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30.12.2013 Feature Article

GMOs And Your Prostate Health!

GMOs And Your Prostate Health!
30.12.2013 LISTEN

It is our bodies that are the best defense against developing a chronic degenerating disease-not the drugs doctors can prescribe. You, the patient, can become proactive about preserving your health. Well, probably you have not heard of me. Why should you take my words as a prostate cancer advocate in a small neglected town of Ghana-Dodowa? Good question! Prevention of disease must be the first other of any physician but who do you turn to for help?

That is why I want you to read this article. One final request, since it's your health and life that are at stake, I encourage you to hear me out and withhold judgments. All I ask is that you be an open-minded skeptic.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
Things are really falling fallen apart in the health of Men

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the health of our men.
The recent prostate cancer Uk research involving black men prostate cancer risk put out black men risk factor to 1 in 4. According to their website “1 in 4 black men will get Prostate cancer.” On hearing this news I contacted the director of Prostate Cancer Awareness Uk . Mr. Wilson Denton is also a volunteer for Prostate Cancer UK and the regional ambassador for South Yorkshire- Topic of Cancer. He sent me a text :

“Bro! There is actually something wrong when it comes to our people the black race.” I got to know about him when in one of our assignment for the Msc Prostate Cancer Care, I did a work on the prostate cancer situation in Ghana as part of the prostate cancer debate and the introduction of the prostate cancer risk management program in the UK –Sheffield Hallam University and eventually as a young man so passionate about men's health especially prostate cancer in Ghanaian men, because I saw how the men in Ghana are battling with this dreaded disease when I was then the head of the ultrasound unit at Medi-Moses Clinic & Herbal Centre –Adenta. Prostate Health actually runs through me like gugumi !

The course leader then passes on my information to him to get in touch with me. Many health professionals are not even aware that black ancestry is a key risk factor. Now, prostate cancer is more peculiar to black. Is an established risk factor! Why?

PROSTATE CANCER AND DNA
On a basic level, prostate cancer is caused by changes in DNA of a prostate cell. In recent years, scientist have made great progress in understanding how certain changes in DNA can cause normal prostate cells to grow abnormally and form cancers. DNA is the chemical that makes up our genes, the instructions for nearly everything our cells do. We usually look like our parents because they are the source of our DNA. However, DNA affects more than how we look.

Some genes control when our cells grow, divide into new cells, and die. Certain genes that help cells grow and divide are called oncogenes. Others that normally slow down cell division or cause cells to die at the right time are called tumor suppressor genes. Cancer can be caused by DNA changes (mutations) that turn on oncogenes or turn off tumor suppressor genes.

DNA changes can either be inherited from a parent or can be acquired during a person's lifetime.

Researchers have found inherited DNA changes in certain genes may cause about 5% to 10% of prostate cancers. Several mutated genes have been found that may be responsible for a man's inherited tendency to developed prostate cancer. One of these is called HPC 1(hereditary prostate cancer Gene 1).

But there are many other gene mutations that may account for some cases of hereditary prostate cancer. None of these is a major cause. Men with BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 gene changes may also an increased prostate cancer risk.

Mutations in these genes more commonly cause breast and ovarian cancer in women. But BRCA changes probably account for only a very smaller number of prostate cancers. Most DNA mutations related to prostate cancer seem to develop during a man's life rather than having been inherited.

Prostate Cancer": two words that men dread.
They are realizing it is one of the key health issues of our times because of the growing prevalence of this health crisis. Each year, about 250,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in the USA and over 10% of them will die from it. Many more will suffer the side effects of their treatment (incontinence, impotence and more).

In the UK yearly 40,000 men diagnose with prostate cancer and every hour one persons dies of prostate cancer accounting for about 10,000 prostate cancer deaths yearly. Prostate cancer incidence rates are low in Asian countries. Is our anatomy different from theirs? Also, can you tell me why when someone from the Asian countries now moves to UK or US his risk factor now changes?

YOUR PROSTATE AND DIET
Your prostate is a gland, which—among its many functions—filters out toxins from your ejaculate! That means the worse you eat, the harder your prostate works. And the earlier your prostate shows signs of poor health.

Your prostate can make its presence known later in life, demanding your attention: prostate cancer, an enlarged prostate, or an infected prostate are the all too common prostate conditions affecting more and more men, and at an earlier age than decades ago.

It's a remarkable gland, and prostate gland health can have huge repercussions on a man's quality of life.

Why wait until your prostate function is compromised to learn what foods you shouldn't eat? Your prostate and your sex life will have a better chance if you Kick GMOs out. It is vital to men's health and human survival.

“You see, cancers or diseases don't just mysteriously appear. The whole gene farce is ridiculous. Diet and lifestyle will make a dormant gene more or less active. Family or geographical histories of cancer happen because most often there is high similarity in diet and lifestyle. Prostate cancer in Ghana is even more peculiar to some classes of people and these are the elites in society. Why? You see there is a problem in the food chain of these people. We all have cancer cells in our body. The key is to ensure we are doing everything to enhance our health and not give the cancer a chance to grow he said”

One of the main functions of the prostate gland is to remove toxin. Too much toxins and your prostate suffers.

“The more toxic your diet, the more toxic your urine and feces. Our prostate, which sits between two organs of elimination-the bladder and the colon, is vulnerable to absorbing these toxins. Being toxic is the main reason men have prostate problems. The other reason is due to hormone disruptors: the pesticides, herbicides and fungicides of non-organic food; chemical that is leached into food and water from plastic bottles and food cans linings. We consume so many foods laced with chemicals that are our bodies are fighting to survive. Eventually the men are also having problem with erectile difficulties and as a result we are sleeping on duty!

An Agric officer told me something that I will not forget he said:

““The soil is supposed to be the powerhouse of the zinc which our crops pick and when we also consumed the crops we get our source of zinc for prostate health but unfortunately he said. We are using chemicals to grow our crops and this is depleting the zinc from the soil so our crops can't get enough zinc hence we don't have enough source of zinc from the crops when we consume them.” Remember, your prostate needs zinc for proper functioning.

GMOS! WORSE FOOD FOR YOUR PROSTATE AND YOU WANT US TO EAT IN GHANA

On may 23, 2003 , President George Bush proposed an initiative to end Hunger in Africa using genetically modified ( GM) foods. He also blamed Europe's “unfolded unscientific fears” of these foods for hindering efforts to end hunger. Bush was convinced that GM foods held the key to greater yields, expanded U.S .exports, and a better world. His rhetoric was not new. It had been passed down from president to president, and delivered to the American people through regular news and reports and industry advertisements.

The message was part of a master plan that had been crafted by corporations determined to control the world's food supply. Integral to the plan was Mosanto's influence in government, whose role was to promote the technology worldwide and to help get the foods into the marketplace quickly, before resistance could get in the way

Today, consumers eat these foods daily without knowing the potential health risks. In 2003, Jeffrey Smith explained them in his book titled "Seeds of Deception." He revealed that efforts to inform the public have been quashed, reliable science has been buried, and consider what happened to two distinguished scientists - UC Berkeley's Ignacio Chapela and former Scotland Rowett Research Institute researcher and world's leading lectins and plant genetic modification expert, Arpad Pusztai. They were vilified, hounded, and threatened for their research, and in the case of Pusztai, fired from his job for doing it.

He believed in the promise of GM foods, was commissioned to study them, and conducted the first ever independent one on them anywhere. Like other researchers since, he was shocked by his findings. Rats fed GM potatoes had smaller livers, hearts, testicles and brains, damaged immune systems, and showed structural changes in their white blood cells making them more vulnerable to infection and disease compared to other rats fed non-GMO potatoes. It got worse. Thymus and spleen damage showed up; enlarged tissues, including the pancreas and intestines; and there were cases of liver atrophy as well as significant proliferation of stomach and intestines cells that could be a sign of greater future risk of cancer. Equally alarming, results showed up after 10 days of testing, and they persisted after 110 days that's the human equivalent of 10 years.

Later independent studies confirmed what Pusztai learned, and Smith published information on them in his 2007 book called "Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods." The book is encyclopedic in depth, an invaluable comprehensive source, and this article reviews some of the shocking data in it.

The real kinds show GMOs produce "massive changes in the natural functioning of (a) plant's DNA. Native genes can be mutated, deleted, permanently turned off or on....the inserted gene can become truncated, fragmented, mixed with other genes, inverted or multiplied, and the GM protein it produces may have unintended characteristics" that may be harmful.

GMOs also pose other health risks. When a transgene functions in a new cell, it may produce different proteins than the ones intended. They may be harmful, but there's no way to know without scientific testing. Even if the protein is exactly the same, there are still problems. Consider corn varieties engineered to produce a pesticidal protein called Bt-toxin. Farmers use it in spray form, and companies falsely claim it's harmless to humans. In fact, people exposed to the spray develop allergic-type symptoms, mice ingesting Bt had powerful immune responses and abnormal and excessive cell growth, and a growing number of human and livestock illnesses are linked to Bt crops.

Smith notes still another problem relating to inserted genes. Assuming they're destroyed by our digestive system, as industry claims, is false. In fact, they may move from food into gut bacteria or internal organs, and consider the potential harm. If corn genes with Bt-toxin get into gut bacteria, our intestinal flora may become pesticide factories. There's been no research done to prove if it's true or false. Agribusiness giants aren't looking neither is FDA, consumers are left to play "Genetic Roulette," and the few animal feeding studies done show the odds are against them.

Arpad Pusztai and other scientists were shocked at their results of animals fed GM foods. His results were cited above. Other independent studies showed stunted growth, impaired immune systems, bleeding stomachs, abnormal and potentially precancerous cell growth in the intestines, impaired blood cell development, misshaped cell structures in the liver, pancreas and testicles, altered gene expression and cell metabolism, liver and kidney lesions, partially atrophied livers, inflamed kidneys, less developed organs, reduced digestive enzymes, higher blood sugar, inflamed lung tissue, increased death rates and higher offspring mortality as well.

There's more. Two dozen farmers reported their pigs and cows fed GM corn became sterile, 71 shepherds said 25% of their sheep fed Bt cotton plants died, and other reports showed the same effects on cows, chickens, water buffaloes and horses. After GM soy was introduced in the UK, allergies from the product skyrocketed by 50%, and in the US in the 1980s, a GM food supplement killed dozens and left five to ten thousand others sick or disabled.

GMOS AND PROSTATE CANCER
The African Press International on July 16, 2011 posted

GMO – Genetically modified maize, said to have caused prostate cancer and infertility in Europe may soon be marketed in Kenya

Genetically modified maize that is reportedly a cause to health hazards is said to be on its way to Kenya. They said:

The maize said to be the cause of prostate cancer and infertility in Europe will soon find its way to developing countries. The maize in question is discarded by European countries because scientist say they have discovered that there is a connection between the use of the maize in question and developing less interest for sex. After loosing interest for sex those affected (in the case of male) will experience less production of sperm that will lead to having no interest for sexual contact with female counterparts.

Those who develop severe complications become infertile and may end up developing prostate cancer.

The type of maize in question is said to be more dangerous to men than women, although it is said a female develops infertility slower than their male counterparts, while the male develops infertility faster, and is most likely to develop prostate cancer in a period of 12 months.

United States Chooses to Ignore the Precautionary Principle, Embrace Monsanto's GM Foods-Dr Mercola

According to Dr Mercola , Dr. Philip Bereano has spent the last three decades looking into genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in foods, crops, animals, and humans—both nationally, here in the United States, and internationally. His work led him to participate in the negotiation of two international treaties under the United Nations that dealt with issues relating to GMOs.

In his interview with him, he shared his perspective on the safety of GM foods -- or rather the lack thereof.

"First of all, we need to understand what we mean by the word safe. Actually, in terms of the academic literature, "safe" refers to "an acceptable level of risk." It doesn't refer to situations where there is no risk. Most of us drive in cars all the time and consider it to be safe even though we know that people are killed and injured in automobiles frequently. We have to understand that safe equals acceptable risk.

The problem with calling genetically engineered organisms safe is that there are no valid risk assessments being done on them. There is no research, really, being done into the health or environmental effects of a genetically engineered organism. Certainly no work that is published in the open peer-reviewed literature or that isn't proprietary. Corporations promoting these things claim that they have done research, but you can't get any information on it because it's all claimed to be proprietary.

Under what is known now as the precautionary principle—which is what your grandparents used to teach you about "looking before you leap"—the only prudent course of action is to NOT proceed with something which has potential risks and only potential benefits until you know a little bit more about it."

In Dr. Mercola article on “Why GMO can never be safe “

He said “Monsanto and other biotech companies claim genetically modified (GM) crops have no impact on the environment and are perfectly safe to eat.

Federal departments in charge of food safety in the US and Canada have not conducted tests to affirm this alleged “safety,” but rather have taken the industry-conducted research at face value, allowing millions of acres of GM crops to overtake farmland.

These foods, largely in the form of GM corn and soy (although there are other GM crops, too, like sugar beets, papaya and crookneck squash), can now be found in the majority of processed foods in the US.

In other words, if you eat processed foods, you're already eating them… and these crops are already being freely planted in the environment. But what if it turns out that Monsanto was wrong, and the GM crops aren't actually safe…

This is precisely what a number of scientists have been warning of for years, and the latest to sound the alarm is Dr. Mae-Wan Ho of the Institute for Science in Society, who has concluded that, by their very nature, there is no way GMOs (genetically modified organisms) can be safe.

DANGER OF GENETIC MODIFIED
According to Dr. Mae-Wan Ho, genetic modification interferes fundamentally with the natural genetic modifications that organisms undergo in order to survive. Under natural circumstances, this is done in real time as “an exquisitely precise molecular dance of life.”

Genetic engineering, which assumes that one protein determines one particular trait, such as herbicide tolerance or insect resistance, and can easily be swapped out with another, with no other effects, is dangerously simplistic or, as Dr. Mae-Wan Ho says, “an illusion.”

An organism's genome is not static but fluid and its biological functions are interconnected with its environment and vice versa, such that trying to control genetic changes via artificial modification is a dangerous game. Dr. Ho explained:

“The rationale and impetus for genetic engineering and genetic modification is the 'central dogma' of molecular biology that assumes DNA (deoxyribose nucleic acid) carries all the instructions for making an organism.

Individual 'genetic messages' in DNA faithfully copied into RNA (ribosenucleic acid), is then translated into a protein via a genetic code; the protein determining a particular trait, such as herbicide tolerance, or insect resistance; one gene, one character. If it were really as simple as that, genetic modification would work perfectly. Unfortunately this simplistic picture is an illusion.

Instead of linear causal chains leading from DNA to RNA to protein and downstream biological functions, complex feed-forward and feed-back cycles interconnect organism and environment at all levels to mark and change RNA and DNA down the generations … Organisms work by intercommunication at every level, and not by control.

… In order to survive, the organism needs to engage in natural genetic modification in real time, an exquisitely precise molecular dance of life in which RNA and DNA respond to, and participate fully in 'downstream' biological functions.

That is why organisms and ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to the crude, artificial GM RNA and DNA created by human genetic engineers. It is also why genetic modification can probably never be safe. More importantly, the human organism shapes its own development and evolutionary future; that is why we must take responsible action to ban all environmental releases of GMOs now.”

NATURAL/ARTIFICIAL GENETIC MODIFICATION
“There is, therefore, nothing natural about artificial genetic modification done in the lab,” Dr. Ho stated.

GM DNA AND HUMAN
Another problem with genetic modification according to Dr Mercola

has to do with the fact that GM plants and animals are created using horizontal gene transfer (also called horizontal inheritance), as contrasted with vertical gene transfer, which is the mechanism in natural reproduction.

Dr. Ho stated:
“It is now clear that horizontal transfer of GM DNA does happen, and very often. Evidence dating from the early 1990s indicates that ingested DNA in food and feed can indeed survive the digestive tract, and pass through the intestinal wall to enter the bloodstream. The digestive tract is a hotspot for horizontal gene transfer to and between bacteria and other microorganisms.

… Higher organisms including human beings are even more susceptible to horizontal gene transfer than bacteria, because unlike bacteria, which require sequence homology (similarity) for incorporation into the genome, higher organisms do not.

… What are the dangers of GM DNA from horizontal gene transfer? Horizontal transfer of DNA into the genome of cells per se is harmful, but there are extra dangers from the genes or genetic signals in the GM DNA, and also from the vector used in delivering the transgene(s). GM DNA jumping into genomes cause 'insertion mutagenesis' that can lead to cancer, or activate dormant viruses that cause diseases. GM DNA often contains antibiotic resistance genes that can spread to pathogenic bacteria and make infections untreatable • Horizontal transfer and recombination of GM DNA is a main route for creating new viruses & bacteria that cause diseases”

10 GM Myths That Monsanto Wants You to Believe by Dr Mercloa

Monsanto is the world leader in GM crops, and their Web site would have you believe that they are the answer to world hunger. Thanks to their heavy PR campaign, if you've been primarily a reader of the mainstream press, you've probably been misled into thinking GM crops are, in fact, the greatest thing since sliced bread, that they provide better yields of equal or better quality food, pest and weed resistance, reduced reliance on pesticides, and more... But thankfully, the truth is unfolding and the tide is finally beginning to turn.

The Organic Prepper recently highlighted 10 GM myths that Monsanto wants you to believe … but which are actually far from the truth.

Myth #1: No one has ever proven that GMOs are harmful to people

The truth is that studies of GM food have shown tumors, premature death, organ failure, gastric lesions, liver damage, kidney damage, allergic reactions, and more.

Myth #2: GM crops are the only way to solve world hunger

The reality is that GM farming practices are not sustainable, which virtually guarantees future crop collapses and subsequent famine. Nor are farmers able to save their seeds due to patent infringement and poor fertility in the seeds. Sustainable agricultural practices are the answer to world hunger.

Myth #3: GM crops need less pesticide spraying
The truth is that after the first couple of years, the use of pesticides and herbicides on GM crops has increased dramatically.

Myth #4: GM technology is comparable to the cross-breeding that our ancestors did to create hardier versions of heritage crops

Cross pollination of different varieties of the same plant (what our ancestors did) is low-tech and can occur naturally. Genetic modification of seeds is done in a lab and often crosses different biological kingdoms, such as crossing bacteria with a plant the unintended adverse effects of which may be incalculably large and impossible to ascertain before they are released into the biosphere.

Myth #5: If the FDA and the USDA allow them, they must be safe

Monsanto has close ties with the US government, such that, despite the obvious conflict of interest, Monsanto executives have been given policy-making positions in Bush, Clinton and Obama administrations.

Myth #6: There is no nutritional difference between GM food and non-GM food

A 2012 nutritional analysis of GM versus non-GM corn showed shocking differences in nutritional content. Non-GM corn contains 437 times more calcium, 56 times more magnesium, and 7 times more manganese than GM corn. GM corn was also found to contain 13 ppm of glyphosate, a pesticide so toxic that it may be carcinogenic in the parts-per-trillion range, compared to zero in non-GM corn.

Myth #7: GMOs are impossible to avoid
GM ingredients are found in more than 70 percent of processed foods, but you can largely avoid them by avoiding these processed foods. By switching to whole foods like vegetables, fruits, grass-fed meats and other basic staples, you can control the GM foods in your diet.

Myth #8: Monsanto has our best interests in mind
Monsanto has spent over half a million dollars on hiring a firm to help 'protect the Monsanto brand name' from activists. There is speculation that they have placed trolls on anti-GM Web sites, hidden posts from social media, and even possibly hacked researchers computers days before they were set to release a damaging study. There's even speculation that the US government is spying on anti-Monsanto activists.

Myth #9: GMOs are not harmful to the environment
On the Hawaiian island of Molokai, where a nearly 2,000-acre test facility for Monsanto sits, air and water quality are horrendous and there are reports of deaths, infertility, uncontrolled cross-pollination, bloody skin rashes, asthma and pesticide contamination in the groundwater.

Myth #10: GMOs are here to stay
Biotech wants you to believe that GM crops are here to stay, but a war is being waged against GMOs, and the resistance is gaining significant ground. By sharing information like this, we can fight back against biotech and the poisons they're releasing into our environment.

GMO Foods Men Must Avoid For Prostate Health
This is a short list of the genetically modified crops being grown in the United States today:

Sugar cane
Sweet peppers
Tomatoes
Bananas
Strawberries
Soy bean
Corn
Potatoes
Pineapples
Cocoa beans
Yellow squash
Zucchini
If that isn't bad enough, take a look at the partial list of processed foods that are manufactured with genetically modified organisms:

Popcorn
Canola & Cottonseed Oil
Soy Sauce
Frozen Pizza
Canned Soups
Baby Formula
Dry Cereal
Cookies
Frozen Dinners
Aspartame Sweetener
So there are already a lot of genetically modified foods in the marketplace.

In the US, 60-70% of the processed foods are genetically modified. In 2006, GMO crops in the US reached approximately 135 million acres, while the total global area was more than 250 million acres. This wouldn't be a cause for alarm if there was no doubt about the safety

of GM foods. Although their significance has been understated and relatively unreported by mainstream news and other media, there have been negative experiences with GM foods and their effects on animals and humans.

In conclusion: Making changes to your diet now makes the most sense. Prostate Cancer is no mystery if you understand its causes. My goal is to help you become very educated about the “Food” you eat and what you will be eating if the bill is passed.

RAPHEAL OBU-Msc Prostate Cancer Care
Sheffield Hallam University UK
Director : Men's Health Foundation, Ghana
Fighting so that more Men Will Survive Prostate Cancer in Ghana

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