Laughter Is Still The Best Medicine!
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Alwayswriteagain: English Antisemitism: In A League Of Its Own?
Alwayswriteagain: English Antisemitism: In A League Of Its Own?: This is an updated version of an article which has just been published in the online international magazine, Live Encounters . Editor, Mark...
Friday, 30 December 2011
Alwayswriteagain: Happy 2012 From Me–And the Israel Defence Force!
Alwayswriteagain: Happy 2012 From Me–And the Israel Defence Force!: IDF– Protecting Israel And Its Citizens For Another Year … As Karmiel ESRA prepares to host another fabulously popular fun quiz, here’...
Saturday, 24 December 2011
As The World Unites For The Festive Season …
… I Present A Half-Baked Apple And A Jewish Santa In Full Prayer Mode …
In the green – and ‘er – red corner, comes Devon, U.K. fruit grower Ken Morrish who was stunned when he found a ‘Golden Delicious’ apple on his tree split exactly half green, half red down the middle. This, insist the experts, is a million-to-one genetic chance.
Meanwhile on Laguna Beach, California, a nice Jewish Father Christmas took time off from ‘ho-ho-hoing’ to appear in a publicity stunt (pictured below) with Yakov Jacobson of the local Chabad organisation.
Jacobson claimed he was surprised to discover that not only is the unnamed man Jewish but that he had never previously worn tefillin (phylacteries).
Believe it; don’t believe it. But this has to be one Santa who’s ‘strapped for cash’!
Technorati Tags: Ken Morrish,Green-Red Apple,California Dreamin'USA Chabad,Yakov Jacobson,Santa Claus,Tefillin
msniw
Prince Philip: Routine Surgery After ‘Likely Heart Attack’
No wonder the Duke of Edinburgh is enjoying a speedy recovery from his emergency heart surgery.
He and the Queen are partners in a ‘right royal’ love-match – as illustrated in this informal portrait – and today he received a visit from her and their children as he recovers at Papworth Hospital, Cambridgeshire.
Prince Philip was flown to the hospital yesterday (Friday) for treatment after complaining of chest pains. Doctors there discovered he had a blocked coronary artery.
Below is a description of his treatment:
STENTS, THE SCAFFOLDING THAT OPENS NARROW BLOOD VESSELS
“Stents are small metal tubes that are put into the arteries to help blood flow.
“They are used to treat the type of coronary artery blockage that the Duke of Edinburgh suffered.
Every year, around 85,000 Britons are fitted with the devices, which look like small pieces of scaffolding.
“They are inserted into the artery during keyhole surgery and then expanded to widen the artery.
“During the procedure a hollow tube containing the stent along with a small inflatable balloon is passed into an artery through the groin or arm.
“The operator then uses X-ray screening to direct it into a coronary artery until it reaches the narrow or blocked section. The balloon is then gently inflated expanding the stent so it holds the narrowed blood vessel open.
“When it is fully expanded the balloon is let down and removed, leaving the stent in place.
“Most people can go home the same day or next day, but if it has been an emergency procedure, stays in hospital are usually longer. Sometimes there is a small amount of bleeding after the procedure.
“In the majority of cases, people find that they feel back to normal after just a few days, but if the stent has been put in after a heart attack the recovery takes longer.However, in some cases the rigid metal can cause the walls of the artery to become inflamed or damaged, and scar.
“In recent years, ‘drug-eluting’ stents have been developed. These are coated with a tiny amount of a drug which is delivered to the area around the stent to prevent the scarring process and thus stop the artery from narrowing.
“A new type of stent, called bio-resorbable vascular scaffold, is currently being developed that is made of corn starch rather than metal. It gradually disappears over two to three years, so once the artery has been able to return to normal, the stent is metabolised by the body.
“Stents cost up to £900 each, depending on the type used.”
- This form of surgery is internationally recognised and is used routinely, for example, at The Rambam Medical Centre, Haifa.
- ‘Drug-eluting’ means to- wash out with a solvent, as in chromatography.
Technorati Tags: Duke of Edinburgh,Queen Elizabeth II,Papowrth Hospital,Heart Surgery,Blocked Coronary Artery,Stent,Rambam Medical Centre
msniw
Monday, 19 December 2011
An Extra Light In The Dark
‘May their memories be for a blessing’.
Chanucah sameach to all my Jewish friends and readers and heartiest good wishes for the Festive Season and 2012 to everyone else.
msniw
Saturday, 17 December 2011
Alwayswriteagain: Israel - Without A ‘Hitch’?
Alwayswriteagain: Israel - Without A ‘Hitch’?: Hitchens: Zionism was a "stupid, messianic, superstitious idea.” A friend of my teenage years – now also living in Israel – was always...
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Alwayswriteagain: The Play What Will Wrote!
Alwayswriteagain: The Play What Will Wrote!: This review first appeared as: Theatre Review (Zichron Yaakov, Israel): A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Blogcritics. During the most joyou...
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Alwayswriteagain: When I Was Framed – With President Moshe Katsav!
Alwayswriteagain: When I Was Framed – With President Moshe Katsav!: Under normal circumstances the picture above would have been a pleasant memory to savour; an historic record for the family album. ...
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
Be Happy – Stand With Israel!
Be happy–Stand With Israel!
It’s all very simple:
Israel’s secret weapon is not in Dimona.
Nor is it in a bunker beneath the Knesset – the Parliament building in Jerusalem.
But you can see it emblazoned on the lovely faces of the kids in this video.
The answer is that despite all its woes -
ISRAEL IS A HAPPY SOCIETY.
Now watch this wonderful clip produced by the international StandWithUs group and you will understand what I mean.
* StandWithUs? It’s is an international, non-profit organisation dedicated to telling the truth about Israel and to combating the extremism and antisemitism that perpetuates the lies continuously repeated by its enemies.
Stand With Us is performed in this clip by The Afula Youth Ensemble of the Afula Conservatorium, Northern Israel.
Musical arrangement - Yoram Zadok
Video director - Allan Pakes
Executive director - Lilach Meidan
Video editor - Roy Stein
Conservatorium director - Betzalel Kupervaser
Executive producer - Tibi Zohar
Produced by – StandWithUs
Now enjoy!
msniw
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
‘Have A Good Laugh - Three Times A Day –Before, After and During Meals!’
‘Laughter Is The Best Medicine’
I once spent several hours finding different translations for the phrase “laughter is the best medicine”.
But the medicinal value of a good giggle is a universal truth and the only surprise is that is has never been put to practical use.
’הצחוק הוא התרופה הטובה ביותר’
Not until now – and not before Israeli doctors became interested in the discipline and helped to make ‘Medical Clowning’ one of the country’s biggest and most successful exports.
Local medics suddenly realised that harnessing the natural potential of the hormones released in laughter makes it a vital component in a patient’s recovery. So medical clowns are now considered co-therapists in patient care and study the art during a three-month bachelor’s degree course in Israel - the only one of its kind world-wide.
“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” (Proverbs, 17:22).
Indeed last month’s conference on medical clowning in Jerusalem saw more than 250 delegates from 25 countries come to learn more about it and heard, for example, how a study of an IVF (‘fertility’) clinic discovered that the pregnancy rate almost doubled when a “medical clown” paid a visit after embryo transfer.
’الضحك هو أفضل دواء’
The conference, organised by Dream Doctors included workshops on clowning and the use of medical clowning as a unique means of intervention.
“I’m learning that we are definitely a part of a very big, global community,” Wellington Santos, a medical clown from Brazil, told the Arutz Sheva news service: “It’s very important that we all co-operate to take this to the next step.”
'געלעכטער איז די בעסדט מעדיצין'
Paul Miller, aka Pauly the Clown who works at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, USA, said that despite his hospital having a high-ranking paediatric unit, it presently employed only a few medical clowns, several hours per week.
“A Risa Es La Mejor Medicina”
But Hagar Hofesh, a medical clown with Dream Doctors, says that in Israel the clowns work very closely with doctors and nurses, something which is not always the case in other parts of the world.
“I’m going to be well? No kidding!” ‘Risus Est Optima Medicina’
‘La Risata E La Migliore Medicina’
msniw
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Israeli Cancer Vaccine ‘Coming Soon’
Article first published as Israeli Cancer Vaccine ‘Coming Soon’ on Technorati.
Vaxil BioTherapeutics, a biotechnical company based in Ness Ziona, near Tel Aviv, Israel has produced a ground-breaking therapeutic vaccine for cancer patients which could prevent about 90% of cancers from coming back.
Vaxil was founded in 2006 by Dr. Lior Carmon and the vaccine is now in clinical trials at the Hadassah University Medical Centre in Jerusalem. The vaccine could be available as early as 2017 to administer on a regular basis, not only to help treat cancer but in order to keep the disease from recurring.
The vaccine is being tested against a type of blood cancer, ‘multiple myeloma’. If the substance works as hoped, its platform technology, VaxHit could be applied to 90% of all known cancers, including prostate and breast cancer, solid and non-solid tumours.
“In cancer, the body knows something is not quite right but the immune system doesn’t know how to protect itself against the tumour like it does against an infection or virus. This is because cancer cells are the body’s own cells gone wrong,” says Julian Levy, the company’s CFO. “Coupled with that, a cancer patient has a depressed immune system, caused both by the illness and by the treatment.”
The trick is to activate a compromised immune system to mobilize against the threat.
‘a vaccine that works like a drug’
A traditional vaccine helps the body’s immune system fend off foreign invaders such as bacteria or viruses, and is administered to people who have not yet had the ailment. Therapeutic vaccines, like the one Vaxil has developed, are given to sick people, and work more like a drug.
Vaxil’s lead product, ImMucin, activates the immune system by “training” T-cells –– the immune cells that protect the body by searching out and destroying cells that display a specific molecule (or marker) called MUC1. MUC1 is typically found only on cancer cells and not on healthy cells. The T-cells don’t attack any cells without MUC1, meaning there are no side effects unlike traditional cancer treatments. More than 90% of different cancers have MUC1 on their cells, which indicates the potential for this vaccine.
“It’s a really big thing,” says Levy, a biotechnology entrepreneur who was formerly CEO for Biokine Therapeutics. “If you give chemo, apart from the really nasty side effects, what often happens is that cancer becomes immune [to it]. The tumour likes to mutate and develops an ability to hide from the treatment. Our vaccines are also designed to overcome that problem.”
ImMucin is foreseen as a long-term strategy — a shot every few months, with no side effects — to stop the cancer from recurring after initial treatments, by ensuring that the patient’s own immune system keeps it under control.
In parallel, the company is also working on a vaccine that treats tuberculosis, a disease that’s increasing worldwide, including in the developed world, and for which the current vaccine is often ineffective and treatment is problematic.
Two of my dearest late friends had their cancers stalled for some years by wonderful therapies and now a much-loved cousin is overjoyed about the news from Vaxil. Heaven willing she will still enjoy its benefits in 20 years’ time!
msniw
Alwayswriteagain: Eichmann To Al-Bis: Israel’s Revolving Door?
Alwayswriteagain: Eichmann To Al-Bis: Israel’s Revolving Door?: This is an updated version of an article which has just been published in the online international magazine, Live Encounters . Editor, Mark...
Friday, 18 November 2011
Alwayswriteagain: Time For My Obit To Be Rewritten?
Alwayswriteagain: Time For My Obit To Be Rewritten?: My enemies may be rubbing their hands in glee but it seems that reports of ‘my’ death, if not grossly exaggerated, may have been wilfully ...
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Alwayswriteagain: Lies, Damned Lies and Jew Hatred in The Daily Tele...
Alwayswriteagain: Lies, Damned Lies and Jew Hatred in The Daily Tele...: I write sick at heart and in the pit of my stomach about the quite astounding anti-Jewish hatred which pervades and froths over the reade...
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Monday, 31 October 2011
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Gilad Shalit Comes Home
Gilad Shalit Comes Home …
I repost without frills this ultra-moving video from United With Israel.
UWI wrote:
“You will see the incredible events unfold, as Gilad Shalit returns home to his country, his people and his beloved family.
“You are guaranteed to cry tears of joy…
“Gilad, we are so happy that you are home. You are part of us and we are part of you. Today, you are our son, our brother, our dear family member. All of Israel is One. We are unified in love and concern for each other. WELCOME HOME!
“BARUCH HABA” – Welcome Home and be Blessed!”
msniw
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Have You Ever Seen An Onion Cry?
Article first published as Have You Ever Seen An Onion Cry? on Technorati.
You walk into your surgeon’s consulting room. He smiles broadly, asks after your health and invites you to lie down. Then he stabs you in the eye.
Later, as the effect of the local anaesthetic wears off and you begin dancing on the ceiling, the last thing on your mind is medical politics.
So I was infuriated by a story in Saturday’s Mail Online claiming that British doctors are being pressurised to use Avastin, a cheap alternative to Lucentis when treating macular degeneration, an eye condition which may lead to blindness.
It’s a long time since I’ve read such cheap, scaremongering sensationalism in the name of medical journalism and want to put the record straight on many issues.
When some years ago, I began treatment by Avastin in my left eye for ‘wet’ Age Related Macular Degeneration , as opposed to the much more expensive Lucentis, I was informed (my paraphrase):
- The term ‘AMD’ is a misnomer because the condition may affect people even in their 20s.
- Avastin was first approved by the American Food and Drug Administration to treat metastatic colorectal cancer.
- Genentech (since merged with Roche), the company which manufactures both drugs, produced a ‘label’ explaining the risks and benefits involved.
- Avastin works by blocking “vascular endothelial growth factor (‘VEGF’)”. It has since been used ‘off label’ by ophthalmologists to treat AMD and similar conditions as research showed that VEGF to be a cause of the growth of the abnormal vessels causing such conditions.
Before treatment, I was advised in writing of the alternatives available and of possible complications from both drugs. Either could produce a stroke or heart attack.
The Daily Mail claimed that dozens of U.K. ‘primary care trusts’ have told consultants to use Avastin which is unlicensed there and costs only £50.00 a shot as opposed to Lucentis, which is licensed for use but costs about £900 per injection and is approved by ‘NICE’ - the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
The report argued that as Avastin is not marketed for eye treatment pharmacists have to split vials of the drug into far smaller doses than when it is used to treat cancer.
In the U.S., the Department of Veterans Affairs last month stopped its use after reports of infections.
The report also alleged that some patients have lost their remaining sight after treatment and that one man is suing for £2.6million for loss of sight and brain damage as a result of an infection.
If like me and thousands of other patients, he was given written advice and asked to sign a consent form before treatment, I can’t believe he has a case.
That aside, the Mail article confirmed: “Roche, makers of Avastin, is not obliged to test its use in AMD, so publicly funded trials are under way. In April, a U.S. trial found the two drugs were equally effective in treating AMD after one year.”
The report added: “The rate of hospitalisations was 24 per cent for Avastin and 19 per cent for Lucentis. Some doctors attribute infections from Avastin to contamination by splitting vials into small doses.”
Writing from personal experience, I confirm I was treated with a combination, first of photodynamic therapy (‘PDT’) and then several Avastin injections and had a further shot after the initial course when the problem appeared to have recurred.
Although I experienced severe short-term pain after each injection, there was no infection and the macular has since been stable.
However I have developed a further problem with epiretinal membranes in both eyes which may have to removed with a surgical technique called an ‘epiretinal membrane peel’. This is when you would see an onion cry!
Technorati Tags: Eyes,Macular Degeneration,Avastin,Lucentis,Epiretinal Membrane Peel,Daily Mail,Genentech,Roche,American Food and Drug Administration
msniw
Thursday, 22 September 2011
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