A friend of ours has a form of leukemia called “AML”. He’s currently receiving chemotherapy, but not doing well. Do you know of any hospitals where they may be doing research to find a cure for this cancer? – T.H., Philadelphia
Dear T.H.: Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, also referred to as “AML,” is a cancer of the blood in which immature, abnormal white blood cells grow rapidly and uncontrollably in the bone marrow and interfere with the bone marrow’s ability to produce red blood cells, healthy white blood cells and platelets. It’s a fairly rare cancer, with men affected more often than women. The average age of someone diagnosed with AML is 63 years of age. AML cell growth is very fast and aggressive, and it’s a fatal disease within weeks or months if not treated or diagnosed promptly.
Because AML cell growth crowds out normal blood cells, it typically causes anemia and the associated symptoms of fatigue and shortness of breath from a reduction in oxygen-carrying red blood cells; bruising or bleeding from a reduction in platelets (clot cells); and infection from a reduction in normal white blood cells.
The key to survival in AML is early diagnosis, chemotherapy to try to induce remission and eventual stem cell transplantation.
There are several subtypes of AML, and treatment and prognosis varies among the subtypes. Five-year survival rates vary from 15-70 percent, and relapse rates vary from 33-78 percent, depending upon the subtype.Exciting research from England’s Institute of Cancer Research may have found a novel treatment for AML using tranylcypromine (Parnate), an old and rarely-used antidepressant. All-Trans Retinoic Acid (a vitamin A derivative) has worked to treat one particular form of leukemia by directing cancer cells to mature, age and die naturally. AML seems to be resistant to All-Trans Retinoic Acid because the genes in the cancer cells that it normally targets are shut off. Researchers just discovered that if they block an enzyme using the antidepressant tranylcypromine, they can switch on the genes that make AML cancer cells vulnerable to All-Trans Retinoic Acid. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the Medical University of South Carolina are collaborating with researchers in England, Germany and Canada.
I am a virile, sexually active, middle-aged man. Prior to engaging in sex, my partner and I enjoy imbibing in some alcoholic beverages to loosen up/set the mood. How is it that alcohol has a positive effect on achieving an erection? Would testosterone supplements help? – J.W., Lima, Ohio.
Dear J.W.: Alcohol, in moderate quantities, helps to reduce anxiety, stress and inhibition through its role as a central nervous suppressor.
Psychological impotence and performance anxiety can be helped by a modest amount of alcohol prior to initiating sex.
It can slow the heart rate and increase the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system – the nerves that regulate digestion, slow down the heart rate and increase the flow of blood into the penis and clitoris.
Dr. Mitchell Hecht is a physician specializing in internal medicine. Send questions to him at: “Ask Dr. H,” P.O. Box 767787, Atlanta, GA 30076. Personal replies are not possible.
Dear T.H.: Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, also referred to as “AML,” is a cancer of the blood in which immature, abnormal white blood cells grow rapidly and uncontrollably in the bone marrow and interfere with the bone marrow’s ability to produce red blood cells, healthy white blood cells and platelets. It’s a fairly rare cancer, with men affected more often than women. The average age of someone diagnosed with AML is 63 years of age. AML cell growth is very fast and aggressive, and it’s a fatal disease within weeks or months if not treated or diagnosed promptly.
Because AML cell growth crowds out normal blood cells, it typically causes anemia and the associated symptoms of fatigue and shortness of breath from a reduction in oxygen-carrying red blood cells; bruising or bleeding from a reduction in platelets (clot cells); and infection from a reduction in normal white blood cells.
The key to survival in AML is early diagnosis, chemotherapy to try to induce remission and eventual stem cell transplantation.
There are several subtypes of AML, and treatment and prognosis varies among the subtypes. Five-year survival rates vary from 15-70 percent, and relapse rates vary from 33-78 percent, depending upon the subtype.Exciting research from England’s Institute of Cancer Research may have found a novel treatment for AML using tranylcypromine (Parnate), an old and rarely-used antidepressant. All-Trans Retinoic Acid (a vitamin A derivative) has worked to treat one particular form of leukemia by directing cancer cells to mature, age and die naturally. AML seems to be resistant to All-Trans Retinoic Acid because the genes in the cancer cells that it normally targets are shut off. Researchers just discovered that if they block an enzyme using the antidepressant tranylcypromine, they can switch on the genes that make AML cancer cells vulnerable to All-Trans Retinoic Acid. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the Medical University of South Carolina are collaborating with researchers in England, Germany and Canada.
I am a virile, sexually active, middle-aged man. Prior to engaging in sex, my partner and I enjoy imbibing in some alcoholic beverages to loosen up/set the mood. How is it that alcohol has a positive effect on achieving an erection? Would testosterone supplements help? – J.W., Lima, Ohio.
Dear J.W.: Alcohol, in moderate quantities, helps to reduce anxiety, stress and inhibition through its role as a central nervous suppressor.
Psychological impotence and performance anxiety can be helped by a modest amount of alcohol prior to initiating sex.
It can slow the heart rate and increase the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system – the nerves that regulate digestion, slow down the heart rate and increase the flow of blood into the penis and clitoris.
Dr. Mitchell Hecht is a physician specializing in internal medicine. Send questions to him at: “Ask Dr. H,” P.O. Box 767787, Atlanta, GA 30076. Personal replies are not possible.
Washington: Astronomers have been baffled by an extraordinary amount of dust around a nearby star disappearing mysteriously. 
