Can Leukaemia be Traced Back to The Womb?

A team of scientists have said that they have traced the root genetic cause of the cancer, leukaemia back to the time a baby is in the womb. The Institute of Cancer Research experts looked in detail at the entire three billion letter sequence of DNA-coding in identical twins to try to discover what sets off the disease. The authors hope that the findings, published in PNAS journal, could lead to brand new drugs and treatments that could fight the leukaemia before it has a chance to develop properly.

 

Leukaemia, a highly debilitating condition, is the most common cancer diagnosed in children. It affects a third of young cancer sufferers and kills over 100 children a year in the United Kingdom alone.

 

The twins who were studied in the research had the most common form of leukaemia which affects children, known as Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) which is when the cancer grows in the white blood cells.

 

It has been known for a long time that there are multiple faulty genes which are linked to the condition. It is also true that environmental factors can probably act as triggers along the way. But the precise sequence of events leading up to a diagnosis of ALL is unclear, and scientists are looking for a breakthrough in our understanding.

 

The authors of the study wanted to find out more about the disease so that it would be easier for other researchers to find better treatments at some point in the future. Although ALL can often be curable, the medicines and drugs that are used to treat it can cause unpleasant and sometimes severe side effects making the need for an alternative quite pressing.

Can Leukaemia be Traced Back to The Womb?

Categories: cancer, Children, condition, leukaemia, nbsp, origins, womb

How Do Your Beliefs Shape Your Child’s Sexual Development?

When it comes to developing your child’s sexual health and wellness, you need to take an approach that integrates and harmonises the body, mind, and spirit. However, while reading articles like this one is a good idea to give you a starting point, it’s critically important that you tailor whatever you read to your child’s precise needs. No two children are the same, and your child’s wellbeing, sexual or otherwise, depends on your sensitivity to their age, personality and life experience. That way, you’re equipped for much more than “the talk”, you’re able to enter a lifelong mentoring relationship with your child.

 

So how do you define sexual health and development? Firstly, let’s look at how you define sexual integrity. Do you ascribe to the “boys will be boys” or “good girls don’t” mentality? Is this embedded in your family value or culture? We all have different definitions of what is appropriate and inappropriate, but seeking the root of these definitions is vital, as it has a major impact on how you treat and teach your children. Many variables have shaped your idea of sexual integrity, such as your total experience as a male or female, where you lived, what you were taught, your sexual history, and what you caught from your friends.

 

For Rob Jackson, a father of two young children and as a therapist specialising in sexual health, ‘The single most important question for us to ask is, “How does God define sexual integrity?” As Christians, we affirm that He created us and knows how we function best. He has fashioned us to acquire numerous age-appropriate tasks throughout life, and, likewise, He also designed our sexual development to occur sequentially in an integrated physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual manner.’

 

Jackson explains, ‘I believe that our strategy toward our kids’ sexual development needs to be comprehensive.’ Jackson has created a list of questions to help you process your thoughts and questions about sexuality, including choices and circumstances:

 

• Is it biblical?


• Is it Christ-affirming?


• Is it timeless?


• Is it equally sensitive to both males and females?


• Is it service oriented?


• Is it grounded in authentic intimacy?


• Is it purposeful?


• Is it connected to one’s faith and spirituality?


• Is it inspired by direction?


• Is it visionary for future generations?

Categories: beliefs, origins, Sexual Development

This is Spinal Tap: How Acupuncture Heals Most Conditions

You’d be surprised how often your spine affects your wellness. Spine problems may be the underlying cause for your liver disease, back problems, headaches, eye problems, sinus issues or heart problems, but it could take ages for your doctor to pinpoint this. However, according to Dr. Lijuan Sun, a complementary wellness expert and practitioner, all of your nerves pass through your spine, which can affect your wellbeing with anything from asthma to arthritis.

 

‘I’ve had patients who have asked me why I knew so much about a particular area of the body even though it’s not my specialization,’ says Dr Sun, who is a licensed acupuncturist at Cupertino Centre Acupuncture. ‘In Chinese medicine you don’t study the body part by part. Everything is related.’ Dr Sun notes a recent case in which a patient had inflamed joints due to arthritis. Instead of following her doctor’s advice to take painkillers and go for a run every day – which was near-impossible as her knees were swollen to the point where she was unable to walk – the patient went to see Dr Sun and her knees were completely healed after six sessions of acupuncture.

 

Dr Sun explains that not knowing the origin of your pain can be detrimental to your wellbeing. According to Dr Sun, she recently advised a man with numbness in his hands against hand surgery. The man’s doctor had recommended surgery even though he didn’t know what was causing the numbness in his hand, and Dr Sun said she knew which places in the spine were related to the nerves of the man’s hand, and she thought hand surgery would not be the way to cure it. However, the man went ahead with the surgery anyway, which ended up causing further damage to his hand, and now it is paralysed.

 

However, it’s not just acupuncture that Dr Sun knows so much about – she also creates her own herbal medicine. She commented, ‘I never buy even pre-made Chinese medicine,’ as this way she ensures that everything is natural. However, even though she makes it herself, Dr Sun uses Chinese herbs that have been used to promote health and balance for thousands of years. She says, ‘I really like Chinese medicine, it’s so efficient. I’ve always liked Chinese medicine. I walk around with a needle in my pocket and if I have a problem—it’s taken care of. What’s better than that?’

Categories: acupuncture, origins, spine

Robert Owen and the 1800s: The Origins of Corporate Wellness

There was a time, around the turn of the 19^th century, that corporate wellness was considered an absurd notion. Employer who give a damn about the health and wellbeing of their employees? Balderdash! (or some equally archaic expression). In to this arena came a Welshman by the name of Robert Owen, who became a successful employer famous for caring about workers’ rights.

Instead of having children work in his factories, Robert Owen funded their education and organised day care. For his employees, Owen provided clean housing, shorter workdays, and a workplace environment where corporal punishment was prohibited. These things were considered unthinkable by any self-respecting businessman at the time, but Owen did them all, and still managed to make a fortune.

A world in which corporate wellness isn’t considered may seem as distant as a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, in comparison to the modern workplace. While it took a long while for Owen’s progressive policies to spread, now you can be provided with onsite gyms, lunchtime yoga, free psychologists, office massages, flu shots, and even services to help you quit smoking, all in the comfort of your own office.

According to a global poll released by a subsidiary of Xerox, an astonishing 87% of employers consider it their responsibility to help employees become healthier, and employees concur, but are you essentially allowing your quality of life to be determined by someone else? Robert Owen exemplified an altruistic take on employee care, but the Xerox survey found that the main motivator wasn’t so much the wellness of workers but the wellness of profits. If your employees are healthy, they are less likely to be ill, injured, unproductive or stressed out, and this translates into a more efficient organisation and more capable employees.

Yet whether their motivations are governed by their desires of wellness or wallets, employers who provide employees with wellness information, training courses, health checks, fresh fruit, a work/life balance, and weight loss programmes have found a relatively inexpensive way to improve employee quality of life, which is surely no bad thing. In November 1858, when Robert Owen was on his deathbed, someone asked him if he felt as though he’d wasted his life on useless projects that didn’t catch on. He replied, ‘My life was not useless; I gave important truths to the world, and it was only for want of understanding that they were disregarded. I have been ahead of my time.’ Looking at current workplace trends, it seems as though he was right.

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Robert Owen and the 1800s: The Origins of Corporate Wellness

Categories: origins, Robert Owen, Wellness programmes