50th anniversary of the world’s first implantable pacemaker...

ST. PAUL, Minn. - St. Jude Medical, Inc. today celebrates the 50th anniversary of the world’s first implantable pacemaker.
On Oct. 8, 1958, a Swedish man named Arne Larsson received the world’s first implanted pacemaker.
The groundbreaking technology for the implantable cardiac pacemaker was developed by Rune Elmqvist, M.D., of the Swedish company Elema Schönander, which eventually became part of St. Jude Medical, whose headquarters are based in St. Paul, Minn.
Larsson suffered from a life-threatening heart condition and in the autumn of 1958, when he was 43 years old, his condition became critical. His heartbeat reduced to 20 beats per minute (a healthy heart beats 60-100 times per minute) and he was afflicted by frequent fainting spells, called Stokes-Adams syndrome. His condition was so life-threatening that his wife urged his physician, in a last attempt to save his life, to expedite the process of implanting the first pacemaker. The pacemaker was surgically implanted by Åke Senning, M.D., at the Karolinska Hospital’s Heart Clinic in Stockholm.
The initial pacemaker implanted in Larsson was damaged during the operation and stopped functioning after the first night. A second identical pacemaker was surgically implanted the next day. Larsson’s life was saved, and due to the continuation of medical technology development, he lived a full and active life, using a total of 22 pacemakers during his lifetime. In 2001, he passed away at the age of 86 due to an illness unrelated to cardiac health; he outlived both the inventor, and the implanting physician, of the first implanted pacemaker.
The first implantable pacemaker was about the size of a hockey puck and had just two transistors.

Today’s pacemakers, which can last up to 20 years, can be as small as a half-dollar yet contain sophisticated computer technology with as many as 20 million transistors. However, today’s pacemakers are still based on the same underlying principles as the original device, invented by Dr. Elmqvist 50 years ago.

“The remarkable story of Arne Larsson and the first implantable pacemaker is a poignant reminder of how much has been accomplished in the past 50 years,” said Daniel J. Starks, chairman, president and chief executive officer of St. Jude Medical. “This milestone invention was the foundation for understanding the electrical functions of the heart, eventually saving millions of lives worldwide. Advancements in cardiac electrophysiology – which now include implanted defibrillators that protect against sudden cardiac death, and ablation therapies that stop abnormal heart rhythms – all began with the first pacing technologies.”

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Was King George's madness a consequence of a type of Porphyria?

Was King George's madness a consequence of a type of Porphyria?

The theory that King George III suffered from a certain type of porphyria has been widely published and defended in medical journals, books and movies...

Had King James VI of Scotland not published a book on witchcraft we would not have known where to start on George III's ancestry. He became the kingpin of the medical study. Through him the ‘possibility’ that porphyria came to the House of Hanover from the Stuarts was established...

The first Scientific papers on 'The Royal malady' was published on January 8, 1966, in the British Medical Journal; by *Dr. Ida Macalpine and her son, Dr. Richard Hunter.

Shortly thereafter they published the book 'George III and the Mad Business'

*they

claimed that George III's attacks of insanity were caused by acute intermittent porphyria and in 1968 with a 2nd paper published in the British Medical Journal

*they

With the help of a famous expert in porphyrin chemistry, Professor C. Rimington,
claimed that George III had a different disease, Variegate Porphyria.

They also claimed that a variety of disorders of health suffered by many other members of the Royal Families of Europe, going back to Mary Queen of Scots and James I, were caused by attacks of acute Variegate Porphyria.
The royal line was indeed very unlucky…

If Variegate Porphyria has been occurring in members of the Royal Family back to the time of Mary Queen of Scots there should have been many hundreds of descendants alive today because members of the Royal Family had very large families legitimate and otherwise...

On average only 50% of the children will inherit the porphyria gene from an affected parent.

This book 'George III and the Mad Business' is a fine illustration of how a story, if repeated enough, comes to believed by millions in the world, even when it is not founded on good scientific evidence…

These claims were refuted from world experts in Porphyria research.

There are enough living descendants of the Royal Families of Europe today, to produce conclusive evidence that a number of living descendants have the well documented symptoms and biochemical findings of the porphyria disorder...

It is likely to prove to be a medical myth…


In 1998 a discussion "Try to identify the disease that caused the death of Alexander the Great" suggestions of Acute Intermittent Porphyria were made...

However, Alexander's death will remain mysterious, shrouded in legend and myth.


In 2003 another book was published - ”The Sickly Stuarts: The Medical Downfall of a Dynasty" by Frederick Holmes.

Notions such as that James II's nosebleeds might have cost him the throne or that George III and his ancestors suffered from porphyria, in his view, need revision…

Variegate Porphyria is the type of Porphyria that has been inherited by approximately 10 000 white South Africans alive today from one ancestor who married in the Cape in 1688.


It was thoroughly investigated and proved between 1948 and 1969, by Dr. Geoffrey Dean, M.D., F.R.C.P. (Sir Geoffrey Dean)

IMPORTANT INFO ON CANCER…PLEASE READ

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHN HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .

Cancer Update from John Hopkins.

Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumours.

When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.


WHAT CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts.

Table salt has a chemical added to make it w h i te in colour. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk, cancer cells are being starved.

Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells.

To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day.
Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.
Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.

A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit.
Learn to relax and enjoy life.

Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment.
Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level.

Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

EXTERNAL BEAM RADIATION THERAPY - TREATMENT

EXTERNAL BEAM RADIATION THERAPY

Treatment Process - How long will treatment take everyday?

Normally there is a 10 to 15 minute slot per patient and they try to adhere to appointment times. However, patients in need of emergency treatment will take priority. In the rare event of power failures, which is not rare anymore in SOUTH AFRICA…? It’s a daily routine to be without power without any notification… They will try and contact you before you leave home… But, these circumstances are beyond anybody’s control and may lead to delays in appointment times…

What happens during treatment?

From Blogger Pictures

You are set up in the treatment position on the treatment bed and your reference marks checked.
Once the radiotherapists are satisfied with your correct position; they will leave the room and operate the machine from the control room. They will be able to monitor you on closed circuit TV screens and speak to you if necessary via an intercom.
Radiotherapy is NOT PAINFUL and you won’t feel anything during treatment. You will probably hear the machine as it switches on and off…

PLEASE NOTE:

It is extremely important that you lie perfectly still during the treatment in order for the radiation to be delivered optimally…

Managing Side Effects of Radiotherapy and General Information

Should you experience pain, it can always be controlled effectively by the use of analgesics, which will be prescribed by your oncologist. PLEASE if you have pain, take your medication regularly and remember your emotions will fluctuate from day to day…

Skin and Hair

I experienced hair loss only on a previous radiotherapy treatment and only because my scalp was in the immediate treatment area. It was only temporary…
However, the degree of hair loss and re-growth will depend on the radiation dose to the scalp.

IMPORTANT: Hair loss will only be in the treatment area.

This time I experienced / developed a skin reaction (maybe my porphyria acting up) I developed a redness of the skin in the treated area, resembling sunburn. It itched like crazy and it was very, very sensitive. I washed the affected area gently, and I only showered using a mild unperfumed soap.
They suggested if it gets worse (like forming blisters) that the itchy skin may be soothed by applying cornstarch (Maizena) or unscented baby powder. Your oncologist could also prescribe some commercially available creams, which have been formulated for skin affected by radiation. Never use any products that haven’t been approved by your oncologist or radiotherapist. Because it might aggravate radiation induced skin reactions… Should you skin be moist, stop using baby powder and cornstarch and notify your doctor of this development.

The Abdominal area

The most common side effect of radiotherapy to the abdomen is nausea and or vomiting. I encountered nausea the 2nd time around and I think it’s my porphyria affecting me.
Diarrhea is also common but I didn’t encounter a problem there only the TIREDNESS which is a very common side effect.

AFTER COMPLETION OF TREATMENT

Follow-up appointments are necessary to monitor your progress after completing treatment. Your doctor will want to see you at regular intervals over the next few years – usually every 3 to 4 months for the first year, then 6-monthly and finally annually. The purpose being to check for recurrence of disease as well as your overall wellbeing…
Always keep all your X-rays in a safe place and bring them with to each follow-up.
They may be needed for comparison with any new investigations that your doctor deems necessary…

Radiotherapy

EXTERNAL BEAM RADIATION THERAPY

Radiotherapy in simple terms means therapeutic treatment with ionizing rays.
High-energy x-rays or electron beams, which have various energy levels, are used.
But before understanding the action of ionizing rays, you first need to understand the effect of abnormal cells in the body…

NORMAL cells multiply and differentiate in a highly organized manner.

ABNORMAL cells start when one cell somewhere in your body has lost its growth control.
These cells multiply and grow, but do not know when to stop growing.
They continue to multiply in a disorganized and haphazard fashion until they infiltrate the surrounding tissue and cause damage to these tissues.
Because some malignant tumors have no enclosing capsule, cells could escape and be transported to other parts of the body by the lymphatic circulation or the bloodstream.
These secondary growths are known as metastases. The more “UNWELCOME GUESTS” there are, the harder it is for the body to cope with them all.

RADIATION damages cells, thereby eventually destroying the cancer cells.
However, RADIATION can not distinguish between healthy and malignant cells.
The success of radiation can be attributed to the fact that malignant cells are much more sensitive to radiation than normal cells. The ultimate goal of radiotherapy is therefore to irradiate until all the cancerous cells have been destroyed or made inactive, leaving the normal tissue still capable of repair and complete recovery.

As cells multiply, they go through various phases. In some phases of division the cells are more sensitive to radiation than others. To irradiate effectively, the radiation is given as a number of small daily doses which normal body tissue can tolerate. Thus, not only one treatment is given, but a course of treatment. Another reason for this is to give the healthy cells, which recover more rapidly than malignant cells, a change to recuperate.
Certain types of tissue and organs are more sensitive to radiation than others. Consequently, the number of radiotherapy treatments prescribed by the doctor will differ from patient to patient.

SO PLEASE REMEMBER the number of radiotherapy treatments is no indication of the size or severity of the malignant growth!

Should you receive 20 treatments and someone else 5, please don’t assume that this indicates a bad diagnosis!
The dose of radiotherapy, the number of treatments and specific diagnosis are all very closely interrelated and will differ from patient to patient.
During your course of treatment you will meet other patients and will probably compare your symptoms and treatment program to theirs. It remains important, however, to realize that radiotherapy is used in different ways for different disease conditions. Your symptoms and treatment are unique and therefore, may be totally different to theirs…

Treatment planning

From Blogger Pictures

This is to map out your treatment and may involve:

Simulation x-rays on a special machine used to determine and record the correct position for treatment...
CT scanning to pinpoint the area to be treated ...
Combination of the above methods




WHY MORE X-RAYS?

Because the x-rays and/or scans that are needed for planning, must be taken in the TREATMENT POSITION.
Your previous X-rays etc. have been for diagnostic purposes and are not compatible with the planning system. The position depends on where your lesion is.
You may have to lie on your back or face down, with arms up above your head or by your sides. The planning radiotherapist/oncologist will determine the best position for your treatment.

You will be placed on the simulator / CT scan table in the treatment position so that the required x-ray images can be obtained. Some reference marks will be drawn on your body with a felt tip pen and a series f body measurements will be taken. Once the correct position is obtained, the reference points might be tattooed. These tattoos are permanent and will not wash off. The are SMALL black dots, which are not obvious unless you really look for them. They are made using a small finger-prick lancet and black ink. These reference tattoos are vital for certain treatments. They ensure that the radiotherapist on the treatment unit sets you up in the same position everyday…

From Blogger Pictures

From Blogger Pictures

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER SIMULATON / CT SCANNING?

The planning radiotherapist will hand over all the films to the radiation oncologist, who decides on the volume to be treated. The planning department then loads your images as well as ID photo onto the planning computer and a planning radiotherapist designs a plan which delivers the optimum dose to the treatment volume. Care is taken to avoid normal and sensitive structures as far as possible. This procedure takes a few days. Once the Oncologist approved the plan, you will be contacted and given a date and time to return for your first treatment… Or you might receive treatment on that very first day…

Ascot Park Hospital

Well I’m back home…
Went for a gastroscope on the 18th September and as usual “the rest is history”
I was admitted on Sunday evening the 21st September and on the 22nd had the following procedures…
Laproscopic Nissen Fundoplication; Incision Hiatal Hernia and removal of Keloid scars…
Needless to say, not an easy one to handle, but I did…
I went home on the 27th September (poor hubby’s birthday) …
I am currently undergoing Radiotherapy treatments for at least the next 10days… my Oncologist will decide today… Just hope my porphyria will play along and not make the ride more miserable for me...
This is the worst, because it means travelling to Durban every single day for this treatment… and my body is still trying to heal from the previous invasion…
Well I’ll try to keep you updated; but it is not a promise;
I can’t climb steps and my desktop computer is downstairs…Not to mention the pain factor!!
I am using my son’s laptop, which is of course new to me ...
But I’LL COPE….