Intense Garlic Bread Surprise

Note: This recipe is quick to make. You can use rolls of any size. Use two rolls per serving (or more). For two or three servings of garlic bread, mix 1/3 cup butter with 8 Teasps crushed garlic or 4 Teasps powdered garlic. (1 Teasp crushed garlic has 1.0 gram of carb; 1 Teasp garlic powder has 2.3 grams of carb.)

Ingredients:
¾ cup cold water plus 2 Tablesps (very important)
6 Tablesps butter (¾ stick)
¾ cup vital wheat gluten flour (see Note)
1/3 cup unbleached, all-purpose wheat (white) flour
trace of salt (two light shakes or to taste)
8 Teasps crushed garlic or 4 Teasps powdered garlic
3 eggs *
1 egg white
Parmesan cheese


Preheat oven to 420F. Have ready one large, nonstick, heavy-gauge metal cookie sheet. Put the water and the butter in a heavy 2-quart saucepan, preferably with a rounded bottom, over medium heat. Occasionally stir the mixture while you wait for the butter to melt.
Meanwhile, thoroughly combine the two flours, and a pinch of salt in a medium-mixing bowl.
As soon as the butter has melted and the mixture begins to simmer, add the dry mix all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. Within just a few seconds, the dough will become smooth and leave the bottom and sides of the pan. Keep stirring until no flour shows. Cook for about 10 seconds longer and remove from heat.
Put the hot saucepan on a cold burner or other safe surface. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. At first the dough will appear lumpy. When the whole eggs have been added, the dough will be smooth. It should be creamy and hold peaks with almost no settling. Work in the egg white. Now the dough will be just right; it will still hold its shape, but in softer peaks. It should form mounds that do not spread on the cookie sheet, but sink back and broaden out slightly. Occasionally, you may need to make a judgment call. Depending on the size of the eggs, the dough may be sufficiently soft even before you add the final egg white. In that case, omit the egg white or add it by the Tablesp. The right consistency makes the best rolls. Dough that is too stiff results in smaller rolls; dough that is too soft (i.e., spreads out wide on the cookie sheet) may result in flat rolls.
If you like, use your electric mixer to work in the eggs. Simply transfer the hot dough from the saucepan to the mixer bowl and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Do not over beat because if you do, the rolls may develop large air pockets. Use a flat beater if you have one.
Put spoonfuls of dough on the cookie sheet, choosing the size you prefer. Use large Teasps or even soupspoons to drop the dough. Place them fairly close together.
Bake the rolls for about 25 to 28 minutes or until they are golden brown and crusty on top.
Preheat oven to 300F or 325F. Slice each roll into four or five pieces and spread the garlic butter on one side only. Set the slices on a nonstick, heavy-gauge metal cookie sheet, garlic side up. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on top of the garlic bread slices, using about 1 ounce. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the slices have turned a golden color; the underside of the slices will also turn golden.
Promptly freeze rolls that you do not plan to use the day they are baked. Take them out of the bag to thaw at room temperature. You can also put the frozen rolls in the oven, set at 350F (no need to pre-heat), and bake for 5 minutes. You can toast rolls (slice in half), but you need a wide-slot toaster or toaster oven. The rolls toast rapidly, so use the lowest setting.
Garlic and cheese add 9.0 grams of carb. A single serving (based on two 3 ½-inch rolls) has 11.1 grams of carb.
Save unused rolls in a dry place until rock hard. They will be used for Magnificent Bread Crumbs.

Raisin Roll Delight

Ingredients:
¾ cup cold water plus 2 Tablesps (very important)
6 Tablesps butter (¾ stick)
¾ cup vital wheat gluten flour
1/3 cup unbleached, all-purpose wheat (white) flour
trace of salt (two light shakes or to taste)
1 ½ ounces of raisins
3 eggs *
1 egg white


Preheat oven to 425F. Have ready one large, nonstick, heavy-gauge metal cookie sheet. Put the water and the butter in a heavy 2-quart saucepan, preferably with a rounded bottom, over medium heat. Occasionally stir the mixture while you wait for the butter to melt.
Meanwhile, thoroughly combine the two flours, and a pinch of salt in a medium-mixing bowl.
As soon as the butter has melted and the mixture begins to simmer, add the dry mix all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. Within just a few seconds, the dough will become smooth and leave the bottom and sides of the pan. Keep stirring until no flour shows. Cook for about 10 seconds longer and remove from heat.
Put the hot saucepan on a cold burner or other safe surface. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. At first the dough will appear lumpy. When the whole eggs have been added, the dough will be smooth. It should be creamy and hold peaks with almost no settling. Work in the egg white. Now the dough will be just right; it will still hold its shape, but in softer peaks. It should form mounds that do not spread on the cookie sheet, but sink back and broaden out slightly. Occasionally, you may need to make a judgment call. Depending on the size of the eggs, the dough may be sufficiently soft even before you add the final egg white. In that case, omit the egg white or add it by the Tablesp. The right consistency makes the best rolls. Dough that is too stiff results in smaller rolls; dough that is too soft (i.e., spreads out wide on the cookie sheet) may result in flat rolls.
If you like, use your electric mixer to work in the eggs. Simply transfer the hot dough from the saucepan to the mixer bowl and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Do not over beat because if you do, the rolls may develop large air pockets. Use a flat beater if you have one.
Once all eggs have been worked into the dough, stir in 1 ½ ounces of raisins. The raisin rolls will not rise as high, but they will taste terrific.
Put spoonfuls of dough on the cookie sheet, choosing the size you prefer. Use large Teasps or even soupspoons to drop the dough. Place them fairly close together.
Bake the rolls at 425F to 450F for about 15 to 18 minutes and check early until they are golden brown and crusty on top. Promptly freeze rolls that you do not plan to use the day they are baked. Take them out of the bag to thaw at room temperature. You can also put the frozen rolls in the oven, set at 350F (no need to pre-heat), and bake for 5 minutes. You can toast rolls (slice in half), but you need a wide-slot toaster or toaster oven. The rolls toast rapidly, so use the lowest setting.
Save unused rolls in a dry place until rock hard. They will be used for Magnificent Bread Crumbs.

Allergies

What is an allergy?
An allergy is a sensitivity to a substance that does not usualy cause people any discomfort or harm. Hay fever, which is caused by a sensitivity to pollen, is a well known example. Asthma, eczema, rashes and a variety of other complaints can be caused partly or entirely by an allergy. In fact, allergies can affect almost any part of the body and be caused by a vast range of natural and artificial substances.
Allergies are a reaction to allergens, a name given to those substance such as pollen that spark off symptoms of an allergy in someone who is sensitive to it.

An allergy is everything from a runny nose, itchy eyes and palate to skin rash. It aggravates the sense of smell, sight, tastes and touch causing irritation, extreme disability and sometimes fatality. It occurs when the body's immune system overreacts to normally harmless substances.

Allergy is widespread and affects approximately one in four of the population in the UK at some time in their lives. Each year the numbers are increasing by 5% with as many as half of all sufferers being children.

Symptoms
Symptoms of an allergy tend to show up in/on the parts of the body that are exposed to the allergen. An airborne allergen like pollen, makes it severest impact in the eyes, nose and air passages.

Skin allergies
There are three basic forms of allergic reaction affecting the skin. The most common especially among children is eczema. Dermatitis is a particular type of eczema affecting adults. This is caused by direct skin contact with certain allergens.

Eye and ear allergies
Allergic reactions can also affect the eyes. Theses generally show up as irritation and redness in the white of the eye. Severe swellings can occur but, but more often then not the symptoms are watering and soreness.
The ears are also often affected by allergens, when this happens the fluid will build up inside the ear and may temporarily affected your hearing.

Nasal allergies
Hay fever can affect the eyes and ears though the its principal target is the nose, which becomes stuffy, runny or sneezy.
Some people suffer from symptoms which are similar to those of hay fever, and will suffer with them all year round. They may have a stuffy, runny nose virtually all the time, although it will often be worse indoors, particularly at night and early morning. This condition is called Perennial rhinitis and can be the result of an to the common house dust mite.

Food allergies and food intolerance
These have a wide variety of symptoms. The most obvious symptoms of an acute food allergy are a stomach upset followed quickly by nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea. People who are acutely sensitive to a food may also get a swollen tongue and lips. Sometimes the suffer gets 2 kinds of symptoms; for instance a child who is allergic to cow`s milk may get diarrhoea and a skin rash. Apart from skin rashes, which may appear hours or even days later after eating the food these symptoms become apparent almost imediatley after eating, usually within an hour. This makes it quite easy for the sufferer to identify the allergen.
Recurrent tummy pains and hyperactivity in children have been attributed to food allergies.

The most severe - though fortunately, quite rare - symptom caused by allergy is anaphylaxis. In this instance, the patient`s air passages swell and close and the blood pressure falls abruptly. This is an acute and life threatening condition, though it can be reversed very quickly by an injection of adrenalin.

Causes
The basic difference between people who suffer from allergies and those who do not is still not known. Allergies do tend to run in familiesn - and it is very common for people to develop hay fever, childhood eczema and asthma (a combined condition known as atopy). This may be due to an inherited characteristic in the cells which make up the immune system, which is the body`s defence system against desease.
Most allergies are are the result of an error in the imune system. The body`s defence forces react to the allergen as if it were a dangerous infected organism. White blood cells called lymphocytes are one of the most important elements of the immune system. Theses cells are constantly on the look-out for foreign substances such as bacteria, viruses and proteins which are different from the body`s own proteins and which may present a threat. When these white blood cells come across a potentially dangerous foreign protein they form a substance called an antibody, which combines with the foreign protein and neutralizes it.
By some highly complicated process, which is not yet understood by scientists, the immune system of a normal healthy person knows how to tell the difference between a dangerous foreign protein (like a virus) and a harmless one, such as food protein. But in an allergic person the imune system reacts to a harmless foreign protein as if it were a dangerous one, and starts forming an antibody. This antibody attaches itself to cells called mast cells. Mast cells contain a number of chemicals the most important of which is histamine.
When the body is exposed to the protein again, the antibody attached to the mast cells comines with the foreign proteins and tries to neutralise them. But in so doing, it upsets the structure of the mast cell, which falls apart and releases its load of histamine. The surge of histamine produces an effect very much like the inflammation which follows a wound; it makes tiny blood vessels dilate and they dilate their walls become leaky, so that fluid from the blood escapes into the surrounding tissues. The dialation of the tiny blood vessels causes redness and itching, and the escaping fluid makes the surrounding tissues swell. In hay fever the mocous glands in the nose and sinuses are also stimulated to produce fluid, which causes stuffiness and a runny nose.

Diagnosis
Skin prick test


In this test a small needle is used to gently prick the skin through a drop of fluid containing a known allergen. It is usually done on the forearm, although with young children it may be done on the back so they don't have to see what is happening. The test is not painful and results are immediately available.

Blood test
In this test, a sample of your blood is taken and sent to a specialist laboratory for what is known as the RAST test (Radio AllergoSorbent Test) or CAP-RAST. This measures the amount of specific Immunoglobulin E antibodies (IgE) in your blood to various environmental and food allergens. House dust Mite IgE will be raised if you have an allergy to house dust mites and this is then graded 0 to 6 depending on the level of that IgE in the blood.

Patch test
This test is used to diagnose delayed allergic reactions such as Contact Dermatitis. It involves taping traces of various known contact allergens on the skin underneath special aluminium discs and keeping them there for 48 hours. It can test for allergy to Rubber, Nickel, Lanolin, dyes, cosmetics, solvents, preservatives, and medication. The test patches on the skin are then assessed for allergic eczematous changes by a dermatologist.

A specil diet called the elimination diet is sometimes used to identify which foods are the cause of a food allergy. At first a very plain diet is provided often consisting of little more than water and one vegetable such as potatoes and one meat such as lamb. All possible allergens are excluded.

Treatment
If you have the acute kind of allergy that makes you sick whenever you eat say, strawberries or shellfish, you hardly need a doctor to diagnose your complaint. The cause and effect are obvious, and the simplest way to deal with the allergy is to avoid the allergen.
If your doctor carries out prick tests, he/she will be able to tell you which substance you should avoid. So if, for example you are allergfic to wool, then you should avoid contact with it.

Several kinds of drug are prescribed to deal with the symptoms of allergy.
Antihistamines combat the inflammatory effects of histamine when it is released. They come as tablets, liquid medicine, nose drops or eye drops, and there are injectable antihistamines which can be used to deal with serious attacks. Antihistamines are particularly useful for hay fever, urticaria and perennial rhinitis.
Another drug Disodium cromoglycate (bettter known as Intal), works by preventing the mast cells from exploding. This drug can be given in the form of an inhalant (for asthma), eye drops (for allergic symptoms in the eyes), tablets (for stomach allergies) or by a nose spray for hay fever or perennial rhinitis.
Corticosteriod drugs such as Cortisone, which are very powerful and anti-inflammotary, are some times prescribed for skin allergies or via an inhaler, to combat asthma.

Food allergies can sometimes be relieved by drugs, but some doctors prefer to recommend diets which ensure that you eliminate all the foods to which you have an allergic reaction. This can be quite difficult in the case of peanut allergy, which can be severe and most usually occurs in children. You should inform your childs school if your child has an allergy to nuts as peanut oil is a commonly used cooking ingredient in many foodstuff.

Self-help
There is quite a lot you can do to help yourself or your child. Obviously if you sufer from a food or chemical allergy you should make every effort to avoid your allergens. (Reading the labels on food packets to see if the product contains the allergen you are alergic to).

Hay fever sufferers should be careful about going out in the open air during the pollen season, especially in mid-afternoon when the polen count is highest. Dark glasses can protect your eyes against pollen or spores.

Prostate Cancer and Flaxseed Rich Diet

A diet rich in flaxseed seems to reduce the size, aggressiveness and severity of tumors in mice that have been genetically engineered to develop prostate cancer, according to new research from Duke University Medical Center. And in 3 percent of the mice, the flaxseed diet kept them from getting the disease at all.

"We are cautiously optimistic about these findings," said Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Ph.D., associate professor, division of urology and senior author of the study that appears in the November 2002 issue of the journal Urology. "The amount of flaxseed given to each mouse was 5 percent of its total food intake, which would be a very difficult amount for humans to eat, but it does signal that we are on the right track and need to continue research in this area."

According to Demark-Wahnefried, planned clinical trials must be completed before it can be concluded that dietary flaxseed is a useful protective against prostate cancer in humans.

The research was sponsored by the National Institute on Aging, the National Cancer Institute and the Committee for Urologic Research Education and Development at Duke University Medical Center.

Clinical studies by other researchers have suggested that dietary fiber reduces cancer risk, and omega-3 fatty acids also have shown a protective benefit against cancer. Flaxseed is the richest plant source of omega-3 fatty acids and is high in fiber. Also, flaxseed is a source of lignan, a specific family of fiber-related compounds that appear to play a role in influencing both estrogen and testosterone metabolism. Since testosterone may be important in the progression of prostate cancer, lignan could help inhibit the growth and development of the disease.

In the Duke study, 135 mice genetically engineered to develop prostate cancer were divided into a control group and an experimental group. The experimental group received a regular mouse diet, but 5 percent of the diet was in the form of flaxseed. Half of the mice in both groups were fed their respective diets for 20 weeks and the remainder for 30 weeks. At the 20- and 30-week end points, the mice were autopsied to check for tumor growth and progression of the disease to other organs.

"Tumors in the untreated control group were twice the size of tumors in the flaxseed group," said Xu Lin, M.D., research associate, division of urology and lead author of the study. "The tumors were also less aggressive in the flaxseed group, and two of the mice in the flaxseed group did not develop prostate cancer at all. The rates of apoptosis (tumor cell death) were also higher in the flaxseed group. And while it was not statistically significant, the flaxseed group had fewer rates of the cancer spreading to other organs. "

While the results are promising, the researchers say they are not surprising. The study is the third in a series by the Duke Medical Center researchers to show the benefits of flaxseed in reducing the growth and development of prostate cancer.

The first study, published in July 2001 in Urology, demonstrated that a low-fat diet supplemented with flaxseed was associated with slower tumor growth. In this pilot study, 25 men with prostate cancer began adding ground flaxseed to their diets for 34 days. At the end of the study, the men saw a drop in testosterone levels and a trend toward lower prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels, a marker for prostate cancer. The diet also was tolerated well and gave the authors hope for this dietary intervention.

The second study, published in the November-December 2001 issue of Anticancer Research, examined the effect lignans have on prostate cancer cell lines. This study showed that flaxseed-derived lignans inhibited the growth of three distinct human prostate cancer cell lines through hormonally dependent and independent mechanisms.

"So far we have observed the suppression of prostate cancer in humans, mice and at the cellular level," said Lin. "It's not a fluke or a coincidence. It's an encouraging line of research."

Demark-Wahnefried adds, "Our results are encouraging. However, before we can truly state that flaxseed is beneficial in humans, larger well-controlled trials are needed. The National Cancer Institute has provided us with the support to conduct a randomized clinical trial in 160 men with prostate cancer that will examine whether a low-fat diet, flaxseed supplementation or a combination of low-fat diet and flaxseed supplementation will be most effective in stopping prostate cancer cells from dividing. That trial is currently under way."

Keep an eye on prostate cancer to avoid treatment

A strategy of active surveillance is a feasible approach to managing men with low-risk, early prostate cancer, and may help many men appropriately avoid radical treatment for their cancer, British researchers report.
Prostate cancer is the only human cancer which is curable but which commonly does not need to be cured, researchers say. The challenge of managing early prostate cancer is to separate patients with clinically important cancers from those whose "disease" is unlikely to ever become clinically important.

The goal of active surveillance is to individualize treatment for prostate cancer by selecting only those men with significant cancers for radical curative treatment. With this approach men are closely monitored using prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels and curative treatment is undertaken only when PSA levels rise.

Active surveillance differs from so-called "watchful waiting" in which men are observed and undergo palliative treatment only when they experience symptoms suggestive of disease progression.

In their study, Dr. Chris C. Parker and colleagues from The Royal Marsden NHS Trust in Surrey, followed 80 patients with early prostate cancer. Surveillance included serial PSA testing and digital rectal exams every 3 to 6 months for the first 2 years then every 6 months thereafter.

After roughly 42 months, 64 men were still being followed by active surveillance, while 11 underwent radical treatment and 5 had died. None of the deaths were due to prostate cancer and there was no evidence that the prostate cancer had spread to other organs.

The investigators note that the median PSA doubling time -- a measure of tumor activity -- in the group was a full 12 years, which "suggests an indolent course of disease in most patients."

The team also evaluated outcomes for 32 men with localized prostate cancer who were considered unsuitable for radical treatment and who underwent watchful waiting. They also were followed with serial PSA tests and digital rectal exams every 6 months.

In the watchful waiting group, 20 continued to be watched while 8 were treated with hormone therapy and 4 died, one from metastatic cancer.

"While the long-term prostate cancer mortality associated with (active surveillance) in young, fit men with favorable-risk early prostate cancer is unknown, in the worst possible case it will be as good as that associated with (watchful waiting) in such patients," the authors conclude.

SOURCE: BJU International May 2005.


Get the Latest News about Prostate Cancer

Hospital to Promote Prostate Cancer Awareness at Barbershops

Pittsburgh (AP) Officials at the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Minority Health and the Cancer Institute want to spread awareness about prostate cancer and cancer screenings.

So they are taking their message to four barbershops in predominantly black Pittsburgh neighborhoods.

The events will take place on June 18th.

Anyone at the barbershops that day will be offered an opportunity for a free prostate screening.

Researchers say black men experience both higher incidence and mortality rates from prostate cancer than any other ethic group.

It is recommended that all black men over 40 be screened for prostate cancer.

Low-Carb Pastry Pizzazz

This delicious treat adds only 1.9 grams of carb for a Superb Roll of any size. Just add a glaze to the rolls once they are baked. While the rolls are baking, make ½ or ¼ of the below mentioned glaze. Apply the glaze thinly with a pastry brush to the tops of the hot rolls. It will set within minutes. The rolls will freeze well, even with the glaze. Thaw at room temperature or follow directions for heating in the oven.

Glaze

SERVING SIZE ,icing for 1 cookie. Carbs per serving 0.5 gram of carb.
Number of servings: 280
Ingredients:
1 egg white (or 3 Tablesps sterilized egg white)
1 cup powdered sugar (unsifted)
3 Teasps vanilla extract

Put the egg white and powdered sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer and beat on high speed until the sugar is absorbed and the mixture thickens a bit: scrape sides of bowl as needed. Mix in the vanilla extract. Apply icing with the tip of a knife or a small brush. The icing dries quickly, particularly over freshly baked cookies, rolls, and so forth. Store unused frosting, covered, in the fridge. Always stir well before using.

Ingredients:
¾ cup cold water plus 2 Tablesps (very important)
6 Tablesps butter (¾ stick)
¾ cup vital wheat gluten flour
1/3 cup unbleached, all-purpose wheat (white) flour
trace of salt (two light shakes or to taste)
3 eggs *
1 egg white


Preheat oven to 420F. Have ready one large, nonstick, heavy-gauge metal cookie sheet. Put the water and the butter in a heavy 2-quart saucepan, preferably with a rounded bottom, over medium heat. Occasionally stir the mixture while you wait for the butter to melt.
Meanwhile, thoroughly combine the two flours, and a pinch of salt in a medium-mixing bowl.
As soon as the butter has melted and the mixture begins to simmer, add the dry mix all at once, and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. Within just a few seconds, the dough will become smooth and leave the bottom and sides of the pan. Keep stirring until no flour shows. Cook for about 10 seconds longer and remove from heat.
Put the hot saucepan on a cold burner or other safe surface. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. At first the dough will appear lumpy. When the whole eggs have been added, the dough will be smooth. It should be creamy and hold peaks with almost no settling. Work in the egg white. Now the dough will be just right; it will still hold its shape, but in softer peaks. It should form mounds that do not spread on the cookie sheet, but sink back and broaden out slightly. Occasionally, you may need to make a judgment call. Depending on the size of the eggs, the dough may be sufficiently soft even before you add the final egg white. In that case, omit the egg white or add it by the Tablesp. The right consistency makes the best rolls. Dough that is too stiff results in smaller rolls; dough that is too soft (i.e., spreads out wide on the cookie sheet) may result in flat rolls.
If you like, use your electric mixer to work in the eggs. Simply transfer the hot dough from the saucepan to the mixer bowl and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Do not over beat because if you do, the rolls may develop large air pockets. Use a flat beater if you have one.
Put spoonfuls of dough on the cookie sheet, choosing the size you prefer. Use large Teasps or even soupspoons to drop the dough. Place them fairly close together.
Bake the rolls for about 25 to 28 minutes or until they are golden brown and crusty on top. Promptly freeze rolls that you do not plan to use the day they are baked. Take them out of the bag to thaw at room temperature. You can also put the frozen rolls in the oven, set at 350F (no need to pre-heat), and bake for 5 minutes. You can toast rolls (slice in half), but you need a wide-slot toaster or toaster oven. The rolls toast rapidly, so use the lowest setting.
Save unused rolls in a dry place until rock hard. They will be used for Magnificent Bread Crumbs.

Prostate Cancer Treatment

Men with prostate cancer who take supplemental lycopene in addition to surgical removal of the testicles may experience less active disease, less bone pain, and live longer than those who only have surgical removal of the testicles, according to a new study in British Journal of Urology International (2003;92:375–8). This is exciting news for millions of men who have to undergo aggressive treatment for advanced prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer found in men over the age of 50 years, with more than 200,000 new cases each year in the United States. The cause of prostate cancer, like many other cancers, is unknown; however, some studies suggest alterations in testosterone metabolism may play a role in its development. Prostate cancer is generally slow growing and may not cause any symptoms until late in the disease. Symptoms may include frequent or painful urination, dribbling after urination, sensation of incomplete emptying of the bladder, or blood in the urine. The symptoms of prostate cancer are similar to those of a non-cancerous condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), so men experiencing these symptoms should consult their physician for an accurate diagnosis.

In the new study, 54 men with advanced prostate cancer were randomly assigned to have surgical removal of the testicles (orchidectomy) alone or orchidectomy plus oral supplementation with 4 mg of lycopene a day. Measurements of PSA (a blood marker of prostate cancer activity), bone scans, and urinary flow were taken initially and every three months for two years. Men receiving lycopene started on the day of their surgery.

After six months, PSA had significantly decreased in both groups, indicating a reduction in prostate cancer activity. However, PSA levels in those receiving lycopene were more than 65% lower than in those who did not receive lycopene. After two years, PSA levels in the lycopene treatment group had fallen into the normal range, while those who only underwent surgery still had PSA levels more than twice the upper limit of normal. Urinary symptoms significantly improved in both groups, but better improvement was again observed in the lycopene group. The lycopene group also experienced less bone pain.

The survival rates after two years in the lycopene-plus-surgery group and surgery-only groups were 87% and 78%, respectively, a statistically significant difference. No adverse side effects were observed in men taking lycopene.LycopeneLycopene is one of a group of compounds called carotenoids. It is found in high amounts in tomatoes.

The findings of this study corroborate the findings of other similar studies examining the effectiveness of lycopene in the treatment of prostate cancer. However, the amount used in the current study (4 mg per day) was substantially less than the amounts used in other studies (30 mg per day). It may also help stimulate the immune system and has been shown to cause cancer cells to die on their own. Although more research is needed to clarify what amount of lycopene is most effective, men with prostate cancer may benefit from taking daily lycopene supplements. Eating one moderately sized tomato a day also provides approximately 4 mg of lycopene. Other tomato products, such as an 8-ounce portion of tomato juice or tomato paste may provide up to 25 mg of lycopene.

Get the latest Prostate Cancer news

Stop Smoking

You have probably heard this more times, than you can count but facts are facts! There is no other way to say it – smoking is not only bad for your health, it is deadly! One woman in her late thirties had smoked for 10 years. She had tried everything from watering down her cigarettes, throwing them away, wearing a patch, chewing gum, you name it, she tried it. She really wanted to quit but the addiction was so strong she was finding it impossible.

The mother of an 11-year old daughter and a 13-year old son, she was taken by surprise when something happened that made her quit smoking in one day. Her son told her that he had something very important to tell her. With a quick response of, “Okay, what is it?” he said, “No, I really need to talk to you.” She knew by the look on his face and the tone of his voice that this was something important. Her son looked her square in the face and without wavering said, “I want you to quit smoking because I don’t want you to die. I want a mother in my life.” With that, she walked over to an ashtray, put out her cigarette, and now almost seven years later, she still does not smoke. While this will not work for everyone, the next time you pick up a cigarette; take a minute to consider how your child or family would feel if you were no longer around.