One of the
great things about my position at the Hospital is that I have access to brilliant
researchers and virtually every research
article written anywhere in the world.
But the bad part-there is that there are so many articles I need Watson
to help me go through them. I just
stumbled upon a recent paper published in PLOS by Ajay Goel, Ph.D. Director of
Epigenetics and Cancer Prevention at Baylor University Medical Center in
Dallas, TX, it was published in 2014.
The study compares the effectiveness of curcumin-the active ingredient
in turmeric to the chemo drug 5-FU (affectionately known as 5 Feet Under or Fu**-You). 5-FU is one of the drugs that Johnny receives
in his intravenous infusions and it’s also the take home drug he gets in his two
day “party pack”.
Anyway, the
bottom line of the study is curcumin impedes cancer growth by inhibiting
signaling proteins and blocking tumor cell promotion. Curcumin has the ability to balance gene
expression and positively influence anticancer pathways. Translation: Curcumin slows down and/or stops colon cancer
growth and spread. While I don’t believe
we have the courage to forgo the poison, er… ah chemotherapy treatments, you
can bet there will be turmeric somewhere in Johnny’s dinner tonight!
And boy did
I have a very, very special lunch today.
My cousin Mike works just a few minutes from our home. It’s been years since we have seen each
other. We didn’t have enough time to
catch up (plans are underway to get together again), but it’s great when you
can just pick up with a loved one and carry on like you had just talked last
week.
Happy St.
Patty’s Day to all!
 |
| At lunch with cousin Mike |
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