2011 September Vision Newsletter

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VISION, SEPTEMBER 2011

SEPTEMBER 2011

WEAR YELLOWLIVESTRONG Day is a day of global action designed to

raise awareness for the fight against cancer. This year we

are asking you to wear yellow on 2 October to show your

support and help raise awareness about the worlds lead-

ing cause of death.Known for its iconic yellow wristband, LIVESTRONG hasbecome a symbol of hope and inspiration to people affect-ed by cancer around the world. Since its inception, theorganisation has raised more than $400 million for thefight against cancer.

www.LIVESTRONG.org.

CANSA holds first everCorporate Relay For LifeAlthough the Relay For Life has been run in many countries, 4September marked the first ever Corporate Relay For Life. Held inthe grounds of Denel in Centurion, the event was attended by cor-porates fielding 107 teams. They formed a tented village whereteam members could relax while awaiting their turn to walkaround the 400metre track.

The event started with some 140 cancersurvivors walking the first lap to the emo-tional applause of a very large crowd. Forthe second lap they were joined by theircaregivers and supporters and receivedcheers and encouragement from those lin-ing the track. The teams then paraded withtheir banners and the relay commenced.

At dusk the candles stretching around the

track were lit for the Survivor LuminariaRemembrance Ceremony in which 3 500

people participated. One of the youngest participants was Tristan,a very young boy in remission from a rare brain cancer, picturedright with his dad. They lit a candle for his little friend who passedaway recently.

The Relay continued throughout the nightand over 2 000 participants finished theevent at 06h00 on Sunday.

One participant summed it up saying Itwas a wonderful experience. We experi-

enced moments of happiness, sadness,humility and gratitude.

Photos courtesy of Paula B Photography.


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Mad Hatters Tea Party

Bosom Buddies and the Breast

Health Foundation held their

annual Mad Hatters Tea Party in

September at the Full Stop Cafein Parktown North abdm once

again, it was a great success with

some very imaginative headgear

and a very entertaining auction of

hats, old and new, was held. Guest

speaker, Bev du Toit, had some

hilarious examples of tumour

humour to share with the crowd.

Listening tothe patient voicePlanetree Status, the newsletter of the Planetree organisation,reports on the development of a truly patient-centred care experi-ence at Platte Valley Medical Centre in 2008 with the formation ofthe hospital's community focus group. Staff are trained to partici-pate in an interactive process to listen and respond to patients'feedback through care-centred interviews.

Some of the important lessons learned from this were:

p Typical is nottypical

p Patients want to learn morep Patients don't know the "lingo"p Working together makes a differencep "Little things" make a "big difference"p Communication is key to patient perception

As a result of this the Centre was able to:

p Improve listening skills and openness to total transparencyand collaboration;

p Measure care improvements with every testimony (i.e., handsanitizer usage rates doubled after a patient expressed con-cern staff wasn't using it enough.);

p Development of a new outpatient service request form ensur-ing scheduling happens in accordance with information thepatient is given;

p Extended hours in the ambulatory post surgical unit have ledto satisfaction and comfort for both patients and nurses;

http://www.planetree.org/about.html

Heidev el d CancerAw ar eness Day

On Saturday, 8 October 2011, the Friends of the HeideveldLibrary and Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), will behosting a Cancer Awareness Day to raise much needed funds inthe Heideveld community and the upliftment of the library.Cancer Awareness is one of the CANSA signature projects wherepeople in the community are educated and informed aboutcancer.

We appeal to all cancer survivors, their families and friends, resi-dents of the area to join us in this venture. We will be running aworkshop where some of your questions will be answered. Wewould like the whole family to partake, as this will be a day offun for all ages, from toddlers to grannies. There will be lots ofactivities and entertainment.

Any donations towards this event will be welcome.

For further information please contact Mercia on 083 983 1287or Mark on 021 637 5432.

DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for information purposes only

and is not intended to replace the advice of a medical

professional. Please consult your doctor for personal medical

advice before taking any action that may impact on your health.

The views expressed are not necessarily those of People Living

With Cancer or those of the Editor.


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CanSurvive

GroupMembers at the September meeting of the Group

spent some time enjoying the Spring weather while

listening to two clinical psychologists explaining whatis Mindful Meditation and what are the benefits to be

derived from it. They then spent some time answering

questions from the very interested participants.

(right) Nico Brink, aclinical psychologist isbased at Fourways LifeHospital and is inter-ested in Mindful Livingwith medical condi-tions cancer, chronicpain etc. His website is

www.mindfulliving.co.za

(Left) Ms AlessandroMaggs Newton, acounselling psycholo-gist explained justhow her interest inmindfulness helpedher during her battle

with breast cancer.

Mindfulness meditation

training can change

brain structureIt has been found that participating in an 8-week mindfulnessmeditation program appears to make measurable changes in brainregions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress.In a study in the journal Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, ateam led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchersreport the results of their study, the first to document meditation-produced changes over time in the brain's grey matter.

"Although the practice of meditation is associated with a sense

of peacefulness and physical relaxation, practitioners have long

claimed that meditation also provides cognitive and psychologi-

cal benefits that persist throughout the day," says Sara Lazar,

PhD, of the MGH Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program,

the study's senior author. "This study demonstrates that changes

in brain structure may underlie some of these reported improve-ments and that people are not just feeling better because they

are spending time relaxing."

Previous studies from Lazar's group and others found structural

differences between the brains of experienced mediation practi-

tioners and individuals with no history of meditation, observing

thickening of the cerebral cortex in areas associated with atten-

tion and emotional integration. But those investigations could

not document that those differences were actually produced by

meditation.

Meditation group participants reported spending an average of

27 minutes each day practicing mindfulness exercises, and their

responses to a mindfulness questionnaire indicated significant

improvements compared with pre-participation responses. "It is

fascinating to see the brain's plasticity and that, by practicing

meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and

can increase our well-being and quality of life." says Britta Hlzel,

PhD, first author of the paper and a research fellow at MGH and

Giessen University in Germany. "Other studies in different

patient populations have shown that meditation can make sig-

nificant improvements in a variety of symptoms, and we are now

investigating the underlying mechanisms in the brain that facili-

tate this change."

CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PUBLICATION

IN VISIONNEWSLETTER

Articles and letters submitted for publication in

VISION are welcomed and can be sent to:

[email protected]


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Even though prostate cancer is just as prevalent as breast cancer inSouth Africa and worldwide, it does not get the same recognition.We really need it to have just as much, if not more attentiondrawn to it. In order to do that, we need funding to better raiseawareness in our rural, impoverished and previously disadvantagedcommunities and thereby better serve prostate and testicular can-cer patients and their families. Show your support for such won-derful resources like Can-Sir, MBTM (More Balls Than Most) andPLWC and help us to help others live a healthy and balanced life.

Can-Sir and MBTM the South African initiators, are running anationwide awareness and fundraising initiative this month about

all the cancers that affect men not just prostate and testicularcancer, but also bowel, lung, liver and other cancers.

The campaign is aimed at raising funds so that more work can bedone in continuing to raise men's cancer awareness and educationconcerning cancer and to help others reduce the risk of developingand dying from cancer by making better lifestyle choices and seek-ing help sooner rather than later.

Can we really prevent cancer? At least one in three cancer cases ispreventable. Thousands of men's lives could be saved by making

healthy lifestyle decisions such as quitting smoking, reducing alco-hol intake, taking care in the sun, regular exercise, maintaining ahealthy weight and eating a balanced diet.

Lives can also be saved if more men know more about the symp-toms of cancer and contact a health professional as soon as theynotice somethingworrying such as alump or a naggingcough.

Can-Sirs core

function is to act asan awarenesscampaigner,education driver andadvocate for menshealth.

For more informationyou can contactIsmail-Ian Fife [email protected]


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You dont need to

face cancer alone!

We are here to helpYou are invited to join us at our Cape Town

Cancer Support Group held at Vincent

Pallotti Hospital in the GVI Oncology unit

Time: 18h00 19h30

See the calendar on page 7 for dates

or contact the PLWC helpline on 076 775 6099

WE LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING YOU

Around the World

Smoking - bladder cancer link

especially in womenThe association between smoking and bladder cancer risk appearsto be stronger now than it was 30 years ago, particularly amongwomen, according to a report in the August issue of JAMA.

Smoking now accounts for 50% of the population-attributable riskfor bladder cancer in men and 52% in women, whereas it account-ed for approximately 50% of the risk in men but only 20%-30%of the risk in women in the 1980s, according to Neal D. Freedman,Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute, and his associates.

This is the first article to our knowledge to demonstrate that ...the population-attributable risks for smoking and bladder cancerare now similar in US men and women, they noted.

Compared with subjects who had never smoked, those who werecurrent smokers had an adjusted hazard ratio of 3.89 and thosewho were former smokers had an adjusted HR of 2.14. The adjust-ed hazard ratio for currently smoking men and women combinedwas 4.06 (JAMA 2011;306:737-45).

http://www.oncologystat.com/news/SmokingBladder_Cancer_Link_Strengthened_-_Especially_in_Women_US.html

Prostate drug ast-trackedThe FDA granted fast-track status to Bayer HealthcarePharmaceuticals experimental prostate cancer treatmentdesigned to release radioactive particles that target tumors, sug-gesting that the drug has blockbuster potential and may be on the

market by 2012. Bayer will be able to submit its marketing appli-cation step-by-step rather than all at once and have the FDAsreview expedited. The German pharma giants shares jumped 3percent after the announcement.

http://www.medcitynews.com/2011/08/fda-fast-tracks-bayers-promising-prostate-cancer-treatment-morning-read/

Confrmation that Vitamin D acts as aprotective agent against the advance ocolon cancerThe indication that vitamin D and its derivatives have a protectiveeffect against various types of cancer is not new, but researchers atthe Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), in collaborationwith the Alberto Sols Institute of Biomedical Research (CSIC-UAB),have confirmed the pivotal role of vitamin D, specifically its recep-tor (VDR), in slowing down the action of a key protein in the car-cinogenic transformation process of colon cancer cells. Theseresults are being published in the journal PLoS One.

This study confirm this supposition: Vitamin D is essential in theinitial phases of colon cancer. In light of these findings, chronicvitamin D deficiency represents a risk factor in the development of

Cancer support in SowetoPeople Living with Cancer (PLWC) assists newly diagnosedpatients and families to deal with their illness when they are juststarting their journey with cancer. We do this by:

m Developing community-based cancer support groups.

m Direct contact by Cancer Buddies who have been throughthe cancer treatment and are living their life despite thediagnosis of cancer.

PLWC provides hope to newly diagnosed patients at their timeof crisis, to empower and support them to continue treatmentand live a quality life after treatment.

The Johannesburg branch of PLWC has started a project to buildsupport for patients who receive their treatment at Chris HaniBaragwanath Hospital, Soweto. A small group of cancer survivorshas been identified, and they will shortly be trained as Buddies

who will be able to provide support within their own communities.

Soweto is a city with an (unofficial) estimated population of over 2million, and the large majority of the inhabitants receive theirhealth services from the public health sector. Patients have manychallenges, including travel to treatment centres, unemployment,and the difficulty of holding down jobs, if they are lucky enough tohave them, while on treatment. There is also substantial stigmaand lack of awareness of cancer and its causes.

PLEASE ADD YOUR SUPPORT TO THIS VALUABLE PROJECT

If you would like to support this project in any way, or just keepin touch with progress, please let us know by sending an email

to [email protected], and you will be added to our mailing list.

For more information contact:

Kwanele Pooe-Shongwe: 082 902 7929 or [email protected]

Peter Hers: 083 445 4634 or [email protected]


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Dates to remember16 September Cancer.vive st University of Jhb. Start of

Awareness Ride. Contact Thea 083 602 3102

16-24 Sept Cancer.Vive Awareness Ride (Jhb-CT) seewww.cancervive.co.za

26 September Cape Town PLWC Support Group

1 October Bosom Buddies meeting

1 October R4R General meeting/Support 10h00

1 October Cancervive SPAR, W.Cape Ladies Day.

Contact Elsabe 021 690 0179

2 October LiveSTRONG Day

8 October Cancer Support Group, Parktown 0900

9-15 October Journey of Hope Breast Cancer Motorbike

Run - Contact number: 082 840 3633

19 October R4R Breast Cancer Tea. Speaker: Dr. Ashwin

Hurribunce

30 October CHOC Walk, Zoo Lake, Parkview, Johannesburg

31 October Cape Town PLWC Support Group

12 November Cancer Support Group, Parktown 0900

16 November R4R General meeting/Support 10h00.

Speakers: Sr Frances Hozan & Dr Sue Walter

26 November Bosom Buddies year end function 0900

28 November Cape Town PLWC Support Group

30 November R4R Year End Lunch. Details from R4R Jhb.

10 December Cancer Support Group, Parktown 0900

CONTACT DETAILS :

People Living With Cancer and CanSurvive Cancer SupportGroup, Johannesburg: 073 975 1452, [email protected]

People Living With Cancer,Cape Town: 076 775 6099,[email protected], www.plwc.org.za

Bosom Buddies: 0860 283 343, www.bosombuddies.org.za

Campaign for Cancer: www.campaign4cancer.co.za

Cancer.vive, Frieda Henning 082 335 49912, [email protected]

CANSA Johannesburg Central: 011 648 0990, 19 St JohnRoad, Houghton, www.cansa.org.za

Reach for Recovery (R4R) : Johannesburg, Antoinette Reis,011 648 0990 or 072 849 2901

Reach for Recovery: Harare, Zimbabwe contact 707659.

MBTM: [email protected], www.mbtm.co.za

Pink Drive: [email protected], www.pinkdrive.co.zaCancer Centre - Harare: 60 Livingstone Avenue, Harare

Tel: 707673 / 705522 / 707444 Fax: 732676 E-mail:[email protected] www.cancerhre.co.zw

more aggressive colon tumours. Patients in the initial stages ofcolon cancer could benefit from being treated with vitamin D3.However, this would not be useful in the advanced stages of thedisease when the presence of the VDR is very much reduced.

The body not only obtains vitamin D from food, especially milkand fish oils, but also manufactures it from exposure to sunlight.Prolonged exposure is not necessary; just 10 minutes in the sun

every day when it is not at its peak is sufficient to stimulate itsproduction. During the summer, when we are more likely to sun-bathe, it is important to use the appropriate protective measuresagainst sunburn to avoid future sun damage. Use high-factor solarprotection products and do not expose the skin to the sun in themiddle of the day to protect against skin cancers.

Article URL:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232851.php

Another new treatment option oradvanced prostate cancerProstate cancer that has become resistant to hormone treatmentand that does not respond to radiation or chemotherapy requiresnew methods of treatment. By attacking stem cell-like cells inprostate cancer, researchers at Lund University are working on aproject to develop a new treatment option.

A successful interdisciplinary project is underway between tworesearch groups, in which senior researcher Rebecka Hellsten andProfessor Anders Bjartell at the Faculty of Medicine's division forUrological Cancer Research, Skne University Hospital in Malm,and Professor Olov Sterner and Assistant Professor Martin

Johansson at the Lund University division of Organic Chemistryrecently published their latest research findings in the scientificonline journal PLoS ONE.

"Prostatic tumours are thought to consist only of about 0.1 percent cancer stem cells, but if you are not successful in eradicatingthat tumour cell population, there is a risk of subsequent uncon-trolled growth of the tumour. The cancer stem cells are oftenunresponsive to both hormonal treatment and to chemotherapy,so it is essential to develop a direct treatment towards all types ofcancer cells", says Anders Bjartell.

Exploring the tumour biology of prostate cancer, the researchgroup have now observed that the protein STAT3 is active in thestem cell-like cells. In their previous studies, they have proven that

the natural compound galiellalactone affects STAT3 and hasinhibitory effects on the growth of prostate cancer.

Through the development of new specific STAT3-inhibitors withgaliellalactone as a model, the researchers hope to develop target-ed therapies that attack the stem cell-like cancer cells in prostatecancer and prevent the tumour from growing and spreading.

Sources: Lund University, AlphaGalileo Foundation.

A saving in cleaning costs!When apartment tenants light up a cigarette, it's not just theirsmoking-averse neighbours who suffer. Landlords are also sucking

it up - in increased cleaning costs.

But by implementing complete smoke-free rules throughout theirproperties, owners of California multi-unit rental buildings couldsave up to $18 million a year statewide on the cost of cleaningapartments vacated by tenants who smoke, according to a new


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UCLA study. These policies can also protect their other tenantsfrom the secondhand smoke that seeps between units.

The study was published online in the American Journal of PublicHealth.

Secondhand smoke results in about 4,000 deaths each year fromischemic heart disease and lung cancer, and it is the cause of

approximately 31,000 childhood asthma episodes and 4,700 pre-term infant deliveries annually, the UCLA researchers said.

Smoke wafts between units through shared airspaces and ventila-tion, hallways, cracks in walls and floors, electrical outlets, andplumbing fixtures, or from outside.

This is the first study to take a systematic measure of smoking-related costs in multi-unit housing, as well as the first study ofsmoking and multi-unit housing to take into account small-scalemulti-unit buildings - those with 15 or fewer units, according toOng. About 66 percent of California Apartment Association (CAA)members own or manage small-scale buildings.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233110.php

Soil bacteria help kill cancer tumorsA strain of harmless bacteria that live in soil could soon be helpingto kill cancer tumors, thanks to researchers from the University ofNottingham in the UK and the University of Maastricht in theNetherlands who have just presented their work at a conference inYork, England. They said they expect to test the strain in cancerpatients in 2013, and if successful, hope the method can be com-bined with additional approaches to win the battle against cancer.

The bacterium is Clostridium sporogenes, which is widespread insoil. Injected into cancer patients, the bacterium grows in solid

Cancer-killing virusScientists have for the first time shown that a genetically engi-neered virus infused intravenously can kill cancer cells withoutdamaging healthy tissue. The virus will now move to a mid-stagetrial with liver cancer patients.

Scientists have been intrigued for decades with the idea of usingviruses to alert the immune system to seek and destroy cancer-ous cells. That interest has taken off in recent years as advancesin genetic engineering allow them to customize viruses that tar-get tumors.

n a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, scien-tists at institutions including the University of Ottawa and pri-vately held biotech company Jennerex Inc said a small, early-stage trial of experimental viral therapy JX-954 found that itconsistently infected tumors with only minimal and temporaryside effects.The trial, which involved 23 patients with varioustypes of advanced cancer, was designed to assess the safety of

JX-954. It also found that six of the eight patients given the twohighest doses saw their tumors stabilize or shrink.

Dr. John Bell, chief scientific officer at Jennerex and senior scien-

tist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute said Patients onthis treatment only had 24-hour flu symptoms, and nothingafter that. the Jennerex virus can be given intravenously, spread-ing throughout the body, it may hold promise for limiting theability of cancer cells to metastasize and spread.

tumors and releases an enzyme which triggers a separately inject-ed "pro-drug" to kill cancer cells.

"When Clostridia spores are injected into a cancer patient, theywill only grow in oxygen-depleted environments, ie the centre ofsolid tumors. This is a totally natural phenomenon, which requiresno fundamental alterations and is exquisitely specific. We canexploit this specificity to kill tumor cells but leave healthy tissue

unscathed," said Minton.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/233879.php

How can you receive the best health care?Wearing a T-shirt that says "I'm not a doctor," breast medicaloncologist Naoto Ueno, M.D., Ph.D., engaged an audience atTEDxTokyo 2011 in a presentation on mutual empowerment inhealth care. Who better to address this paradigm of the patient-physician relationship than someone self-described as "The 3 C's":cancer doctor, cancer researcher and cancer patient?

His advice to patients is:

If you want to know what's going on with your health situation,bring good, probing questions to ask the doctor and a recorder todocument the conversation. This way, when you get home after along day of appointments and realize you can't recall exactly whatthe doctor said, you can listen to the dialogue with confidence.

Take time to confirm with your care provider that you're receivingthe standard of care for your diagnosis. And if not, find out why.Co-existing conditions, like diabetes, may impact your treatmentoptions and require deviation from treatment standards.

Patients also can empower physicians to provide them with thebest care. This is achieved through openly communicating desires

about what you want out of treatment. Is your goal to get out ofthe house and back to work? Or maybe you want to not feel pain?Are you seeking the cure or do you want to improve your qualityof life?

Ueno suggests you should challenge your care, especially if youare dissatisfied. It's OK to be angry but constructive criticism willbetter serve you and the physician versus screaming and yelling. Atthe same time, a passive approach of just nodding your head inagreement with the doctor won't help, either.

Health care is a mutual thing. The patient and the physician mustrely on each other to actively participate in an effort to achieve

best care and ultimate satisfaction, no matter what your goals.According to Ueno, patients should practice empowerment in allhealth situations, including colds and headaches. "Because if youdon't do it then, you won't do it when you get cancer," he says.

Spices now getting attentionAccording to Penn State researchers, eating a diet rich in spices,like turmeric and cinnamon, reduces the body's negative responsesto eating high-fat meals. Sheila West, associate professor of biobe-havioral health, Penn State, who led the study said that peopleeating a high-fat meal end up with high levels of triglycerides (atype of fat) in their blood. She says that "If this happens too fre-

quently, or if triglyceride levels are raised too much, your risk ofheart disease is increased. We found that adding spices to a high-fat meal reduced triglyceride response by about 30 percent, com-pared to a similar meal with no spices added."

Professor West stated, that many scientists believe that oxidativestress contributes to heart disease, arthritis and diabetes. She said


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that antioxidants, like spices, could play a significant role in reduc-ing oxidative stress and therefore reducing the risk of chronic dis-ease. She added that the amount of spices used in the trial provid-ed the equivalent amount of antioxidants contained in five ouncesof red wine or 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate.

"In the spiced meal, we used rosemary, oregano, cinnamon,turmeric, black pepper, cloves, garlic powder and paprika," said Ann

Skulas-Ray, postdoctoral fellow. "We selected these spices becausethey had potent antioxidant activity previously under controlledconditions in the lab."

Meanwhile, scientists at Georgia State University have found thatwhole ginger extract has promising cancer-preventing activity inprostate cancer. The first of its kind study looks at the anti-cancerproperties of ginger as a whole, rather than that of individual com-pounds found in the plant.

"We found very good tumor regression by up to 60 percent, andno toxicity whatsoever," said Ritu Aneja, associate professor ofbiology.

While much research has been performed on ginger's anti-cancerproperties, Aneja's lab takes a more holistic approach when itcomes to investigating the types of molecules involved.

"We believe that it is not any individual compound that is solelyresponsible for the extract's anti-cancer properties," Aneja said."It's an interplay of components that is synergistic."

Aneja's lab seeks to find natural, non-toxic ways to combat cancerusing kinder, gentler drugs as well as plant compounds, as currentapproaches cause major and debilitating side effects.

"Although it might seem easy to work with plant extracts, it is notso, because there are zillions of compounds and other complex

BOOK REVIEW

AFTER PROSTATE CANCERHere is a new book by Dr. Arnold Melman, Chief of Urology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, about coping with a diag-nosis of prostate cancer. There is probably no more confusing part of the body these days than the prostate, at least in the sense thatprostate cancer is confusing more doctors and patients than any other disease. Regulatory bodies cannot agree on the best screeningstrategies for this common illness. Meanwhile, the blood test used for screening has difficulty discriminating between aggressive andnonaggressive cancers, which means that standard cancer treatments are sometimes vastly worse than the disease itself.

Some doctors let their patients decide whether to be screened, and some men elect to skip the whole thing. Dr. Melman has seen too

many men die from prostate cancer to be particularly sympathetic to this strategy. Instead, he operates from the position that menshould want to know if they have cancer, and then should want to become cancer-free in short order.

A variety of treatment options will achieve this end; Dr. Melman and his co-author, Rosemary Newnham, a medical writer, deliver adetailed, straightforward and methodical description of them all. Illustrations help with the anatomy, and ample attention is paid tothe severe side effects all these treatments can have.

The most common side effects are urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction, both caused by surgical or radiation damage to the net-work of nerves traversing the prostate. Despite the newest amazingly capable surgical robots and finely tuned beams of radiation, either orboth of these conditions may ultimately replace cancer as a mans most significant medical problem. After Prostate Cancer details every-thing that can be done to help, from Viagra and urinary catheters to a variety of additional surgeries. A final section is directed toward menwhose cancer has spread; although they will probably die of the cancer, treatments can keep them well for a while.

There is nothing revolutionary in any of this; Dr. Melman is merely outlining what capable urologists know and do. What is unusual is

the patient, unhurried, slightly pedantic but altogether reassuring tone. The man has all the time in the world for you, and for that rea-son alone this book may well supply the cancer patient with what he has difficulty finding elsewhere.

AFTER PROSTATE CANCER A What-Comes-Next Guide to a Safe and Informed Recovery. By Arnold Melman, M.D., and Rosemary E.Newnham. Oxford University Press. 256 pages.

derivatives in there, and we don't know which ones are the goodones," she said. Moreover, the compounds we are seeking to iden-tify may be low in abundance, but they may be very importantand cannot be disregarded."

Support groups canempower you!

Angela Davis, received the Order of Australia Medal for volun-

tary work in the area of community services in this yearsAustralia Day Awards and, writing in Wellness News the jour-

nal of the Cancer Support Association of Western Australia, she

says:

Support groups, I believe, empower you to be involved in your

own healing journey and it is a known fact that attending a

support group may double your survival. Everyone reacts differ-

ently to their diagnosis and level of anxiety that one can experi-

ence. There are many aspects to the cancer journey not just the

physical but the mental, emotional and spiritual journey. The

support group gives one an opportunity to explore every aspect

in a safe non-judgemental and confidential environment. I have

seen many people come and go and even if they can only

attend for one visit the changes are noticeable and you often

hear I am so glad I came, it has helped me with my decision or

I will definitely be back again.

Documents

2011 September Vision Newsletter