10 January 2021 - Curing cancer - Part 4 - Principles of curative therapy

This is my fourth essay about curing cancer based on complexity theory – follow my blog at https://natpernickshealthblog.wordpress.com, click at http://www.natpernick.com/CuringCancerPart4.pdf for a PDF download or http://www.natpernick.com/CuringCancerPart4.html . In part 3, I summarized my recommendations on curative treatment for advanced adult cancers with a poor prognosis, such as lung and pancreatic cancer. In this essay, I discuss these principles of curative treatment in greater depth: network medicine, blocking multiple pathways, combinations of combinations of treatment, monitoring key networks, clinical trials and strong public health programs.

I am happy to respond to comments or questions about my research or cancer in general or to learn of your experiences, but I lack the experience and training to answer treatment or "What should I do" questions. You can also email me at Nat@PathologyOutlines.com.

29 December 2020 - Curing Cancer – Part 3 – Curative cancer treatment based on complexity theory

 Please click here or here

18 December 2020: Curing Cancer, Part 2 – Adult versus childhood cancer

My next short essay in my "Curing cancer" blog is at https://natpernickshealthblog.wordpress.com/2020/12/15/curing-cancer-part-2-adult-versus-childhood-tumors .

To cure adult cancers of the lung, colon, pancreas, breast, etc., I suggest we try to emulate our success with curing cancer in children and young adults by using even larger combinations of treatments and enrolling more patients in clinical trials.

Email comments or questions to NatPernick@gmail.com .

13 November 2020: COVID-19 dangers increase in Michigan

We are all getting "COVID fatigue", but, in my opinion, the frustrations and annoyances from following the proper precautions are minor compared to the risk of hospitalization or death for ourselves, our friends and family members if we don't.

In the past month, the risk of COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death has markedly increased in Michigan. A good source for trends is available at the Michigan COVID-19 dashboard: https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-coronavirus-dashboard-cases-deaths-and-maps.

To reduce my own risk, I review this document from the Arizona Department of Public Health: http://www.pathologyoutlines.com/site/covid-19-risk-factors-index-circle-8-5x11.pdf.

I too would like to be able to eat in restaurants and be with other people, but it's more important to preserve my own health and that of those I come in contact with.

If you have any suggestions to make this ordeal easier, let us know.

18 September 2020: COVID-19 Risks

This chart is apparently from the Arizona Department of Health Services, although I can't find it on their website:

 

 

What do the experts do? See https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/how-fauci-5-other-health-specialists-deal-with-covid-19-risks-in-their-everyday-lives/2020/07/02/d4665ed6-b6fb-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html

5 July 2020: Reducing COVID-19 deaths

Every day, over 1,000 Americans die from COVID-19 because Donald Trump is President instead of Michael Pence. Even with a new president starting on 20 January 221, this may total 250,000 unnecessary deaths of Americans. As a pathologist, I am sickened about this needless loss of life because our President is a public health menace. For this reason, I am calling on Donald Trump to resign and urging others to act similarly.

I grew up in the generation after the Holocaust. When I read and studied about it during my formative years, I swore that I would not stand by and do nothing while innocents died.

It is important to me to act as responsibly as I can in the face of this crisis. I know that my actions will likely not be determinative. But when I reflect on the massive American deaths from COVID-19, I will know that I tried to do something about it, instead of just waiting.

I also know something that many of you do not. What we do has an impact, even if unnoticed. Every grain of sand dropped on a sandpile changes its internal structure slightly, and at some point, when enough grains of sand accumulate, the sandpile will topple. We cannot know which grain of sand will be enough, but all are important. Thus, we should act. Doing nothing does not help. This view of how nature works is called self organized criticality, and was developed by the late Danish physicist Per Bak, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per_Bak, https://www.amazon.com/How-Nature-Works-self-organized-criticality/dp/038798738X.

So, you are welcome to ignore my efforts or to ridicule them. But you may want to think what your contribution should be, or could be, to help end this tragedy.

3 July 2020: COVID-19 thoughts

This recent New York Times article about contact tracing raises a few issues.

First, it is interesting how people are offended at disclosing their presence at a party but I have not heard about difficulties in contact tracing for reportable sexually transmitted disease (of note, STD tracing experts are now working on COVID-19 tracing).

Second, although I understand (but don't approve) of people going to large parties even though prohibited, I cannot understand people who know they are sick going to these parties:

* The party’s host, who was showing signs of being sick at the time, later tested positive for the virus
* The first person from the party identified with the disease, was coughing and not wearing a face covering at the event.

What should we do to prevent sick people from going out in public?