Study: 1 in 14 People Has Oral HPV Infection
Pasieka/Science Photo Library RF via Getty Images
Human papilloma virus as seen through a colored transmission electron micrograph.
So how many people have human papillomavirus in their mouths?
Quite a few, say researchers who got more than 5,000 volunteers across the country to spit into a cup and answer detailed questions about their sex lives.
The bottom line: 6.9 percent of people in the U.S. (ages 14 to 69) have oral infections with HPV. some types of HPV are linked to cancer and genital warts.
About 3.7 percent of people have “high-risk” oral infections from types of HPV that are most likely to lead to cancer. about 3.1 percent have “low-risk” infections.
The results were just published online by JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. an accompanying editorial says “these results are remarkable….”
How come?
A dramatic increase in cancers of the head and neck has been linked, in part, to HPV, which is also a cause of many cervical cancers. now we have some real numbers about the extent of infection in the U.S. to go on.
For instance, a virus type dubbed HPV-16 was found to affect about 1 percent of people. That’s the one that’s been detected in about 85 percent of oral cancers.
There were some other noteworthy findings. Men are much more likely to have an oral HPV infection than women (10.1 percent vs. 3.6 percent). And people who have had more sex partners and more frequent sex are more likely to be positive for HPV.
Merck and GlaxoSmithKline make vaccines against HPV. The vaccine is recommended for girls and, recently, boys to guard against cancers of the cervix and anus, as well genital warts.
But the vaccines aren’t approved to prevent oral cancers. And the researchers note that the vaccines’ effectiveness against oral HPV infections is “unknown, and therefore vaccination cannot currently be recommended” to prevent oral cancers.
Ohio State’s Dr. Maura Gillison, lead author of the paper, has served as a consultant to both Merck and Glaxo. Merck was one of the funders the study.
Try home remedies to treat painful hemorrhoids
DEAR DOCTOR K: please help — I have hemorrhoids. What’s the best way to treat them?
DEAR READER: Hemorrhoids are clusters of veins in the lowest part of the rectum and anus that become swollen and distended.
You can have hemorrhoids without any symptoms. but hemorrhoids can also have very unpleasant symptoms — rectal pain, itching, soiling and bleeding. Hemorrhoids are rarely dangerous, however, and there are many treatment options.
Hemorrhoid symptoms can also be caused by other conditions, including anal warts and fissures, Crohn’s disease and (rarely) anal cancer. So if you have persistent bothersome symptoms that you think are caused by hemorrhoids, it’s wise to see your doctor.
There are several helpful home treatments. The first thing you should do is boost the fiber in your diet. Eat high-fiber foods (such as prunes, pears, beans, bran cereals and oatmeal), take a fiber supplement (there are many varieties available in drugstores), or both. Fiber softens stools and makes them easier to pass. This reduces pressure on hemorrhoids, which in turn reduces the risk of bleeding, inflammation and swelling. Make sure to take fiber with plenty of fluids.
Exercise is another important home remedy for hemorrhoids. take a brisk walk for 30 minutes a day, at least five days a week. not only does this have a powerfully positive effect on your health, it also is a great way to stimulate your bowels.
When you feel the urge, go to the bathroom immediately; don’t wait for a more convenient time. Waiting can cause your bowels to back up, leading to increased pressure and straining.
Sitz baths can relieve itching, irritation and muscle spasm. a sitz bath is a warm water bath for the buttocks. Sit in a regular bathtub with a few inches of warm water, or buy a small plastic tub that fits over a toilet seat. try a 20-minute sitz bath after each bowel movement and an additional two or three times a day. (This works best if you’re retired.) Afterward, gently pat the area dry.
Over-the-counter pain-relief creams can temporarily soothe pain, irritation and itching. Witch hazel wipes (Tucks) are soothing and have no harmful effects. a small ice pack placed against the anal area for a few minutes may also help.
Finally, sitting on cushions rather than hard surfaces can help reduce swelling.
If the treatments I’ve discussed don’t help, talk to your doctor. you may benefit from a simple outpatient procedure to treat hemorrhoids. One procedure involves rubber rings tightened around the hemorrhoid. other procedures, using lasers or infrared light, heat the hemorrhoids, causing them to shrink. Injecting a chemical into the hemorrhoids (called sclerotherapy) also can shrink them. If your symptoms continue despite these measures, you may need minor surgery to remove your hemorrhoids.
Hemorrhoids are among the most common “minor maladies of man.” The good news is that, most of the time, simple home remedies can give you great relief.
Dr. Komaroff is a physician and professor at Harvard Medical School. go to his website to send questions and get additional information: AskDoctorK.com.
Innocence lost: Sexual abuse, neglect have lasting impact on children
McALLEN — three of Norma Flores’ siblings suffered unimaginable abuses at the hands of their foster parents, their therapist Diane Myers said.
Myers, a licensed professional counselor at New Horizons Counseling and Case Management in McAllen, began treating them more than a year ago, after Flores took custody of them April 2009. they are now ages 9, 7, and 6.
“when I first saw them they were like little feral animals — just could not attend, focus or concentrate. they were all over the room. Everyone talking at the same time and Norma just exhausted,” Myers said. “Every other word was ‘mom, mom, mommy, mom’ — session after session.”
More than a year’s time of psychical and sexual abuse caused the inner turmoil that made them act out and hindered their brain development, Myers said. it was an expression of anxiety and their neurological condition, which she described as “chaos.”
“they were totally dependent on Norma for everything almost as if she was like a life raft and they were scared to death they were going to fall out,” Myers said about the two girls and 6-year-old boy.
And in many ways, Flores has served as such.
Texas Child Protective Services placed the children in foster care after their mother was deported to Honduras for driving under the influence of alcohol. they went from home to home for about two years before the then 19-year-old Flores won custody.
But soon after taking them in, Flores noticed irregularities in her siblings’ behavior. they would fondle themselves at school and do sexual things with each other, she said.
“where did you learn that? You’re too little,” Flores remembered asking them. “And that’s when they came out about Bel and J.C.”
Foster parents Belinda and Jose Luis Cazares, of McAllen, cared for them from January 2008 to April 2009, according to court documents filed by McAllen police in November when they arrested Jose Luis Cazares on two counts of aggravated sexual assault, one count of sexual assault and prohibited sexual conduct.
“they had the worst abuse I had seen up to that point,” Myers said. “it was just so perverse.”
Heartbreaking details of the sexual assaults are described in court documents.
J.C., as the children referred to him, would do it “every day in a while after school,” one of the kids was quoted as saying.
“He raped (the then 6-year-old girl) in the bathroom of El Pato,” Myers said. “I don’t know why that hurts me so bad, but my face wants to fall off — a little girl.”
Police also accuse Jose Luis Cazares of impregnating a fourth female minor who also was living with them in McAllen before the couple moved to Wyoming. his case remains pending in court, while law enforcement officials continue to work on filing charges against his wife, who the children also said abused them.
Seventy-seven percent of the 1,041 cases reported to the Children’s Advocacy Center of Hidalgo County in 2010 involved allegations of sexual abuse, said Kristy Meyer, the center’s community outreach coordinator.
One in four girls and one in five boys will have suffered this type of abuse before reaching their 18th birthday, she said. And most know who their perpetrator is.
“It’s usually not the old man down the street or the stranger,” Meyer said. “It’s usually someone they know very well and they love.”
Trained professionals at the child-friendly center see an average of six to eight children on a daily basis who have suffered some type of abuse or neglect or have witnessed it, said Forensic Interviewer Sara Munguia.
“Holidays are usually hard for us because we know something happens” when school is out, she said. “right now, as a matter fact, our schedule is very high.”
Law enforcement and CPS officials refer cases to the center, where Munguia and SANE nurses work to determine if there is a basis for the allegations.
Not every child makes an outcry at the center. some are too young to speak, while others are not as willing to disclose their abuse, she said. but staff there uses other tools like a camera that can zoom in 30,000 times to help find clues.
Finding physical evidence, however, is often times a challenge.
“There might be findings, there might not,” Munguia said. “it doesn’t necessarily mean that nothing happened.”
‘LEFT THERE FOR MONTHS’
Flores is angered that her siblings were not immediately removed from the Cazares’ home even after they made numerous outcries to several professionals, including their case worker, she said.
“the kids told me they told her, but she didn’t do anything about it,” Flores said. the oldest “told a teacher she didn’t want to go back to that house and the teacher told her she had to.”
Other distant family also got wind of the situation, but they didn’t believe the children, Flores said.
“they called them liars,” she added. “they would all talk about it.”
Flores began keeping a folder with detailed notes about the children’s’ accounts after she found out about the abuse. she wrote everything down and has pictures of a McAllen school teacher who the children also told. whether he reported it to CPS remains unclear because of confidentiality issues.
“We’re not sure who dropped the ball, but a pediatrician knew, a teacher knew, a school counselor and a principal knew,” Myers said. “one of the girls made an outcry, and we don’t know what happened to that case, but it never moved forward and they’ weren’t taken out of the home once the outcry was made.
“they were left there for months.”
Flores also made at least two calls to the state’s abuse hotline, but staff never followed up, she said. it wasn’t until she called police May 2010 that an investigation was launched.
“CPS IS NOT A FIRST RESPONDER”
Everyone, especially a professional, is mandated by law to make a report when abuse is suspected, said John Lennan, regional spokesman for the Texas Department of Family Protective Services.
Section 261.101 of the Texas Family code outlines the mandate. if a professional — such as a teacher, nurse, doctor, day-care employee, juvenile probation officer or other licensed professional — suspects abuse or neglect, they must report it to the state within 48 hours.
the law also applies to those whose communication may be considered “privileged” such as attorneys, members of a clergy and mental health professionals.
People can choose to remain anonymous when making a report to the state’s 24-hour abuse hotline at (800) 252-5400 or online at txabusehotline.org, Lennan said.
Intake operators in Austin gather as much information as they can from the caller to determine in which of two categories the case should be placed— Priority 1 or Priority 2.
Priority 1 calls require a state official to contact the child within 24 hours, Lennan said. Sexual abuse falls under this category.
Priority two cases will be handled within 72 hours, he added. He could not comment on Flores’s siblings’ case due to confidentiality issues.
“CPS is not a first responder,” Lennan said. “Sometimes I think people may think we are.”
Police should be called when a criminal act has been committed against a child, he said. Health professionals and law enforcement officials can usually make contact with his agency more quickly.
Last year, intake operators answered 748,277 calls from across Texas involving allegations of abuse for people of all ages.
‘YOU ARE SAFE’
The youngest of the children does not remember the abuse but had already started to show signs of inner conflict when Myers began seeing him, she said.
“He was three-and-a-half or 4 when she got him and all he ever knew was neglect and sexual abuse,” she said. “I was the most worried about him because he had already started to abuse animals.”
Meanwhile, the girls were at constant war with each other, but did not want to be separated from one another.
“(They) had a very unusual relationship — push you, pull you, love and hate me,” Myers said. “they were always in conflict because there were no resources, not enough food, no nurturing, and they were never safe. they couldn’t even form an attachment.”
Consistent boundaries had to be established in order to help them develop, she said.
“I wanted her to use the word ‘safe’ 100 times a day,” Myers said. “I wanted her to say ‘You’re safe. I’m going to take care of this. I’m in charge here and you’re safe here.’”
Constant love, medication and therapy made a big difference in their lives, both Myers and Flores said.
It’s difficult to prosecute the perpetrators of children 3 and younger because the victims can’t make an outcry, the professionals said. Speech development varies and if tangible evidence is not present, the cases will not be picked up.
“It’s hard to verbalize, and the child can not completely tell you what the adults want to hear,” Munguia said.
Myers once had a 14-month old patient diagnosed with genital herpes and CPS didn’t remove her from the home, she said. it wasn’t until after the therapist made numerous court visits that a judge placed her in the safety of her grandparents’ home.
“Justice for the littlest kids doesn’t happen,” Myers said.
In some degree, it’s difficult for children of all ages to explain what has happened to them, Munguia said.
“We’re adults and we know the parts of the body in our terms as opposed to the little ones,” she said. “So they’re going to tell you what they know in their verbalization.”
And that includes play, Myers said.
Many children make outcries while playing during therapy with her. Every toy in her office is specifically selected for much deeper purposes than its entertainment value, including a blue plastic gun.
“I have children that have seen a gun pointed at mom in front of them,” she said. “they have to play it out. they have to go through that and let you work with it therapeutically.”
Myers noted progress in the way Flores’ siblings play, she said.
Last week, the girls managed sustained play for the first time since Myers began seeing them. they followed a story line and swaddled dolls and nurtured them for an hour without conflict, she said.
The 6-year-old boy has made the most progress, she added.
“I heard a warmth in his voice when he talks to his aunt that I had never heard before,” the therapist said. “I can’t even tell you what a thrill that was for me — just that one thing.”
The road ahead of them is a long one, but Myers is confident Flores has the ability to undertake the challenge.
“It’s really hard for her to keep it all together, but I’m amazed,” Myers said of the young mother of four, who also has a biological 2-year-old son. “Norma is the best untrained play partner I have ever seen in a room. she is a total natural.”
Flores, however, fears their innocence is lost.
“There’s no way of giving their childhood back to them— no way,” she said.
Naxiely Lopez covers law enforcement and general assignments for the Monitor. she can be reached at naxil@themonitor.com and (956) 683-4434.
Genital Wart Sufferers Rave About ‘The 5 Day (Or Less) Genital Wart Eradication System’
Houston, TX — (SBWIRE) — 01/25/2012 — People may be surprised to learn at least 50 percent of sexually active individuals will have genital human papillomavirus at some point in their lives. This makes HPV the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States.as a result of HPV, both men and women can develop genital warts, which can cause a tremendous amount of discomfort in addition to being embarrassing. unfortunately, there is currently no cure for HPV. and although there are a few genital warts treatment options available, including genital wart removal, many times the warts come back within a few months and can leave unsightly scars. Ashton Christiansen and his wife Jill are receiving an outpouring of approval from genital wart sufferers everywhere for their groundbreaking, two-step home remedy guide, “The 5 Day (Or Less) Genital Wart Eradication System.” Christiansen and Jill, who suffered from chronic genital warts, developed the genital warts treatment manual as a result of failed doctor treatments in an effort to rid themselves and others of the infection permanently. The downloadable e-book manual allows people to complete the simple two-step genital wart eradication system from the privacy of their home, is guaranteed to destroy genital warts in five days or less no matter the severity of the infection, and comes with a 100 percent 60-day money-back guarantee. For sufferers, trying to find a genital warts cure can feel like a never-ending cycle of doctor appointments, creams, removal procedures and even electro-current treatments. and sadly, most of these are met with no avail. Offering home remedies for genital warts, a large number of people have already found success with “The 5 Day (Or Less) Genital Wart Eradication System.”Past user Sam S. said, “I battled genital warts for more than seven years. all of my doctors agreed my warts would never go away. This treatment helped me when the doctor treatments failed!”Another user, Phil W., agreed and said “For a long time I didn’t know what to do … this system cleared up my warts in under five days without any pain or scarring. This system is a must-have.”In addition to providing an easy-to-use two-step guide on how to get rid of genital warts, “The 5 Day (Or Less) Genital Wart Eradication System” features a host of other essential information. This includes: four shocking facts about genital warts; how a genital warts infection can harm future children; little known places genital warts can hide on a person’s body; the three stages of a genital warts breakout; and more. “The 5 Day (Or Less) Genital Wart Eradication System” is available for instant download at BestGenitalWartsTreatement.net for just $47 and comes with a 100 percent 60-day money-back guarantee. For more information or to download the innovative manual, visit BestGenitalWartsTreatment.netAbout BestGenitalWartsTreatment.netBestGenitalWartsTreatment.net is a website created by Ashton Christiansen who, like millions of others, was diagnosed with genital warts. The site features information on the breakthrough treatment that he used to permanently eradicate his genital warts. Visitors to the site can download the natural five-day system through links on the website.
New Treatment Available for Painful and Embarrassing Genital Herpes Symptoms Through the Use of Electro Waveform Technology
Springville, UT (PRWEB) January 24, 2012
More than 60 million people in the US suffer from genital herpes, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. if you are one of them, you probably already know there is no way to cure herpes.
Genital herpes are caused by herpes viruses that are transmitted through skin to skin contact with somebody already infected with the virus. Many people don’t realize they have become infected until the symptoms start to appear a few days after the exposure. the viruses – which are like a short DNA protein and are 100,000 times smaller than a cell — are not alive. Therefore, they can never be killed.
But now there is a new, pain-free way to eliminate the symptoms caused by the genital herpes virus. the VyGone Inhibitor Zapper harnesses the power of electro waveform technology for the treatment of herpes, as well as genital warts, shingles and other conditions caused by microscopic viruses. when applied to infected areas, the mild electro waveform released by the VyGone Zapper stops viral activities and allows fast natural healing, eliminating ugly and embarrassing genital herpes symptoms.
Genital Herpes Simplex-II viruses cause recurring blisters and lesions similar to cold sores, but in the genital area. this is a very personal problem, causing emotional distress.
One out of every four people in this country, aged 9 an older, suffer from genital herpes, with the virus most common in women and black males.
Within 2 to 10 days after infection, symptoms such as painful itching and burning in genital area, then small red bumps begin to appear. Pain may occur in legs, buttocks, genital area, and when urinating. Many report blisters, painful open lesions, vaginal discharge, pressure and discomfort around the stomach, flu symptoms, fever, headache, muscle aches, and swollen glands.
There is no cure for herpes. However, early application of the Viral Inhibitor Pro at first symptoms helps to prevent lesions. Sores heal naturally faster.
To use VyGone, simply place the two prongs on your skin and press the buttons on the side of the zapper. a light will come on that indicates that the device is working properly. the first light will stay on for about ten seconds. a second light will then come on, which indicates that the zapper has reversed the direction of the electrical flow. To eliminate genital herpes symptoms, simply apply the Viral Inhibitor Pro up to 8 times daily to each papule. To prevent lesions, users emphasize early detection and immediate applications.
The VyGone Zapper Pro is good for thousands and thousands of treatments.
VyGone also can be used for the symptoms of viruses caused by shingles, moles, genital warts and other conditions.
The VyGone Zapper is also effective for people who are prone to cold sores. They normally feel an initial tingling before the signature blister appears. Once they erupt, embarrassing, humiliating cold sores form in and around the mouth often stay visible for throughout their 7 to 14 day cycle.
But just a few applications of the VyGone Zapper stimulate neural signals that stop blisters and lesions from appearing. this electrical device provides a safe, noninvasive remedy which allows the body’s fast healing immune system to quickly suppress cold sores until their next eruption.
For Aaron, a cold sore sufferer from Wyoming, the healing effects of the VyGone Zapper were all in the family.
“My cousin told me about this Zapper and how well it works so I bought one,” Aaron said. “I get lots of cold sores so it wasn’t too long until I got one and had a chance to use it. I felt it coming on and zapped it a couple of times in its earliest stages. the burning stopped immediately and the cold sore never broke the skin. the best part is I can use this zapper for years instead of one treatment like the medication I used to use.”
The VyGone Zapper mainly targets Herpes viruses associated with genital herpes, molluscum, cold sores (oral Herpes), and shingles. it can be applied to warts, moles and other growths caused by Herpes. the Zapper is harmless, non-invasive, non-chemical, non-addictive and has no side-effects. Handheld and portable, the Zapper is private and close at hand for an attack. Over time, with consistent use, viral attacks lessen in frequency, severity and duration.
People with genital herpes now have a new weapon in their arsenal to stop herpes with the VyGone Zapper. for more information about the electro waveform technology used by the VyGone Zapper, visit our website at VyGone.com.
Read the full story at prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9111806.htm
New Electro Waveform Technology Effective at Eliminating the Painful Symptoms of Molluscum in Children and Adults
Springville, Utah (PRWEB) January 24, 2012
Molluscum, a relative of the chicken pox, was once a childhood disease but today it also is a sexually transmitted disease that can be spread between adults, according to the Center for Disease Control. until now, molluscum treatment could be painful and uncomfortable.
But now there is a new, pain-free way to eliminate the symptoms of molluscum maladies caused by viruses. the VyGone Inhibitor Zapper harnesses the power of electro waveform technology for the treatment of mollusum, as well as genital warts, shingles and other conditions caused by microscopic viruses.
When applied to infected areas, the mild electro waveform released by the VyGone Zapper stops viral activities and allows fast natural healing, eliminating ugly and embarrassing molluscum symptoms.
Molluscum is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact with active weeping lesions and from contaminated objects, clothing or towels. Frequently children and adults contract the virus in bathrooms and public swimming pool areas.
Its symptoms are ugly and painful: fleshy, pearly-white, gray-white, yellow or pink colored papule lesions, beginning as small bumps, becoming larger over time. Lesions are often on the face, legs, arms, trunk, lower abdomen, thighs, buttocks, anal region, groin, labia, and scrotum. the affected areas have itching and tenderness, lasting from two weeks to years.
To use VyGone, simply place the two prongs on your skin and press the buttons on the side of the zapper. a light will come on that indicates that the device is working properly. the first light will stay on for about ten seconds. a second light will then come on, which indicates that the zapper has reversed the direction of the electrical flow.
To eliminate molluscom symptoms, simply apply the Viral Inhibitor Pro up to 8 times daily to each papule. to prevent lesions, users emphasize early detection and immediate applications.
The VyGone Zapper Pro is good for thousands and thousands of treatments.
VyGone also can be used for the symptoms of viruses caused by shingles, moles, genital warts and other conditions.
The VyGone Zapper is also effective for people who are prone to cold sores. they normally feel an initial tingling before the signature blister appears. once they erupt, embarrassing, humiliating cold sores form in and around the mouth often stay visible for throughout their 7 to 14 day cycle.
But just a few applications of the VyGone Zapper stimulate neural signals that stop blisters and lesions from appearing. this electrical device provides a safe, noninvasive remedy which allows the body’s fast healing immune system to quickly suppress cold sores until their next eruption. For Kitt, a cold sore sufferer from Oregon, VyGone was better than any cold sore treatments she had used in the past.
“As a pharmaceutical rep, I usually get the best prescriptions out there to combat my cold sores,” Kitt said. “Recently I moved from Kansas to Oregon for a new job. well, the stress of everything involved with that caused two separate cold sores in about two weeks. this was the first time that I was excited about getting them because I wanted to test out the Zapper to see if it worked as well as everyone told me. After using it myself, I’d have to say that it worked as good as or better than any prescription drug I have ever used.”
The VyGone Zapper mainly targets Herpes viruses associated with molluscum, cold sores (oral Herpes), shingles, and genital Herpes. it can be applied to warts, moles and other growths caused by Herpes. the Zapper is harmless, non-invasive, non-chemical, non-addictive and has no side-effects. Handheld and portable, the Zapper is private and close at hand for an attack. over time, with consistent use, viral attacks lessen in frequency, severity and duration.
People with molluscum can now stop paying thousands of dollars for over the counter ointments and creams, for prescription treatments or even cold sore remedie. get long-lasting relief from the VyGone Zapper. For more information about the electro waveform technology used by the VyGone Zapper, visit our website at VyGone.com.
Read the full story at prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9111783.htm
Painful and Embarrassing Skin Warts and Other Virus Symptoms Eliminated Pain Free With New Electro Waveform Technology
Springville, Utah (PRWEB) January 24, 2012
a new pain-free way to eliminate warts can relieve the stress and embarrassment of childeren and adults who have become frustrated with painful wart treatment ointments and creams.
The VyGone Inhibitor Zapper harnesses the power of electro waveform technology for the treatment of warts and other conditions caused by microscopic viruses. When applied to infected areas, the mild electro waveform released by the VyGone Zapper stops viral activities and allows fast natural healing, eliminating ugly and embarrassing warts.
Warts are commonly small and flat, often single but sometimes clustered. They usually develop on fingers, hands and feet, and less frequently on arms, legs, neck, abdomen or back. Planter warts are common on the sole of the foot and if inflamed, may cause ongoing irritation or pain. Skin warts and moles are not as easily transferred by contact.
To use VyGone, simply place the two prongs on your skin and press the buttons on the side of the zapper. a light will come on that indicates that the device is working properly. The first light will stay on for about ten seconds. a second light will then come on, which indicates that the zapper has reversed the direction of the electrical flow.
To eliminate warts, simply apply the Viral Inhibitor Pro for 4 full cycles in a circular pattern around the edge of the wart using a four-star pattern. Warts are typically dry, so wet the skin for better electro signal conduction. Applications should be done hourly, up to 8 times a day. Continue applications for several months until warts shrink and eventually just fall off. you can throw your chemical wart remover away!
The VyGone Zapper Pro is good for thousands and thousands of treatments. VyGone also can be used for the symptoms of viruses caused by shingles, molluscum, moles, genital warts and other conditions.
The VyGone Zapper is also effective for people who are prone to cold sores. They normally feel an initial tingling before the signature blister appears. Once they erupt, embarrassing, humiliating cold sores form in and around the mouth often stay visible for throughout their 7 to 14 day cycle.
But just a few applications of the VyGone Zapper stimulate neural signals that stop blisters and lesions from appearing. This electrical device provides a safe, noninvasive remedy which allows the body’s fast healing immune system to quickly suppress cold sores until their next eruption.
For Kitt, a cold sore sufferer from Oregon, VyGone was better than any medications she had used in the past. “As a pharmaceutical rep, I usually get the best prescriptions out there to combat my cold sores,” Kitt said. “Recently I moved from Kansas to Oregon for a new job. well, the stress of everything involved with that caused two separate cold sores in about two weeks. This was the first time that I was excited about getting them because I wanted to test out the Zapper to see if it worked as well as everyone told me. after using it myself, I’d have to say that it worked as good as or better than any prescription drug I have ever used.”
The VyGone Zapper mainly targets Herpes viruses associated with cold sores (oral Herpes), shingles, genital Herpes, and molluscum. It can be applied to warts, moles and other growths caused by Herpes. The Zapper is harmless, non-invasive, non-chemical, non-addictive and has no side-effects. Handheld and portable, the Zapper is private and close at hand for an attack. over time, with consistent use, viral attacks lessen in frequency, severity and duration.
People with warts can now stop paying thousands of dollars for an over the counter or prescription warts treatment and get long-lasting relief from the VyGone Zapper. for more information about the electro waveform technology used by the VyGone Zapper, visit our website at VyGone.com.
Read the full story at prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9111770.htm
The Story of an Influential AIDS Doctor Working in the Deep South
It was a typical day in late may 1982. the last blooms still hung onto the azaleas. In Charleston, tourists, like fireflies at night, has descended on the Holy City for the start of the sixth annual Spoleto Festival of the Arts. But Dr. Robert Ball Jr. had more on his mind than symphony orchestras and classical music performances. as he prepared to see patients at his infectious disease clinic in Charleston’s West Ashley neighborhood, his phone rang. A family practice physician called seeking an infectious disease consultation for a desperately ill patient.
As an infectious disease specialist, Dr. Ball had grown accustomed to such pleas for help, doctors referring strange cases of tropical diseases to him for care. In less than a decade of medical practice he had developed the reputation of being something of a storm chaser of the infectious diseases that surfaced in the low Country of South Carolina, an area characterized by viciously hot and humid summers, extensive marshes, and, of course, mosquitoes.
The physician on the other end of the phone line had admitted his patient to St. Francis Xavier Hospital for observation. he was at a loss to determine what ailed the young white man. without hesitation, Dr. Ball promised to see the patient that day. It was a short drive from his office to the hospital, which had been founded by the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy in 1882. when Dr. Ball walked into the private hospital room, he saw a patient who looked to be in his late teens or early twenties. he quickly learned that for several weeks the patient had been suffering from high fevers and swollen lymph nodes. A chicken pox-like rash covered his entire body. Lesions pockmarked his frame, with open, raw sores draining clear fluid. Herpes-like lesions covered his genitals and perineum, the area between his scrotum and anus. on close examination, Ball also noticed that the man had thrush, a yeast infection of the mouth that doctors would later associate closely with being HIV positive.
The young man’s swollen lymph nodes signaled trouble. His herpes clearly had been contracted sexually; another disease might have been lurking inside him for several years before trashing his immune system. the symptoms had become too obvious to ignore. Whatever the reason, his health was deteriorating rapidly. “It was the worst case of genital herpes I had ever seen,” Dr. Ball says. “Normally, genital herpes doesn’t spread throughout your body. In his case, it did.”
Thankfully, Dr. Ball determined, the patient didn’t have the pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) or the cancers that physicians had quickly discovered were common among people with AIDS. of more immediate concern was his extremely low white blood cell count. “There were a number of other lab abnormalities that indicated a systemic infection that was probably viral,” Dr. Ball recalls, speaking with an even, genteel southern inflection that could have come straight out of a Pat Conroy novel.
In addition to his private practice, Dr. Ball also taught at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), his alma mater, and knew the lab staff of the huge facility. after he examined the patient, he immediately ordered additional blood tests and further analysis of the man’s white blood cells. when the patient’s MUSC lab tests came back a week later, they showed an extremely low number of what are now called CD4 lymphocytes. back then they were called OKT3 lymphocytes. Having low CD4 cell numbers increases the risk of opportunistic infections, leaving an individual as vulnerable as a battleship floating on the high seas without guns. Simple pneumonia could be as lethal as the bubonic plague. Troubled by the initial test results, Dr. Ball ordered more tests. as he awaited the results, he ran through all the possibilities. little did he know that fateful doctor-patient encounter in St. Francis Hospital on that spring day would turn his comfortable, white, middle-class world upside down, change the course of his professional and personal life, and shake long-held political and spiritual beliefs, transforming him from a white southern Barry Goldwater conservative to that rarest of species, a white southern progressive.
Robert Ball’s links to Charleston and the low Country are as deep and as storied as the region itself. His ancestors first settled on the land when South Carolina was still a colony, more than 320 years ago. the pages of the telephone book are peppered with Balls. he served as president of the Society of First Families of South Carolina, a genealogical organization that documents and celebrates the history of the earliest colonial settlers.
Young Robert grew up in the West Ashley section of Charleston. he played football in high school but was never great at it. His passion was books. he spent hours locked away in his bedroom devouring science books. after high school, unlike many South Carolina blue bloods, he didn’t head west for the University of South Carolina in Columbia or even Clemson upstate. Robert remained closer to home. he drove less than half an hour to the College of Charleston, where he studied biology and chemistry. to no one’s surprise, he wanted to be a doctor.
little did he know that fateful doctor-patient encounter in St. Francis Hospital on that spring day would turn his comfortable, white, middle-class world upside down.
In college, Robert, an avid boater, helped form the school’s first sailing team. he dabbled in Republican politics and a lot of campus life. His old college yearbooks showed that Robert also was involved with at least four campus organizations each year. he led a Charleston chapter of the John Birch Society, a group that was founded in 1958 by former candy industry executive Robert Welsh, who spouted an ultraconservative brand of pseudo-Christian anticommunism, nationalism, and antiglobalism. John Birch Society members called for the repeal of the federal income tax on constitutional grounds, sought the abolition of the Federal Reserve and the United Nations, and viewed the civil rights movement as the vanguard of a communist plot. In 1964, like most other John Birch Society members, Ball supported Barry Goldwater. the conservative Arizona senator had lost to Nixon in the 1960 Republican primaries but prevailed against moderates Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York and Governor William Scranton of Pennsylvania before being trounced by the incumbent president, Lyndon Johnson, in 1964.
Two years later, after he graduated from the College of Charleston, Ball followed a path he seemed genetically bred to pursue. he drove across town and enrolled at what was then the Medical College of South Carolina, an institution whose desks, chairs, and labs were stained with the sweat of his forebears. Ball is descended from a line of physicians seven generations deep. His great-grandfather was a doctor; a number of great-uncles were too. one uncle was a physician; another, Benjamin M. Martin, was chief radiology technician at MUSC for over two decades. both grandfathers were doctors, and his paternal grandfather, Dr. James Austin Ball, was the medical school’s first professor of infectious diseases, then called tropical medicine, at the turn of the century. His maternal grandfather, Dr. Thomas Hutson Martin, graduated from the College of Medicine in 1919 at age 19 before launching a long and distinguished career as a physician and surgeon in Charleston. Dr. Martin was a longtime member of the Charleston County Board of Health and an assistant professor of surgery at the medical school. he retired from practicing medicine in 1951. Later, Ball would donate Dr. Martin’s class ring to the medical school’s Waring Historical Library.
The oldest medical school in the Deep South, the Medical College of South Carolina was founded in 1824 and kept its name largely intact for 145 years. But by the time Ball donned his cap and gown to accept his medical degree in 1970, the college had been renamed the Medical University of South Carolina. he helped put himself through medical school by working days as an anatomy instructor and nights in the MUSC microbiology lab. for his medical internship, he drove 470 miles west on Interstate 20 to the University of Alabama-Birmingham, which was located in a city that had come to symbolize southern white resistance to the struggle for black civil rights. But less known at the time was that its hospital was a vital training ground for infectious disease specialists. Later it would be home to several pioneers in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
Ball began his medical internship, now called a residency, in Birmingham the same year George Wallace returned in triumph to the governor’s mansion for a second four-year term. Wallace was still a rabid segregationist who opposed equal rights for people of color. the young Ball admired Wallace’s uncompromising segregationist anti-civil rights platform. that was before his epiphany; that was before AIDS, before he saw firsthand the machinery of white privilege and southern prejudice, once reserved exclusively for people of color, unleashed on white gay men with a deadly, demoralizing new sickness.
Wallace and his politics of derision appealed to Ball at his deepest core. on holidays he drove east to Charleston, proudly showing off the Wallace bumper stickers on his car. Those stickers multiplied as Wallace ran again for the presidency in 1972 after his failed bid in 1968.
Parents, classmates, and friends weren’t surprised by Ball’s affinity for Goldwater and Wallace. like most well-off southern white men, Ball grew up in a very politically conservative family, even though their hometown, Charleston, was becoming increasingly liberal. His family was Republican, the kind who scoffed at northeastern Republican moderates. Ball, still a fervent anticommunist, spent years licking his wounds after Senator Goldwater’s 1964 defeat at the hands of LBJ.
That decisive election was to have a direct impact on Ball’s fate. after his re-election, Johnson escalated America’s involvement in Vietnam. for the next six years, rural southern boys and inner city kids in their teens and early twenties were drafted and shipped, weapons in hand, to the jungles of Southeast Asia. Ball’s medical internship only delayed the inevitable. the draft board gave him permission to finish his training. Sooner or later the army would beckon. as the war in Vietnam dragged on, even white boys of privilege couldn’t avoid doing their share in the increasingly unpopular war. the summer Americans first heard about the Pentagon Papers, when protestors in Washington tried to bring the federal government to its knees, Ball, now at the end of his internship in Birmingham, received the long-feared letter — a direct order to report to the draft board in Charleston. Days later, he walked into the draft board office in Charleston and swore his allegiance to defend the country. he was lucky. the army wanted to send him as an orthopedic surgeon to the combat zone in Vietnam, where American GIs needed able surgeons to repair the damage wrought by Vietcong booby traps. But his skills did not lie in the operating room. “You want me with a pen in my hand, not a scalpel,” he joked years later. “No wonder we were losing over there.”
Ball spent his two-year tour of duty working as medical director of the emergency department at the massive William Beaumont Army Medical Center complex in El Paso, Texas, which serves neighboring Fort Bliss. By the time he was honorably discharged in 1973, the end was in sight for the U.S. military involvement in Vietnam, but the country had just begun a spiral toward another prolonged political crisis — Watergate.
Ball returned home as expected to Charleston, where for the next two years he pursued an internal medicine residency, followed by a 24-month infectious diseases and immunology fellowship at his alma mater, MUSC. Ball was hardwired not just to study medicine but also to hunt infectious diseases, just like his paternal grandfather, Dr. Ball, who in the early 1900s taught dermatology and tropical diseases. Graveyards in the South are filled with children and young people victimized by smallpox, yellow fever, and cholera. Sexually transmitted diseases, especially syphilis and gonorrhea, ran rampant through the poor sectors, especially the black population. while he was serving in the army, Ball contracted viral meningitis, a relatively common but rarely serious infection of the fluid in the spinal cord and surrounding the brain. Viral meningitis and other infectious diseases fascinated Ball. after he was discharged from the military, he hoped to pursue a specialty that offered the daily challenge of trying to cure people with the new and exciting antibiotics being introduced daily rather than deal with terminal conditions like cancer. But the good Lord had other ideas.
His long journey to becoming a physician complete, Ball opened a private practice in the West Ashley section of Charleston in 1977. Jimmy Carter had been elected to the White House a year earlier. America was still struggling to rediscover its self-confidence. while he built his fledgling practice, Ball taught part time at MUSC, honoring his family legacy.
While Dr. Ball taught infectious diseases, elsewhere in the massive MUSC complex a high-cheekboned black woman, Annie Mae Pegram, cheerfully endured the pricks and prods from physicians testing new cancer drugs. It’s unlikely that their paths ever crossed, but fate conspired to ensure that AIDS, the disease that dominated Dr. Ball’s private and public medical career, would also shape the life and cause the early death of Annie Mae’s youngest daughter, Carolyn.
Excerpted from Andrew J. Skerritt’s Ashamed to Die: Silence, Denial, and the AIDS Epidemic in the South (Lawrence Hill Books)
Is Oral Sex to Blame for the Surge in Cancer of the Mouth and Throat?
It’s the typical culprit, but other factors, including immune changes, damage from nicotine, and even a genetic disposition, could play a part.
Earlier this month, the American Cancer Society (ACS) released its annual Cancer Facts & Figures. The 2012 report includes some encouraging facts. Since 1990, the incidence of some common tumors including lung, colon, and prostate cancer has declined. meanwhile, the rate of seven malignancies, like those of the lower mouth and throat linked to human papillomavirus (HPV), is increasing. The cause of this trend, which many assume is linked to people engaging in more oral sex, is not as straightforward as you might think.
Oropharyngeal cancers refer to tumors of the tonsils and rear tongue, back of the palate and posterior walls of the throat. like their anatomical neighbors — malignancies of the larynx, vocal cords, anterior and mid-tongue, other parts of the mouth and lips — oropharyngeal cancers arise more often in people who drink and smoke heavily. these other head and neck cancers have waned in recent years, probably because North Americans are smoking fewer cigarettes and chewing less tobacco.
The ACS estimates there will be 13,500 new cases of oropharyngeal cancer in the U.S. this year. This includes both HPV positive and negative cases; nearly 11,000 men and over 2,500 women will be affected; some 2,300 will succumb to this condition. between 1999 and 2008, the rate of HPV positive oropharyngeal cancers by rose 4.4 percent per year in white men and by 1.9 percent per year in white women. Changes among other racial and ethnic groups were not significant, according to the report. The biggest rise emerged in men between the ages of 55 and 64 years.
“At Georgetown, we have patients in their 80s with this kind of cancer. that raises questions about the sexual habits of Americans who are older, or about HPV.”
“Like investigators elsewhere, we’re seeing an increased incidence of oropharyngeal cancer,” says Dr. John Deeken, a medical oncologist at Georgetown’s Lombardi Cancer Center. Cancer-causing HPV strains tend to infect immune cells at the base of the tongue and tonsils, Deeken explains. “This may be why we’re seeing the virus in tumors in those parts of the oropharynx, while the incidence of lip, larynx, and vocal cord cancers is not going up.” if the cancer were simply caused by infection with HPV upon sexual transmission there would be more cases in women, he considers.
“The epidemiology is perplexing,” he says. “The assumption, when we noticed the trend eight or nine years ago, was that this was a sexually transmitted disease due to more oral sex,” he says. “But at least at Georgetown, we have patients in their 80s with this kind of cancer,” he notes. “That raises questions about the sexual habits of Americans who are older, or about HPV.”
The latency period between initial HPV infection and cancer can last decades, confirms Dr. Maura L. Gillison, an oncologist and professor at Ohio State who has published seminal findings on HPV and cancer. her group carried out a case control study, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, revealing that individuals who’ve had more vaginal and oral sex partners in their lifetime have a higher risk of developing oropharyngeal cancer, and that HPV-16 infection correlates with this cancer type.
Human papillomavirus was one of the first viruses identified in human cancers. Approximately 40 subtypes spread sexually. two types, HPV-16 and HPV-18, account for most cases of cervical cancer in the U.S. most women with HPV are asymptomatic and don’t get cervical cancer; when and if malignancy develops, it’s usually 20, 30 years or longer after initial infection. most often, oropharyngeal cancers are caused by the HPV-16 subtype.
“The mechanisms by which HPV causes cancer are pretty well-established,” Gillison says. two viral genes, called E6 and E7, are implicated. The virus itself contains only a few genes; it can’t propagate apart from human cells. But once HPV has infected squamous cells like those lining the cervix, anus, or pharynx, E6 and E7 take over critical machinery that control processes like DNA repair, cell cycle, and maturation, she explains. Because the virus interferes with signals that normally regulate cell growth, HPV-infected cells tend to survive and replicate.
The E6 and E7 proteins, encoded by the genes, are necessary but not sufficient for cancer formation, Gillison considers. As is the case for HPV infection in the genitals, most individuals infected with HPV in the mouth don’t develop tumors. The key question is what other factors — like damage to the oral cavity from nicotine or other toxins, immune changes, or possibly a genetic disposition — lead to oropharyngeal tumors in some people, typically years after the initial infection.
For patients with oropharyngeal cancer linked to HPV, the prognosis is relatively good. “We’re seeing higher cure rates with HPV cancers than for other head and neck cancers,” Deeken says. “The patients tend to respond more readily and completely to treatment no matter what we give them, whether it’s chemo or radiation.”
“The ideal would be to prevent HPV infection in the first place,” Gillison says. The FDA has approved two HPV vaccines, Gardasil and Cervarix, for primary prevention of cervical cancer. The rationale for that indication is that by immunizing a girl or young woman against HPV, she’s less likely to develop cervical cancer caused by the virus. The same strategy should work for preventing viral infection and cancer in the oropharynx, according to Gillison.
Gardasil, a vaccine that covers four HPV subtypes, has been approved for boys to prevent genital warts and anal cancer. Still, the FDA hasn’t recommended routine vaccination of boys or young men against HPV. in Octobee 2011 the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reviewed current data and advised that most boys be vaccinated with Gardasil.
“We’ve identified a new cause of a cancer that was previously unrecognized in a group of people that are largely men who are not getting vaccinated for HPV at the moment,” Gillison says. “As someone who practices evidence-based medicine, I’m not comfortable assuming it would work.” But there’s no adequate trial ongoing, she says. “It’s ridiculous that we’re not willing to look at whether a vaccine works. That’s the best approach to change the incidence of this cancer.”
Deeken also supports a primary prevention, by vaccination of young people against HPV. “Hopefully in decades ahead, teenagers who are getting vaccinated now will not be developing oropharyngeal cancer,” he says. “But that will be hard to prove, and it will take a long time.”
Image: MichaelTaylor/Shutterstock.
Woman reportedly coughs up cancerous tumor
(Credit:istockphoto)
(CBS) A British woman reportedly made a shocking discovery following a nasty coughing fit. when she brought the odd-looking tissue that came out of her mouth to a doctor, the doctor told her she had hacked up a cancerous tumor.
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Claire Osborn, 37, felt a tickle in her throat moments before the mass – which she described as looking “like a strip of liver” – came out, reports The Daily Mail. Once a doctor performed a biopsy on the mass, it was revealed the woman had a metastatic adenocarcinoma in the back of her throat.
Osborn was given only a 50 percent chance of survival after being diagnosed with the aggressive cancer that grew in the back of her throat, saying the cancer had likely spread to other parts of her body. Follow-up scans, however, failed to detect any tumors. Doctors removed some cancerous cells from Osborn’s tongue and her doctor gave her a clean bill of health.
“I was totally flabbergasted,” Osborn told The Daily Mail. “If I hadn’t coughed it up, the tumor would have grown and almost certainly spread to my other organs.”
The woman’s head and neck surgeon, Dr. Gary Walton, a doctor at the University Hospital Coventry in the U.K., told the Mail that he suspected the cancer had spread but the body scans showed she was clear of cancer.
“We suspect the tumor grew on a stalk at the back of her mouth which is very difficult to detect,” Walton said. “Somehow she dislodged this and the stalk snapped and she coughed up the tumor.”
“It is very uncommon to cough up cancer, but she did it,” he said.
Dr. Edward Kim, chief of head and neck medical oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, told ABC News the woman’s coughing fit might have acted like a surgeon’s scalpel.
“It’s very rare that these types of tumors don’t require other treatments beyond surgery,” Kim, who was not involved in the woman’s care, told ABC News. He said metastatic adenocarcinomas often need to be treated with radiation and chemotherapy.
According to the National Cancer Institute, tobacco and alcohol use, and HPV are risk factors for head and neck cancers. Typical symptoms include a lump or sore in the mouth or throat that doesn’t heal, difficulty swallowing, a sore throat that doesn’t go away, or hoarseness in the voice.
More than 52,000 men and women in the U.S. are expected to be diagnosed with head and neck cancers this year.