Recently, FDA Dir., Arthur Hull Hays, jr., who approved Aspartame (1981) for 'safe' public consumption, died from Pancreatic Cancer - one of several Cancers experienced by animals fed Aspartame in the laboratory. Could there be a possible connection?
Other high-profile Pancreatic Cancer victims include: Steve Jobs, Michael Landon and Patrick Swayze. Guessing the one common thread that runs through all four cases was Aspartame use.
Other stars who have died from pancreatic cancer include Fred Gwynne, most noted for his portrayal of Herman Munster. Actors Rex Harrison, Donna Reed, Fernando Lamas and Richard Crenna also died of this disease.
Pancreatic cancer recently claimed the life of Luciano Pavarotti. Also a diabetic, Pavarotti was a probable heavy user of the artificial sweeteners and products containing Aspartame.
Incredible that this harmful product (Aspartame, aka NutraSweet, Equal, Canderel, AminoSweet, Neotame) is still out there in over 7,000 products worldwide.
Pancreatic cancer, according to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (pancan.org), is the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the United States.
What's more, it kills with a sniper's lethal efficiency: More than 76 percent of the estimated 43,000 new cases diagnosed in 2010 will prove fatal within a year. The five-year survival rate for the disease is nearly nonexistent: less than 5 percent.
So why has pancreatic cancer flown under our collective radar for so long?
Rachel Gleichenhaus, who volunteers for the Palm Beach County Chapter of PCAN (and lost her grandfather to the disease), explains, "Despite the statistics, research into this deadly disease is severely underfunded by the National Cancer Institute. There are no early-detection methods, few effective treatment options, and no cure."
Indeed, we all watched the swift, sad, inexorable decline of actor Patrick Swayze before he succumbed to the disease in September 2009. What struck me about Swayze's ordeal was how little progress we seem to have made since Michael Landon, another handsome, rugged actor, died of pancreatic cancer in July 1991, just three months after his diagnosis.
Sure, Swayze might have lived a bit longer despite his stage 4 condition - perhaps the result of the experimental treatment drugs he was receiving - but realistically, there was little hope for his survival.
Risk factors
Of course, both Swayze and Landon were lifelong habitual smokers - making them up to five times more likely than nonsmokers to develop pancreatic cancer, according to WebMD.com.
Other risk factors for the disease include poor diet, a sedentary lifestyle and obesity. In addition, certain forms of diabetes significantly increase the likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer. (With November already being National Diabetes Awareness Month, perhaps it's time for advocates of both diseases to join forces.)
Taking into account the typical American lifestyle, these factors are why the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network estimates that, in the next 20 years, there will be a 55 percent increase in the incidence of pancreatic cancer.
Part of what makes pancreatic cancer so difficult to diagnose is that its primary early symptoms - abdominal pain, back pain, unexplained weight loss - are often mistaken for other maladies. Other warning signs, according to Dr. Mehmet Oz, include yellow, jaundiced skin and white stool.
Usually, by the time the disease is correctly identified, it's pretty far advanced. Hall of Fame football player and NFLPA union head Gene Upshaw was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer less than a week before he died from it in 2008.
On Nov 11, 2010, at 11:08 AM, marystod2001@yahoo.com wrote:
Palm Beach Post art. by Steve Dorfman. certain forms of diabetes significantly increase the likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer. (With November already being National Diabetes Awareness Month, perhaps it's time for advocates of both diseases t
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/health/crist-leaves-healthful-legacy-with-pancreatic-cancer-awareness-1030790.html?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4cdc23226e4abced,0
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