Download Yogur t Study may change cancer treatment

INDEX
D
Dear Abby/D2
Goren Bridge/D2
Problem Solver/D2
Self-Help/D2
Tuesday
April 25, 2006
Face
to Face
ATHENA PARKER
Health
booster :
Yogur t
D
ear Athena: Can you tell
me, where did yogurt originate?
— Thanks, S.R.
Dear S.R.: Back in 1906, when
the Turkish massacres had just begun in Armenia, many fled with
their small satchels of clothing and
their jar of yogurt to sustain them
while escaping the enemy.
Yogurt was a staple in many
countries in Europe back then, and
continues to be a food that is basically good for us, today.
I remember yogurt back when
my parents owned a restaurant in
Ohio many decades ago, and each
week, my dad and I would drive out
to a farm — which was relatively
far from town — to pick up several
gallons of rich, creamy milk – often
still warm – to make yogurt. Yogurt
was enjoyed by foreign-born customers.
It was different, the buttery-yellow thickness (actually cream) settled on top of the large container,
bearing no resemblance to the pure,
white stuff we call yogurt today.
Today, it is whipped into a
smooth consistancy which is much
better in many ways.
The virtues of yogurt are special
to certain cultures, in which people
are brought up to believe good
health abounds in this bacterialaced food. And yogurt is nutrionally superior to milk for adults – full
of the good bacteria that many find
works well for their digestive systems.
Two-thirds of the people in the
world are lactose intolerant and
lack the digestive enzyme lactase.
When they drink milk, the lactose
goes through an unusual breakdown, causing intestinal distress
and loss of appetite. For some, there
is pain and cramps.
Yogurt has far less lactose –
sometimes half as much as milk,
which makes it a more digestible
food.
The FDA requires two lactic
acid-producing bacteria, Lactobacilius Bulgaricus and Streptococcus
Termophilius – to be in commercial
yogurt varieties.
Another interesting point – people who take certain medications,
need to watch their dairy food intake.
Please check with your doctor on
this, but it is generally recommended that a person wait for an hour
after taking an antibiotic to eat any
dairy product, since the calcium
may interfere with the drug’s action. Acidophilius yogurt is often
recommended by doctors for those
patients on antibiotics, or for women suffering from chronic yeast infections.
Write to Athena Parker c/o P.O.Box
218, Holbrook, MA., 02343, or e-mail
[email protected]
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
SPARRING PARTNERS Lorraine Kovar, 79, left, and Yvonne Boyd, 70, practice their karate moves at Kovar’s Karate Center in Carmichael, Calif.
LADIES WHO PUNCH
A PAIR OF “KARATE GRANNIES” USE THE DISCIPLINE TO STAY FIT, AS WELL AS FORCEFUL
By Alison Roberts
Kovar is no stranger to karate, either.
It was her sons, Dave and Tim, who
started a karate business in 1978 that
orraine Kovar and Yvonne
Boyd look like elegant ladies has grown to an enterprise of 18 centers.
Almost everyone in her family, including
who lunch, but on Tuesday
and Thursday nights, they’re her husband, Len Kovar, who is 83, holds
a black belt.
elegant ladies who punch ...
Lorraine Kovar had always been hapand block and kick and let
py
to
be the supportive spectator.
out shouts that should make anyone
“I always said someone has to be in
think twice about messing with either of
the audience cheering, and that was me,”
them.
They are the reigning karate grannies she says.
But Kovar’s grandson, Dan, who is 27
and training buddies at Kovars Karate
and co-manager of the Carmichael cenCenter in Carmichael, Calif. Kovar is 79
ter, had different plans for her. After
and Boyd is 70.
Boyd signed up, he thought she might
“We have so much fun,” Boyd says. “I
appreciate a peer to train with.
think we bring a sort of wisdom to it.”
Dan Kovar called his grandmother
Both women were led to the padded
and asked if she was free on Tuesday or
floor by their grandchildren.
Thursday evenings. Thinking a dinner
Boyd had done her time on the sideinvitation was in the works, she quickly
lines watching her grandson, now 13,
said yes.
train.
He said, “Good, you’re going to come
Late last year, looking for ways to
to
karate.”
keep fit, she decided to put on the gi (the
“I thought she’d last a week or two,”
karate uniform of loose pants and short
he
says.
“She’s hooked.”
robe), which Boyd and Kovar manage to
“I fooled the whole family,” Lorraine
make look chic.
Kovar says.
SACRAMENTO BEE
L
“It’s easier than I thought it was going to be,” she says. “I think that kind of
motion and learning is good for my mind
and my body; some of the moves are like
rubbing your tummy and patting your
head at the same time.”
Boyd says she notices the benefits,
too: “You get stronger, and I’m more
aware of my posture.”
Both say karate allows them to work
at their own levels and pace. They modify
some of the moves as needed. During a
pushup session, Boyd does hers standing,
pushing herself away from a wall.
The two don’t block and strike with
the same force and speed as some of their
classmates, but they still give it their all
and run through the series of precise
moves in order. And the two can deliver a
knockout “kiai!” — the shout delivered
during a move to disarm an attacker and
focus energy.
The two have earned gold belts, one
degree above the beginner’s white belt.
The night we visited, they were training
for testing for orange belts.
The two women, both retired teachers, also have earned friendship through
Study may change cancer treatment
■ A Brockton oncologist discusses
colorectal cancer and how research
being conducted locally could
improve its treatment.
Equally important to awareness of colorectal cancer is developing new, more effective treatments for the disease. More than
56,000 people will die of colorectal cancer
this year, a rate that remained level over the
past decade.
That’s why my colleagues and I at Medical
Oncology and Hematology in Brockton
By Christopher Nauman, MD
are participating in a nationwide study of a
SPECIAL TO THE ENTERPRISE
potential treatment for people with colorecore than 145,000 new cases of coltal cancer. The study, known as PACCE
orectal cancer will be diagnosed this (Panitumumab Advanced Colorectal Cancer
year in the United States, making it Evaluation), is designed to evaluate the use
the third most commonly diagnosed cancer
of two targeted cancer therapies (panituin the country. In Massachusetts, we’ll have
mumab and bevacizumab) in combination
an estimated 3,420 new cases diagnosed this with chemotherapy. Targeted therapies are
year. And even though talking about health
designed to attack cancer tumors only, withissues concerning the colon and rectum
out affecting health tissue. Traditional
makes many people uncomfortable, the more chemotherapy kills cancer cells and healthy
you know, the better off you’ll be.
tissue.
The important signs and symptoms of colPanitumumab is an experimental treatorectal cancer are:
ment that is being investigated to see if it
● Change in bowel habits such as diarwill help stop the tumor from growing; bevarhea, constipation or narrowing of the stool
cizumab is approved to stop the growth of
that lasts for more than a few days
blood vessels to the tumor. Patients who par● The feeling a bowel movement is needticipate in the trial are treated either with
ed that is not relieved by doing so
chemotherapy and bevacizumab, or with
● Rectal bleeding or blood in the stool
panitumumab in addition to chemotherapy
● Cramping or steady abdominal pain
and bevacizumab.
● Weakness and fatigue
Results from this study may provide im-
M
portant evidence suggesting that using two
targeted therapies in combination with
chemotherapy can be a new treatment option. The study will involve people who are
18 years of age or older who have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer that has spread.
Conducting the study at a local oncology
treatment center like ours supports a goal of
the President’s Cancer Panel, a three-member panel that includes cycling champion
and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong.
The panel is looking to the National Cancer Institute to help increase participation in
community-based clinical trials. One reason
is that at least 80 percent of cancer patients
are treated by community oncologists. Getting information about new treatments to
the community level means that more cancer
patients may benefit from them.
If you want to learn more about the
PAACE trial, visit www.amgentrials.com.
New England physicians or colorectal cancer
patients can call our offices at 508-586-1410
to inquire about eligibility for participation
in the study.
Dr. Nauman is associated with both Brockton
Hospital and Caritas Good Samaritan Medical
Center. He serves as director of the Cancer Care
Committee at Brockton Hospital.
training together.
“When you start punching people, you
get to know them really well,” Kovar
says.
Boyd and Kovar have no plans to stop
now.
“Some of those whippersnappers I
started with — they aren’t here anymore,” Boyd says.
According to the Census Bureau’s
Statistical Abstract, released in 2006, 4.8
million Americans participated in martial arts in 2003, making it the 27th most
popular of the surveyed activities. (No. 1
was exercise walking). Of those practicing martial arts, 50,000 were 65 years
old or older.
After the class, the two women spring
with energy and smiles as they come off
the mat.
“When I punch the bag, I don’t do it
very hard,” says Kovar. “But there are
things I can do if I were ever in a problem situation.”
“We can get grrrrr,” says Boyd, with a
menacing snarl. “You know, if we need
to.”
— SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
■ FOP MYSTERY SOLVED
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DR. FREDERICK KAPLAN, left, an orthopedist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, jokes with Stephanie Snow, 15,
who has the rare bone disease fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP).
Kaplan’s research team has pinpointed the mutant gene that causes FOP, in
which the body forms a second skeleton, slowly immobilizing the patient. The
breakthrough was made public on Sunday.