A potent body protein is halting the lethal spread of prostate cancer.
Using the protein uteroglobin , researchers at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., have reduced the spread of prostate cancers by 88 percent.Uteroglobin, a substance found in the prostate gland and other tissues, prevents cancer cells from migrating to nearby tissues, a report in the journal Cancer Research says.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and the second deadliest male tumor (after lung cancer). When it spreads to other body areas - most notably nearby bones - it's almost invariably fatal.
The protein's protective ability was discovered by Dr. Michael Manyak, a GW urologist; Steven Patierno, a GW pharmacologist, and a research team led by geneticist Anil Mukherjee at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Ash for the garden
The next time you clean the fireplace save the ash for your garden.
Flowers that require alkaline soil often will flourish with a light application of wood ash, which contains potash-- a strong alkali.
A cup of ash can be sprinkled around each plant to supplement minerals already present in the soil. --Associated Press
Baby's first year of life
A unique split page-format makes "The Pediatrician's Best Baby Planner For the First Year of Life" both a calendar-planner and a child-care guide.
The two halves of this 143-page book rotate independently, allowing readers to align the top page for the current calendar date with a bottom page corresponding to the baby's age.
This format allows parents to match their baby's birth month with the first month of the development guide. The development guide covers such topics as nutrition, medical matters, safety and baby care.
Developed by Drs. Daniel W. Dubner and D. Gregory Felch, who are in pediatric practice in Lowell, Mass., the top half has space for noting important appointments (Dell Publishing, $18.95). --Associated Press