Mayo Clinic Proton Beam Therapy Facilities is Built to Fight Cancer Effectively with Less Side Effects

Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix has built a cancer-fighting apparatus as long as a football field that moves at two–thirds the speed of light. The $180 million–plus proton will join a growing number of centers nationwide. There are 15 proton centers across the country, and 10 more are planned or under construction, according to the National Association for Proton Therapy.

Proton beam therapy expands Mayo Clinic's cancer care capabilities. In properly selected patients — especially children and young adults and those with cancers located close to critical organs and body structures — proton beam therapy is an advance over traditional radiotherapy.

Recent studies have shown that proton therapy is an effective treatment for certain types of pediatric cancers, such as brain cancer and sarcoma, and hard–to–extract tumors on the eye and spine.

Mayo Clinic's Proton Beam Therapy Program differs from most other programs in the United States — it exclusively features intensity–modulated proton beam therapy with pencil beam scanning. The latest form of proton beam therapy, uses spot scanning to deposit streams of protons back and forth through a tumor, closely targeting the tumor and sparing healthy tissue.

Every patient's tumor is unique.

Mayo Clinic doctors and other specialists develop an individualized plan for each patient. Proton beam therapy will be the best option for certain patients and tumor types while others may benefit from a different approach — another type of radiation therapy or no radiation at all. Mayo Clinic patients have a full range of cancer treatment options.

MAYO CLINIC PROTON BEAM SNAPSHOT

• First in the five-state (Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico) Southwest region

• The therapy provides more precise radiological cancer treatment and hope for thousands of patients.

• All eight treatment rooms (four in Arizona and four in Rochester, Minnesota) in Mayo Clinic’s facilities will use pencil beam scanning.

• Children, young adults and healthy older patients with tumors next to sensitive critical organs will receive the highest priority.

• Mayo Clinic is investing more than $370 million from its capital budget and donor support.

• The cutting-edge cancer treatment program will be housed in a 100,000-square-foot building on the Mayo campus in Phoenix, which will boost the economy with construction jobs and permanent medical jobs.

• Cancer is the largest clinical practice at Mayo Clinic. Every year, nearly 20,000 new cancer patients come to Mayo's three campuses – in Arizona, Florida and Rochester – where they receive the most comprehensive and advanced cancer care available anywhere.

• Mayo Clinic is the only three-site, National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer care center in the nation.

Unlike other proton centers that have been built with financing, Mayo Clinic's centers in Phoenix was built with philanthropic support.

Radiation Therapy : How Proton Radio - Beam therapy Works

There is a significant difference between standard (x-ray) radiation treatment and proton therapy. If given in sufficient doses, x-ray radiation techniques will control many cancers. But, because of the physician's inability to adequately conform the irradiation pattern to the cancer, healthy tissues may receive a similar dose and can be damaged. Consequently, a less- than-desired dose is frequently used to reduce damage to healthy tissues and avoid unwanted side effects. The power of protons is that higher doses of radiation can be used to control and manage cancer while significantly reducing damage to healthy tissue and vital organs.

Understanding how protons work provides patients and physicians with an insight into this mainstream treatment modality. Essentially, protons are a superior form of radiation therapy. Fundamentally, all tissues are made up of molecules with atoms as their building blocks. In the center of every atom is the nucleus. Orbiting the nucleus of the atom are negatively charged electrons.

When energized charged particles, such as protons or other forms of radiation, pass near orbiting electrons, the positive charge of the protons attracts the negatively charged electrons, pulling them out of their orbits. This is called ionization; it changes the characteristics of the atom and consequentially the character of the molecule within which the atom resides. This crucial change is the basis for the beneficial aspects of all forms of radiation therapy. Because of ionization, the radiation damages molecules within the cells, especially the DNA or genetic material. Damaging the DNA destroys specific cell functions, particularly the ability to divide or proliferate. Enzymes develop with the cells and attempt to rebuild the injured areas of the DNA; however, if damage from the radiation is too extensive, the enzymes fail to adequately repair the injury. While both normal and cancerous cells go through this repair process, a cancer cell's ability to repair molecular injury is frequently inferior. As a result, cancer cells sustain more permanent damage and subsequent cell death than occurs in the normal cell population. This permits selective destruction of bad cells growing among good cells.

Both standard x-ray therapy and proton beams work on the principle of selective cell destruction.  The major advantage of proton treatment over conventional radiation, however, is that the energy distribution of protons can be directed and deposited in tissue volumes designated by the physicians-in a three-dimensional pattern from each beam used. This capability provides greater control and precision and, therefore, superior management of treatment. Radiation therapy requires that conventional x-rays be delivered into the body in total doses sufficient to assure that enough ionization events occur to damage all the cancer cells. The conventional x-rays lack of charge and mass, however, results in most of their energy from a single conventional x-ray beam being deposited in normal tissues near the body's surface, as well as undesirable energy deposition beyond the cancer site. This undesirable pattern of energy placement can result in unnecessary damage to healthy tissues, often preventing physicians from using sufficient radiation to control the cancer.

Protons, on the other hand, are energized to specific velocities. These energies determine how deeply in the body protons will deposit their maximum energy. As the protons move through the body, they slow down, causing increased interaction with orbiting electrons.

Maximum interaction with electrons occurs as the protons approach their targeted stopping point. Thus, maximum energy is released within the designated cancer volume. The surrounding healthy cells receive significantly less injury than the cells in the designated volume.

As a result of protons' dose-distribution characteristics, the radiation oncologist can increase the dose to the tumor while reducing the dose to surrounding normal tissues. This allows the dose to be increased beyond that which less-conformal radiation will allow. The overall affects lead to the potential for fewer harmful side effects, more direct impact on the tumor, and increased tumor control."

The patient feels nothing during treatment. The minimized normal-tissue injury results in the potential for fewer effects following treatment, such as nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. The patients experiences a better quality of life during and after proton treatment.

Source

A New Hope : Proton Beam Cancer Therapy

A US study found the technique caused fewer side effects than conventional radiotherapy. The technique is an alternative to standard radiotherapy.

Photon beam therapy uses beams of protons (sub-atomic particles) to destroy cancerous cells. Unlike conventional radiotherapy, the beam of protons stops once it "hits" the cancerous cells. This results in much less damage to surrounding tissue.

This was a prospective cure by looking at the side effects and survival outcomes of using proton radiotherapy to treat children and young people (aged 3 to 21 years) . Proton beam therapy (also known as proton radiotherapy) seems promising in being able to be given at a lower and more targeted dose than standard (photon) radiotherapy, and is increasingly used to minimise side effects of treatment.

A Proton radiotherapy study  was carried out by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta, US. The study was funded by the US National Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital, and published in the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet Oncology.

The Proton radiotherapy  research as concluded by the researchers resulted in acceptable toxicity and had similar survival outcomes to those noted with conventional radiotherapy, suggesting that the use of the treatment may be an alternative to photon-based treatments.

Overall, the results seem positive. The difficulty is that this is a non-comparative trial. All children received proton radiotherapy. There was no randomised comparison group with similar characteristics in terms of tumour type, stage, surgery and chemotherapy treatment who instead received standard radiotherapy, to directly compare complications and survival outcomes. Ideally, a large number of children randomised to the same dose schedule of the two forms of radiotherapy would be needed to give the best comparative information on effectiveness and safety.

However, the researchers say: "Although a randomised trial is the best way to obtain a proper comparison cohort, both clinical leaders in the UK and the US deem randomised trials of proton and photon radiotherapy in children to be both unethical and not feasible". This means that such trials are unlikely to be carried out, and this type of prospective non-comparative study is likely to be the best evidence available.

Ternyata Makan Sayur Brokoli bisa untuk Menangkal dan Menyembuhkan Penyakit Kanker

Berbagai hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa brokoli memiliki kemampuan untuk menangkal munculnya sel kanker. Brokoli termasuk salah satu jenis sayuran sehat yang juga lezat dikonsumsi. Pada brokoli terdapat sumber vitamin K dan C dan juga kaya dengan kandungan asam folat, kalium, dan serat. Dalam Brokoli terkandung sejumlah besar sulforaphane, senyawa yang pada banyak penelitian terbukti dapat melawan kanker payudara, hati, paru - paru, prostat, kulit, perut, dan kandung kemih.

Salah satu studi terbaru yang berasal dari Texas A&M Health Science Center menemukan sejenis enzim dalam sayuran yang dapat mencegah kambuhnya kanker dengan membunuh sel-sel induk kanker. Senyawa dalam brokoli  yang disebut dengan sulforaphane tidak hanya mencegah kanker tetapi juga mampu mengobati kanker tersebut. Pada penelitian tersebut, para peneliti menggunakan ekstrak brokoli (Brocoli Sprout Extract-BSE) yaitu suplemen yang mengandung sulforaphane untuk menguji kemampuannya mencegah atau bahkan mengobati kanker usus besar , hasil nya positif. Orang-orang yang mengonsumsi berbagai brokoli setiap hari memiliki kadar tinggi p-16 yang lebih tinggi dibandingkan mereka yang jarang mengkonsumsinya . Para peneliti percaya bahwa hal ini terjadi karena sulforaphane memicu tubuh untuk mengubah gen agar lebih cepat mencegah pertumbuhan tumor.

Hal ini mengisyaratkan kemungkinan bahwa mekanisme epigenetik pada awalnya dipicu oleh sulforaphane dan metabolitnya. Dengan begitu mekanisme hilir dapat dipertahankan setidaknya dalam jangka pendek, bahkan setelah senyawa dieliminasi dari tubuh.

Sifat anti - inflamasi dari sulforaphane dan juga bermanfaat bagi kesehatan jantung. Semakin banyak makan brokoli, semakin bermanfaat untuk kesehatan. Meskipun banyak suplemen BSE yang dijual bebas, para peneliti belum yakin sepenuhnya tentang keamanan dan keefektifan suplemen ini.

Para peneliti juga mengatakan bahwa mungkin ada beberapa risiko penggunaan BSE jangka panjang. Sulfoprane memperkenalkan protein yang disebut Nrf2 yang dapat melawan kanker. Tetapi protein ini juga dapat berkontribusi pada penumpukan plak di arteri. Peneliti menyarankan untuk melakukan konsultasi sebelum mengonsumsi suplemen tersebut. Untuk mendapatkan manfaat suplemen tersebut, mengonsumsi sayuran secara teratur adalah cara yang aman untuk dilakukan.

 Brokoli Cah Jamur

 Brokoli Tim Ayam

Brokoli Saus Keju

Cara Menghitung Berat Badan Ideal

Seringkali kita mendengar pertanyaan, " Bagaimana sih cara menghitung berat badan ideal aku ? Kalau tinggi badanku 155 centimeter, dengan berat badanku yang 52 kilogram ini apa betul sudah ideal ? ".

"Berapa sih berat badan yang ideal ?", tentu tidak semua orang sama, karena tubuh tiap orang berbeda. Berat ideal seorang wanita yang tingginya 160 cm, tentu berbeda dengan yang tingginya 150 cm. Cara menghitung berat badan Ideal ada bermacam cara.

Cara menghitung berat badan ideal itu ada berbagai macam, salah satunya adalah dengan memakai rumus index BMI (Body Mass Index) yang mana dalam bahasa indonesia adalah Indeks Massa Tubuh (IMT).

BMI = Berat Badan (kg) / ( Tinggi Badan (m) x Tinggi Badan (m) )

Kategori BMI : 

• Hasil BMI (IMT) <17.0 => KURUS SEKALI
• Hasil BMI (IMT) 17.0 – 18.5 => KURUS
• Hasil BMI (IMT) 18.5 – 25.0 => NORMAL (IDEAL)
• Hasil BMI (IMT)  25.0 – 27.0 => GEMUK
• Hasil BMI (IMT)  >27.0 => GEMUK SEKALI

Contoh: A memiliki tinggi 155 cm dengan berat badan 52 kg. Maka BMI A = 21,6 . Apakah A sudah berada dalam ukuran berat badan ideal wanita? Lihat dalam tabel klasifikasi nilai BMI diatas.

Berikut ini  cara menghitung berat badan ideal yang lebih praktis yaitu  dengan menggunakan tabel berat ideal menurut tinggi badan.

Tabel Body Mass Index ( BMI )

Pertama, dengan tabel BMI di atas kita bisa menghitung apakah kita termasuk golongan dengan berat badan IDEAL,GEMUK, atau malah KURUS.  Cara menghitung berat badan ideal dengan memakai tabel BMI adalah demikian , misalkan tinggi badan si A 166 centimeter dan berat badan nya 85 kilogram, maka kita cari angka 165 terlebih dahulu pada deretan sebelah kiri (height in centimeters), kemudian sejajar dengan angka 170 tersebut, kita cari angka 85 pada deretan atas,(weight in kilograms)ternyata dari pertemuan kedua angka tersebut, BMI-nya  31,2, dan termasuk zona biru, yang berarti berat badan obesitas / gemuk

Kedua, dengan tabel BMI di atas kita bisa menghitung berat badan ideal untuk kita, misalnya tinggi si A 166 centimeter, maka berapa berat badan yang ideal buat si A? maka kita cari angka 166 kemudian kita cari zona warna hijau (zona berat ideal) , lalu kita lihat di sebelah atas berapa, ternyata 53 dan 68, berarti berat ideal kita sekitar 53 kilogram sampai dengan 60 kilogram

Cara menghitung berat badan ideal untuk menentukan apakah seseorang mengalami obesitas (kegemukan) atau tidak, bisa dilakukan dengan mengukur panjang lingkar pinggang orang tersebut.

Lingkar pinggang ini jadi tolak ukur karena seseorang yang mengalami kegemukan pasti diikuti penimbunan lemak di sekitar pinggang.

Dalam batas normal, ukuran lingkar adalah sebagai berikut:

Wanita : < 80 centimeter

Pria     : < 90 centimeter

Dengan mengetahui cara menghitung berat badan ideal dengan menggunakan rumus BMI , Tabel BMI, dan  mengukur lingkar pinggang badan, maka kita bisa mengevaluasi diri kita masing-masing supaya tidak terlanjur kegemukan.

Anda baru saja membaca artikel kesehatan dengan judul Cara Menghitung Berat Badan Ideal. Semoga informasi yang disampaikan di sini bisa memberi manfaat seluas - luasnya.

Terima kasih!

10 Tips Menurunkan Berat Badan

Zika Virus Symptoms and Treatment

Zika virus is spread to people through mosquito bites. The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting from several days to a week. Severe disease requiring hospitalization is uncommon. In May 2015, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) issued an alert regarding the first confirmed Zika virus infection in Brazil. The outbreak in Brazil led to reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome and pregnant women giving birth to babies with birth defects and poor pregnancy outcomes. In response, CDC has issued travel notices for people traveling to regions and certain countries where Zika virus transmission is ongoing.

About 1 in 5 people infected with Zika virus become ill (i.e., develop Zika). The most common symptoms of Zika are fever, rash, joint pain, or conjunctivitis (red eyes). Other common symptoms include muscle pain and headache. The incubation period (the time from exposure to symptoms) for Zika virus disease is not known, but is likely to be a few days to a week. The illness is usually mild with symptoms lasting for several days to a week. People usually don’t get sick enough to go to the hospital, and they very rarely die of Zika. Zika virus usually remains in the blood of an infected person for about a week but it can be found longer in some people.
 
The symptoms of Zika are similar to those of dengue and chikungunya, diseases spread through the same mosquitoes that transmit Zika. See your healthcare provider if you develop the symptoms described above and have visited an area where Zika is found. If you have recently traveled, tell your healthcare provider when and where you traveled. Your healthcare provider may order specialized blood tests to look for Zika or other similar viruses like dengue or chikungunya.

There is no vaccine to prevent or specific medicine to treat Zika infections. To treat the symptoms:
Get plenty of rest, drink fluids to prevent dehydration, take medicine such as acetaminophen (Tylenol®) to relieve fever and pain, do not take aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, if you are taking medicine for another medical condition, talk to your healthcare provider before taking additional medication. If you have Zika, prevent mosquito bites for the first week of your illness.  During the first week of infection, Zika virus can be found in the blood and passed from an infected person to a mosquito through mosquito bites. An infected mosquito can then spread the virus to other people.

Zika virus is transmitted to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito (A. aegypti and A. albopictus). These are the same mosquitoes that spread dengue and chikungunya viruses. These mosquitoes typically lay eggs in and near standing water in things like buckets, bowls, animal dishes, flower pots and vases.  They prefer to bite people, and live indoors and outdoors near people. Mosquitoes that spread chikungunya, dengue, and Zika are aggressive daytime biters. They can also bite at night. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on a person already infected with the virus. Infected mosquitoes can then spread the virus to other people through bites.

A mother already infected with Zika virus near the time of delivery can pass on the virus to her newborn around the time of birth, but this is rare. It is possible that Zika virus could be passed from a mother to her baby during pregnancy. We are studying how some mothers can pass the virus to their babies.To date, there are no reports of infants getting Zika virus through breastfeeding. Because of the benefits of breastfeeding, mothers are encouraged to breastfeed even in areas where Zika virus is found. Also spread of the virus through blood transfusion and sexual contact have been reported.

Smartphone Dapat Menyebabkan Tuli ?

Apakah Anda pernah mengalami situasi dimana kakek atau orang tua menyuruh mengecilkan volume saat Anda menyetel musik keras-keras ? Dari generasi ke generasi, tiap remaja selalu diberitahu oleh orang tua mereka untuk mengecilkan musik itu. Sekarang tampaknya ada alasan medis yang kuat untuk alasannya.

Organisasi Kesehatan Dunia WHO, memperingatkan dalam sebuah laporan bahwa lebih dari 1 Miliar anak muda beresiko untuk kehilangan pendengarannya secara permanen. Salah satu penyebab utama nya adalah penggunaan salah satu gadget yang populer digunakan untuk mendengarkan musik saat ini, Smartphone.

Suara keras dapat merusak silia dari telinga bagian dalam. Silia merupakan  struktur kecil berwujud mirip rambut yang mengubah gelombang suara menjadi sinyal listrik untuk dibawa ke otak. Silia yang rusak tidak pernah tumbuh kembali.

Dr Shelly Chadha, petugas teknis untuk pencegahan tuli dan gangguan pendengaran untuk WHO menjelaskan bahwa bahaya yang ditimbulkan oleh Smartphone adalah karena banyak orang yang mendengarkan musik dengan suara yang terlampau keras.

Yang membuatnya lebih buruk, adalah kenyataan bahwa orang sering mendengarkan musik ketika berada di jalan , stasiun, atau di dalam kereta dimana ada kebisingan yang melatarbelakanginya.

Earphone yang dibundling bersamaSmartphone atau  MP3 player kadang dilengkapi dengan fitur yang dapat memfilter kebisingan pada latarbelakang kebisingan lingkungan sekitar. Jadi di lingkungan perkotaan yang bising, pengguna Smartphone malah  cenderung memaksimalkan volume musik untuk bisa lebih menikmati lagu yang diputar.

Sebagian dari masyarakat secara perlahan merusak pendengarannya sendiri tanpa sadar. Meski demikian, telinga memiliki cara sendiri untuk memperingatkan diri kita. Jika Anda keluar dari pertunjukan musik dan mendapati bahwa telinga Anda berdengung atau Anda tiba tiba harus berbicara keras untuk mendengar suara Anda sendiri, itu sebenarnya merupakan  mekanisme pertahanan telinga melindungi diri dari kerusakan. Fenomena ini disebut "pergeseran ambang batas sementara" ,Anda harus segera menjauh dari kebisingan, memberikan kesempatan telinga Anda istirahat sedikitinya 12 jam. Mudah-mudahan, kerusakan belum menjadi permanen  dan pendengaran Anda akan pulih.

Sebuah percakapan normal biasanya memiliki ukuran keras suara 60 desibel. Volume di atas 85 desibel akan menyebabkan kerusakan setelah kurang lebih 8 jam. Suara di atas 100 desibel dapat menyebabkan kerusakan hanya dalam waktu 15 menit. Tapi mengukur tingkat desibel tidaklah praktis dan rumit bagi kebanyakan orang. Cara yang lebih mudah, duduklah di ruangan yang tenang dan mendegarkan musik dengan volume 50 - 60 persen volume, Anda masih dapat bercakap-cakap dengan orang yang duduk dekat Anda. Jika Anda tidak dapat melakukan hal itu, berarti musiknya sudah terlalu keras suaranya. Atau peganglah kuncup telinga dan tutup dengan sisa kepalan tangan Anda di sekitarnya. Jika Anda masih mendengar musik berarti volumenya terlalu keras.

Salah satu solusi untuk masalah ini adalah menggunakan noise-cancelling earphone yang bisa memblokir suara ambient dan memungkinkan pencinta musik untuk mendengarkan mereka pada volume yang  lebih rendah sehingga lebih aman bagi telinga. Fitur built-in untuk menjaga keamanan telinga juga telah  diperkenalkan oleh beberapa pabrikan. Apple memperkenalkan cara membatasi volume pada perangkat iPod dan iPhone. Google juga telah memperkenalkan aplikasi pembatas volume untuk perangkat Android yang diusungnya.

Tetap, tak satupun fitur tersebut sempurna. Strategi yang terbaik adalah menghilangkan, mengurangi, dan istirahat : Hindari suara keras berkepanjangan, kurangi jumlah kebisingan latar belakang di sekitar Anda dan memberikan kesempatan bagi telinga Anda untuk istirahat dan pemulihan.

Sebagai penutup, tujuan dari laporan WHO bukan untuk menakut nakuti orang menggunakan Smartphone untuk mendegarkan musik. Jika Anda mendengarkan lagu Anda pada level volume yang aman, maka Anda dapat mendengar dengan baik untuk waktu yang lebih lama .

"Kami tidak mengatakan 

bahwa orang tidak boleh 

mendengarkan musik,

 hanya untuk memastikan bahwa 

mereka dapat mendengarkan musik 

secara aman dan 

untuk selamanya."