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.
From the archive, 3 January 1966: The new art of graffiti using felt pens
The illicit art of writing on walls is becoming modernised. once it was easy to rub out the “Sid Loves Ethel” – or worse – chalked up on the bus shelters and lamp-posts and other amenities of our towns and cities.
Now two factors have combined to give wall literature a permanence which, if not Shakespearean, is at least equal to the local authorities’ determination to remove it. Designers of the rebuilt cities have taken to smooth, highly receptive surfaces such as plastic, terrazzo, high-finish concrete and mosaic – and the secret bards have taken to felt-tipped pens – which are more indelible than chalk, pencil, or crayon.
The Precinct, the centre of Coventry’s rebuilt city centre, has steadily become a literary anthology and art gallery in this way. The subways, faced on both sides with terrazzo, have proved especially tempting. Felt-tipped pens left behind a legacy that had to be scrubbed off with abrasives doing the surfaces no good at all. following this, the walls were deliberately coated with advertisements – only for the nubile young ladies pictured on them to acquire unlikely beards, pince-nez, and warts.
The nature of many of the sentiments expressed on public property has suggested that people between the ages of 15 and 22, rather than schoolchildren, are principally responsible. All the same, the local authority had to start somewhere, and the education committee has discussed the matter.
Councillor N.P. Lister, vice-chairman of the committee, says: “It was all very well for a courting couple years ago to spend a whole afternoon carving ‘Jack Loves Judith’ on a tree. It took them a long time and the marks grew out anyway. with a felt pen on some of these new surfaces you can do lot of damage in a few minutes and nothing will wash it out.”
The short-term answer, in the opinion of the committee, is to make the culprits feel that there is no future in their particular art form. “The marks should be scrubbed out immediately, so no one thinks he is leaving a monument to posterity behind him,” says Mr Lister. this solution is rather Utopian, as it is estimated that it would need a gang of half a dozen men working full-time for a week, to clear up the present crop of outpourings in Coventry.
The long-term solution lies in the education of the young. here Coventry is leading the way. The Education Committee is to ask the Head Teachers’ Association to consider the possibility of making a film about the wayward art of the wall literati. this would be the first film of its type. “I should think the censors would have to give it an X certificate,” said a corporation workman sadly.
‘Wartrol Deal’ Helps Customers Get 100% Free Bonus Bottle of Wartrol
Ontario, Canada — (SBWIRE) — 01/20/2012 — according to statistics, millions of people suffer from an extremely common yet often very embarrassing condition: warts.whether they are located on the foot, leg, hand or other areas of the body, warts are not only unsightly, they can also be uncomfortable, especially if they are being rubbed all day long by a shoe or other article of clothing. They can also be contagious, and left untreated, can remain on the skin for several weeks up to a year.In an effort to get rid of their warts, people spend countless dollars every year on costly and often painful medications and other remedies including a procedure called cryosurgery that often takes multiple treatments to be effective.A new website has already been getting a lot of attention for its information on an amazing home wart removal product that is 100 percent FDA and clinically-approved.Wartrol Deal is a product review website that strives to offer visitors the most accurate and up-to-date information about Wartrol, an all-natural product that has been shown to easily and safely remove common and plantar warts. the site was created by a man who, like many others, lived with warts for years and understands first-hand how miserable they can be.“I was so embarrassed to have had warts,” he explained in an article on the website.“It is something I lived with and dealt with for a while. They made me feel horrible about myself and my confidence was at an all time low.”The website is currently helping its customers who order through links on the website to receive a free bonus bottle of Wartrol, which is not only fast-acting, but also painless and free of harmful side effects.“If you are looking for a solution to removing a wart, Wartrol is simply the best solution on the market,” an article on the website said.“I have reviewed many products but Wartrol delivers results in just under 18 minutes you’ll have your wart gone. It is the safest solution on the market it and the number one reason I recommend it.”Using the website is easy; simply log onto the home page and begin browsing through the many educational articles and customer testimonials about Wartrol. Customers who are interested in giving Wartrol a try for their warts may click on links throughout the site to be brought to another page where the product may be purchased.About Wartrol DealWartrol Deal is a new website that is devoted to reviewing the Wartrol wart-removing product. the site is hosted by a man who used to suffer from warts, and found relief from the condition with Wartrol. the site includes helpful articles about warts, as well as links that will allow customers to purchase the product. For more information, please visit wartroldeal.com/wartrol-deal-special-offer-100-free-bonus-bottle
Nine in Ten (88%) Canadian Parents Support Vaccinating Boys Against HPV through Public Program at School
Currently, only Girls are Covered through Publicly-Funded Vaccinations at School
TORONTO, Jan. 19, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ – Nine in ten (88%) parents of children aged 10 to 17 would 'support' (54% strongly/34% somewhat) their provincial government funding vaccinations of boys (in addition to girls) against HPV infection and protection against genital warts, according to an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Merck. Moreover, the proportion that strongly supports this initiative climbs by ten points among those who, during the survey, clicked a link to view pictures of genital warts, which is a potential consequence of HPV in boys. overall, just one in ten (12%) parents would be against (4% strongly/8% somewhat) this kind of public program for boys.
Currently, only girls are offered publicly-funded vaccinations against HPV in the public school system. but nine in ten (91%) parents 'agree' (64% strongly/27% somewhat) that 'vaccinating both boys and girls against HPV will provide greater protection than vaccinating girls alone'. Just one in ten (9%) 'disagree' (3% strongly/6% somewhat) with this premise.
Currently, almost all (93%) parents are in favour (66% strongly/27% somewhat) of the current system in the provinces whereby the government provides the HPV vaccine through public health programs free of charge for girls. however, nine in ten (87%) parents believe it is 'important' (47% strongly/40% somewhat) for males to be vaccinated against HPV, while just 13% believe it is not important (3% not at all/10% not very). the proportion who strongly agrees rises by seven points among those respondents who chose to view the pictures of genital warts while completing the survey.
Most (85%) parents of boys say that they would likely allow their son to be vaccinated for the prevention of HPV infection and protection against genital warts through a publicly-funded program at his school. Just 15% say they'd likely not allow their son to be vaccinated.
About the surveyThese are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid study conducted between February 15 to March 2, 2011, on behalf of Merck. For this survey, a sample of 1,108 parents of girls and 1,123 parents of boys from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. all parents had children between the ages of 10 and 17. a survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had the entire population of parents of children aged 10 to 17 in Canada been polled. all sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
About Ipsos ReidIpsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader and the country's leading provider of public opinion research. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. the company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in Canada, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and on-line panels. Ipsos Reid's Canadian marketing research and public affairs practices are staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, offering the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada—all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group. To learn more, visit ipsos.ca.
Video with caption: "Video: Alexandra Evershed, Senior Vice President, Ipsos Reid on survey: HPV – Canadian Parents Opinion Survey 2011". Video available at: stream1.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/playback.cgi?file=20120119_C5998_VIDEO_EN_8237.mp4&posterurl=photos.newswire.ca/images/20120119_C5998_PHOTO_EN_8237.jpg&clientName=IPSOS%20REID&caption=Video%3A%20Alexandra%20Evershed%2C%20Senior%20Vice%20President%2C%20Ipsos%20Reid%20on%20survey%3A%20HPV%20%2D%20Canadian%20Parents%20Opinion%20Survey%202011&title=IPSOS%20REID%20%2D%20Vaccinating%20Against%20HPV&headline=Nine%20in%20Ten%20%2888%25%29%20Canadian%20Parents%20Support%20Vaccinating%20Boys%20Against%20HPV%20through%20Public%20Program%20at%20School
GARDASIL® receives highest recommendation for use in males from National Advisory Committee on Immunization
Most parents agree that vaccinating both boys and girls in school is a good idea
KIRKLAND, QC, Jan. 19, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) updated and strengthened its statement related to the use of human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccines in Canada. among the recommendations, NACI determined that there is good (Grade a, the highest level) evidence to recommend the use of GARDASIL® [Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus (Types 6, 11, 16, 18) Recombinant Vaccine] in males between 9 to 26 years of age. GARDASIL® is the only HPV vaccine indicated and recommended for boys and men.
"The Canadian Association of Adolescent Health (CAAH) supports the NACI recommendations and applauds the specific updates regarding boys and men," said Dr. Franziska Baltzer, CAAH spokesperson and Division Head, Adolescent Medicine, Montreal Children's Hospital. "both genders contribute to the spread of HPV and develop diseases as a result of HPV infection. to eliminate those diseases, we need to vaccinate males as well as females."
A national survey conducted in March 2011 by Ipsos Reid (view Ipsos Reid Factum here) showed that parents support the vaccination of boys in school-based programs paid for with public funds. according to the survey:
- 85% of parents of males would allow their son to get vaccinated against HPV if it was offered through a publicly-funded program at his school
- 88% of parents support the assertion that boys should be vaccinated against HPV in the same program as girls
- 91% of parents agree that vaccinating both boys and girls against HPV would provide greater protection than vaccinating girls alone
The only HPV vaccine indicated and recommended for boys and menNACI made a Grade a recommendation for the use of GARDASIL® in males between 9 and 26 years of age for the prevention of genital warts, anal cancer and pre-cancerous anal lesions. while the total burden of HPV-associated cancers among males is estimated at 5.2% of all cancers worldwide, increasing rates of anal cancer among males have been observed, paired with lower survival compared to females. HPV types 6 and 11 cause approximately 90% of genital warts. there are about 41,450 new cases of genital warts each year in Canada.
About NACIThe National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is a committee of recognized experts in the fields of pediatrics, infectious diseases, immunology, medical microbiology, internal medicine and public health. The Committee reports to the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, and works with departmental staff of the Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control of the Public Health Agency of Canada to provide ongoing and timely medical, scientific and public health advice. NACI makes recommendations for the use of vaccines approved in Canada and also advises on the need for national vaccination strategies.
About the SurveyThe results of the survey completed in March 2011 are based on 2231 online interviews conducted nationally with parents of children aged between 10 and 17. The sample was generated by Ipsos-Reid's national online panel (Ipsos I-say Online Panel). With a sample size of 2231, the results are considered accurate to within +/- 2.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had all parents of children 10 to 17 been polled. these data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to Census data.
About MerckToday's Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. through our medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and consumer and animal products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. we also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. for more information about our operations in Canada, visit merck.ca.
Forward looking StatementThis news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about the benefits of the merger between Merck and Schering-Plough, including future financial and operating results, the combined company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that are not historical facts. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Merck's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements: the possibility that the expected synergies from the merger of Merck and Schering-Plough will not be realized, or will not be realized within the expected time period; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation; the risk that the businesses will not be integrated successfully; disruption from the merger making it more difficult to maintain business and operational relationships; Merck's ability to accurately predict future market conditions; dependence on the effectiveness of Merck's patents and other protections for innovative products; the risk of new and changing regulation and health policies in the United States and internationally and the exposure to litigation and/or regulatory actions. Merck undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in Merck's 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) available at the SEC's Internet site (sec.gov).
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1 National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). Update on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccines. An Advisory Committee Statement (ACS). can Commum Dis Rep 2012;37(ACS-7):1-62. Available at phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/ccdr-rmtc/11vol37/acs-dcc-8/index-eng.php2 GARDASIL® Product Monograph, July 14, 2011. Pages 18-20. Available at merck.ca3 GARDASIL® Product Monograph, July 14, 2011. Pages 18-20. Available at merck.ca