLANDIN MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL EFFECT.

Given the fact that this may be controversial, it would make sense to have a broader discussion before implementing this idea. Tell me what you think!

Reminder as needs still huge: Border Women Strike for Visibility

By Ambreen Ali Nov. 16, 2010 – 10:46 a.m.

The Obamas had visitors waiting for them when they returned from their Asia trip this week.
Eight women from El Paso, Texas, have been holding daily vigils outside the White House since Nov. 8 in an effort to get government funding for their community.
They have also been on a hunger strike since that date, relying on water and a mixture of water, sugar and salt to restore electrolytes.
It’s a drastic step for what they say is a desperate situation — unemployment and poverty levels that are among the highest in the country.

“We’re basically invisible,” Lorena Andrade, one of the activists. “We had to come here to make ourselves visible.”
The group called La Mujer Obrera, or The Working Woman, wants Congress and the White House to fund a commission that would direct development funds to the border community.
One model could be the Appalachian Regional Commission, set up by President John F. Kennedy in 1964. The women hope President Barack Obama or the first lady will consider a trip to the region such as the one that inspired Kennedy to create the panel.
They delivered a letter to Michelle Obama on Monday, appealing to her woman to woman.
“We are not victims,” they wrote. “We are rebuilding our communities with dignified courage. As women, we know we have and are exercising, the right to determine our own destiny.”
El Paso’s Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a Democrat, helped set up a government commission for the region’s development, but it remains unfunded.
La Mujer Obrera has three demands: for the government to organize a summit of federal agencies to discuss border needs, set aside money for the border commission, and promise to include local women in the decision making.
They have already laid out those demands in meetings with the Departments of Agriculture, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development. They expect to meet with the State Department later this week.
The women say they want to be home for Thanksgiving, but they are willing to stay if their demands are not met.
“We get a lot of support and acknowledgment but we want something in writing,” Rubi Orozco, a spokeswoman for the group, said. “We have left before with that kind of pat on the head, and it doesn’t materialize into anything.”
Orozco said there was an irony in border residents having such few resources when so much money is spent on border security.
“The region gets loads of money but it goes to the fence and security,” she said, adding that the jobs for those projects rarely go to locals.
Many of the women active with the group are former garment workers who lost their jobs when the factories in their area moved to Mexico.
Today, they have refurbished those factories into day care centers and shops to sell imported artisan handiwork from Mexico.
“This is another definition to border security,” Cindy Alford, also with the group, said. “Genuine border security has to include sustainable communities.”http://www.congress.org/news/border-women-strike-for-visibility/

Many exciting Research and Prevention projects: CPRIT Abstracts 2012

http://abstracts.cprit2012.org/