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Showing posts with label prostate cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prostate cancer. Show all posts

Saturday, November 10, 2012

...prostate cancer has become a major public health issue in The Bahamas ...particularly for black Bahamian males ...as an average of two new cases are being diagnosed on a weekly basis - - - says Bahamian urologist and Director of the University of West Indies School of Clinical Medicine and Research ...Bahamas Campus, Dr. Robin Roberts

Local Researchers Join Global Search For Prostate Cancer Link In Blacks




The Bahama Journal
Nassau, The Bahamas





Bahamian cancer researchers are stepping up their research efforts to determine why Prostate Cancer is so much more prevalent and aggressive in black males than their Caucasian counterparts.

The heightened local research is part of ongoing regional and global search to determine the facts relative to the disease and men of African descent. It also comes amidst local findings that the disease is impacting  Black, Bahamian males at a far greater rate than their Caucasian brothers.

According to renowned Bahamian urologist and Director of the University of West Indies School of Clinical Medicine and Research, Bahamas Campus, Dr. Robin Roberts, prostate cancer has become a major public health issue in The Bahamas – particularly for black, Bahamian males, as an average of two new cases are being diagnosed on a weekly basis.

Statistics further show that one Bahamian male dies from prostate cancer every two weeks.

“Age-for-age, we have a disease that occurs at an earlier onset than when it occurs, is at a more advanced stage than when found in our Caucasian counterparts, and a disease that grows more quickly; spreads more quickly and is more likely to result in death for males of African descent and so there is no denying that it is of major significance for black men,” Dr. Roberts said.

“We are trying to find out why there is this difference,” Dr. Roberts continued, “one would automatically think it is because of a lack of education; because of a lack of access to healthcare, or of a lack of affordability (and) while those things may – in some instances – turn out to have some merit, by and large, when we do studies that wipe out all of those differences; when we level the playing field in terms of getting them educated, in terms of getting them the same kind of healthcare as their Caucasian counterparts, we do pick up the disease earlier, but the disease has still grown more quickly and is much more aggressive in Black men.

“So there is something about the biology of prostate cancer in black men that is different,” Dr. Roberts added.

Dr. Roberts said local researchers will also take a look at both the potential cultural and biological causes for the imbalance in order to fully understand the “complexities” involved with the disease and its impact on Black men in particular.

He said part of that cultural research will involve trying to determine why “men in our country who, although they know about prostate cancer, who know they may be at risk, still do not go and get tested.”

“So what is it that makes them take this approach. What is it in their culture that makes them act this way? Those are important areas in our research if we want to learn where those barriers are and how do we overcome them,” Dr. Roberts said.

“On the other side, if we look purely at the biology of the cancer, we are going to address what are the factors – from a research perspective – that cause the cancer to be so aggressive in Black men.

“We realise this requires a lot of high-level research and scientific expertise, and can be very expensive because we are now entering the field of genetics,” Dr. Roberts continued, “so what it says to us in developing countries is that we have to form relationships with those countries that have that level of financial assistance and the technology for us to be able to collaborate with them and share our resources and share the information.”

Dr. Roberts said the recently concluded Second Biennial Science of Global Prostate Cancer Disparities in Black Men Conference, held at the SuperClubs Breezes Resort, allowed experts, researchers and scientists from Africa, the Caribbean, the United States of America and Great Britain the opportunity to do just that.

“Male and female experts from around the globe all gathered in one place to meet and discuss and share and so this was a great opportunity for us in The Bahamas that really put us on the map with regards to prostate cancer research,” Dr. Roberts added.

07 November, 2012

Jones Bahamas

Friday, December 3, 2010

Jamaican scientist makes prostate cancer breakthrough

Dr Henry Lowe unveils formula that can eliminate deadly disease

BY VERNON DAVIDSON Executive Editor - publications davidsonv@jamaicaobserver.com



JAMAICAN scientist Dr Henry Lowe last night threw a lifeline to men worldwide when he announced that he had developed a formula that can reduce and eliminate prostate cancer, the number one cause of cancer deaths among males.

"I am pleased to announce that we have reached the final stages in the development of the Alpha Prostate Formula, which will be on the market in the next three months under the Eden Gardens brand," Dr Lowe told guests at the launch of Bio-Tech R&D Institute at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston.

Lowe, executive chairman of Environmental Health Foundation which is based at his Eden Gardens complex in Kingston, explained that the formula will be locally produced, first as a nutraceutical.

"The drug takes time and millions of US dollars to develop, so that is why we're making it available in its semi-purified form," Dr Lowe told the Observer in an interview outside of the launch.

Dr Joseph Bryant from the University of Maryland Medical School and a shareholder in Bio-Tech R&D Institute, agreed. "We have to go by the rules and the regulations as to how fast we can get it out there, but the nutraceutical thing now allows us to get it out much faster," he told the Observer.

"We cannot overemphasise the point of what this means for the country, and I hope that the younger generation will carry it on," Dr Bryant added.

Lowe's cancer research work attracted world attention when he announced that he had found properties in the Jamaican ball moss that had the potential to fight cancer.

Yesterday, he said that the formula is derived from the main ingredient in the ball moss and has been shown to have major prostate anti-cancer activity.

Jamaica has one of the highest prostate cancer rates in the world with approximately 150 men diagnosed each year. Medical experts believe that a large percentage of affected men are undiagnosed.

Yesterday, Lowe, who won the Observer Business Leader Award for 2006, noted that in addition to Jamaica, numerous cases of prostate cancer have been reported among black Americans and Africans.

"The market for that is tremendous and there are only two other products as nutraceuticals for this," he said. "This is going in there, brand Jamaica, and if we get the right thrust and the right support we have hundreds of millions of US dollars which can come to Jamaica."

Yesterday, in his prepared remarks, Lowe said that as a first step in the development of the nutraceutical industry, Bio-Tech R&D Institute has already secured capital of $25 million, which will contribute to the overall development of the institute in the next 24 months. Further capitalisation of $25 million is expected within the next 48 months.

"As a result, the only thing that could impede success is our will to succeed," said Dr Lowe.

"We will be working toward seizing a five per cent share of the global nutraceutical industry within the next two years, which translates to a multi-billion-dollar local industry -- approximately $726 billion," he said.

The Bio-Tech R&D Institute brings together Jamaica's four leading research institutions -- the University of the West Indies, University of Technology, Northern Caribbean University and the Scientific Research Council -- all of which will receive 2.5 per cent of the total shares of the institute free of cost.

In addition to his other shareholders -- Federated Pharmaceutical/Lascelles Limited and the Environmental Health Foundation — Dr Lowe said he has forged a partnership with the largest nutraceutical company in China, which will distribute the formula in that Asian country.

"We expect that gaining even one per cent of the Chinese market will amount to tremendous US dollar value export earnings — perhaps the most rewarding endeavours and investments in our country in recent times," said Dr Lowe.

— Additional reporting by Nadine Wilson



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