Basic Types Of Policies

For the most part, there are two types of life insurance plans - either term or permanent plans or some combination of the two. Life insurers offer various forms of term plans and traditional life policies as well as "interest sensitive" products which have become more prevalent since the mid-1980’s . In New York State, the Insurance Department must approve any life insurance policy before a company can issue it to consumers. The New York Insurance Law provides for standard provisions that must be included in every policy.

TERM INSURANCE Term insurance provides protection for a specified period of time. This period could be as short as one year or provide coverage for a specific number of years such as 5, 10, 20 years or to a specified age as high as 80. Policies are sold with various premium guarantees. The longer the guarantee, the higher the initial premium. If you die during the term period, the company will pay the face amount of the policy to your beneficiary. If you live beyond the term period you had selected, no benefit is payable. As a rule, term policies offer a death benefit with no savings element or cash value.

Premiums are locked in for the specified period of time under the policy terms. The premiums you pay for term insurance are lower at the earlier ages as compared with the premiums you pay for permanent insurance, but term rates rise as you grow older. Term plans may be "convertible" to a permanent plan of insurance. The coverage can be "level" providing the same benefit until the policy expires or you can have "decreasing" coverage during the term period with the premiums remaining the same. If you do not pay the premium for your term insurance policy, it will generally lapse without cash value, as compared to a permanent type of policy that has a cash value component. Currently term insurance rates are very competitive and among the lowest historically experienced.

It should be noted that it is a widely held belief that term insurance is the least expensive pure life insurance coverage available. One needs to review the policy terms carefully to decide which term life options are suitable to meet your particular circumstances.

Types of Term Insurance:

Renewable Term. Renewable term plans give you the right to renew for another period when a term ends, regardless of the state of your health. With each new term the premium is increased. The right to renew the policy without evidence of insurability is an important advantage to you. Otherwise, the risk you take is that your health may deteriorate and you may be unable to obtain a policy at the same rates or even at all, leaving you and your beneficiaries without coverage.

Convertible Term. Convertible term policies often permit you to exchange the policy for a permanent plan. You must exercise this option during the conversion period. The length of the conversion period will vary depending on the type of term policy purchased. If you convert within the prescribed period, you are not required to give any information about your health. The premium rate you pay on conversion is usually based on your "current attained age", which is your age on the conversion date. This type of policy often provides the maximum protection with the smallest amount of cash outlay.

Level or Decreasing Term. Under a level term policy the face amount of the policy remains the same for the entire period. With decreasing term the face amount reduces over the period. The premium stays the same each year. Often such policies are sold as mortgage protection with the amount of insurance decreasing as the balance of the mortgage decreases. If the insured dies the proceeds of the policy can be used to pay off the mortgage.

Adjustable Premium. Traditionally, insurers have not had the right to change premiums after the policy is sold. Since such policies may continue for many years, insurers must use conservative mortality, interest and expense rate estimates in the premium calculation. Adjustable premium insurance, however, allows insurers to offer insurance at lower "current" premiums based upon less conservative assumptions with the right to change these premiums in the future. The premium, however, can never be more than the maximum guaranteed premiums stated in the policy.

PERMANENT INSURANCE (Whole Life or Ordinary Life). While term insurance is designed to provide protection for a specified time period, permanent insurance is designed to provide coverage for your entire lifetime. To keep the premium rate level, the premium at the younger ages exceeds the actual cost of protection. This extra premium builds a reserve (cash value) which helps pay for the policy in later years as the cost of protection rises above the premium. Whole life policies stretch the cost of insurance over a longer period of time in order to level out the otherwise increasing cost of insurance. Under some policies, premiums are required to be paid for a set number of years. Under other policies, premiums are paid throughout the policyholder’s lifetime. The insurance company invests the excess premium dollars

This type of policy, which is sometimes called cash value life insurance, generates a savings element. Cash values are critical to a permanent life insurance policy. The size of the cash value build-up differs from company to company. Sometimes, there is no correlation between the size of the cash value and the premiums paid. It is the cash value of the policy that can be accessed while the policyholder is alive.

The Commissioners 1980 Standard Ordinary Mortality Table (CSO) is the current table used in calculating minimum nonforfeiture values and policy reserves for ordinary life insurance policies. This table provides the minimum cash values that must be guaranteed in your policy.

The policy’s essential elements consist of the premium payable each year, the death benefits payable to the beneficiary and the cash surrender value the policyholder would receive if the policy is surrendered prior to death. You may make a loan against the cash value of the policy at a specified rate of interest or a variable rate of interest but such outstanding loans, if not repaid, will reduce the death benefit.

In 1984 a new federal tax law required that for permanent insurance to enjoy preferred tax treatment it must provide coverage up to at least age 95, limit the amount of premium that may be paid in relation to the face amount of coverage and establish a minimum ratio between cash value and face amount of insurance. Many permanent policies will contain provisions, which specify these tax requirements.

There are two basic categories of permanent insurance, traditional and interest-sensitive, each with a number of variations. In addition, each category is generally available in either fixed-dollar or variable form.

1. Traditional Whole Life. Traditional whole life policies are based upon long-term estimates of expense, interest and mortality. The premiums, death benefits and cash values are stated in the policy. There are six basic variations of traditional permanent insurance:
1. Non-Participating Whole Life A non-participating whole life policy will give you a level premium and face amount during your entire life. The advantages of such a policy are its fixed costs and generally low out-of-pocket premium payments. The disadvantage is that it pays no dividends.
2. Participating Whole Life A participating whole life policy pays dividends. The dividends represent the favorable experience of the company and result from excess investment earnings, favorable mortality and expense savings. Dividends can be paid in cash, used to reduce premiums, left to accumulate at interest or used to purchase paid-up additional insurance. Dividends are not guaranteed.
3. Indeterminate Premium Whole Life An indeterminate premium whole life policy is like a non-participating whole life plan of insurance except that it provides for adjustable premiums. The company will charge a "current" premium based on its current estimate of investment earnings, mortality, and expense costs. If these estimates change in later years, the company will adjust the premium accordingly but never above the maximum guaranteed premium stated in the policy.
4. Economatic Whole Life An economatic whole life policy provides for a basic amount of participating whole life insurance with an additional supplemental coverage provided through the use of dividends. This additional insurance usually is a combination of decreasing term insurance and paid-up dividend additions. Eventually, the dividend additions should equal the original amount of supplemental coverage. However, because dividends may not be sufficient to purchase enough paid up additions at a future date, it is possible that at some future time there could be a substantial decrease in the amount of supplemental insurance coverage.
5. Limited Payment Whole Life If you want to pay premiums for a limited time the limited payment whole life policy gives you lifetime protection but requires only a limited number of premium payments. Because the premiums are paid over a shorter span of time, the premium payments will be higher than under the whole life plan.
6. Single Premium Whole Life Single premium whole life is limited payment life where one large premium payment is made. The policy is fully paid up and no further premiums are required. Many such policies have substantial surrender charges if you want to cash in the policy during the first few years. Since a substantial payment is involved, it should be viewed as an investment-oriented product.
• Interest in single premium life insurance is primarily due to the tax-deferred treatment of the build-up of its cash values. Taxes will be incurred on the gain, however, when you surrender the policy. You may borrow on the cash value of the policy, but remember that you may incur a substantial tax bill when you surrender, even if you have borrowed out all the cash value.
2. Interest Sensitive Whole Life. While insurers guarantee stated benefits on traditional contracts far into the future based on long-term and overall company experience, they allocate investment earnings differently on interest sensitive whole life in order to better reflect current fluctuations in interest rates. The advantage is that improvements in interest rates will be reflected more quickly in interest sensitive insurance than in traditional; the disadvantage, of course, is that decreases in interest rates will also be felt more quickly in interest sensitive whole life.

There are four basic interest sensitive whole life policies:

1. Universal Life The universal life policy is actually more than interest sensitive as it is designed to reflect the insurer’s current mortality and expense as well as interest earnings rather than historic rates. Universal life works by treating separately the three basic elements of the policy: premium, death benefit and cash value. The company credits your premiums to the cash value account. Periodically the company deducts from the cash value account its expenses and the cost of insurance protection, usually described as the mortality deduction charge. The balance of the cash value account accumulates at the interest credited. The company guarantees a minimum interest rate and a maximum mortality charge. Some universal life policies also specify a maximum basis for the expense charge. These guarantees are usually very conservative. Current assumptions are critical to interest sensitive products such as Universal Life. When interest rates are high, benefit projections (such as cash value) are also high. When interest rates are low, these projections are not as attractive.
• Universal life is also the most flexible of all the various kinds of policies. Because it treats the elements of the policy separately, universal life allows you to change or skip premium payments or change the death benefit more easily than with any other policy.
• The policy usually gives you an option to select one or two types of death benefits. Under one option your beneficiaries received only the face amount of the policy, under the other they receive both the face amount and the cash value account. If you want the maximum amount of death benefit now, the second option should be selected.
• You generally pay a planned premium designed to keep the policy in force for life, and accumulate cash value, based upon the interest and expense and mortality charges you assume. It is important that these assumptions be realistic because if they are not, you may have to pay more to keep the policy from decreasing or lapsing. On the other hand, if your experience is better then the assumptions, than you may be able in the future to skip a premium, to pay less, or to have the plan paid up at an early date.
• You do not have to pay the planned premium, but if you pay less, the benefit may be more like term insurance, which is only in force for a limited time and builds no cash value. On the other hand, if you pay more, and your assumptions are realistic, it is possible to pay up the policy at an early date.
• If you surrender a universal life policy you may receive less than the cash value account because of surrender charges which can be of two types. A front-end type policy will deduct a percentage of the premium paid, while a back-end type policy will deduct a more substantial charge but only if the policy is surrendered before a specified period, generally 10 years but which could be as long as 20 years. A back-end type policy would be preferable if you intend to maintain coverage, and the charge decreases with each year you continue the policy. Remember that the interest rate and expense and mortality charges payables initially are not guaranteed for the life of the policy.
• Although this type of policy gives you maximum flexibility, you will need to actively manage the policy to maintain sufficient funding, especially because the insurance company can increase mortality and expense charges. You should remember that the mortality charges increase, as you become older.
2. Excess Interest Whole Life If you are not interested in all of the flexible features of Universal Life, some insurers offer fixed premium versions called excess interest whole life. The key feature is that premium payments are required when due just like traditional whole life. If premiums are paid when due, the policy will not lapse.
• With the premium level fixed, any additional or excess interest credited, or better life insurance experience, will improve the cash value of the policy. The premium level will probably be comparable to traditional whole life policies. Cash value may be applied to pay future premium payments. This type of product maximizes the deferred tax growth of your cash value.
3. Current Assumption Whole Life Current assumption whole life is similar to a universal life policy but your company determines the amount of premium to be paid. The company sets the initial premium based upon its current estimate of future investment earnings and mortality experience and retains the contractual right to reevaluate its original estimates to increase or decrease your premium payments later. If premiums are increased, some policies let you decrease the face amount of coverage so that you can continue to pay the original premium. Current mortality and experience and investment earnings can be credited to the insurance policy either through the cash value account and/or the premium or dividend structure (depending on whether it is a stock or mutual company). Regardless, this type of policy has the following characteristics:
• The premiums are subject to change based on the experience (mortality, expenses, investment) of the company. The policyowner does not exercise control over the changes.
• The policyowner can use the cash value to make loans just as he/she would with any traditional ordinary life insurance policy.
• A minimum amount of cash value is guaranteed, just as with traditional ordinary life insurance.
• The death benefit does not fluctuate.
4. Single Premium Whole Life There are a few single premium life products, which determine the premium using the current interest rate assumption. You may be asked to make additional premium payments where coverage could terminate because the interest rate dropped. Your starting interest rate is fixed only for a year or in some cases three to five years. The guaranteed rate provided for in the policy is much lower (e.g., 4%). Another feature that is sometimes emphasized is the "no cost" loan. Companies will set the loan interest rate to be charged on policy loans equal to the rate that is being credited to the policy.

VARIABLE LIFE– Most types of both traditional and interest sensitive life policies can be purchased on either a fixed-dollar or variable basis. On a fixed-dollar basis, premium, face amount and cash values are specified in dollar amounts.

On the variable basis, face amount and cash value are specified in units, and the value of the units may increase or decrease depending upon the investment results. You can allocate your premiums among various investment pools (like stock, bond, money market, mutual funds and real estate pools) depending on the amount of risk you are willing to assume in the hope of a higher return.

Traditional variable life provides a minimum guaranteed death benefit, but many universal variable life products do not, and should investment experience be bad, coverage will terminate if substantially higher premium payments are not made. Variable life is also made available on a single premium basis but if investment experience is poor additional premiums will be required.

OTHER COVERAGES– Variations on the Basic Plans

Credit Life Insurance Although you can obtain credit life insurance (term) as an individual, it is usually sold on a group basis to a creditor, such as a bank, finance company or a company selling high priced items on the installment plan. The policy generally pays the outstanding balance of the debt at the time of the borrower’s death, subject to policy maximums. Debts covered in this way include: personal loans; loans to cover the purchase of appliances, motor vehicles, mobile homes, farm equipment; educational loans; bank credit and revolving check loans; mortgages loans; etc.

When you borrow from an organization that has a group credit life policy, the organization may require you to purchase credit life insurance or it may simply offer the protection as an additional service. In either case you must receive a certificate of insurance describing the provisions of the group policy and any insurance charge. Generally the maximum amount of coverage is $220,000 for a mortgage loan and $55,000 for all other debts. Credit life insurance need not be purchased from the organization granting the loan.

If you are covered under a group credit life policy and you terminate coverage by prepaying or defaulting on the loan, or if the group policy itself is terminated, you may be entitled to a partial refund of the premium you paid – check your certificate. If life insurance is required by a creditor as a condition for making a loan, you may be able to assign an existing life insurance policy, if you have one. However, you may wish to buy group credit life insurance in spite of its higher cost because of its convenience and its availability, generally without detailed evidence of insurability.

Monthly Debit Ordinary Insurance Debit insurance is insurance with premiums payable monthly which are meant to be collected by the agent at your home. In most cases, however, home collections are not made and premiums are mailed by you to the agent or to the company.

There are certain factors that tend to increase the costs of debit insurance more than regular life insurance plans:

• Certain expenses are the same no matter what the size of the policy, so that smaller policies issued as debit insurance will have higher premiums per $1,000 of insurance than larger size regular insurance policies.
• In some companies, more debit policyholders allow their policies to lapse than is generally the case with policyholders of regular life insurance. Since early lapses are expensive to a company, the costs must be passed on to all debit policyholders.
• Since debit insurance is designed to include home collections, higher commissions and fees are paid on debit insurance than on regular insurance. In many cases these higher expenses are passed on to the policyholder.
• As a general rule the combination of smaller amounts, higher lapse rates and higher commissions and fees on debit insurance tends to make it more expensive than comparable regular life insurance plans.

Where a company has different premiums for debit and regular insurance it may be possible for you to purchase a larger amount of regular insurance than debit at no extra cost. Therefore, if you are thinking of debit insurance, you should certainly investigate regular life insurance as a cost-saving alternative.

Modified Life Plan A modified life plan is similar to whole life except that you pay a lower premium for the first few years and a higher than regular whole life premium in later years. This plan is designed for those who cannot initially afford the regular whole life premium but who want the higher premium coverage and feel they will eventually be able to pay the higher premium.

The Family Policy The family policy is a combination plan that provides insurance protection under one contract to all members of your immediate family – husband, wife and children. Usually family policies are sold in units (packages) of protection, such as $5,000 on the main wage earner, $1,500 on the spouse and $1,000 on each child.

Joint Life and Survivor Insurance Joint Life and Survivor Insurance provides coverage for two or more persons with the death benefit payable at the death of the last of the insureds. Premiums are significantly lower under joint life and survivor insurance than for policies that insure only one person, since the probability of having to pay a death claim is lower.

Joint Life Insurance Joint Life Insurance provides coverage for two or more persons with the death benefit payable at the first death. Premiums are significantly higher than for policies that insure one person, since the probability of having to pay a death claim is higher.

Endowment Insurance Endowment insurance provides for the payment of the face amount to your beneficiary if death occurs within a specific period of time such as twenty years; or, if at the end of the specific period you are still alive, for the payment of the face amount to you. Due to recent tax law changes many endowment plans no longer qualify as life insurance for tax purposes and are generally not being offered by insurers.

Juvenile insurance Juvenile insurance provides a minimum of protection and could provide coverage, which might not be available at a later date. Amounts provided under such coverage are generally limited based on the age of the child. The current limitations for minors under the age of 14½ would be the greater of $10,000 or 50% of the amount of life insurance in force upon the life of the applicant. The limitations on a minor under the age of 4 and one half would be the greater of $5,000 or 25% of the amount of life insurance in force upon the life of the applicant. Juvenile insurance may be sold with a payor benefit rider, which provides for waiving future premiums on the child’s policy in the event of the death of the person who pays the premium.

Senior Life Plans Senior life insurance, sometimes referred to as graded death benefit plans, provides eligible older applicants with minimal whole life coverage without a medical examination. Since such policies are issued with little or no underwriting they will provide only for a return of premium or minimum graded benefits if death occurs during a specified period which is generally the first two or three policy years. The permissible issue ages for this type of coverage range from ages 50 – 75. The maximum issue amount of coverage is $25,000. These policies are usually more expensive than a fully underwritten policy if the person qualifies as a standard risk.

Pre-need Insurance This type of coverage is for a small face amount, typically purchased to pay the burial expenses of the insured. As previously mentioned within the discussion of monthly debit ordinary insurance, this coverage often carries a higher premium per $1,000 of coverage than larger size policies.

Overview About Life Insurance

From: http://www.ins.state.ny.us

Before You Buy Insurance

The purchase of life insurance is an important decision for both you and your family. There are many reasons why life insurance is purchased, but these reasons should be based upon your needs or wants. Your marital status, number of dependents, family size, income, and wealth all play a role in determining the amount of life insurance that is right for you. The first step is to determine your current need for life insurance and how much you can afford to spend. It is a good idea to consider future needs too, because unlike most purchases, you can’t always buy life insurance when you need it; you have to be in reasonably good health to purchase most types of life insurance products.

Remember if one kind of life insurance does not seem to fit your needs, ask about other plans. Be sure to read your new policy carefully, and ask the agent or company for an explanation of anything you do not understand. Take full advantage of the free look provisions that are provided on the policy cover page. New York requires a minimum free look period of 10 days and a maximum of 30 days. A 30-day free look period is required for any policy offered through the mail. "Free look" provisions allow you to cancel a policy without penalty within a set time period. Whatever you decide, it is important to review your life insurance program every few years to keep up with your changing financial and family circumstances and responsibilities.

The Purpose Of Life Insurance

Your need for life insurance will vary with your age and responsibilities. The amount of insurance you buy should depend on the standard of living you wish to assure your dependents. You should consider the amount of assets and sources of income available to your dependents when you pass away. Social security benefits, available cash and other sources of income and investments may not provide the standard of living you have in mind. Life insurance helps bridge the gap between the financial needs of your dependents and the amount available from other sources, is the amount to be provided by life insurance. Your agent or other financial advisor can help you with these calculations. The Internet, as well as many financial magazines, books and articles are available to help you as well.

Analyze Your Need For Life Insurance

One approach to determine how much life insurance one should carry is to analyze the various needs of the family in the event of the death of a wage earner. Life insurance satisfies a number of these needs by providing a fund that can be used to:

• Pay off an individual’s last debts such as medical bills and funeral expenses

• Meet estate taxes and other expenses in settling an estate

• Provide life income for the spouse

• Pay off a mortgage

• Pay for the children’s education

• Provide funds for retirement

• Provide an income for the policyholder’s spouse to give the family time to readjust to a new standard of living

• Draw interest to provide funds for some special purpose

• Provide a monthly income until the children are grown and out of school

How The Cost Of Life Insurance Is Determined

The premium rate for a life insurance policy is based on two underlying concepts: mortality and interest. A third variable is the expense factor which is the amount the company adds to the cost of the policy to cover operating costs of selling insurance, investing the premiums, and paying claims.

Mortality – Life insurance is based on the sharing of the risk of death by a large group of people. The amount at risk must be known to predict the cost to each member of the group. Mortality tables are used to give the company a basic estimate of how much money it will need to pay for death claims each year. By using a mortality table a life insurer can determine the average life expectancy for each age group.

Interest – The second factor used in calculating the premium is interest earnings. Companies invest your premiums in bonds, stocks, mortgages, real estate, etc., and assume they will earn a certain rate of interest on these invested funds.

Expense – The third consideration is the expenses of operating the company. The company estimates such expenses as salaries, agents’ compensation, rent, legal fees, postage, etc. The amount charged to cover each policy’s share of expenses of operation is called the expense loading. This is a cost area that can vary from company to company based on its operations and efficiency.

The Weekender Diet Plan

The Weekender Diet was created with the working dieter in mind.

Yeah, we know how it is - you hit the bricks Monday through Friday and once the work week is over you just don't feel like dieting. You're tired, out of energy - and become a human with few desires. A little tv, some video games, a bit of shopping and dining out - oooh, fast food sounds good. And yes, perhaps even a little swinging in the old hammock.

Unfortunately, the majority of diet plans are a bit like our jobs - they don't allow time off except on the weekends, those two days which become more precious than a car that gets fifty miles to the gallon. Okay, perhaps not that precious, but I'm sure you get our drift. With that said, if the work force allows a two-day reprieve, then why not a diet? After all, the boss expects the workers to return on Monday - fresh, sharp and rested. They don't fear that the worker will wallow in relaxation so deep that they won't appear on Monday morning.

But for some reason, we can't apply the same reasoning to dieting because the greatest fear of a two-day Diet Reprieve is that the dieter will forget all about the diet and skip off into the Land of Milk and Honey Buns, never to appear for Diet Duty again. If this thought sounds tempting to you, then the Weekender Diet may not be for you.

On the other Diet Hand, if you feel strong in your desire to lose weight and to keep it off forever, then you may love our Weekender Diet. And as always, Diet Bites recommends that you get your doctor's thumbs up before going on any weight loss plan.

The Weekender Diet Plan is based on the Food Pyramid and contains about 1,350 daily calories. If you are in need of losing more than fifty pounds, you may wish to increase your minimum daily calorie intake to 1,500 calories.

Physical Activity - Before we get to the menus, let's address activity. On Monday through Friday make an effort to walk at least one mile. A pedometer can be purchased for about three bucks at your local Wal-Mart, sport's center or dollar store. Strap the pedometer on before heading out in the morning.

As a note, the best form of walking occurs when we do our walking all in one timeframe. However, in our experience exercise appears to be a chief reason that people quit their weight loss plan. In addition, individuals who have a lot of weight to lose just can't break out in heavy exercise. By the way, if you have a lot of weight to lose, work up to that one mile slowly rather than trying to get there all at once.

If by the end of the day you haven't walked a mile, then finish up your mile before the day is out (once you are comfortable walking the one mile). Be sure to walk when it's cool and avoid the heat. And be sure to take along some water to hydrate.

For an even faster rate of weight loss, work up to two miles per day, then three.

Mental Activity - During Monday through Friday we want you to take up a hobby that you really enjoy. Whether it's putting together puzzles, playing on the net, quilting, sewing, painting, reading, watching tv - whatever you enjoy doing! This will keep your mind off the refrigerator and focused on the thing(s) that you like to do. If you must have a snack, then save your snacks for the day and enjoy them during your Mental Activity time.

Fluids & Beverages - Be certain to incorporate adequate fluids into your diet throughout the day - about 8 cups of water, more if you are fighting a heat wave. Enjoy diet sodas as you please OR water with lemon and no calorie sweetener OR tea sweetened with no calorie sweetener OR Crystal Light - OR any diet-wise drinks throughout your day containing 20 calories or less per serving, although water should be your chief source of fluid intake.

Additives - Use scants amount of sugar when sweetening if you don't like sugar substitutes. Same applies to butter. Catsup, mustard, horseradish, peppers and low calorie sauces can also be used to add oomph to your meals. The key is not to go A-I-P and to use additives with minimal calories.

The Weekend - And finally we must address the weekend. To achieve weight loss you obviously can't run amuck on the weekends but you don't have to count every fat gram, carb and calorie. Simply enjoy three meals and two snacks per day. Stick to single servings and avoid those all you can eat joints. Avoid over-stuffing your tummy but do eat until you are full. You don't want to gain back the weight that you've worked so hard on ditching throughout the week. On Monday, report for Diet Duty refreshed, sharp and renewed.

Cheap, Safe Drug Kills Most Cancers

From: New Scientist Print Edition.

What makes cancer cells different - and how to kill them

New Scientist has received an unprecedented amount of interest in this story from readers. If you would like up-to-date information on any plans for clinical trials of DCA in patients with cancer, or would like to donate towards a fund for such trials, please visit the site set up by the University of Alberta and the Alberta Cancer Board. We will also follow events closely and will report any progress as it happens.

It sounds almost too good to be true: a cheap and simple drug that kills almost all cancers by switching off their “immortality”. The drug, dichloroacetate (DCA), has already been used for years to treat rare metabolic disorders and so is known to be relatively safe.

It also has no patent, meaning it could be manufactured for a fraction of the cost of newly developed drugs.

Evangelos Michelakis of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, and his colleagues tested DCA on human cells cultured outside the body and found that it killed lung, breast and brain cancer cells, but not healthy cells. Tumours in rats deliberately infected with human cancer also shrank drastically when they were fed DCA-laced water for several weeks.

DCA attacks a unique feature of cancer cells: the fact that they make their energy throughout the main body of the cell, rather than in distinct organelles called mitochondria. This process, called glycolysis, is inefficient and uses up vast amounts of sugar.

Until now it had been assumed that cancer cells used glycolysis because their mitochondria were irreparably damaged. However, Michelakis’s experiments prove this is not the case, because DCA reawakened the mitochondria in cancer cells. The cells then withered and died (Cancer Cell, DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2006.10.020).

Michelakis suggests that the switch to glycolysis as an energy source occurs when cells in the middle of an abnormal but benign lump don’t get enough oxygen for their mitochondria to work properly (see diagram). In order to survive, they switch off their mitochondria and start producing energy through glycolysis.

Crucially, though, mitochondria do another job in cells: they activate apoptosis, the process by which abnormal cells self-destruct. When cells switch mitochondria off, they become “immortal”, outliving other cells in the tumour and so becoming dominant. Once reawakened by DCA, mitochondria reactivate apoptosis and order the abnormal cells to die.

“The results are intriguing because they point to a critical role that mitochondria play:

they impart a unique trait to cancer cells that can be exploited for cancer therapy,” says Dario Altieri, director of the University of Massachusetts Cancer Center in Worcester.

The phenomenon might also explain how secondary cancers form. Glycolysis generates lactic acid, which can break down the collagen matrix holding cells together. This means abnormal cells can be released and float to other parts of the body, where they seed new tumours.

DCA can cause pain, numbness and gait disturbances in some patients, but this may be a price worth paying if it turns out to

be effective against all cancers. The next step is to run clinical trials of DCA in people with cancer. These may have to be funded by charities, universities and governments: pharmaceutical companies are unlikely to pay because they can’t make money on unpatented medicines. The pay-off is that if DCA does work, it will be easy to manufacture and dirt cheap.

Paul Clarke, a cancer cell biologist at the University of Dundee in the UK, says the findings challenge the current assumption that mutations, not metabolism, spark off cancers. “The question is: which comes first?” he says.

Quick Start Diet Guide For Celiac Disease

From http://www.celiac.org

Here is a quick and simple view of the Gluten-free (GF) diet. Not all areas of the diet are as clear-cut as portrayed by this Guide. This is intended to be used as a safe and temporary survival tool until the newly diagnosed celiac can gather additional information. Understanding these dietary requirements will enable the person newly diagnosed to read labels of food products and determine if a product is GF or not GF.

Celiac Disease (CD) is a lifelong digestive disorder found in individuals who are genetically susceptible. Damage to the small intestine is caused by an immunologically toxic reaction to the ingestion of gluten. This does not allow foods to beproperly absorbed. Even small amounts of gluten in foods may affect those with celiac disease and cause health problems. Damage can occur to the small bowel even in the absence of symptoms.

Gluten is the generic name for certain types of proteins contained in the common cereal grains wheat, barley, rye and their common derivatives.

Allowed:

Rice, corn, soy, potato, tapioca, beans, garfava, sorghum, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, arrowroot, amaranth, teff, Montina®, and nut flours.

Not Allowed in any form:

Wheat (durum, graham, kamut, semolina, spelt), rye, barley, and triticale.

Labels

The key to understanding the GF diet is to become a good ingredient label reader. The following ingredients should not be consumed. They are derived from prohibited grains:

• Barley
• Malt or malt flavoring (can be made from barley)
• Malt vinegar (made from barley)
• Rye
• Triticale
• Wheat (durum, graham, kamut, semolina, spelt)

Frequently overlooked foods that may contain gluten:

Breading, Coating mixes, Panko

Broth, Soup bases

Brown rice syrup

Candy

Croutons

Flour or cereal products

Imitation bacon

Imitation seafood

Marinades

Pastas

Processed luncheon meats

Sauces, Gravies

Self-basting poultry

Soy sauce or soy sauce solids

Stuffing, Dressing

Thickeners (Roux)

Communion wafers

Herbal supplements

Drugs & Over-the-Counter Medications

Nutritional Supplements

Vitamins & Mineral Supplements

Playdough: A potential problem if hands are put on or in the mouth while playing with playdough or are not washed after use.

Recent research shows that pure, uncontaminated oats used in moderation (1 cup cooked) are safe for most persons with celiac disease. Consult your dietitian or physician if you want to include oats in your diet.

Distilled alcoholic beverages and vinegars are gluten-free. Distilled products do not contain any harmful gluten peptides. Research indicates that the gluten peptide is too large to carry over in the distillation process. This leaves the resultant liquid gluten-free. Wines are gluten-free. Beers, ales, lagers, and malt vinegar are made from gluten-containing grains and are not distilled, therefore they are not gluten-free.

Labels

A label that declares a complete list of ingredients is safest. If you are unsure about a products ingredients, avoid it or find a comparable product that is gluten free. Labels must be read every time you purchase food. Manufacturers can change ingredients at any time. Some products remain GF for years while others do not. You may verify ingredients by calling or writing a food manufacturer and specifying the ingredient and lot number of the food in question. State your needs clearly – be patient, persistent and polite.

If In Doubt Go Without!

If unable to verify ingredients or the ingredient list is unavailable – DO NOT EAT IT. Regardless of the amount eaten, it is not worth triggering your immune system and the damage to the small intestine that occurs every time gluten is consumed, whether symptoms are present or not. Individuals may have sensitivity reactions to foods other than gluten.

Wheat-Free Is Not Gluten-Free.

Products labeled Wheat-Free are not necessarily gluten-free. They may still contain rye, barley-based ingredients that are not GF.

Contamination in Food Preparation: When preparing gluten-free foods they must not come into contact with food containing gluten. Contamination can occur if foods are prepared on common surfaces, or with utensils that are not thoroughly cleaned after preparing gluten-containing foods. Using a common toaster for gluten-free bread and regular bread is a major source of contamination. Flour sifters should not be shared with gluten-containing flours. Deep fried foods cooked in oil shared with breaded products should not be consumed. Spreadable condiments in shared containers may be a source of contamination. When a person dips into a condiment a second time, with the knife (used for spreading), the condiment becomes contaminated with crumbs (e.g. mustard, mayonnaise, jam, peanut butter, and margarine).

Wheat flour can stay airborne for many hours in a bakery (or at home) and contaminate exposed preparation surfaces and utensils or uncovered gluten-free products. Likewise, foods not produced in a gluten-free environment have the potential to be contaminated with gluten. This may occur when machinery or equipment is inadequately cleaned after producing gluten-containing foods. Food manufacturers are required to abide by Good Manufacturing Practices outlined in the FDA’s Code of Federal Regulations, to reduce the risk of contamination in manufacturing. Let common sense be your guide.

Not All Adverse Reactions Are Due To Celiac Disease: Lactose intolerance, food sensitivities or allergies to soy, corn, or other foods or even the stomach flu, are common causes of symptoms similar to Celiac Disease. Newly diagnosed celiacs may have trouble digesting certain foods, especially fatty foods, until the small intestine has had a chance to heal and start absorbing normally. If necessary, keep a diary of foods eaten. Read labels, remember what you ate, and listen to your body.

Attitude is Everything

Like anything new, it takes time to adjust to the GF diet. It is natural to mourn old food habits for a short time. Stay focused on all the foods you can eat. Fresh fruits and vegetables are delicious and healthy. Fresh poultry, fish, meat and legumes provide protein and are naturally GF. Most dairy foods can also still be enjoyed providing you are not lactose intolerant. GF substitutes for foods commonly made with wheat are available at health food stores and from GF food manufacturers. Try GF waffles for breakfast; a sandwich on GF bread for lunch; and rice, corn, or quinoa pasta for dinner. Your new way of eating is very satisfying!

The GF diet is a lifelong commitment and should not be started before being properly diagnosed with CD/DH. Starting the diet without complete testing is not recommended and makes diagnosis difficult. Tests to confirm CD could be inaccurate if a person were on a GF diet for a long period of time. For a valid diagnosis gluten needs to be reintroduced. Celiac disease is an inherited autoimmune disease. Screening of family members is recommended. Consult your doctor for testing.