Chemo?

I think this is a useful article looking at chemo from The Life Organic blog by Dale Atkinson (Stage IV cancer); 'Chemotherapy: what it can cure, what it can’t, and what we have to own after the drip stops' https://thelifeorganic.com/chemotherapy-what-it-can-cure-what-it-cant-and-what-we-have-to-own-after-the-drip-stops/

The article covers lots more but in terms of prostate cancer here is a brief summary:

Prostate cancer: In metastatic hormone-sensitive disease, chemotherapy can offer survival benefits alongside androgen deprivation, but it is not curative in this metastatic stage. Guidelines and large trials agree on this: https://www.cancer.gov/types/prostate/patient/prostate-treatment-pdq 

Make your own probiotics

I regularly get the Embracing Nutrition newsletter (sign up at bottom of page of their website) and there are some great recipes and articles. A newsletter from last September highlighted 9 simple recipes for homemade probiotic foods - all dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan-friendly. However what I found most interesting was how you can create starter cultures from probiotic tablets. I hadn't really thought about it before but it seems so obvious and a great way to cut costs.

See their blog on importance of gut health here: https://embracingnutrition.co.uk/new-discoveries-in-microbiome-gut-health/

And here's part of what they wrote in the blog about creating probiotics:

Understanding Fermentation Starters

To make probiotics at home, you need a starter culture. This is what introduces the beneficial bacteria or yeast that ferment your food or drink. There are several ways to get started:

• Probiotic capsules or powders – simply open a capsule containing live strains like Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium and stir the powder into your base (such as coconut milk or cashews).

  
  

• Commercial starter cultures – vegan yoghurt starters, kefir grains, SCOBYs (for kombucha), tempeh spores, and koji (for miso) are all available online and give consistent results.

  
  

• Using an existing fermented food (backslopping) – you can add a spoonful of live yoghurt, kefir, or raw sauerkraut to kickstart a new batch. This is the most traditional method and often produces great results.

And their recipes here:

Homemade Live Cashew Probiotic Cheese
Homemade Live Kombucha
Homemade Live Fermented Pickles with Mixed Vegetables
Homemade Live Tempeh
Homemade Live Miso (simplified)
Homemade Live Kimchi
Homemade Live Sauerkraut
Homemade Live Coconut Water Kefir
Homemade Live Coconut Yoghurt

ESMO 2025: Prostate highlights

Dr María Natalia Gandur Quiroga gives her pick of the key prostate cancer abstracts from the European Society of Medical Oncology 2025 -this is all about improvements to standard drug treatments - however it although only 6 mins long it requires good concentration for those of us not so well versed in drug names! See it at: https://ecancer.org/en/video/12536-esmo-2025-prostate-highlights

At last an explanation for prostate cancer that makes more sense!

Mark Lintern, architect of the Cell Suppression Theory of Cancer shares his recent insights into the nature of prostate cancer in this great radio show.

Yes to Life write: "Prostate cancer has tended to be an anomaly amongst cancer types, failing to support even the most accurate theories, and has managed to elude rational explanation – as of course has cancer as a whole.

"Mark Lintern has recently turned his attention to this anomaly to see if he is able to explain its workings within his novel Cell Suppression Theory of cancer. His conclusion is that yes, he can explain the process of cancer within the same model as other cancers, but also that the reason its behaviour appears different is due to the signature cell metabolism that sets it apart from other tissues".

I will be sending this link to my oncologist to see what her thoughts might be regarding this.

You can listen to this show “Prostate Proposition” via the link below:

https://yestolife.org.uk/radio-shows/

Or at: https://ukhealthradio.com/blog/episode/prostate-proposition-mark-lintern-architect-of-the-cell-suppression-theory-of-cancer-shares-his-recent-insights-into-the-nature-of-prostate-cancer/

See more of Mark on this blog including links to the podcasts explaining his work: https://myunexpectedguide.blogspot.com/2024/08/mark-lintern-and-his-inspiring-look.html

And here are three articles by Mark on Substack:

https://marklinterncst.substack.com/p/prostate-cancer-a-new-explanation

Here's part two: https://marklinterncst.substack.com/p/prostate-cancer-a-new-explanation-ffe

Metformin and prostate cancer

The charity Yes to Life brought my attention to this aspect of the major UK study; the STAMPEDE trial. It recently explored whether adding metformin, a commonly used diabetes medication, to hormone therapy could improve outcomes for men starting treatment for advanced prostate cancer.

The results were not a simple yes or no.

As Yes to Life note "the study did not show a clear improvement in overall survival for most people. But it did show something quieter, and still important. Metformin helped reduce some of the physical strain that hormone therapy can place on the body, including weight gain and changes to blood sugar and cholesterol."

This is a wonderful reminder that care is not only about the tumour. It is about the whole person. The body that is carrying the treatment.

Yes to Life write: "It is also a reminder of why evidence matters. Integrative support should never be about quick fixes or promises. It should be about thoughtful, well-informed care that works alongside medical treatment, not instead of it."

If you would like to read the full article, you can find it here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(25)00231-1/fulltext

It is also worth mentioning that Metformin maybe takes a key role in the treatment of other cancers using off-label drugs and others to 'starve' the cancer. See more about that at: https://myunexpectedguide.blogspot.com/2018/09/can-we-starve-our-cancer.html

Say no to Palantir in the NHS

NHS England is rolling out software to run our health records from Palantir – a US spy-tech firm that has supported mass deportation in the US and enabled genocide in Gaza. One of Palantir’s founders is also openly against the NHS. Peter Thiel claimed it “makes people sick” and said that the British people love the NHS because we’re suffering from Stockholm syndrome.

We can’t let a company like this take control of our healthcare system. I've already sent an email to Gloucestershire Health Services - please join me in sending your health services an email.

The Good LawProject have set up a simple tool so you can find out if your local NHS trust has started using the software, and then send an email demanding they say no to Palantir. With the government putting NHS trusts under pressure to adopt the software, we need to act right now. 

If you want to keep Palantir out of our NHS, send an email to your local trust and Wes Streeting, secretary of state for health.

Click on ,link now:

https://notopalantir.goodlawproject.org/email-to-target/stop-palantir-in-the-nhs/

Update 1.2.26: Useful article linking to more on Palantir: https://www.thenerve.news/p/technofascism-us-america-fascism-trump-palantir-peter-thiel-uk-nigel-farage-reform