Invite the Light Into Your Being

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Eckhart Tolle is widely recognized as one of the most original and inspiring spiritual teachers of our time. He travels and teaches throughout the world.

Eckhart is not aligned with any particular religion or tradition, but excludes none. His profound yet simple and practical teachings have helped thousands of people find inner peace, healing and greater fulfillment in their lives. At the core of his teachings lies the transformation of individual and collective human consciousness – a global spiritual awakening.

Eckhart Tolle is the author of The Power of Now, a #1 New York Times Bestseller, which has been translated into 32 languages and become one of the most influential spiritual books of our time.

In his most recent book, A New Earth, he shows how transcending our ego-based state     of consciousness is not only essential to personal happiness, but also the key to ending conflict and suffering throughout the world.

  Preview Eckhart’s Searching for Happiness?

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Ossama Suleiman’s 8 Year Glioblastoma Survivor

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This ‘Dying’ Person’s Advice: Living Will Give You Reasons To Love Your Life

They say you don’t value things till you lose them– life isn’t an exception either.

It’s easy for us to say that we take life for granted. We crib about insignificant things and fail to notice         the beauty in everything around us. You know what serves as a wake-up call? The realization of the fact    that we’re all here for a very, very limited time. We’re all like cartons of milk with an expiry date!

Step back and look at things from a humbling perspective because life is indeed too short and frankly,         you never know when things could start going downhill.

A Quora user asked an existential question – As a dying person, what is your advice to the living? While all of us were expecting normal answers like travel as if there is no tomorrow, finish your bucket list, be nice to people etc, there was one answer that’ll bring tears to our eyes.

User Ossama Suleiman narrated his story — how he battled with cancer, doctors gave up on him and                how he gave up on life. 8 years later, he’s still alive to tell his story and how he found the meaning of life      all over again.   https://www.facebook.com/ossama.suleiman

Diagnosed with glioblastoma, a grade 4 brain cancer, Ossama Suleiman was only given a couple of months to live, a year if he was lucky, but that was eight years ago.

 What changed?  He decided to do things that made him happy/ He worked on himself, travelled, exercised, met friends, gave up on people who didn’t make him happy, spent time with family and worked really hard. He writes, all doctors have is stats, but aren’t we all living in a time frame anyway? Live like there’s no tomorrow.

Ossama Suleiman’s  8 Year Glioblastoma Brain cancer Survivor story *.

In 2014 I was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic lung cancer that had already spread to lymph nodes and pleural sac. I started with some nasty chemotherapy that wiped out my white and red blood cell counts. I developed some major and minor infections including a lung abcess that required a hospital stay. I had several blood transfusions. My fatigue was terrible and I had to go on medical leave from work a couple of months after starting treatment. The treatment worked and soon I felt almost normal. Went back to work.       I’ve had numerous treatments since then; some worked some didn’t.

I’ve run out of options that insurance will cover for chemo or immunotherapy treatment and the cancer has spread very aggressively to my brain and I get zapped by radiation beams frequently (which works 80–90% of the time). Still the brain begins to resemble Swiss cheese and at some point vital tissue will be eaten by cancer or killed by the rads.

I’ve lost about a quarter of the feeling and function in my feet and had to adjust to that.  No footraces for me 🙂

I left work a few months ago because with the brain issue I thought my function would degrade and I didn’t want to be a burden to my co-workers and I was so encouraged by   upper management to focus on my illness with their blessing. I work for the best rated technology company to work for in the US as ranked by Fortune Magazine and they deserve it.

What I have is 100% terminal. I am now in the 2% percentile for survival with the brain metastases alone.

I go into such detail to outline my situation.

I have always been the type of person who sees adversity as a challenge, like a game to be won. It’s just my personality. I take it pretty lightly most of the time; it’s a fun way to be.

When this first started I was a bit pensive and reflective. I’ve always been agnostic so           I didn’t re-examine my beliefs or ask God for help – just not wired that way. I then tried     to live as normally as possible.  I have a wife and three grown children who rely on me     and a focus has been making sure I can be there for them now and after the inevitable.

Oddly I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been scared. Concerned, yes,     and I consider the side effects a pain in the rear.  But I’m not scared and I don’t act that way and it’s not an act. I question myself all the time about this. I make dark jokes all the time and respond to cancer issues with jokes. Examples: A guy who sells flowers sold me some flowers that I was concerned would wilt quickly.

A few days later I was going to lunch with friends and the seller got into the elevator       and asks “Not dead yet?” We all stared silent at him and he turned white and started stammering an apology. I just started laughing and told him it was OK and my friends slowly started to laugh and take the faux pas lightly. The tension passed. Recently an old friend told me she thought something I had written was smart and would continue to be for other writings. I replied “Not for long :-)” A joke but reality.

I am a bit debilitated and everyone knows it. I know the deal with protected medical privacy but except for very private issues I’m very open with all aspects of my disease      and treatment and effects.  I’m not embarrassed…. to ask for help or accommodation       when I need it. And I think partially because of my attitude everyone jumps to help          me out.

As I mentioned I recently left work on leave which would have become permanent this week. Top management at the company considers me brave. Maybe the casual attitude. Maybe the jokes. I don’t know why. But they have bent over backwards. They have decided to keep me on the roles as active with full pay and benefits. I didn’t ask for that but it allows me to live my same lifestyle and not be driven broke by medical costs.

In fact everyone is in awe of my attitude and think that I’m incredibly brave. It’s embarrassing. I’m not brave. I’m just wired this way like people you hear about who run into a burning building without a thought or the guys who rushed armed terrorists on a train barehanded. They chuckle and act sheepishly in interviews when told they’re are brave heroes they are and I suspect that it’s because they don’t understand the whole bravery thing. They just reacted. I just react.

I pulled some financial tricks that netted us enough money to supplement the lifestyle        a bit. Helping our grown children. Buying little things we’ve needed or wanted.

And you know? Like Ossama said once you’ve settled and have relieved yourself of    concerns outside of your health it’s great! I can tinker all day with a computer issue            or order a weird kitchen appliance and play with or play a complex and time intense computer game or binge watch a Netflix series with my wife.

We recently took a road trip for a weekend at the Kennedy Space Center. The night we     got there we ate dinner at a beachside little bar and grill with a funny and snarky 1-man band and it was the most fun out we’d had in ages. We had to skip the KSC tour because    of a family crisis but still that trip is a very fond memory for both of us.   And the crisis worked out OK.

Avoiding boredom is the only real problem but I’ll solve that one real soon 🙂 I mentioned I am competitive? This is my video game; Me versus cancer and I’m shooting for a high score. Because I’m “brave” lol.

But I’m not a robot. I get short-tempered and cranky at times. I know deep-down some part of me is depressed because I show signs that I recognize from a period of clinical depression I had many years ago. I tear up at hokey contrived scenes in movies. Stuff like that.

The title question is a bit vague. Advice on how to cope with finding out you’re dying or how to treat people who are? Or something more metaphysical which I suck at?

My Advice to the Living, as a Dying Person!!!

Treat your nurses and administrative staff like family. Bring them chocolates and snacks and little things from time-to-time. They deserve it. They become emotionally involved with your treatment and are more open and honest with you because of it. Just don’t expect nor ask for special treatment. Be open and friendly with your doctors. Ask them about and keep up with as much of their lives as they’ll share. Spouses names, children’s names, likes/dislikes. Study up and learn as much as you can about your condition so that you can ask intelligent questions. It’ll promote honesty and they won’t be afraid to sugarcoat things.

Do not become a burden to friends and family if you can help it. Stay light-hearted. Talk about your condition openly and honestly if asked. Don’t obsess over it. Do everything you can to change focus to other things. When they stop treating you different you know you’re doing something right. When your spouse starts yelling at you for forgetting an item at the grocery store you’ve got it down.

If someone shows genuine concern and you know it’s bothering them make a joke.

Like Ossama said keep busy. Do things that you love to do “off the clock”. Meaning do what you love, adopt a hobby but make sure no one depends on your deliverables or there are hard timelines or other conditions. Make no hard commitments unless you are 100% able to do them. I had to miss a friends wedding because I was physically unable to do it and it tore my guts out. I committed when I should have been “maybe” all along.

Treat everyone better and go overboard in that with close friends and family. Better to be remembered as “that nice guy” then “nasty bastard”.

Ensure to the best of your ability that those who rely on you will be taken care of, preferably in a way that is normalized as closely as possible to what you do now.

Don’t just dump money on them; I’ve seen people who didn’t handle that well and the   end result was not good. Organize small one-time charity or help charitable groups for people who suffer what you do.

For example I asked my co-workers and friends for donations to buy snacks and treats     for people stuck in a chair for hours during chemo  (and those helping with them as well because they often have to skip meals and breaks).  There are few decent snack foods at hospitals because they frown on salty or sugary treats. I delivered the purchased results     to the head of the chemo room and she was so thrilled and told me later it made a lot of people happy. It cost me little money or time and the return on investment was awesome.

Get rid of things that will become burdens or dangers to your loved ones.  I drove a        high-performance car that my wife was scared to death of  and her car was drowned in Hurricane Irma. I traded mine in for a cute little two seat sports car that lacked the scary parts. We both love it and when I go it won’t be a problem for her. Never show them if it bothers you to do these things. Make it sound like you were happy to do something because it made you happy.

Be a good person. That’ll give folks comfort and fond memories long after you stop caring.

My short advice to those who are healthy dealing with a close one who isn’t is to pick up clues on how to treat them from how they act. Don’t press. Friends and family want to travel to visit and I know they think it’s a last chance or whatever. I hate that but others might appreciate it. Pick up on the emotional clues.

I’m sorry I’ve been so long-winded but after four years I’ve learned a lot about coping. How to deal with others. How to prepare. I’ve just scratched the surface; books have been written on this topic by experts and I’m no expert.

Hope this was informative. It was cathartic for me to write it. Thanks for the question.
Don’t let desperation lead you to try things just because someone advises you to do so. Read the information on this web site thoroughly.   http://drleonardcoldwell.com/father-terminal-brain-cancer-destroyed-tumor-cutting-carb-intake/
Please allow me to introduce myself.   My name is Mary Jo Parker
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The Centenarian Mindset

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For more than a decade, author Dan Buettner has been working to identify hot spots of longevity around the world.  With the help of the National Geographic Society,  Buettner set out to locate places that not only had high concentrations of individuals over 100 years old, but also clusters of people who had grown old without health problems like heart disease, obesity, cancer, or diabetes. 

His findings—along with easy steps you can take to live more like these cultures—can be found in his book, The Blue Zones Solution.

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  This island eight miles       off the coast of Turkey in the Aegean Sea has some of the world’s lowest rates of middle-age mortality and dementia. Research links their increased longevity with their traditional Mediterranean diet, which is heavy in vegetables and healthy fats and contains smaller amounts of dairy and meat products.

2. Okinawa, Japan

  The largest island in a subtropical archipelago controlled by Japan, Okinawa is home to the world’s longest-lived women. Food staples like Okinawan sweet potatoes, soybeans, mugwort, turmeric, and goya (bitter melon) keep Okinawans living long and healthy lives.

3. Ogliastra Region, Sardinia

  The mountainous highlands of this Italian island boast the world’s highest concentration of centenarian men. Its population consumes a low-protein diet associated with lower rates of diabetes, cancer, and death for people under age 65.  In this magnificent Mediterranean island people are living longer than anywhere else.  Also the number of residents over 100 years old is unusually high. For the last 10 years researchers have tried to find the secrets of their outstanding physical and mental health.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COwvDq_HBgI

4. Loma Linda, California

 This community has        the highest concentration of Seventh-day Adventists in the United States, and some residents live 10 more healthy years than the average American by following a biblical diet of grains,  fruits, nuts, and vegetables.

  In this region of       Central America, residents have the world’s lowest rate of middle-age mortality and the second highest concentration of male centenarians. Their longevity secret lies partly in their strong faith communities,    deep social networks, and habits of regular, low-intensity physical activity.

                                            “I may give out, but I never give up”

Preview  109-Year-Old Veteran and His Secrets to Life

Will Make You Smile | Short Film Showcase

  ALSO in a  poll in 2010 found that just 16% of Czechs say they do believe       in a God, which is the lowest rate among all European Union countries.

The current population of Czech Republic is 10,623,193 as of Thursday, March 15, 2018, based on the latest United Nations estimates. The Czech Republic population is equivalent to 0.14% of the total world population.  However,  673 centenarians in the small country where  64% of     Czech Republic’s population is Czech,  followed by Moravians (5%), Slovaks (1.4%), Poles (0.4%) and Germans (0.2%).  https://www.tasteofprague.com/pragueblog/traditional-czech-food-in-prague-what-to-have-and-where-to-have-it    http://czechrepublic.wikispaces.com/Czech+eating+habits

   People who reach the age of 100 years or more, are currently the fastest growing  part of the population. You have learned a little about where they live, how they live, and have taken away maybe one or two of their secrets.

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So you may now be wondering just how many centenarians are there currently living on this planet we call home? Current estimates put the figure of total centenarians worldwide at about 450,000. Exact numbers may be difficult to determine, since many centenarians live in developing or outlying areas, where census data is not often available. However the numbers of centenarians in industrialized nations are still rather impressive.

The West

In total numbers the United States has the most centenarians with currant estimates as high as 72,000. If the population of centenarians continues to increase at its current rate of expansion there could be close to 1 million people of 100 years of age or more by 2050 residing in the US. In the UK while the overall numbers of centenarians are much smaller the trend is the same. The Office of National Statistics reports around 9000 centenarians today in The UK and Wales, a 90-fold increase since 1911, a 7% plus increase since 2005. At the current rate of expansion, UK’s centenarian population could reach over 40,000 by 2031. As in other parts of the industrialized world people over 90 are the fastest growing segment of the population in the UK.

The East

In total numbers of centenarians Japan is second to the US, with a current population of about 30,000. However that number has almost quadrupled in the last 10 years, making the centenarians population in Japan rising more dramatically then anywhere else. At its current rate of expansion Japan’s population of centenarians may rival that of the United States in sheer numbers in the years ahead. Certainly by 2050 Japan proportionally will have the most centenarians in the world.

In direct proportion to its large population China does not have a high percentage of centenarians, about 7000 officially in the least census. However with the rate of expansion of the population in general in China, and also  number of centenarians increasing proportionally,  it is estimated that in total numbers China will actually lead the world population of centenarians by 2050, with over 450,000. Since the death of Dominica’s “Ma Pampo”, the “official” world’s oldest person currently resides in Japan, Yone Minigawa at 114.

Everywhere Else

The are many other places in the world that sport high populations of centenarians,    many of them claiming to have the  “Most Centenarians” (based on their population) in    the world. The most recent such claim goes to the Czech Republic where a just completed census says that it has 673 centenarians in the small country.  Other countries with large centenarian populations include:

  • Spain – 10,000
  • France – Over 3000
  • Canada – Roughly 5000
  • Italy – 4500 – 5000

https://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/2013-9-6-places-america-people-live-longest/

In the United States a growing number of Americans are living to age 100. Nationwide, the centenarian population has grown 65.8 percent over the past three decades, from 32,194 people who were age 100 or older in 1980 to 53,364 centenarians in 2010, according to new Census Bureau data. In 2014, there were 72,197 Americans aged 100 or older, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That number is up 44 percent from 2000, when there were only 50,281 centenarians.

One-quarter of what you eat keeps you alive.
The other three-quarters keeps your doctor alive.
(Hieroglyph found in an ancient Egyptian tomb.)

So how do you know if living right pays off?

It is widely accepted that regular exercise, keeping your weight right and avoiding tobacco all reduce health risks across the board.  Vegetarian meals and vitamin supplements also carry clear benefits. But what do you say to the almost inevitable comment that so-and-so did everything wrong and still lived to the age of 96?

Having heard this one before, I offer this response. Outside of positive mental attitude, fortunate heredity and the grace of God, for every one who broke the laws of nature and lived, I can show you hundreds more buried in neat rows. An elderly, healthy priest was asked if you could still get into heaven if you ate junk food. “Yes,” he said, “And a lot more quickly, too.”

It is likely that you personally know precious few old persons who are in good health after a lifetime of bad habits. A relative of mine broke all the rules of nutrition and logic by smoking, drinking, being overweight, and eating lard spread on bread. Yes, he lived into his mid-nineties. But no, he was hardly the picture of health, and had been completely dependent on others and in continual discomfort for many years. Length of life is not quality of life.

It is just amazing how tough the human body can be, sometimes. Beggars in India were found to have fewer, yes fewer, dental cavities than well-fed persons in most wealthy Western countries.  In one study of 160 beggars, carious teeth were noted in only two.

The overall health of the beggars was remarkably similar to that of a comparison group of 80 medical students. “Clinically, the physical status of the two groups did not vary much… 94 percent of the beggars were free from symptoms and signs of avitaminosis or hypovitaminosis (vitamin deficiency disease)”. (Pathak, C. L. “Nutritional Adaptation to Low Dietary Intakes of Calories, Proteins, Vitamins and Minerals in the Tropics,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 6, No. 2, March-April, 1958, pp 151-158.)

Please do not hurry to catch the next boat to Calcutta just to try to stop Mother Theresa’s workers from helping the destitute. The truly poor and the sick need all the help they can get. Still, there is a puzzle here.  Is it what the beggars ate, or what they didn’t eat, that enabled them to survive in impossible nutrition conditions?

Pathak’s above study indicated that beggars ate less and “were always underfed.”

There: the overweight connection. The medical students were perhaps overfed, however, undernourished, eating more sugar and processed foods. The study also proposed that the beggars had better intestinal flora, or friendly digestive tract bacteria, to synthesize more of certain B-vitamins for them.  That would figure,  for  beggars  would  receive  far fewer courses of antibiotics than “properly” cared for students. At the very least, I think we are left with the suggestion that we should eat less in general, eat less sugar in particular, and eat some more yogurt.

We’ve tried a few impromptu nutritional experiments in our house. My son had a gerbil that ate fresh seeds, grains, nuts and garden vegetables. We also fed the gerbil fresh, raw bean sprouts. There definitely were times when my son forgot to feed the animal at all.  The gerbil’s name was Mister Chubb, and don’t ask why from a boy who invented a dish called dogstocket. In round numbers, Mr. Chubb lived six and one half years. That is very, very old for an animal whose heart rate is hundreds of beats per minute. Oh, I do wish I’d contacted the Guiness Book of World Records on this one, but who would have thought to have certified the birthdate of a rodent?

We’ve also had some rather long-lived cats, and even a catfish that is surely eligible for a pension. The cats get raw egg yolk and what the catfish eats is indescribable. Our dog gets carrot pulp left over from the juicer mixed into her dog food, and has never needed to go  to the vet except to be spayed. My wife raised an amazingly ancient parakeet. It would eat sprouts, too. (Hey, everybody in this family eats sprouts!)

There is, presumably, a point to all of this show-and-tell, and here it is: the common thread connecting all these species of pets is that we have systematically underfed them.

I do not mean that they have been starved, but they are seldom allowed to eat their fill.

All our pets are a little hungry. In nature, this seems to be the rule by necessity. With pets, and their keepers, it is a healthy rule by design: planned undereating promotes longevity.  The best exercise is still to push yourself away from the table. Or the dog dish.

UCLA Medical School professor Roy L. Walford has written a book detailing how he has “added 40 percent to the normal life span of mice and … kept fish alive 300 percent longer than normal” (Zucker, M. Of mice and men: eating less and living longer. Let’s Live, May, 1983, p 44). The book is called Maximum Life Span (W. W. Norton), and is all about “undernutrition without malnutrition.”

The beggars in Pathak’s study provide some confirmation for this idea. Now: would they have been healthier with a better balanced diet and vitamin supplements? Sure. I think we all would be. But with many vitamins, the B-complex in particular, vitamin need parallels food intake. If you avoid unnecessary calories, your vitamin need can actually decline.

This also means that if you over eat, your vitamin need is going to be higher. Unfortunately, just eating more of the Standard American Diet (our SAD, really SAD diet) full of empty calories from foodless foods does not provide healthy quantities of vitamins. Eating more of the wrong thing is no solution.

We all know that eating right is important. Eating less may accomplish more. As expressed in the vedic literature of ancient India:

 “Hunger is not the cause of death, for death comes to the man who has eaten.”

“Eat less? Eat right? Why bother, when you are just going to be run over by a bus someday anyway?” Aside from the fact that statistics show that few people are done in so spectacularly, while well over half of us do indeed die from diet-related disease, this is really a question of self-image. If I don’t care, then I don’t have to act. If students declare to anyone who will listen that they “didn’t study, and didn’t even read the chapter,” then they have prefabricated an excuse for the bad test grade that they are about to create. If “everything causes cancer, so don’t tell me what to eat” is part of your personal code, then why bother? Avoid the rush: buy a box now, and climb in.

An ounce of prevention is still worth a pound of cure, and at today’s prices, probably tons of it.

Daily Calorie Intake Per Capita   http://chartsbin.com/view/1150
 

Now for “The Best Health and Longevity Bargains Ever.” May I have the envelope, please. The best health bargains ever are:

  1. The don’t-stuff-yourself Vegetarian Diet, or as close as you can manage it
  2. The High-Potency, Natural Multivitamin-Multimineral Supplement
  3. The use of Extra Vitamin C and Extra Vitamin E Each Day
  4. Eating lots of Raw Foods (like salads and sprouts) and Fresh Raw Vegetable Juices

How do you prove that this will work? Medical and nutritional research proves it over and over again. So do the many millions of Americans who take vitamin supplements each day.  Here are seven secrets they cite for living a long and happy life.

  1. A Positive Attitude Trudi Fletcher of Tubac, Ariz., a lifelong artist, remains an innovative painter at 100 and recently had a gallery exhibition showing off her new style. She credits her creative longevity to “attitude, attitude, attitude.” Almost all of the centenarians we spoke to \believe a positive yet realistic attitude is critical throughout one’s life and described themselves as optimistic people.
  2. Diet Here’s diet advice you may not have heard before: Eat like it’s 1960. Our centenarians were critical of today’ssupersized portions; the majority advised just eating nutritious food in moderation. Only 20 percent said they had ever been on a specialized diet plan, although some had become vegetarians. Lillian Cox, 107, of Tallahassee, Fla., confided that in her 50s she became “quite heavy” but resolved to lose the weight, did so and kept it off by just eating less. The stylish former dress shop owner says, “I was a good advertisement for the merchandise I selected on my frequent buying trips to New York.”

(MORE: Do You Have What It Takes to Age in Good Health?)

  1. Exercise “Move it or lose it,” says Louise Caulder, 101. “I don’t leave my bedroom before doing 30 minutes of stretches. Later, I walk a mile. Three times a week I play bridge. You’ve got to exercise your mind as well as your body — everyone knows that, but I wonder how many are actually doing it.” A few centenarians who successfully maintained their athleticism or gained new skills in later years have competed in the Senior Games. “I always thought of myself as an ordinary guy, but once I was in my 90s, I looked around and realized I was the oldest one at the lanes and I could still keep up my score,” says bowler George Blevins, 100. “So I entered the Senior Games and have enjoyed winning several medals, even at 100.”

Joe Meyser, 102, took up golf at 70, got pretty good and began competing in the Senior Games himself. “I drove to wherever they were holding them that year in my camper,”      he says. “It was fun. I gave up the camper when I was 97, but won a gold medal at 100.”

  1. Faith It came as no surprise to us that almost all centenarians we spoke to said that their faith has sustained them. Most believe they will be here as long as God has a purpose for them. “Perhaps we are here to be an example to others in hard times,” says Roberta McRaney, 101, whose original home was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, as did her rebuilt house.
  1. Clean Living Harry Adler, 101, says it’s this simple: “Just stay out of trouble.” Everyone’s interpretation of that advice may vary, but many centenarians told us it means doing what you know is right and following your conscience. Also, almost 75 percent of the centenarians we surveyed never smoked; most of the others stopped between the ages of 40 and 70. And while some never drank, most said they enjoyed only an occasional cocktail or a glass of wine; some still do.
  2. A Loving Family Family was universally important to centenarians. They enjoy their roles as matriarchs or patriarchs and many spoke of the pleasure of watching younger generations grow and flourish. One respondent credited her longevity to “a wonderful and loving family, the good Lord and a rum and Coke every afternoon.”
  3. Genetics All of the secrets mentioned so far reflect lifestyle choices that can influence longevity to varying degrees, but our genetic makeupmakes a difference as well. “I picked the right parents and genes!” says Andy Weinandy, 100. Until medical science devises new ways to help us work with the genes we’ve been dealt, the secret is that some of us will be more prone to longevity than others. But there’s no reason to be discouraged: A large percentage of centenarians we surveyed said their parents and grandparents were not especially long-lived.

Despite the inevitable ups and downs, the biggest secret these centenarians shared is that living to 100 is worth the effort. Like climbing a mountain, we should aspire to reach that height, not just because it is there, but because the view from the top is unsurpassed.

Lynn Peters Adler, J.D., is the co-author, with Steve Franklin, Ph.D., of the new book, Celebrate 100: Centenarian Secrets to Success in Business and Life. She is founder and director of the National Centenarian Awareness Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating centenarians and combating ageism.

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Life Expectancy Calculator

The Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator uses the most current and carefully researched medical and scientific data in order to estimate how old you will live to be. Most people score in their late eighties… how about you?

The calculator asks you 40 quick questions related to your health and family history, and takes about 10 minutes to complete. At the end, you will be asked to create an account to store your answers.

TAKE THE CALCULATOR

Tis video asked three centenarians what their most valuable life lessons were, and also their regrets. The conversations that followed were remarkable.  They talked about the importance of family, people, relationships and love.  Their view on life,  as an elderly citizen with a lot of experience is truly an inspiration and motivation. Enjoy the video!

Preview  Life Lessons  From  100-Year-Olds

Delphine Gibson  (née Tucker;  born 17 August 1903)  is  also  a validated American supercentenarian who is the oldest living American resident. She has been the oldest living person in the United States  since the death of 114-year old Adele Dunlap  on  5 February 2017 and the oldest living American citizen since the death of American emigrant Marie-Josephine Gaudette, who lived in Rome, Italy, on 13 July 2017. She is also the last known surviving person in the USA born in 1903.

On 1 September 1980, Taylor passed away at the age of 88 and Delphine became widowed. A few years after his death, she became blind. In 1998, it was reported that she was granted a handicapped parking space for her and her caretaker due to her blindness. In 2004, she moved to the Huntingdon Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

At the time of her 110th birthday, it was reported that Gibson used a wheelchair but was in good spirits. For instance, she was hymning ”Oh How I Love Jesus” as well as joking about receiving presents for her special milestone.

To honour Gibson’s 112th birthday, the mayor of Huntingdon declared the week of her birthday as ”Delphine Gibson

List of oldest people by U.S. state of birth

United States’ Oldest Living Person Titleholders (VE)
Clarida RoyMary BittlebrunSophia DeMuthFannie ThomasNellie Spencer • Emma Wilson • Mathew Beard • Augusta Holtz • Mary McKinney • Florence Knapp • Lucy Hannah • Margaret SkeeteWilhelmina Kott • Sarah Knauss • Myrtle Dorsey • Maud Farris-LuseGrace Clawson • Adelina Domingues • Mae Harrington • Mary Christian • Elena Slough • Charlotte Benkner • Emma Verona Johnston • Elizabeth Bolden • Emma TillmanCorinne Dixon Taylor • Edna Parker • Gertrude Baines • Mary Josephine Ray • Neva Morris • Eunice Sanborn • Besse Cooper • Dina Manfredini • Gertrude Weaver • Jeralean Talley • Susannah Mushatt Jones • Goldie Michelson • Adele DunlapDelphine Gibson

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The Social Acceptance of Cannabis

Image titled Identify Female and Male Marijuana Plants Step 3

What is the first recorded use of cannabis?

The Scythians were a barbaric group of pre-Common Era nomadic tribes who are a fascinating example of an ancient cannabis using group. The Scythians played a very important part in the Ancient World from the seventh to first century BC. They were expert horsemen, and were one of the earliest peoples to master the art of riding and      using horse-drawn covered wagons.
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This early high mobility is probably why most scholars credit them with the spread of cannabis knowledge throughout the ancient world. Indeed, the Scythian people travelled and settled extensively throughout Europe, the Mediterranean, Central Asia, and Russia, bringing their knowledge of the spiritual and practical uses for cannabis with them.
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Cannabis was an integral part of the Scythian cult of the dead, wherein homage was paid to the memory of their departed leaders. After the death and burial of their king, the Scythians would purify themselves by setting up small tepee-like structures which they would enter to inhale the fumes of hemp seeds (and the resinous flower calyxes surrounding the seeds) thrown onto red-hot stones.

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‘Regarding the Scythian cannabis saunas and seeds. I’m not sure if you are familiar        with the botany of the cannabis plant. But basically the cannabis product that is sold for smoking purposes these days is the flowers of the female plant that usually produce seeds. These are the most potent part of the plant. These flowers (buds), become even stronger if they are forced to grow without pollination, thus producing more of the ‘resin’ that contains the thc and cannaboids that get you ‘stoned’. Modern growing technology and botany have got this down to a fine art, producing a potent, compact product that is easy to sell. and consume. So when Herodotus mentions cannabis seed being thrown onto the hot rocks.
I am sure he is talking about the seed producing flowers of the plant. Even if the female flowers have been pollinated by the male flowers and are producing seeds, it is still the most potent part of the plant, with enough of the good stuff to make you ‘shout with joy’. Did the scythians separate the male and female hemp plants,thus producing a much stronger smoke for their saunas? This will be interesting to try and research.
While marijuana is a very effective medicine for many things, promoting the embrace of “pothead”, criminal culture seems detrimental to our youth as well as an attempt to divert the effort to educate non users on the REAL medicinal benefits of marijuana.  An old market opportunity; In fact, one of the oldest. However, it’s sole recorded use 10.000 years ago was for the hemp. The oil and seeds were commonly in use a couple thousand years later, and medicinal uses are recorded beginning between 3.000 – 2.000 BCE. Bathhouses in the Middle East had steam saunas utilizing marijuana. In most recent history for America, hemp was still a valued agriculture and was grown on farmlands, including that of George Washington and family.
Only female plants will produce enough THC to be used as medicine they won’t create much if they become fertilized. With the pistol is meant to attract pollen. If it gets it, it will create a seed, and all the plants energy and nutrients will be spent making seeds, not making big, THC-full buds. Your female plants are the only ones that will produce a crop, but only if they stay away from the males. Currently it is easy to determine which seeds are male or female, and since only the female plants produce weed, male plants are usually made legal for the production of hemp. Of course, the female plants are at least needed to create male seeds, but have the potential to produce much more.  
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Actually, assume its gender isn’t far off, considering a good growing female plant can       take on stress and hermaphrodite giving you seedy pot without the need for pollination.
Hermaphodites females can grow seeds under stressed conditions without pollen….aren’t void of the flowers and they are still useful, Hermies…. they are female but being able to pollinate themselves makes them She-males. But you will probably want to eliminate the seeds and seed pods before making medicine, they will make it taste even worse than it does regularly.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3IhmPDLRvM
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     The chemicals behind the high are THC and CBD, both with unique properties that reveal themselves differently dependent on the method of use. THC is what makes you giddy or, potentially, paranoid – THC intensifies emotional feeling. CBD, however, works as a muscle relaxant; and, can be ingested for a pain relieving effect or applied topically onto sore muscles to help ease sourness/stiffness (since the most effective method of obtaining CBD is by extracting the oil from the female plant which has a high CBD content). Hopefully, the medicinal properties of the marijuana plant can continue to be discovered as the plant is easy and cheap to grow, and produces a lot of resources.
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Cannabis: Myths and Realities

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By Kaylynn Chiarello-Ebner

January 20, 2016

Learn what this growing market segment has to offer. Shoppers are increasingly interested in cannabis, and industry companies are developing more and more products  to fill this need. But, not everyone (and every store) has accepted this burgeoning market with open arms. Confusion about the facts and realities may be the source of some of this hesitation. Here, several cannabis experts clarify some top myths about this herb and products sourced from it.

Myth: Hemp and Marijuana Are the Same Thing

While hemp and marijuana can both be derived from Cannabis sativa, marijuana can     also come from other varieties of the same plant. Both products have unique and distinct compositions and usually come from different parts of the plant.  Confused?  You’re not alone.

Since both agricultural hemp and marijuana are Cannabis sativa, “many people interchangeably consider hemp as marijuana and vice versa. This is not true,” states Sarah Syed,  director of marketing at CannaVest Corp.,  San Diego, CA.       “The classification of the two related species make it hard for people to see that they        are different.”

Jane Wilson, director of program development at the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA),  Silver Spring,  M.D., points out that there is actually a lot of        diversity in the overarching title of  “cannabis.”  Hemp varieties of cannabis are low             in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and can be used to make textiles, rope and building materials. “The oil from hemp seed is a nutritionally dense source of essential fatty      acids and complete protein,” she states. The same cannot be said of marijuana.

And, Syed makes the point that the plants from which hemp and marijuana are derived have quite different characteristics, even though they are both Cannabis sativa. “Marijuana plants are short and bushy, and have high-THC in the flower,” she explains. “Agricultural hemp grows like bamboo, and has low levels of THC.”

To understand industrial hemp versus marijuana, it’s key to talk about some of the     recent history about the sale of hemp-derived products. On October 9, 2001, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) published an Interpretive Rule about the sale of  hemp in the Federal Register banning the sale of any hemp products with trace amounts    of THC in them.  Patent No. 6,630,507: Why the U.S. government holds a patent on cannabis plant compounds 

The Hemp Industries Association and others filed an “Urgent Motion of Stay” and after much back and forth, a key decision was made by the Ninth Circuit in the case of Hemp Industries Assn., vs. Drug Enforcement Admin., 357 F.3d 1012 (9th Cir. 2004), which recognized that “non-psychoactive hemp [that] is derived from the ‘mature stalks’ or is    ‘oil and cake made from the seeds’ of the Cannabis plant,…fits within the plainly stated exception to the [Controlled Substance Act] definition of marijuana.”

In other words, the DEA cannot completely ban hemp products with THC, if they are derived from the stalk and stem of hemp grown outside the United States.Will Kleidon, CEO and founder of Ojai Energetics LLC, Ojai, CA, adds that there may be some changes to these rules in the future, however. “Some people are saying that the 2014 Farm Bill redefines hemp as the whole plant,” he states, adding that using the flowers and parts of the plant outside the stalk and stem may only be legal for research purposes and not for interstate commerce yet.       https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/cannabis-research-studies/

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DISEASE CURE. Did You Know?

The cannabis plant has more than 80 cannabinoid constituents. In fact, most of them cause no psychotropic effects at all. Says Nicole Smith, founder and CEO, Mary’s Medicinals & Mary’s Nutritionals, Denver, CO, “A common misconception is that all cannabis ‘gets you high.’… Most of the therapeutically beneficial compounds that we can extract from cannabis will not cause any psychotropic effects…It is important that retailers understand that there is a lot more to the cannabis plant than just THC.”

One specific cannabinoid, THC, is vital to understanding the cannabis market, however. Wilson explains this compound is responsible for marijuana’s psychoactive effects. “Retailers in states with medical cannabis laws and/or adult use laws can provide or sell products containing THC, but it remains a substance prohibited under federal law by the Controlled Substances Act,” Wilson states. “Retailers electing to sell products containing THC must have an excellent understanding of the licensing and compliance requirements in their state, as well as to whom they can legally sell or provide products under state law.”

THC content is restricted in legal products like CBD oil. Robert LoMacchio, president of Only Natural, Inc., Island Park, NY, believes that THC is not well understood at all, with some believing CBD oil has psychoactive or intoxicating effects. “The truth is, it is believed to have an anti-psychotic effect and could actually be used for anxiety and stress support. In some individuals, it may have a calming effect on the mind and body,” he states.

According to Kleidon, “The psychoactive threshold is set at 0.3% THC, based on the Farm Bill and interstate standards for hemp.”

Conventional hemp-based CBD oils, LoMacchio adds, are standardized to contain less than that legal limit.
To put this trace amount into perspective, Richard Rose, executive director of the Medicinal Hemp Association, states that marijuana’s THC content can be as high as 25%.

Kleidon notes that 0.3% THC may be a fairly conservative percentage threshold, as some research shows psychoactive thresholds at 1% THC or even higher. Nonetheless, his firm actually uses a far lower threshold in its products: 0.03%. He says his company has a patented technique for turning the fat-soluble ingredient into a water-soluble one, thereby improving absorption rate and bioavailability (estimated at 10x). Therefore, less THC is required.

Kleidon believes that having some THC in hemp-derived CBD oils is key for a product’s bioavailability and efficacy. He is suspicious of CBD oils that are void of any cannabinoids with the belief that it may not be efficacious.

Another interesting point comes from Rose, who says THC is actually not psychoactive      in its raw form.  “It is not psychoactive until heated  (“decarboxylated”)  and converted      to psychoactive THC,” he states, noting that raw marijuana is about as psychoactive as potatoes or corn. “Same with cannabis. Eat and also juice it freely for whole plant acid cannabinoids without the high,” he states.

Myth: Regulators Have Outlawed the Sale of CBD Oils as Supplements

According to Rose, “There has never been one raid or arrest for selling CBD in any store, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has never said it was illegal or couldn’t be sold.”

But that doesn’t mean FDA has been completely silent about CBD oils sold as dietary supplements. In February 2015, FDA sent several warning letters to several companies telling them that the CBD oils were making unsubstantiated disease claims or they did    not contain any CBD at all (according to testing conducted by the agency).

Wilson says it is not unusual for companies selling supplements that are out of compliance to receive warning letters, and no, “The warning letters did not otherwise address the legality of CBD supplement products.”

Syed says that many CBD companies are new to the dietary supplements industry            and are unfamiliar with DSHEA and the legal parameters of selling supplements.

She states, “Many CBD companies have been touting health benefits that legally                 we aren’t able to say based on laws established by the FDA, even if they may be true.”

Syed says her company’s strategy is to focus on education. “We have to help guide             the standards of this new category. We are doing what we can to help make sure we         can all remain in this space together, touting benefits we know that are appropriate         and legal to say.”

What may have caused some industry members to believe FDA doesn’t like the idea of CBD oils being sold as supplements  is  its Question and Answer webpage  on medical marijuana.  Here,  says Wilson,  “[FDA] stated its position that CBD is not a dietary ingredient because of the filing of Investigational New Drug (IND) applications and ongoing clinical trials for its use as a registered pharmaceutical. AHPA is not aware of     any enforcement action taken by FDA against marketers of CBD supplement products since that position was made public.”

WholeFoods has spoken to some companies that feel this opinion is clear enough to make them reposition CBD-containing dietary supplements to food products instead. LoMacchio’s interpretation of FDA’s viewpoint, for instance, is “Hemp-based CBD oils must be marketed as a nutritional foods or food additives, not as dietary supplements.”  He is hopeful that with additional research, regulators will show full support of the use      of CBD oils as dietary supplements.

Smith’s company also chooses to market its products outside the supplements realm. “While industry lawyers have indicated that the referenced letters and Q&A posting are  far from a final determination on this issue, we are not offering any CBD supplements or medicines.  We never make any claims about these products,” she states, noting that her firm’s products are classified as cosmetics or food products that are rich in high-quality CBD.

It is also possible that FDA’s opinion has made some companies shift from a CBD focus     to “hemp oil” or “hemp extract.” Wilson suggests that some CBD oil companies may also have chosen to sell their products in states that have legalized marijuana for medical and adult-use purposes or through licensed dispensaries in these states.

Still others, like Ojai Energetics, believe the sale of CBD oil as a supplement falls         within the regulatory framework, provided it is made following FDA’s GMPs for dietary supplements, appropriate analytical testing is conducted and no unsubstantiated disease claims are being made. Ojai Energetics sells CBD oils as supplements and as foods in places like natural products stores and licensed dispensaries.

Rose believes one could make that case that CBD is grandfathered in as a legal dietary ingredient “just like hempseed oil and whole hempseed as a food, and ironically even more-so than shelled hempseed, which was introduced after DSHEA.  But just like hempseed and oil, or echinacea and gingko for that matter, companies make health   claims at their peril.”

There is another angle to the warning letters and Q&A page. Says Rose, “It appears       FDA agrees with what those of us have known for years:  Cannabidiol in hemp is not            a Controlled Substance. Period. Otherwise, FDA would be talking RICO organization    with multiple underlying felonies against the officers of the business.”

Reality: CBD Oil May Throw Drug Testing

According to Kleidon, it is possible that certain individuals who use large amounts            of  THC-containing products may test positive on urine drug tests.  He states, “People    who get drug tested and use large amounts of THC products should be careful and use      at their own discretion.”

Myth: Cannabis Products Are Only for Pain Relief

For starters, retailers cannot promote cannabis-derived products like CBD oil as pain relievers. This is a disease claim, and not an appropriate way to frame how cannabis products benefit the body.

But without question, supporters are convinced that hemp-derived products bolster optimal health in numerous ways. Kleidon attributes these effects to the human endocannabinoid (EC) system, which was discovered in 1988. “We now believe its  function is to regulate homeostasis for the entire body,” he states.

Syed adds that CBD “is capable of affecting nearly every biological process.”

How does THC affect behavior? It depends on where the CB receptors are in the brain.

Brain Structure Regulates THC Effect on User

Amygdala emotions, fear, anxiety panic/paranoia

Basal Ganglia planning/starting a movement slowed reaction time

Brain Stem information between brain and spinal column anti nausea effects

Cerebellum motor coordination, balance impaired coordination

Hippocampus learning new information impaired memory

Hypothalamus eating, sexual behavior increased appetite

Neocortex complex thinking, feeling, and movement altered thinking, judgment, and sensation

Nucleus Accumbens motivation and reward euphoria (feeling good)

Spinal Cord

transmission of information between body and brain altered pain sensitivity

For more facts about marijuana and other drugs, visit;  teens.drugabuse.gov or scholastic.com/headsup.

The EC system is a communications system in the brain and body, and it affects many bodily functions such as emotions, movement and more (1). The body naturally produces chemical messengers called cannabinoids to interact with the EC system in a unique fashion. Says Rose, “That means everyone is born to produce ECs naturally, so adding external cannabinoids is just adding more of what we already have in us. Mother’s milk, for instance, is very high in ECs naturally.”

When a postsynaptic neuron is activated, the body makes cannabinoids from certain fat cells present in neurons. When they are released, they travel backward to the presynaptic neuron and attach to cannabinoid receptors. This means cannabinoids can control what happens the next time these cells are activated, limiting how much neurotransmitter is released and how cells send, receive and process messages (1).

Syed believes that CBD can support numerous bodily processes for this reason. “Phytocannabinoids like CBD, of which well over 100 have been found to exist,                 are plant derivatives that ‘talk’ to just about every major organ system in the body             via the ECS, helping restore normal balance and physiologic homeostasis.”

According to Kleidon, cannabinoid receptors are present in the brain, organs, skin, bones, fascia, immune system and digestive system. “Their function is to support homeostasis for the entire body, which in my opinion, is one of the most important systems we have. It’s a master system for all the other systems,” he says.

Supplementing with CBD, he believes, boosts the body’s natural cannabinoid levels.        “In my opinion, it’s absolutely vital to supplement and raise natural cannabinoid levels     to make sure it’s promoting our bodies’ homeostasis effectively,” Kleidon states.

Smith shares a similar belief that cannabis products should be widely used, and says          it is a misconception that cannabis is only used by “a certain type of people.” She states, “Everyone from soccer moms to professional athletes and especially seniors are beginning to explore the benefits of cannabis for varied reasons. We sponsor an ultra-runner who uses our products while training for 100–200 mile marathons—so much for the stereotype of the lazy, out-of-shape stoner!”

Researchers continue to explore the benefits of CBD oil, which may include bone, digestive, eye, respiratory and cognitive health as well as healthy mood. Experiments     also suggest, Rose says, that CBD even induces apoptosis in cancer cells and generates   new brain cells,  though more research  is needed before  it  can  be considered to be a treatment. “Every adult human and animal can benefit from cannabinoids,” he believes.

Meanwhile, hemp seed, hemp seed oil and hemp-derived foods are already readily available at many retail stores, and provide “nutrient dense options for consumers interested in trying them,” says Wilson.

Reality: Product Testing Is Critical to this Category

All dietary supplements must be made according to GMPs and undergo responsible analytical testing. Hemp products are no exception.

Kleidon explains that the cannabis plant is a dynamic accumulator, meaning it pulls         up heavy metals.  If the plant is grown in toxic soil,  the plant “cleans the soil” and  absorbs  the impurities. “That’s not good for a consumption-based product,” he states.

Smith says that for this reason, organic crops from trustworthy suppliers are preferable since there is little chance of pesticides or environmental toxins contaminating the plants.

Kleidon says that it is very important for companies to do third-party testing per batch for heavy metals, microbes, volatile organic compounds as well as for the right cannabinoid and terpene content. “People should know exactly what they’re getting every single time,” he states.  The best strains of cannabis?

Teresa Masters ·

Breast cancer at 80, dietary change at 83, NED and healthier at 86. I added Hemp derived CBD Oil 15 MG CBD daily on my own for “Health Maintenance.” I also purchased CBDoil Balm 50mg CBDA/CBD which I apply initially on sore areas. More recently an MD/Sports Orthopedist treating a 2 year old walking issue, suggesting I massage the area. Previously I used Voltarin, he suggested I try CBD Balm as many of his patients related to him more success. I have for some time now massaged/rubbed CBD Balm into my leg/knee and yesterday realized that since January 2014, I am walking normally. Balance and distance are not yet there, but now can be developed without the pain which previously interfered.
 
 I was anti-high majority of my adult life. Nausea while drinking at 21 taught me well. The MD/Ph.D Cancer support Group leader said to a group of perhaps 30 regarding pain, “I would rather you take a toke than an opioid!” That startled me, and began my reversal of attitude regarding Cannabis. I am now a firm believer and Advocate. Many of my fellow support group members are now NED, years beyond terminal diagnosis. Spontaneous, maybe, but CBD Oil was a very expensive additive. I am referring every skeptical and fearful listener to Google Research Cannabis in Israel.  I will widely via email and social Media Share this hopeful report. I wish you all the success possible, closed minds are exceedingly difficult to penetrate, especially in Medicine.
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Aiming High: Israeli Scientist Attempts To Kill Cancer Cells With Cannabis

By Amanda Ngo, NoCamels August 21, 2017 15 Comments

These days, cannabis is about a lot more than getting high; a new Israeli study supports the idea that cannabis could be used to kill cancer cells.

Biologist Dr. David Meiri of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is conducting cutting-edge research showing that combinations of different compounds in cannabis can be extremely effective in destroying specific cancer cells.

SEE ALSO: Turning High-Tech Into ‘High’ Tech: Behind Israel’s Blooming Medical Cannabis Industry

cancer cells

Cancer cells

According to the World Health Organization, cancer is the second leading cause of        death globally, and resulted in 8.8 million deaths in 2015. The primary medical treatment, chemotherapy, can have unpleasant side effects such as hair loss and lethargy. However, an Israeli researcher claims that cannabis could offer an alternative to chemotherapy, without the harmful side effects.

The idea that cannabis could cure cancer is not new. However, much of the evidence           is anecdotal, and scientific research conducted in the past has not precisely identified which cannabis compounds kill which cancer cells, and why. “We realized that there is        a vacuum,” Meiri tells NoCamels. “People don’t know and understand the strains [of cannabis] enough.”

Along with his team of 30 researchers in the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Cannabinoid Research, Meiri is working to remedy this. His solution is to identify the exact chemical composition of different strains of cannabis. By systematically applying these strains to different cancer cell samples, he has been able to determine which strains of cannabis kill specific cancer cells.

“Bringing back the ability of the cancer to commit suicide”

The mechanism is similar to chemotherapy. One of the defining characteristics of cancer cells is their inability to ‘die’ like normal cells. The natural process of self-destruction, termed apoptosis, is not occurring; as a result, the cancer cells spread and invade other parts of the body. What cannabis has the potential to do, according to Meiri, is “like bringing back the ability of the cancer to commit suicide.”

Meiri is optimistic about the potency of the drug. “We’re talking about very low dosages,” he tells NoCamels, “milligrams of extract that are killing the cells.” This is a similar dosage to what is currently administered for chemotherapy, and is small enough to not kill normal, healthy cells. It means that cannabis could be a viable drug to be prescribed for cancer in the future.

SEE ALSO: Cannabis Heals Bone Fractures, Makes New Bones Even Stronger

Cannabis is the name of the plant from which marijuana is derived. The plant itself is made up of different molecular families, such as cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids. Discussions on cannabis often focus on the two most prominent cannabinoids: THC and Cannabidiol (CBD). THC is a psychoactive compound that gives the ‘high’ commonly associated with marijuana usage, while CBD is non-psychoactive. Both have been proven to have a wide range of medicinal benefits, from reducing epileptic seizures, to minimizing violence and anxiety in autistic patients.

Raphael Mechoulam is an Israeli organic chemist and professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. He is best known for his work (together with Y. Gaoni) in the isolation, structure elucidation and total synthesis of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active principle of cannabis and for the isolation and the identification of the endogenous cannabinoids anandamide from the brain and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG) from peripheral organs together with his students, postdocs and collaborators.

Preview YouTube video ‘The Scientists’: the story of

Raphael Mechoulam and the endocannabinoid system

The Endocannabinoid System: A Fifty-Year Trip
The endocannabinoid system was discovered and we learned about its involvement in biological processes only over the last two decades – many years after the better known adrenergic, serotonergic or cholinergic systems. However, it has already been suggested that ” modulating endocannabinoid system activity may have therapeutic potential in almost all diseases affecting humans, including …neurodegenerative, inflammatory,…. pain, …psychiatric disorders, amongst many others ”  – as stated in a recent review.
Dr. Mechoulam will discuss the development of the endocannabinoid system – from the isolation and structure elucidation of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in 1964, through the identification of the CB1 and CB2 receptors and the specific agonists anandamide and 2-AG, to the involvement of endocannabinoids and structurally related endogenous molecules in a long list of biological processes.

Recent progress in several areas will be discussed:

  • Endocannabinoids as endogenous neuroprotective agents, particularly in traumatic injury
  • The CB2 cannabinoid receptors as part of a general protective system
  • Acyl fatty acids as novel endocannabinoid-like compounds
  • Cannabidiol as a novel therapeutic entity

Presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQDJi6Jb8d4

Dr. David (Dedi) Meiri

Assistant Professor, Heads the “Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Cannabinoid Research”, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.

Ph.D, Assistant Professor Genetics, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology researcher

Dr. Meiri’s scientific background is highly diverse; He holds a M.Sc. in Biochemistry       and a Ph.D. in plant biotechnology from Tel Aviv University. Dr. Meiri conducted his   post-doctoral fellowship at the Ontario Cancer Institute where he focused on the role         of the GEF-H1 protein in tumor invasion and metastasis.

During his post-doctoral studies, he expanded his knowledge in human biology and   cancer pathogenesis and succeeded within a very short timeframe, to receive worldwide recognition as an expert in the fields of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and small GTPases. Upon completion of his post-doctoral fellowship, Dr Meiri took a position at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology, where he heads the “Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Cannabinoid Research”.

Presently, his lab is investigates the therapeutic potential of phytocannabinoids, the unique active compounds of Cannabis. On-top on few other studies conducting in the lab, the main focus is to determine the antitumor effects of cannabinoids, including the anti-metastatic and pro-apoptotic effects phytocannabinoids exert, on a spectrum of tumor cells.

Additional to ‘basic science’, Dr. Meiri collaborates with cannabis growers,    clinicians and major manufacturers and distributors of medical cannabis in the purpose of revolutionizing cannabis treatment. He is operating the “Cannabis Database Project” and his lab is currently involved in seven clinical trials covering diverse aspects of cannabis treatment, such as: colon disease, pain prevention, cancer treatment and epilepsy.

Welcome to the Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Cannabinoid Research at the Technion‘s Faculty of Biology. Although we are a new lab, in the past 2 years we have updated our lab to work with the most modern and innovative equipment, we recruited a multidisciplinary team of professionals,  we have established many local and international collaborations.

Collectively with access to these resources, we can ask and answer almost any question      in the field of medical cannabis and we are today one of the leading cannabis laboratories in the world. Our highly trained team of skilled professionals work in synergy and complement each other to achieve the highest level of results.

Presently our lab investigates the vast therapeutic potential of naturally-occurring chemicals,  called cannabinoids, in various Cannabis species.  In addition to the multitude of other studies currently being conducted in the lab,  our principal focus    is how  cannabinoids affect various types of cancer, epilepsy, and glucose metabolism (diabetes).

Our research also relies upon our exceptional abilities to characterize all cannabis components and are described in more details on this site. Our lab is also involved     in various other high-profile projects  and collaborations associated with cannabis.   We collaborate with cannabis growers, clinicians, and major local and international medical cannabis manufacturers and distributors to revolutionize cannabis treatment on all levels. We are operating the “Cannabis Database Project” and we are currently involved in eight clinical trials covering diverse aspects of cannabis treatment.

Contact Us
The Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Cannabinoid Research
Phone: +972-77-8871681
Email: meirilab@technion.ac.il
Faculty of Biology, Room 401
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

Jim Tannlund ·

RSO Oils Does Not Kill All Cancers!  Please Do Not Waste Your Time & Money on Medical Cannabis if you have NSCLC Cancer. Over the last 3 years I have used High THC RSO Oils in Mega Doses (3 mils RSO Consitrated Oil per day) for 90 days, Micro Dosing and Height & Weight Measured Dosing 1/2 Mil of RSO Oil over 3 doses per day for 90 days.

I’ve seen Professional MC Practionairs in San Francisco, Marin County & Australia and the TRUTH BE TOLD by one of the most experienced Practionairs is most of their successes have been with tumours that are outside of a bodily organ. Tumours inside organs, like the Lungs the successes have been very few (if any) and they felt better results came when tried with some conventional western medicine (Radiation, Chemo & Immunotherapy.)

 

 I personally, would not do Chemo (Immune System Poison), but do whatever you need to do. I’m just being truthful with you so you don’t waste your money & time trying RSO Oil by itself on NSCLC Cancer. If your lung collapses like mine did, the doctors will tell you it will never reopen again after a few months closed. DO NOT BUY THAT CRAP. Take High Doses of Vitamin C daily at least 15,000 IU orally “California Gold” find it on Iherb.au, it’s only about AU$30 for 360 caplets of 1000 IU per. (In the store here in Australia the same bottle cost AU$75 – $80) I take 8 in the morning and 7 at night to get my 15,000 per day. That will help keep the lung healthy enough to reopen when that portion of your lung gets air. Mine reopened 10 months later after 3 – 4 doctors swore to me there was NO CHANCE that lung would reopen. It did and it still is.

I have NSCLC Cancer and I’m now at Stage 4 where the Cancer has spread to my Lymph Nodes and few other spots on my lungs. I was originally diognosed back in March 2015 from a CT Scan after vomiting Blood and since then I have narrowly escaped death twice (Once Drowning in My Own Blood, Couching it Up, While Bleeding from the Nose at the sametime & Once where I was Bleeding Out After Losing over a Litre of Blood in 8 hours Vomiting Blood and Bleeding out of my Nose)

   Since March 2015, I have  a proceedure where they De-Bulked the Tumour by ripping       off the top half, then cauterized everything to stop the bleeding and was given 36 rays of Radiation. I’ve had 1 round of Chemo and 1 years worth of Immunotherapy. 
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Unfortunately,  it has stated growing again (Very Slowly for Cancer), however,  the fact that it is progressing while on Immunotherapy now, their protocol is to remove me from the program (Very Expensive) when they see progression in a few scans, which they now have seen. (I’ve been given one last shot) They will keep me on the Immunotherapy, if I have one of my Lymph Node Cancers Radiated to decrease it’s size. (Probably, buying only a few more months), but who knows, maybe something else gets released before my time runs out. “Fingers Crossed’
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What is the Best Way for Patients to Consume Cannabis? –  https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=HxGrWvPtEYijzwL_o7_AAg&q=Is+there+a+type+of+THC+%E2%80%9Ctar%E2%80%9D+or+paste+that+helps+with+pain+and+cancer+available%3F&oq=Is+there+a+type+of+THC+%E2%80%9Ctar%E2%80%9D+or+paste+that+helps+with+pain+and+cancer+available%3F&gs_l=psy-ab.12…1737.1737.0.2897.3.2.0.0.0.0.90.90.1.2.0….0…1..64.psy-ab..1.1.129.6..35i39k1.129.Xciws9qmyi8

Preview  Israel Has The World’s Largest Medical Marijuana Program

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EGO versus True Self

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I Remember a test given me by a psychology student whose a Facebook friend. She once told me go outside and pick out the first five objects your mind see’s and then reason with yourself. . . . why you picked these objects out. These reasons are how you view yourself and also how others see you.

So could disease start… somewhere between your ego and true self!!!

psy·chol·o·gy
sīˈkäləjē/
noun
noun: psychology
the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context.
synonyms: study of the mind, science of the mind

“a degree in psychology”
  • the mental characteristics or attitude of a person or group.
    plural noun: psychologies
    “the psychology of Americans in the 1920s”
    synonyms: mindset, mind, mental processes, thought processes, way of thinking, cast of mind, mentality, persona, psyche, (mental) attitude(s), makeup, character;

    informal what makes someone tick
    “the psychology of the motorist”
  • the mental and emotional factors governing a situation or activity.
    “the psychology of interpersonal relationships”

The Goldilocks Principle

Vagus Nerve Stimulation Dr. Arielle Schwartz

Regulation of the nervous system relies upon the goldilocks principle. We recognize we are “too hot” when we feel keyed up, anxious, irritable, or panicky. We are too “too cold” when we are shut down, depressed, or feeling hopeless. Sometimes we alternate between the two which is like driving with one foot on the gas and one on the brakes. Practices that regulate the vagus nerve are aimed towards either relaxing or re-energizing ourselves depending upon what is needed to feel “just right.” http://drarielleschwartz.com/natural-vagus-nerve-stimulation-dr-arielle-schwartz/#.WqWclsty7IU

The ego is the false representation of the true self due to forgetfulness of the Lord. The ego is trying to enjoy an illusion of material things, while the true self knows that by satisfying the Lord everything will become satisfied.  Hence ego is false true self!!!

The definition of ego and self. . . . is as unique and differing as everything else. If ego is energy states as defined by Eric Berne, then everything about us is ego. That fits for me. The collective seems to prefer to label and compartmentalize to make ego a dirty word or a demon of some description because it’s easier to keep projecting and disowning layers of ourselves than owning it all. In Unity, I AM all so what is ego? 💖💖
 
Ego is the animalistic consciousness that every intellectual animal mistakenly called human in this world possess and true-self is the opposite of that or should I say divine consciousness or liberated consciousness in theories you can make endless difference.
But in reality all is the self!  Ego is what we display ourselves as , live your true self to be happy , truly. Ego is connected to your brain, truth is connected to your heart.  All real masters and scriptures in the end say: there is only the self nothing else including ego         is the self!
 
You are that and also what you now experience are that! be there with what is here and all secrets will show up to you! if you don.t can do this searching honestly for a real master! than he will finish the job by a real transmission in silence and say to you : you are the self like everything else! no difference or better no separateness from the self. Ego can die but true self is eternal. People wake up if they realized that the body is a symbol of the ego that the body dies but soul doesn’t.
 
Ego is identity that changes from incarnation to incarnation. Our mind is conditioned to identify ourselves with this human body. don’t you see? So the way your way of thinking does not align with my way of thinking. is that i think of body and ego as made (temporal). while soul is created. my definition of “created” means it is eternal. made by the power of god. changeless. only in a world of time and change can a ego be developed. sure it would not be possible without a mind (soul) which was the thing you was going for. I can’t argue with that my brother. 😉 
Loving unconditionally every living being ❤
 
Identity, specialness, time, it is all diametrically opposed to the unified oneness all the spiritual forms claim they believe in. But rarely apply to the everyday way of thinking. ^^ there are so many spiritual concepts…! but in the end the point is there cant be any separateness between anything and any other thing! but that don’t mean that there is no difference! ..but all is coming from self …all is made out of it and all is a embodiment of self ..think; about can there be any separateness in reality even from ego , would and others? you only can think of it but that don’t means that is it really so!

Your real self is just a wave in the ocean, the ego is the thought that being the wave is somehow distinct from the ocean with hole ocean is falling in every drop!

Ego: I will only love you if….
True self: I love you no matter what
Ego: this isn’t where I want to be in my life…
True self: I am exactly where I am meant to be in divine orderEgo: they hurt me, they did this to me
True self: I forgive, I understand, I accept!
 
Having to tell others.
and being happy with it without telling others.
If your ego is in control you want to tell everyone about it.if your in control your quite content in knowing without others having to know.
 

I just mean if you control your ego you don’t need to go shouting it from the hilltops or something specific. Your quiet content on just knowing information without the need or feeling to share it. example: its my birthday. I am ok just knowing its my birthday I don’t care what other people know.  If they know all is well.. if they do fine if they don’t fine too 😂

 
If i were somehow forced to answer this in brief, i’d say, “Unity.” But, as most here will know, infinite words won’t tell the whole story any more completely than one, so you’ll have to answer your own query through experience. Try reading on the “Doctrine of the Many.” You’ll find deeper waters if you follow the Zoroastrian stream of thought.
 
The shell and core
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 Ego is the true self, not perfect, but human. Then there’s the false self.
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False self is the scar tissue of the mind, when you are in danger but from your own parents, teachers, classmates, there is no end to the danger so you cannot begin to grieve it. You adapt to it, and it becomes the false self.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_self_and_false_self
Manage
 
Also, it’s worth noting that the differences we seek here are wrapped up in definition. We can’t even ultimately define “difference,” or even “definition.” We are talking about a thing that dissolves as investigate. Every word I’ve utilized here is no more than metaphor.. for a metaphor… for metaphor.. for a non-Thing in which we “live and breathe and have our being.” You know already; it helps to approach the Thing like Michelangelo did sculpture : chip away the stone until god is revealed.
 
The true self don’t need words , memories or thoughts it’s a void filled with the emotions you choose to create in it. Ego speak from form, from the subject as being real, what speaks from the witness of the object is that which has a different energy. But yes object is also part of oneness so is it really ever separate and in that sense is it just a made up concept?
 

True self: I am… ( nothing else to add)

Ego: I am frank, I am whatever comes after that.

Ego is a part of the human being, and you have to be really careful to don’t get catch by the ego trap.

One of the ways is a continuous way denying yourself in a psychological way.

Example: I wrote poems, you can say to me I am a poet, but I will say, I’m not a poet

I am the Essence that is constant, the stillness, calmness beneath all the layers.

 
Ego is the need of identify any thought as what you truly are. True self is eternal- without form, thought or mental identifications. Ego is what we identify with through thoughts and forms. My impression of this is; the Ego is a notions of your wants where your true self will settle to bill to but will get you what’s needed.
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Ego has wants. True self wants nothing. So many people just think ego=bad stuff and true self = good but there’s more to it. Everyone has ego but it isn’t the western definition which is your concept of yourself. Originally in spiritual practice ego was the illusion you are separate. True self is divine or god. Ego is true self.. Just an ego that understands multi dimensions better.. Ego mainly for this dimension.. Is why it resists meditation?
 
Ego is mind, the exhausting spouting off of the monkey mind, our essence beneath all the labels, words and roles, is the divine spark.
The trick is to recognize when ego is kicking in. Then ego is under control. It’s bad if vice versa. Ego will always try. 😉
 
 I think ego sets you in the confines of what is acceptable in reality, it really does have boundaries. To put it in logic, true self is letting it all hang out, and that is not acceptable in reality because it is limitless, taking you to places the ego isn’t capable of comprehending. Ego is getting dressed everyday to do the things we think we need to do, while true self is walking around naked doing everything we think we need to do day by day, metaphorically speaking!
 
Ego is a tool to master the Embodiment !!!! 🙌🏼
Your mind can be your best friend or  worst enemy, Its how you align your ego to what or whom that can make a difference. Ego likes familiarity and safety to the point of holding you back, shame, guilt, etc, ego needs to be trained. Ego can also deny guilt?  Denying guilt is denying yourself?  Otherwise would there be true guilt? Or just illusion!!!
 
Ego is your true self in your environment and based your exposure and level of acceptance and how you process outside forces.  what is true self if not the highest form of your ego.
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If i were somehow forced to answer this in brief, i’d say, “Unity.” But, as most here will know, infinite words won’t tell the whole story any more completely than one, so you’ll have to answer your own query through experience. Try reading on the “Doctrine of the Many.” You’ll find deeper waters if you follow the Zoroastrian stream of thought. Here’s a spot to launch your boat, so to speak. https://gnosticteachings.org/.../1761-what-is-ego.htmlManage
 
The shell and core
 Ego is the true self, not perfect, but human. Then there’s the false self. False self is the scar tissue of the mind, when you are in danger but from your own parents, teachers, classmates, there is no end to the danger so you cannot begin to grieve it. You adapt to it, and it becomes the false self.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_self_and_false_self
Manage
 
Also, it’s worth noting that the differences we seek here are wrapped up in definition. We can’t even ultimately define “difference,” or even “definition.” We are talking about a thing that dissolves as investigate. Every word I’ve utilized here is no more than metaphor for a metaphor for metaphor for a non-Thing… in which we “live and breathe and have our being.” You know already; it helps to approach the Thing like Michelangelo did sculpture : chip away the stone until god is revealed.
 
The true self don’t need words , memories or thoughts it’s a void filled with the emotions you choose to create in it. Ego speak from form, from the subject as being real, what speaks from the witness of the object is that which has a different energy. But yes object is also part of oneness so is it really ever separate and in that sense is it just a made up concept?
 

True self: I am… ( nothing else to add)

Ego: I am frank, I am whatever comes after that.

Ego is a part of the human being, and you have to be really careful to don’t get catch by the ego trap.

One of the ways is a continuous way denying yourself in a psychological way.

Example: I wrote poems, you can say to me I am a poet, but I will say, I’m not a poet

I am in Essence what is constant, the stillness, calmness beneath all the layers.

 
Ego is the need of identify any thought as what you truly are. True self is eternal- without form, thought or mental identifications. Ego is what we identify with through thoughts and forms. My impression of this is; the Ego is a notions of your wants where your true self will settle to bill to but will get you what’s needed. Ego has wants.
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True self wants nothing. So many people just think ego=bad stuff and true self = good but there’s more to it. Everyone has ego but it isn’t the western definition which is your concept of yourself. Originally in spiritual practice ego was the illusion you are separate. True self is divine or god. Ego is true self.. Just an ego that understands multi dimensions better.. Ego mainly for this dimension.. Is why it resists meditation?
 
Ego is mind, the exhausting spouting off of the monkey mind, our essence beneath all the labels, words and roles, is the divine spark.
..
The trick is to recognize when ego is kicking in. Then ego is under control. It’s bad if vice versa. Ego will always try. 😉
 
 I think ego sets you in the confines of what is acceptable in reality, it really does have boundaries. To put it in logic, true self is letting it all hang out, and that is not acceptable in reality because it is limitless, taking you to places the ego isn’t capable of comprehending.
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Ego is getting dressed everyday to do the things we think we need to do, while true self is walking around naked doing everything we think we need to do day by day, metaphorically speaking!
 
Ego is a tool to master the Embodiment !!!! 🙌🏼
Your mind can be your best friend or  worst enemy, Its how you align your ego to what or whom that can make a difference. Ego likes familiarity and safety to the point of holding you back, shame, guilt, etcetera, ego needs to be trained. Ego can also deny guilt?  Denying guilt is denying yourself?  Otherwise would there be true guilt? Or just illusion!!!
 
Ego is your true self in your environment and based your exposure and level of acceptance and how you process outside forces.  What is true self if not the highest form of your ego.

 With anxiety, stress, and sleep dysfunction skyrocketing around the globe, it’s time we look at the unspoken reasons why. These debilitating challenges can be meaningfully impacted with ten to twenty minutes of breathing exercises per day. Max Strom, who has taught breath-work for 20 years, reveals his insights into the healing power of the breath.

Max Strom teaches personal transformation, mindfulness, and yoga worldwide and is known for inspiring and impacting the lives of his students. His Inner Axis method addresses the internal aspects of our life and our potential for physical and emotional healing. He is the author of “A Life Worth Breathing,” and, “There is No App for Happiness.”

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Life Gave Me Lemonade

Image result for marlana vanhoose

Marlana VanHoose (Born June 25, 1995) in Columbus, Ohio  and was the first of two children born to David VanHoose,  a correctional officer in the federal prison system and Teresa (née Blair) VanHoose, a school teacher.

VanHoose was born with Cytomegalovirus (CMV) which hindered the development of    her optic nerve rendering her blind at birth and a diagnosis that she would not live past one year of age. After her first year her parents were told that the virus was in remission. At the age of two VanHoose was diagnosed with a mild case of cerebral palsy.

 But God knew better, He had special plans for Marlana. After Marlana turned a year old her body healed from the virus and that is when it all began.
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Marlana was humming “Jesus loves me” before she talked and by the time she was two years old she started playing the piano.  She has sung all over the United States at various events & churches. Marlana is a member of the Artist Music Guild where she was the 2015 recipient for Youth Artist of the Year. Marlana also was the 2012 recipient for New Artist of the Year and Young Artist of the Year.
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VanHoose recorded her first major project in 2013 entitled, “Do Right.” The project was written and produced for her by fellow Christian recording artist David L Cook and Elddy Trevino and released under DLC Records.  Cook  took  over  VanHoose’ management  in 2012 and launched her onto a national level. . . .  She also was a 2013, 2014  & 2016 nominee for Artist of the Year. Marlana was the 2015 recipient for Youth Artist of the Year. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/teens-big-voice-shatters-obstacles/
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Marlana sung the National Anthem at a University of Kentucky Women’s Basketball game in 2012. This was placed on YouTube and the video went viral. Since then, CBS evening news aired her story, she has sung at three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Races, NCAA women’s basketball tournaments and at several NBA basketball games, as well as many other events & churches across the USA. 
She also has sung for the 2015 NBA Playoffs including the 2015 NBA Finals, Game 6. ESPN-E-60 aired “Loud and Proud” a story about Marlana and the UK women’s basketball.  Marlana appeared on Atlanta Live Gospel Show and Babbie’s House, a gospel show in Atlanta, GA.
 
Which included performing for the 2016 Republican National Convention and the 2017 Republican Inauguration Concert Series. VanHoose sang for the presidential concerts at the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall as well as being the featured artist for the Day of Prayer at the National Cathedral on January 22, 2017. VanHoose was the only performer of the day given a standing ovation led by Melania Trump after being moved to tears by her rendition of the classic gospel hymn, “How Great Thou Art.”.[
 
In 2016 VanHoose performed at Carnegie Hall as a premier guest.  She was the official anthem singer for the 2016 Republican National Convention and appeared on Good Morning America the next morning from the floor of the convention center.
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 In December 2016 VanHoose opened the New York Rangers game at Madison Square Garden to an audience of over twenty thousand in attendance. She also has appeared on various other shows such as Inside Edition & Entertainment Tonight.  Marlana also had the honor of singing at Carnegie Hall in NY City & Madison Square Garden for the NY Rangers.  
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Marlana has been commissioned a Kentucky Colonel. She sings regularly with Best Buddies & United by Music North America organizations. Marlana performed at the 2016 Republican National Convention & VanHoose sang for the presidential concerts at the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall as well as being the featured artist for the Day of Prayer at the National Cathedral on January 22, 2017.
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VanHoose was the only performer of the day given a standing ovation led by Melania Trump after being moved to tears by her rendition of the classic gospel hymn, “How Great Thou Art.”.[Marlana met President Trump at a 2017 Rally in Louisville Ky. The first thing she told him was that, “Jesus Christ & God’s word will be the only one that will make America Great Again with your help.”
 
Marlana has invited Jesus into her heart and has been baptized. She loves God very much and says she has no need to see here on earth. She knows that when she gets to Heaven, Jesus will be the first face she’ll see.  https://www.littlemarlana.com/videos.html
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Like wise meeting Dar Setters was amazing in itself:

I started communication with Dar on 07/17/2015 8:41pm
 Living  just north of Indy she always felt close to me. Dar also stated she          had all my surgeries at Indiana University Hospital. Luckily they still had their proton Center open in Bloomington at the time I went. IN Late 2013. They also never ever use Chemo as a treatment (ever) for chondrosarcoma .
It will not respond in any way to chemo.  They  only use proton if you have skull based but they don’t use proton or any other form of radiation on any other body part.
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The only alternative is surgery/amputation. They try to save the limb when possible but it’s hard.  There are a lot of people missing limbs on my CS site. I sometimes feel fortunate but then sometimes it is hard because I also lost my sense of taste & I cant speak without this prosthetic jaw & palate. I cant eat well & my mouth closed up from radiation & I’m not able to yet get the final prosthesis made. I have one that is pretty ill fitting so I’ve been prone to chronic infections.
 
I’ve been on so many antibiotics I got C. Diff & it took me 3 months to get over that & my stomach has never been right sense then. I lost 90% of my hearing in one ear & 60 in the other & just lots of things… Also trigeminal nerve pain from cut nerves but yet no feeling     in half my face…so its all strange. Anyway I am alive & I want to stay that way! I really want to fight this!
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I’ve already started a few things I learned on your site with certain vitamins. I did not even know you were also a member of the Head & Neck Cancer Survivor Group. I joined this group on suggestion from Kathryn Epler. I joined the H&N cancer group because hardly anybody in my Chondrosarcoma support group has Skull based CS so they cant offer. https://www.cdc.gov/hai/organisms/cdiff/cdiff-patient.html
 
Also just to remind you each Sarcoma is very different & treatment for each kind is different. For instance most of the other Sarcomas they will use chemo on but not CS.
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So just because they are rare they often lump the group all together under Sarcoma but you really need to look under each kind separate.  Each one is different. As far as natural treatments maybe not as much… But the way the regular medical world treats them it is all different. What is your story? When I saw you were a survivor I was wondering. What did you do?
 
Did you cure yourself with a natural treatment? The Dolly that used the Gerson Diet was interesting. I wondered why she didn’t stay on the diet through out her life after she had the cancer when she was 11.
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Maybe it would not have returned. I wonder if she will stay on it for good now.
 
Ken my Chondrosarcoma group is a closed group & the lady that heads it up only allows CS patients. She does not allow even nutrition or healing people or anybody else on. Not that she is against it but I guess we just need to go find those groups ourselves to join. She is very strict in only allowing CS only in our group. Other types of Sarcoma is not in our group either. Its very confined to just CS.
 
I am actually pretty sick right now with some problems but after she gets back from a trip on 8/2 I hope I feel better by then too & we plan to do a phone consult to see if we will     be a good fit. If so my husband will be happy to bring me down to see her. He’s a good care giver & always here for me. I have a lot if issues so i really would like a life coach anyway. With the head cancers you tend to get these bacterial infections & if you check it out so many die from them. Once they get in the bone or enter the blood stream they cant do anything.
 
 I have such a hard time with them. I’ve had them surgically removed but keeping them at bay … I’ve tried all these natural things too that don’t work so I need help finding the right thing. I use a colloidal silver rinse, Essential oils, coconut oil, a mixture from a compound pharmacy, different vitamins.  I also keep getting C. Diff, however my Dr. is doing a fecal transplant now so that might stop that. I just have trouble building the immune system & stopping infections.

I’m blind in the left eye right now and it’s pretty aggressive. I’m just praying this works. I’m at a loss. . . . I don’t know what else to do.  Mine  has  been  so  aggressive and in the head so close to the brain so it just needs to work fast … It’s just so hard to kill Sarcoma sometimes but it’s a chance.

My own oncologist said he can’t believe Dr. Van Tine has time for all he does.

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He’s involved in all these clinical trials, has his own lab, is an oncologist too and takes time to be on our Sarcoma support group & responds to people that he sees struggling as he told me.  If you look him up in you tube he heads up many of the group discussions as a leader in Sarcoma discussions. He was also awarded several grants by the Sarcoma alliance for studies.
He’s very compassionate. I mean he seriously called my Doctor to get me set up on this immunotherapy before it was out for public announcement. My insurance  is covering it until December… which Dr. Van Tine said is shocking… That they are even paying anything. It’s like $150,000 a year. I think I need to apply for the funding now.
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If I do I might have to have the treatments in St Louis then. Not sure. Dr. Van Tine knows Dr. Rushing and was really big on letting me do my treatments at home. Hanging in… a little worried about how my scan turns out on Thursday. My Ins co approved the Pembro for me until 11/28 so this scan needs to show improvement so my Doctor can ask for an extension.
I am but a little concerned & hope they understand this is slow moving and also it typically swells the tumor before it calcifies it.  I have high grade chondrosarcoma though so a little different type of Sarcoma. I have really bad headaches but my tumor is also in my head & it’s made me blind in my left eye now so it’s pressing on a lot of nerves and such. It’s completely destroyed my optic nerve so I can’t get my sight back in the left eye.
Pembro can have headaches as a side effect but not sure if mines from the drug or tumor then. I also started menstrual bleeding .. like everyday and I’m 64 & was over all that stuff years ago. My Doctor is still researching more info on this but I guess it happens with some immunotherapy and even chemo drugs. I feel fatigued but that’s not unusual .. I also don’t have much appetite but I had that before too. I’ve never used any of the cannabis for anything yet. It’s not legal in Indiana although if I thought it would help I wouldn’t mind vaping it. I haven’t found anybody on my Chondrosarcoma site that it’s helped other than with some pain.  Besides if I started using that I’m worried I wouldn’t really know what was working to shrink the tumor. It’s really hard to kill Sarcoma’s
I can deal with my pain & I have a good massage therapist & then another one I see that uses healing touch & some other weird techniques that honestly shouldn’t work but somehow do.   I was doing Pembrolizumab remember? I was going to tell you how I was doing. I guess not well. I personally don’t feel I was on it long enough. I don’t know. They want to add a new drug and it has too many side effects I have studied it and I won’t do it. In one phase II clinical trial conducted on 19 non-small cell lung cancer patients, a p53 therapy called Advexin was given in combination with radiation therapy. After three months, 63 percent of patients had no detectable signs of cancer. This is four times the response expected from radiation treatment alone??
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I’m reading this book right now recommend by Sarcoma chat group people called curing cancer with immunotherapy: how it happened a century ago. It’s a true story about Rene Chee …. who has Synovial Sarcoma Skull based cancer & her experience with Coleys and other therapy.  She has a PhD .. medical biologist and Doctor from University of Ca and Stanford. Can barely put it down What a journey. Not sure I could ever afford all the stuff she’s done to stay alive. This book is amazing!!! http://www.curingcancerbook.com/how-i-survived-cancer-immunotherapy
So far in the book she’s done 117 Coleys injections Part right into the tumor site but that is not possible with me. Her and her husband do them their self and I’m not sure I could do all that. I’m not sure I could even afford all these treatments and she’s still fighting for survival so far in the book… after 4 years Im like half way through it. I mean this is her life really. Ken you need to read this book.  https://www.amazon.com/Curing-Cancer-Immunotherapy-happened-attempted-ebook/dp/B01IB2D2WQ/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&ref_=tmm_kin_title_0&sr=

Yes I was on Keytruda.

They want to add yervoy I’m hesitant She knows the Docs that created yervoy .. the book author. Lots of bad side effects That’s why she stuck with Coley’s She went to Germany to get therapies we just have in drug trials now.. ugh We are so far behind. This book is really amazing. I’ve learned so much. She talks about everything in here Conventional and not conventional.

Yervoy is very similar to Coley’s but Coley’s doesn’t have the side effects. I think she’s had over 200 treatments of Coleys. She didn’t even have any known cancer cells when she started and none ever got into the bone.  I think different things work for different cancers but High grade Sarcomas are hard. My Sarcoma Oncologist was so frustrated one day .. he was telling me they could grow these tumors the size of footballs and kill them in 36 hours with all these therapies but we can’t kill a marble sized sarcoma.
 I’m reading this book right now recommend by Sarcoma chat group people called curing cancer with immunotherapy: how it happened a century ago & it’s a true story about Rene Chee. Who had Synovial Sarcoma Skull based cancer & her experience with Coley’s and other therapy. She has a PhD .. medical biologist and Doctor from University of Ca and Stanford. Can barely put it down What a journey. Not sure I could ever afford all the stuff she’s done to stay alive.
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Mind Body & Spirit

When your nervous system is especially sensitive, it can cause many adverse impacts on your health. By understanding he way your vagus nerve works, it might be possible for you to work with the nervous system so that it benefits you rather than working against you.

Studies show that taking care of the vagus nerve with some home strategies can help you overcome emotional problems like stress, anxiety and fatigue.    It can also have a positive physical benefits especially with regard to inflammatory conditions.

“Vagus” is a Latin word that literally translates to “wandering.” The vagus nerve is a large nerve that wanders and surrounds many different organs in the body, thus its name. But don’t let its “wanderer” label lull you into thinking it doesn’t take its job seriously! “What happens in vagus stays in vagus” is not the case here. The vagus nerve is referred to as the “heart of the nervous system” because it’s the link between the body and the brain.

Structure

The vagus nerve (also called cranial nerve X) is two cranial nerves that is part of                the parasympathetic nervous system. It has a left and right component. Both start at       the medulla oblongata of the brain stem, which is the part of the brain that controls involuntary movements such as breathing, heartbeat, sneezing, and swallowing.

From there, the vagus nerve heads down through the throat (larynx, esophagus),    where     it branches out to many of the organs of the viscera (heart, lungs, stomach, pancreas, spleen, liver, gallbladder, large and small intestines).

Function

The two major functions of the vagus nerve play a critical role in maintaining overall wellbeing.

First, the vagus nerve is responsible for monitoring heart rate, peristalsis (contractions along the digestive tract that keep food moving), sweating, and several mouth movements, including speech, among others.

Second, it monitors what’s going on in the body and reports back to the brain. The brain interprets the information and sends signals back to respond to the information. About 80-90 percent of the vagus nerve fibers are solely dedicated to sending information to the brain on the state of the organs.

If the brain receives information via the vagus nerve that something is out of the ordinary with one of the organs,  the brain can send the appropriate signals  to solve the problem  and return the body to homeostasis (a relative state of equilibrium). If the vagus nerve is damaged or fails to function properly, crucial information about the health of the organs may not get to the brain. This means major issues for the functioning and health of the body as a whole.

Have you ever had a gut instinct or a visceral response to something? Recent studies suggest that the vagus nerve plays a major role in some of our emotional responses.

The vagus nerve picks up on sensations or emotional intuitions in your gut and sends    that information to the brain. For example, when you are nervous or excited, chemicals   are released by the adrenal glands. The vagus nerve picks up on this change in the viscera and  sends signals to the brain.  The combination of the sensation  in your gut  and your brain processing that information direct your response to that nervous or excited state. Therefore, your reaction to a situation initiates from your gut rather than your brain.

This is an interesting concept to consider. If your brain interprets the gut reaction, your response is determined by that interpretation. So, moral of the story: the gut is giving you the most pure reaction to a situation, while the brain is giving you a reasoned response.

Additionally, have you ever passed out from seeing blood? You’re not alone; that is also related to the vagus nerve. It is called a vasovagal response. If you see blood, it may cause emotional or physical stress. The physical stress may be relayed as pain, whereas the emotional stress may simply be related to the fear of what might happen because of the blood loss. Stress causes the sympathetic nervous system to turn on, causing a “fight or flight” response. In order to regain balance, the vagus nerve activates its vasovagal response to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system.

Unfortunately, in the case of a vasovagal response, the vagus nerve becomes over activated to compensate for the sympathetic response, which in turn causes dramatic drops in blood pressure and heart rate. The decreased blood flow leads to a lack of consciousness.

A healthy nervous system is less likely to overdo this response, and vasovagal responses may become less frequent. In the meantime, don’t look while you’re getting your blood drawn!

How The Vagus Nerve Affects Me

If the vagus nerve is not working properly, the body’s ability to monitor and regulate the viscera and find balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems (the responses of fight and flight, and rest and digest) is compromised.

When the vagus nerve is unable to regulate the viscera, the body may experience a number of digestion-related issues. Because the vagus nerve is responsible for peristalsis, the muscle contractions that push food along the digestive tract, when the vagus nerve is damaged or not working properly, peristalsis is weakened and/or less frequent. Since the muscle contractions that push food along are not as strong, the food may become backed up as it travels along the digestive tract. This delayed gastric emptying (gastroparesis) causes abdominal pain after eating, nausea, loss of appetite, heartburn, and feeling full after eating very little, to name a few.

Further, an inability to balance the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous      responses  of the autonomic nervous system can result in the body spending more time    in the sympathetic nervous system. Living in this system means living in a constant state of fight or flight,  otherwise know as living in a constant state of stress.   This can lead to     or exacerbate several conditions. Some conditions that arise from decreased vagus nerve activation and imbalance of the autonomic nervous system include GERD, various heart conditions, multiple sclerosis flareups, Alzheimer’s, migraines, epilepsy, depression, anxiety, and more.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Stimulating a weakened vagus nerve may help bring it back to optimal function. A new treatment called vagus nerve stimulation uses electrical impulses to activate the vagus nerve, thus stimulating a parasympathetic response in the body.  It is currently being    used to treat those who are not responding to traditional treatments for epilepsy and depression. Research suggests a link between overactivity of the sympathetic nervous system and temporal lobe epilepsy and depression. The rationale is, if stimulating the vagus nerve results in a parasympathetic response, then the autonomic nervous system can balance. This balance may decrease seizures and depressive moods/behaviors.

The treatment is being studied for patients with other nervous system-related ailments, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and migraines.

How Breathing Can Help 

Outside of medical vagus nerve stimulation, it is believed that the vagus nerve can be stimulated through controlled breathing. In yogic traditions, the Ujjayi breath (a breathing technique where you partially close your glottis in the throat to produce a sounded breath, sometimes likened to Darth Vader) is practiced specifically to stimulate the vagus nerve and trigger a parasympathetic response in the body. Other ways to stimulate the vagus nerve include diaphragmatic breathing (belly breathing), chanting, and various yoga asanas or shapes.

The great thing about breathing is that you do it all the time! The average person takes about 12 breaths per minute when at rest. That means that you easily take between 17,000 and 20,000 breaths per day. That’s a whole lot of opportunities to practice stimulating the vagus nerve!

Back Breathing

My favorite breath technique is called “Back Breathing.” The ribs form a 360-degree cage around the lungs and the heart. They have the capacity to expand in all directions, side to side, front and back, up and down. Often, we don’t utilize our full range of motion in the ribs. By practicing expanding and contracting the ribs, we can increase our breath capacity and stimulate the vagus nerve.

Start by placing one hand on either side of your ribcage. When you inhale, expand the ribs east/west (side to side) toward the hands. When you exhale, contract the front of the rib cage. Now, move your hands toward the back of your ribs, or if that’s not possible, stand  or sit with your back against a wall. Now inhale and expand into the back of the ribs.

Try  to keep your shoulders out of the equation (don’t let them rise and fall as you breathe). This one may be more challenging! Again, exhale and contract the front of the ribs together. If possible, let each inhale take up the same amount of time as each exhale. But don’t sweat it! Remember, this is designed to help calm your nervous system.

Challenge yourself to practice expanding and contracting the ribs for 3-5 breath cycles at least three times throughout your day, whether it be when you first wake up, during your commute to work, sitting at your desk, or just before you fall asleep at night. Let us know how it makes you feel!

What is the Vagus Nerve?

The vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the human body, extending all the way from the brain stem all the way down to the stomach and the intestines. It enervates your lungs and your heart and connects the facial and throat muscles.

The nerve fibers running through the intestines are often referred to as the enteric brain because some 90% of those fibers connect back to the brain via your vagus nerve. As such, the vagus nerve plays a key role in the connection between the human body and mind. It can help a person remain in touch with their feelings and emotions. It puts the sparkle in a person’s smile but also the knot in their throat.

The Role of the Vagus Nerve

Several recent news articles have looked at the potential health benefits associated with vagus nerve health. It has been linked to various illnesses including those related to inflammation like rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel syndrome and epilepsy. As well as the physical benefits bestowed by regulating the vagus nerve, it can also play a significant part in improving mental health. Studies indicate it can help treat anxiety, depression PTSD and fatigue helping your take control of your emotional well-being naturally.

 Vagus nerve stimulation or VNS is an electronic intervention which is increasingly used to treat depression, anxiety and epilepsy. VNS involves implanting very small electronic devices into the body to send tiny shocks to the nerve. Less invasive external devices are currently being studied which will allow the vagus nerve to be stimulated through through your skin.

Inflammation and the Vagus Nerve

Your vagus nerve is critical to the immune system, keeping  it in good health and protecting against illness. There is also a very close link between inflammation, immune functioning and chronic stress. By activating your sympathetic nervous system, you release cortisols and keep the immune system healthy. Stress has an adverse effect on immune health leading to inflammation throughout the body and increasing your risk of many diseases including serious illness like heart disease.

Activating your vagus nerve helps boost the immune system and release various enzymes and hormones like oxytocin and acetylcholine. The result is a reduction in inflammation, and a general improvement in overall health, fewer tension headaches and reduced allergic reactions.

What is Vagal Tone?

Good vagal tone is the key for activating the nervous system. We measure vagal tone by measuring breathing rate along with the heart rate. When you inhale, the heart rate gets a little faster and slows down slightly when you exhale. The greater the difference between heart rate when you exhale and inhale, the higher a person’s vagal tone.

When vagal tone is higher, your body is able to relax better, and more able to deal with feelings of stress     and anxiety. Higher vagal tone helps the body regulate blood sugar levels and reduces the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

On the other hand low vagal tone has been linked to depression, fatigue, anxiety and cognitive issues.             It is also linked to physical problems like diabetes, heart disease and a wide range of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders from arthritis to lupus.

How to Stimulate the Vagus Nerve

Unless a surgical device has been implanted into your body, it is not possible to directly stimulate the vagus nerve. There are however a number of simple methods of indirectly stimulating it to achieve the right balance. Because it passes through so many parts of the body, practices which alter or contol those areas can have a major influence on the way the vagus nerve functions. And the best thing about these methods – you can try then in the comfort of your home.

1) Humming or Chanting

Your vagus nerve runs through your vocal cords and inner ear. The vibrations caused by humming is a very simple way to positively influence your nervous system. Pick a song and hum it to yourself – it really is that simple. Another option is to use the ‘Om’ chant popular in certain cultures and in yoga. It may sound odd, but go with it and let the sensations wash over you.

2) Conscious Breathing Exercises

Controlling your breath is also one of the best ways to get your nervous system under control. The aim of   this exercise is to move your diaphragm and belly with your breath and to slow your breathing down.  You can stimulate the vagus nerve by slowing sown your breathing to between 5 and 7 breaths a minute or about half the rate as normal.

Inhale while counting to 5 then hold your breath briefly before exhaling slowly. Try counting to ten as you exhale. Slightly constricting the back of your throat while performing this exercise can further stimulate your vagus nerve. You can accomplish this by breathing as if you are fogging a mirror.

3) Meditation

Another way to stimulate the vagus nerve is meditation. In a study published in 2013, 70 staff members at a university were recruited for a study on the link between vagal tone and positive emotions. The researchers recorded vagal tone at the outset and again at the end of the 9-week experiment.

Half of the subjects learned a meditation technique designed to promote positive feelings towards themselves and other people. Those that used this technique saw a significant increase in their vagal tone and this was linked to an increase in positive emotion.

 4) Massage

You may be able to influence the vagus nerve by performing a massage in certain areas of your body. Massaging the neck may stimulate the vagus nerve as can a good foot massage. Massaging the neck along your carotid sinus is one of the best spots for vagus nerve stimulation.

5) Diving Reflex

There are several ways to achieve the diving reflex to stimulate the nervous system. This reflex slows down the heart rate and increase the flow of blood to your head. It can both relax the body and the mind.

Simply splashing some very cold water onto your face all the way from the lips to the scalp can cause a diving reflex and have an excellent effect on the vagus nerve.

You can achieve the same result by filling a ziplock bag with ice cubes and holding it briefly on your face while holding your breath.

6) Form Healthy Connections

When you are feeling anxious or emotionally fragile, reaching out to friends can help a great deal. Whether you make connections face to face or by telephone and social media, this can help stimulate the vagus nerve and promote a healthier mind and body.

Playful relationships and laughter with friends can have a very powerful impact as can hugging a close friend or partner until you feel relaxed.

One hugging exercise is extremely effective and very simple. Just stand on your feet, embrace your partner wit both arms and focus on yourself until you quiet down fully.

How positive emotions build physical health: perceived positive social connections account for the upward spiral between positive emotions and vagal tone.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23649562

https://www.optimallivingdynamics.com/blog/how-to-stimulate-your-vagus-nerve-for-better-mental-health-brain-vns-ways-treatment-activate-natural-foods-depression-anxiety-stress-heart-rate-variability-yoga-massage-vagal-tone-dysfunction 

If you’re ready to resolve. . .  the “inner” emotional drivers of dis-ease (both physical             and emotional).  Healthy Vagus Nerve function is critical to both physical and emotional wellbeing. This video shares strategies you can use immediately use to TONE your Vagus Nerve and amplify your health and healing potential.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYOfw6Nva5k

Posted in Thought Provoking | Leave a comment

Cancer Vixen: A True Story

Barnes & Noble / iBooks / IndieBound / Amazon

What happens when a shoe-crazy, lipstick-obsessed, wine-swilling, pasta-slurping, fashion-fanatic, about-to-get-married big-city girl cartoonist with a fabulous life finds . . . a lump in her breast?  http://www.pbs.org/video/the-weta-book-studio-marisa-acocella-marchetto/

That’s the question that sets this powerful, funny, and poignant graphic memoir in motion. In vivid color and with a taboo-breaking sense of humor, Marisa Acocella Marchetto tells the story of her eleven-month, ultimately triumphant bout with breast cancer—from diagnosis to cure, and every challenging step in between.

Cancer survivor and The New Yorker cartoonist, Marisa Acocella Marchetto is something of a hero for figuring out a successful approach to lending much-needed comic relief to a sad subject. Her best-selling graphic novel chronicles her 11-month battle with breast cancer and coming out the other side (vixen, rather than victim).

Not so Marisa Acocella Marchetto’s graphic memoir, “Cancer Vixen.” Marchetto, a contributor to The New Yorker, usually specializes in droll depictions of joyless, emaciated women in four-figure outfits. In her second book, which originated as a comic strip in Glamour, she manages to be unflaggingly perky as she tells us the story of her cancer, starting with her diagnosis three weeks before her wedding.

She gives us haunting drawings of cancer’s victims, whom she places up in the    clouds, still grouped in the “cancer clusters” in which they died. (Remember Love Canal?) But mostly, Marchetto’s cartoons in this book are ebullient: cancer cells   under the microscope are little green circles sticking out their tongues and giving    you the finger; the grim reaper wields a vacuum cleaner; her higher self is a floating, one-eyed yogi with amazing abs.

But “Cancer Vixen” isn’t all silliness. There are important lessons about treatment options and insurance (women — like Marchetto herself — who are uninsured at the time of their diagnoses have a 49 percent greater risk of dying from breast cancer). Too many women don’t know and aren’t told about lymphedema, a chronic and extremely painful condition that can occur after surgery to remove the sentinel lymph nodes, and is often brought on by avoidable circumstances like postsurgical exposure to extreme temperature or lifting heavy objects. Marchetto’s sunny drawings comfort and amuse while providing a beneficial education on cancer’s dark details.

Another thing we learn in “Cancer Vixen” is that Marchetto is very, very proud of being very, very in with A-list New York City. Her status is brought to our attention at every turn: where she gets seated at fashion shows (front row); who she hangs with (her “BFF’s” from the gossip column Page Six); what kind of shoes she wears  (Chanel, Cesare Paciotti, Giuseppe Zanotti); her celebrity-studded fount of spiritual guidance (the Kaballah Center).

Even her exploration of her own weakness and jealousy underscores her desirability; her husband, the “It restaurateur” Silvano Marchetto of exclusive Da Silvano, is forever being hit on by models, yet is mysteriously immune to their charms. In its giddy fixation on lip gloss and sling-backs, “Cancer Vixen” is less a contribution to the established genre of cancer literature than it is the inauguration of something marginally novel: Sick-Chick Lit.

Some readers may find Marchetto’s self-proclaimed “fabulista life” hard to relate to.       But perhaps she can be forgiven a little gloating because she has also shared, in visually invigorating and fairly unflinching detail, everything about her experience with cancer — from her excruciating neulasta shots to her chemo-induced night sweats.  Perhaps it’s human nature to remind yourself and others of what’s enviable in your life after you’ve revealed what’s painful and difficult about it.

Breast cancer, after all, is easy to relate to. One in eight women will get it and all of            us  will be affected by it. My own mother has had three mastectomies. It’s confusing,            I know, but I can explain. Ask me about it the next time you see me at Da Silvano.

Marisa Acocella Marchetto, author of the graphic memoir Cancer Vixen, visits with  Ronnie this week. Ms. Marchetto discusses her new book in which she describes what happens when a “fabulous” single girl living in New York City without health insurance discovers she has breast cancer.  She shares her story with Ronnie and talks about the healing power of humor.  Ronnie M. Eldridge,  articulate,  outspoken,  and  passionate member of the New York City Council from 1989 to 2001, hosts this series which covers the issues and institutions, the people and politics of New York City.

Preview YouTube video 2015 Cancer Luncheon:

Marisa Acocella Marchetto

Posted in General News | Leave a comment

Journey to “inSPIRE”.

How I Beat Cancer Naturally

Rick Lamothe of Calgary, Alberta (Canada) beat TWO  cancers naturally!  This is Rick’s story, as featured in  Health News magazine issue #72.

I had been struggling with some kind of “skin rash” for about 5 years; it looked like eczema. After years of trying different creams, and blaming the chemicals in my hot tub, my doctor delivered the dreaded “C word.”

It was December 2010 when a biopsy proved I had “mycosis fungoides” (MF), a very rare, white t-cell cancer that manifests itself on the skin. Ultimately, I was told that there was no cure for MF and that I would have to live with this cancer for the rest of my life.

As if dealing with cancer was not enough, I was also going through the greatest challenge in my ministry career. I had been a church-planting pastor for the   previous 14 years and seen God do a lot of great things.

But now, for many reasons, it seemed everything was falling apart in my life.

My Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Relational and Emotional health were a          collective mess. My “S.P.I.R.E.” was falling apart!

So, I decided to resign from my church; not a week later, I got another C-word, this time from my urologist. It was prostate cancer. The urologist recommended a radical prostatectomy (removal of the prostate entirely). But knowing the potential side effects of prostate surgery, I thought to myself, “I’m too young to deal with those things.”

About this time, a friend of mine called me to tell me I should meet with one                          of his     friends who had breast cancer and decided to fight it the natural way.

“Oh no,” I thought, “I’m not becoming one of those vegetarian/vegans.             How can that help?”

Despite my preconceived notions, I met with her. She told me that she went to the Hippocrates Institute in Florida to detox and learn the vegan way of living and eating.

She said, “Talk to a few people around here who have done similar radical things.       Better yet, try the ‘Christian version’ of it, called Hallelujah Acres!”

She gave me a list of people to call including a farmer.   He had prostate cancer             20 years earlier and defeated it the natural way,  by mainly eating a raw,  living vegetable diet. He told me to make my body as alkaline as possible because cancer cells thrive on an acidic diet. So, I went organic and started eating mainly salads overnight. But something was still missing!

I remembered what my friend with breast cancer had told me about Hallelujah Acres.          I knew a little bit about it, but I wanted to go in person and get to know how it all worked. So, in October 2011, I jumped on my motorcycle and made the long trek from Ottawa, Ontario to the Hallelujah Diet Health Retreat at Lake Luke, North Carolina.

I had never eaten as well as I did during my week at the Lifestyle Center — who would have thought that food prep and eating this way could be so much fun? I was very excited about the food and packed my motorcycle trailer with every gadget I needed to continue my new diet when I got home.

About 2 months into my new diet, I went for more PSA testing. To my greatest delight,   and to my urologist’s great surprise, my PSA went down faster in 2 months than     it went up in 3 years.  My doctor could not explain why!  He said that maybe I was  one  of the lucky ones who would be cured without surgery — but I knew better.

Encouraged by my test results, I kept going. My wife was surprised by my willpower        and self-discipline, but I was truly enjoying The Hallelujah Diet!

By Christmas, I had lost nearly 50 pounds and felt like I was back in my 20s.

Then I went for a series of new medical tests because — more good news — the Lord was moving us across Canada to Calgary, Alberta to work with Samaritan’s Purse/Operation Christmas Child. I wanted to get some final testing to prove that my last positive results were not a coincidence!

When I walked in to see my family doctor, she had the biggest smile! She said all my numbers were amazing. No more cholesterol problems (I had been on medication   for 3 years).  My blood pressure was back to normal, too.  But the best news was     my PSA had gone down to the point  I didn’t need to worry about whether I had prostate cancer!

I knew I was on the right track and that God was healing my body — He just needed     me to cooperate with my diet!

I can’t explain how really wonderful I feel. Through my cooperation with God’s original diet, He has healed me of two cancers,  I’ve lost 50 pounds,  and I feel great in my new pant size!

This journey has helped me in every way – Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Relational     and Emotional (SPIRE). In fact, I now teach men about The Hallelujah Diet as     part of my inSPIRE Men’s Journey.

Please, don’t wait for the C word from your doctor — investigate The Hallelujah Diet now! Spend a week at a Hallelujah Diet Health Retreat! Become a carrot juicing, vegetable nut like I have become! Give The Hallelujah Diet a try; you’ll feel better, look better, and make your SPIRE an inspiration to others!

The Hallelujah Diet

Dieting is not only challenging, but it can be severely un-enjoyable as well – especially due to the unappealing food options and many ineffective methods. While you can certainly try to develop your own system, this option is time consuming and you may not always be on the right track. The alternative solution is to opt for a diet plan that you can trust and that is compatible with your tastes and interests.

That being said, this review would like to introduce you to the Hallelujah Diet, a new diet system on the market that offers you impressive results when you follow it as directed. Here is everything that you need to know about the Hallelujah Diet so that you can make the right decision for your health.

What is the Hallelujah Diet?

The Hallelujah Diet is a new diet system that helps you make drastic and worthwhile lifestyle changes so that you can experience stunning weight loss results. The program specifically focuses on improving your health at every level, including the cellular one.

As the system notes, nutrient deficient cells are not only at risk for higher levels of fatigue, poor immunity, disease, and sickness, but they also prevent you from losing weight so that you maintain the right lifestyle.

This diet system has two synergistic dimensions, which are:

  • Promoting consumption of the health-positive, biblical, and plant-based foods that come in the form or raw fruits and vegetables
  • Providing you with supplemental nutrition to ensure that your body has what it is lacking in, such as organic produce

With these qualities, you can finally meet your health and weight loss goals with ease.

Different Paths Available

There are many positive qualities to this diet system, one of which is that it isn’t a system that is a “one size fits all” option. Instead, there are many different avenues to the diet system that you can choose from. The three different paths that are available are:

Boost Your Health

The Boost Your Health path focuses on disease prevention and improved health. You’ll learn to replace your current diet with better food choices that are plant based. You’ll also be introduced to the program’s juices that help you improve any nutritional deficiencies and toxicity that you may be experiencing.

Live Healthy

The Live Healthy System is a personalized diet that you get to build on your own.                 It includes plant-based options,  vitamins,  supplements,  and the like to increase your nutrition levels and to remove toxins. The juices help you experience an improved well-being so that you can have a long and healthy life.

Restore Your Health

The final option is Restore Your Health. This avenue is for fighting disease so you can overcome most of your health troubles. Unlike the other two systems, it is a magnified version that requires you to eat an 85% raw diet and 15% vegan foods, juices, and supplements. You’ll have a higher immunity and a more vibrant lifestyle.

The Purpose of the Hallelujah Diet

Before choosing a diet system, it is important to recognize whether the program meets your needs.  In this case,  the Hallelujah Diet is designed to provide you with a number       of outstanding qualities so that you can finally experience prominent weight loss, better health, and an improved lifestyle.  Very few systems on the market make it as easy and     as convenient as the Hallelujah Diet does. Here are the components of the system:

Complete Cleansing

First, as long as you follow the parameters of the program, you’ll be able to fully cleanse your body of the toxins that make you terribly sick and lethargic. By releasing the awful toxins from your system, you’ll feel much healthier, more energetic, and in better spirits on a daily basis.

A Boost of Vitamins and Minerals

Second, the program’s nutritious diet gives your body the boost of vitamins and minerals that it needs for proper health. You’ll be able to enjoy from an array of vitamins and minerals and from healthy bacteria that keep your cells  and your body as healthy as can be.  The qualities of the system,  so long as you follow them, last you well into your older age.

Eat Well

Finally, you’ll also find yourself eating well. The improved diet may be hard to follow in  the beginning, but you’ll find it to be a worthwhile move, especially if you are looking to promote positive health and energy for years to come. Ultimately, you’ll fall in love with your improved diet and all of the benefits that come with it.

Scientifically Proven to Work

When choosing a diet system, it is imperative that you opt for one that is clinically           and scientifically proven to work. Fortunately, the Hallelujah diet has been subject             to extensive research and testing. The brand conducts its testing and clinical trials             on its methods before releasing them on the market.

To ensure that you are on the right track as well, the program has a new and improved Raw Food Lab. The lab is a test that helps you determine which products are right for you. To learn more about the Raw Food Lab, simply visit the brand’s website and click on the link for the lab.

You’ll then be directed to a page to register and to go through the sting process. As you complete testing, you’ll receive results about your score and which products may work  best to boost your health and to help you meet your weight loss goals.

How to Get Started

If you are interested in the Hallelujah Diet, then you can get started on the brand’s website today. The paths are available right on the homepage so that you can choose the one that works best for you. Also, due to the season, the brand has many great deals taking place.

Hallelujah Diet Summary

Overall, if you are looking for a high-quality, reliable, and effective diet system that enables you to fall in love with healthy and nutritious food, then the Hallelujah Diet       may be the right program for you. To get started and to adopt a better lifestyle, visit           the brand’s website today.  http://www.myhdiet.com/what-is-the-hallelujah-diet-and-why-does-it-work/

The Hallelujah Diet

“In 2001 my husband was terribly sick and a friend, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, gave us a DVD of Rev. Malkmus’ seminar. We watched it and started implementing The Hallelujah Diet immediately. Threw out the microwave, aluminum utensils and other contaminants, and immediately started feeling better – Headaches gone, hemorrhoids gone, heartburn gone, excess weight gone and stayed gone, felt better, slept better, looked better.

Due to a very busy schedule we slacked off on The Hallelujah Diet and in 2011, and in 2012 my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Upon the diagnosis we went back strictly on The Hallelujah Diet and just last week the doctors declared he was cancer free, his prostate is back to normal, heart rate normal, blood pressure normal, and we praise God for His intervention and for The Hallelujah Diet.”
Health Minister Kathy C.

“I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome 15 years prior to learning about The Hallelujah Diet. I then met a woman who told me about the Hallelujah Acres Diet and Lifestyle. She had, on The Hallelujah Diet, been able to get rid of bone cancer. I followed The Hallelujah Diet perfectly and within just 2 weeks of changing my diet, all chronic fatigue symptoms were gone, and within 2 years all my allergies were gone.

I am now 44 years old and have no health issues, I’m on             no drugs, have no PMS, no cramps, no headaches, no nothing.    I feel better today than I did when I was in my 20s and people always are telling me how young and ageless I look. Hallelujah!”
Health Minister Jennifer B.

“Dear Dr. Malkmus, I live in Israel now! Moved back here from Canada two years ago with my 7-year-old daughter Mekai. Several years ago I purchased Rhonda’s ‘Recipes for Life’. This book was an eye-opener and brought change to my diet and lifestyle, and changed my thinking as to what is and what is not nutritious. This book is true to the Bible and a proper guide to healthy nutrition and the recipes are great to bring to the family table.

But I must say that it is still quite difficult living in surroundings and in a society that lives differently, but in my heart I  am still a true follower of Hallelujah Acres and constantly reading the posts on your website. Keep up the amazing work both you and Rhonda are doing in educating the world in the right ways to eat.”
Shelly C., Karmiel, Israel
 .
“Wishing you a very happy birthday, Dr. Malkmus! I was      born on November 24, 1936 so I am very close to your age.           I originally adopted The Hallelujah Diet because I had skin cancer and your program helped me with that problem immensely. As a result of the diet and lifestyle change I also lost 50 pounds and, to this day, have blood work reports that are envied by my friends.”
Barbara S.

George Malkmus – Gods way to Ultimate Health – Full

https://vimeo.com/24404254

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Preview  Ted Broer – God’s way to ultimate health

(part 1 of 2)

Posted in Information & Research | Leave a comment

If you want to beat cancer read the research !!!

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  Through the results of widespread experimentation of the …. well …. let’s say “non-scientific” variety,  it’s pretty well known  marijuana has the side effect of making the user very hungry. This is one of the many physiological effects of the  active ingredient THC (?9-tetrahydrocannabinol).

More relevantly, however, THC    and other cannabinoids  are actively being investigated  for various useful clinical purposes, including the treatment of cancer through the inhibition of tumor growth.

A new study by Salazar et al. in The Journal of Clinical Investigation demonstrates that THC causes tumor cells to begin to degrade themselves from the inside (a process called autophagy, i.e. “self-eating”). Although autophagy has been shown to promote cell survival in some cases and cell death in others, the authors show that in this case it causes cancer cells to undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis). Thus, THC activates a series of events within cancer cells, inhibiting tumor growth.

Despite the imagery that the title of this post (and maybe even casual experience) may imply, it’s not that THC causes cancer cells to ravenously and indiscriminately destroy themselves.  Rather,  by binding to certain cell-surface receptors,  THC activates a cell signaling pathway that leads to cell death.  This is an orderly process, with autophagy      just contributing one important step.  The authors of this paper work out many of the molecular players in this process, using siRNA and cells derived from knockout mice, although I’ll leave it to the interested reader to further explore that aspect by reading      the paper if so inclined.

Mostly, this is interesting (to me) more for the big picture aspect and the implications       for clinical medicine. And, of course, for the post title it inspired.

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Comments From a Post that I Posted in a Popular Facebook Group!!!
 
I truly believe that all cancers are equally treatable with high thc cannabis oil regardless of the specific names given by science. I also promote people taking small amounts as a preventative. It helps improve general health dramatically in many cases.(that’s why it cures cancer. 😊)
 
The first to go..Sugar, flour, diary and red meat. (Standard North American Cancer producing diet!)
 
When is comes to estrogen driven cancer this one is tricky. Most people here would recommend a 1-1 strain like AC/DC or Harlequin. and some cancer patients use the high thc Indica strains like Kush, Diesel, God’s Gift.. Google gives hundreds of examples as would a dispensary..
 
 
This is so interesting to me. I heard with triple positive, ER+ to be exact, that high thc wasn’t good.             At the same time, I learned in May  I am stage 3b invasive ductal carcinoma  and tubal carcinoma only      in left breast thank God.  I’ve  known of  lump for 3 1/2 yrs now.  I’m refusing  “standard treatment”, ALL 3!  It’s too expensive to go to a holistic clinic.  All I have done… in the last years of my life…. is smoke marijuana so I believe that has to help somewhat, and it’s been mostly thc. I’m confused as to which to try and do…
 
A gram a day for 90 days is the treatment dose, with About a half gram a week for maintenance. If I take the oil I don’t need allergy medicine and I  don’t get sick with colds and flu!!
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 I was in exactly the same predicament!! I agonized over it. I finally decided to go high thc because              of Rick Simpson’s experience seeing thousands of people heal using high thc cannabis oil made from a        high thc Indica strain. If there was a problem with hormone driven cancer he would have identified it!

70% of all breast cancer is hormone driven…that’s a lot of us!!
Men get hormone driven cancer too…nobody is worried about that.
As cannabis is non-lethal I decided to make sure I had LOTS of thc. I was on almost a gram a day               for a year. Yes. And my cancer is ‘possibly a dilated duct.’

I keep ‘parroting’ this to help others make up their own mind.
It certainly has worked for me. In fact, Rick Simpson’s crew told me the only time it fails is if there isn’t enough thc. I have seen that happen a lot with the 3/1 and 2/1 ratio…
The most popular method, as described by former (skin)cancer patient Rick Simpson from Canada, suggests the use   of naphtha or petroleum ether as a solvent for the extraction.

What is naphtha or petroleum-ether?

In general, petroleum-ether and naphtha refer to very similar products, even              though different names may be used around the world; e.g. in some countries           naphtha is equivalent to diesel or kerosene fuel. Both solvents are a mixture of      petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs), often available in a wide range of qualities.

All the solvent components should be considered harmful and flammable,                         and some of them, such as hexane and benzene, may be neurotoxic.

Both naphtha and petroleum-ether are considered potential cancer hazards              according to their manufacturers. Moreover, products sold as naphtha may                contain added impurities (e.g. Coleman® fuel) which may have harmful                 properties of their own.

A better extraction method would be grain Alcohol:

Spirytus Rektyfikowany versus Everclear

Image result for spirytus rektyfikowany vs everclearRelated image

I found-out recently, that the manufacturer of EVERCLEAR uses GMO corn to make their 190 proof alcohol! If you’re interested in obtaining ORGANIC (non-GMO) Grain Alcohol to be used to make your tinctures, please CLICK HERE

http://encod.org/info/THE-BEST-WAY-TO-PRODUCE-CANNABIS.html 

 
Thc is the Mighty Cancer Killer in my book. Take cbd too,                                   but you should be taking lots of thc…enough to REALLY feel it.
Canna-brain isn’t fun, but it beats the lovely heck out of chemo-brain.                 It is actually GOOD for it in the long term.
 
You are most welcome Michele!
Keep researching and REMEMBER
Cancer is EXTREMELY lucrative to those who treat it. I question everything now.
 
I trust myself like NEVER before to make my own best call. Bottom line…cannabis is non lethal. Just look at what I did! A year of high thc with horomone driven cancer…and it’s gone. It was gone a long time ago, but I wanted to make sure…. lol.
 
I have absolute faith in it, more than anything else. Besides God of course! Thank you so much for talking to me about this. Mine being triple positive I wondered.
 
My wife’s been diagnosed with er/pr+ her2 negative and she was prescribed a 3:1 cbd/thc…but your saying more thc but you are her2positive. Thoughts?
 
This controversy has raged on for months..😊 There are so many factors that play into a person’s health. I can only speak for myself and would not want the responsibility of telling others what will be best. I have considered this for a long time and I personally think a high thc Cannabis Oil for ALL cancers is important. 1-1 ratio is the least I would consider. All the cannabinoids are important and they work together, but I think it is very risky to go 2-1 or 3-1. Just my own opinion.
 
Thank you for sharing but I’m wondering why you think would be the risk on the 2-1 or 3-1? I’m at the beginning stage of giving my wife a 3-1 dosage…not exactly 3 weeks+ of slightly bigger rice grain, I’m aiming for somewhere near 1/2 g total of both thc and cbd co.
 
You will slowly build a tolerance. Keep increasing as much as you can. I’ve used orange juice to come down if too high.
 
that dose is only a very small amount of thc daily! I took a gram of 90+% thc daily. If you figure out how much thc your wife is getting it may be 10-20 % of what I consider a good amount. The Cbd’s are known for helping with neurological issues such as epilepsy, anxiety, PTSD, depression, clarity of thought, mental focus…
That’s all good but it won’t cure cancer in my estimation.
 
 I’ll be honest I was advised by nurse oncology from United Patients Group to do the 3:1, 235mg of cbd and 79mg of thc. I was told that too much thc will not be good for her breast cancer type…I’m confused but it worked for you…congratulations again. The United Patient Group are the ones who caused me the most consternation about this issue. As I said before…when there is money to be made…BEWARE. Never stop looking for the truth..💖 And of course do whatever you decide is best!
 
Now, it seems to be more about CBD. I tried the various THC/CBD oils and don’t like all that CBD.             My dx was similar, but I feel better and prefer high THC cannabis oil.
 
Only want the very best for us all!
It is a perilous journey indeed. Who do we trust?! Who knows the truth? Trust your own highest self       and God…and keep awake and aware…things are changing fast!
 
Hi  wonderful news, I have same type, what nutrition did you use?
 
Plant based, whole food anti-cancer supplements (tumeric, ginger, seaweed, turkey tail mushrooms,     black seed oil, coconut oil, hemp oil, essiac tea, apricot kernels, seaweed, frankincense essential oil, clove essential oil,  wormwood tincture  for parasites..)  lots of  organic juicing,  loads  of  fruit,  nuts,  seeds, a smoothie everyday with hemp hearts, Chia, fruit, coconut oil, and anything else healthy. Lots of avocados and green leafy veggies.
I eat raw and organic as often as I can. I don’t drink alcohol, smoke or do any street drugs or prescription drugs at all. Just cannabis.
💖
 No automatic alt text available.
Do you mind if I ask what oil mixed and amount you used my husband is at four been on oil for three months but I’m wondering what others used.
 
 I had DCIS and I used a homemade oil the time I was dealing with it (which is close to 9 years ago now). Now I use FECO made by my herbalist. I did not do surgery or anything but relied on many different therapies (DCIS was gone in 3.5 months and this was years ago). I take about an “inch” squeezed out    from a syringe- nightly. I will use it for life as prevention. My herbalist mostly uses harlequin strain.             I live in Colorado and have access to a lot but you can’t just go into a shop and buy this stuff……….

Prostate cancer …. 45g mother of Berry … 15 g blue Dream

I wasn’t suggesting that vaping is “better than ingesting or suppository”.
It’s better than smoking. Anything that burns is carcinogenic.

Thymoma stage IV A Blue Dream

https://www.leafly.com/exploreManage

Cannabis Strain Explorer

I had bladder cancer.. sweet tooth…purple kush …holy grail…..bubba kush….doctor poly…tek 7…. fat columbiani i used cannabis oil…cannabis oil suppositories…i put             1 table spoon decabed cannabis in my smoothie…i used baked goods..and vaporized           i got into me evry which way i could….and DIET CHANGE WAS CRITICAL

NSCL lung cancer 3B. Edible cannabis oils, Sativa dominant

brain cancer. i use different strains for different things. the CBD oil to keep the tumor away, i smoke headbands for my headaches/pain/anxiety-or anything with a 60-40% split. 60indica, 40 sativa. i drink tincture with a high indica strain to help with sleep.         i use a cannabis infused coconut lotion, which is topical, for my massive headaches

contact the Bobby Greenhash Foundation in Durban via fbook

Stage 4 Cervical cancer and meninigitis. I used godfather ogkush  for pain, high cbd lemon diesel Rick Simpson oil    and I’ve been happy and healthy for two years

Ken if you Google my story it’s pretty well documented

Tricia Dennis’ Story: Curing Melanoma Skin Cancer

Source: http://www.cureyourowncancer.org/testimonials.html

Published on Jun 29, 2017

Tricia Dennis from Florida had a melanoma on her leg that created a gaping hole exposing the bone. She was in constant pain, her leg was seriously infected, and she was fearful that doctors would want to amputate. When she applied cannabis oil to the cancer and began also taking it orally, she felt instant pain relief. Three months later she was declared cancer free.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVnerbzkANw

I had DCIS and I used a homemade oil the time I was dealing with it (which is close to       9 years ago now). Now I use FECO made by my herbalist. I did not do surgery or anything but relied  on many different therapies  (DCIS was gone in 3.5 months  and this was years ago).  I take about an  “inch”  squeezed out from a syringe– nightly.  I will use it for life as prevention. My herbalist mostly uses harlequin strain.  I live in Colorado and have access to a lot but you can’t just go into a shop and buy this stuff……….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LFFnV6OKU

Ps. Call Dr. Ernie Murakami in Hope, BC. He is very experienced lyme doctor                 and will consult for free. I highly recommend connecting with him.

Thanks for your friendship 👌💜🙏

Preview  Cannabis Engineer, Mara Gordon,

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