Liver cancer deaths are skyrocketing as food becomes increasingly TOXIC due to pesticides and herbicides

 A new report by the American Cancer Society has made the alarming revelation that rates of liver cancer deaths have doubled in this country since the mid-1980s. The report, which appears in the journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, offers several possible reasons for this startling increase, including higher rates of hepatitis C infection, an increase in obesity rates, higher alcohol consumption, and a lack of access to healthcare in some demographics. What the report does not discuss, however, is the proven link between pesticides and liver cancer.

It is important to recognize not just some, but all of the risk factors for liver disease, because it kills more than 29,000 people each year. Liver disease is recognized as the fifth leading cause of cancer death in men, and the eighth in women in the United States. Looked at globally, however, liver cancer is second only to lung cancer in terms of total cancer deaths.

A recent meta-analysis of 16 different studies, which included over 480,000 participants from Asia, the U.S. and Europe, examined the link between pesticide exposure and the development of one of the most common forms of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma. The study determined that pesticide exposure was linked to a 71 percent increased risk of liver cancer.

Hamdi Abdi, a cancer research fellow at the National Cancer Institute, and the lead author of the study, noted that while other liver cancer causes like hepatitis C infections and alcohol abuse are well documented, it is important to recognize the role that pesticides also play in the development of this type of cancer.

The nature of the studies included in the meta-analysis made it difficult to determine exactly which pesticides were responsible for the increased risk and at what levels, and more studies are needed to narrow this down. [RELATED: Find out which common herbicide still used in the U.S. is banned in the E.U. because it causes cancer.]

In the meantime, however, studies like this one highlight yet another reason we should be making the transition from conventionally grown fruit and veggies to locally sourced, organic, pesticide-free options.

Of course, organic foods offer far more than just protection from liver cancer. In fact, pesticide use has been linked to the development of at least nine chronic diseases:

1. Alzheimer’s Disease: Studies have found that people exposed to pesticides are at increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and are also prone to motor skills problems, behavioral issues and impaired cognition.
2. Other types of cancer: In addition to liver cancer, pesticide use has also been linked to the development of bone, brain, pancreatic, bladder and prostate cancers, as well as to leukemia.
3. Birth defects: As the use of agricultural pesticides increases, so do the rates of birth defects, particularly in rural farming communities.
4. Endocrine disruption: Just like plastics and household cleaners, pesticides disrupt hormonal balance, causing disease, reproductive problems and developmental issues.
5. Fertility issues: Exposure to pesticides has been shown to affect the fertility of both men and women. In one study, men who were found to have three types of pesticides in their urine were 10 times more likely to have poor quality sperm.
6. Asthma: Asthma rates are on the increase around the country, and studies have found a clear link between this condition and pesticide exposure. An Agricultural Health Study involving over 25,000 farm women confirmed a link between seven insecticides and atopic asthma.
7. Diabetes: Exposure to organophosphate pesticides spurs obesity and can lead to diabetes.
8. Parkinson’s Disease: The link between Parkinson’s and pesticide use is clearly defined, with one study finding that frequent use of household pesticides boosts the chances of developing this illness by 45 percent. Organophosphate use is even more dangerous, and increases Parkinson’s risk by a whopping 71 percent.
9. Neurodevelopmental disorders: Since children’s brains and organs are still developing they are particularly susceptible to the effects of pesticides. Children who live in areas where aerial spraying for mosquitoes is routine are 25 percent more likely to develop neurodevelopmental disorders like autism.

Sources:

ScienceDaily.com

LiveScience.com

NaturalNews.com

High priced anti-viral drugs do NOTHING to prevent hepatitis C, study finds

The word “hepatitis” refers to inflammation of the liver, and can have several causes, including heavy alcohol use, exposure to toxins, or a bacterial or viral infection. There are three different types of viral infections: hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, which are caused by different viruses, and have different methods of transmission. Among this family of viruses, hepatitis C is the most dangerous, and is spread through contact with the blood of an infected person. A hepatitis C infection can last a lifetime, and can cause serious damage to the liver, ultimately resulting in cirrhosis (scarring) or even liver cancer. Hepatitis C kills about 700,000 people globally each year.

It is understandable, therefore, that the announcement of the release of an antiviral drug marketed as a “miracle” cure for hep C was received with great joy by many. However, a damning new study by the Cochrane Collaboration in Copenhagen, Denmark, has found that this $40,000 “miracle” cure might not be quite so miraculous, after all.

Though the astronomical price tag might have been out of the reach of many, there were lots of other patients who were more than happy to pay to avoid the death sentence so often attached to a hep C diagnosis.

These direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAAs) promise to completely clear the virus from the blood within 12 weeks, and it would seem that they do successfully fulfill this specific obligation.

In assessing all the DAA drug company trials, however, the Danish researchers determined that while clearing the virus from the blood, there is no evidence that these treatments actually fully remove hep C from the body. Their concern is that the virus may continue to linger elsewhere in the body, and in the sickest, stage 3 or 4 patients, could return and cause end stage liver disease.

The researchers also noted that according to the 138 clinical trials reviewed, there were few deaths in either the placebo group or among those actually taking the DAAs.

Since all the trials were conducted under funding from the drug companies themselves, the study authors also expressed concerns about the “high risk of bias.”

“It is never possible to show that something does not work, but there is no evidence [that they do],” said Janus Christian Jakobsen, chief physician at a clinical trial unit in Copenhagen and the deputy coordinating editor of the Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group. “Our results indicate [the drugs] may have no clinical effect.”

The authors concluded that with the lack of evidence that these drugs even work, as well as the potential that they might harm people, healthcare providers should think carefully before administering DAAs for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

Of course, the pharmaceutical companies are refusing to accept the results of the report.

AbbVie, one of these manufacturers, doggedly insists that both “controlled trials and real world experience” contradict the findings of the report.

“A cure in [hepatitis C] is defined as undetectable virus in the blood 12 weeks after completing treatment and, in the U.K., fewer than 1% of people treated with AbbVie’s therapy did not achieve this,” a company representative told The Guardian.

While a 2015 report by Public Health England pointed to an 8 percent decrease in end-stage liver disease, along with a decrease in liver transplants after the introduction of DAAs, the Cochrane researchers are adamant that there is no evidence proving their efficacy. [Related: Natural bioflavonoids kill the hepatitis C virus.]

The jaw-dropping price tag of these drugs has also caused immense concern worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned in 2016 that no country in the world could afford to treat all its hep C patients with such expensive drugs. Of course, their pleas fell on deaf ears. Big Pharma is happy as long as it’s making a profit, no matter who gets hurt along the way.

Sources for this article include:

DailyMail.co.uk

TheGuardian.com

OnlineLibrary.Wiley.com

CDC.gov