Cancer is one of the most feared diseases of our time, and is the number-two killer in the US, just behind cardiovascular disease. One in three people will develop cancer at some point in their lives, and nearly everyone is touched by it, either directly or by going through the experience with a friend or relative.
What exactly is cancer?
Normal cells grow, live, die, and are replaced. Cancer cells keep growing and dividing, growing out of control and forming new abnormal cells. This growth can be localized into one solid tumor, or can spread (metastasize) elsewhere in the body. Not all tumors are cancer, and not all cancers are deadly. But when cancer kills, it is usually because the cancer has spread and invaded a vital organ, replacing healthy cells until there isn’t enough healthy lung, kidney, colon, or liver tissue to sustain life.
Is genetics destiny?
Even if you have a lot of cancer in your family, that doesn’t mean that you’ll get it. It is estimated that cancer is due to only 15% genetics and 85% environmental causes, things that are within your control. So if, for example, your family tree is heavy with smokers who died of lung cancer, you can probably avoid it by not smoking.
The importance of root cause
Many doctors who treat cancer don’t care about what caused the cancer; they say it’s here now so let’s move forward. But the body is designed to be self-healing, and if it isn’t, if cancer develops, it’s because whatever caused the problem is still causing the problem or the body would have healed by now. So finding and eliminating the root causes for your particular cancer offers one of the best chances for recovery.
Conventional medicine treats the cancer itself, using treatments that can be harmful. We can honestly say that at CAM we don’t treat cancer, although we have helped many cancer patients. We treat causes of cancer and other diseases.
Prevention
The second easiest cancer to cure is one that is caught in a very early stage. But the easiest cancer to cure is the one that never really gets started in the first place. Prevention, then, is where efforts should be concentrated. Given the importance of root cause, these same preventive measures can make a lot of positive difference even if you already have cancer.
The causes of cancer
There are a number of causes of cancer; these include toxins that shouldn’t be in your body and not enough of the things that should be in your body, i.e. nutrients.
Chemicals
Unwanted chemicals are one of the biggest causes of cancer, or carcinogens. Solvents can damage the lipid (fat) membrane around cells, let toxins into the cell, and damage the DNA. Pesticides can cause a significant increase in cancer, whose rates are higher among agricultural workers for this reason. Tobacco, especially burned as in cigarettes, contains a number of carcinogens, which most notably affect the lungs and esophagus due to direct contact but can affect the whole body. Fluoride in water damages cellular DNA, which can lead to mutations that can be precursors to cancer. Silicone breast implants are implicated in some cases of lymphoma and breast cancer.
Metals
Nickel is one of the most carcinogenic of metals. It is so reliably a cause of cancer that it is often given to lab animals for this purpose. It is found in some metal dental work and elsewhere, and every time you eat some nickel is swallowed; perhaps only a few molecules at a time, but this adds up over the years and decades.
Mercury, the main component in metal dental fillings, has been linked to the development of leukemia. It is probably not a coincidence that amalgam was first used commercially in 1832, and leukemia was first described in 1845. The high white blood cell counts that are a sign of leukemia have been known to normalize within days of safe mercury removal. Mercury also binds to or blocks the action of protective minerals such as selenium.
Electromagnetic fields (EMF)
Electromagnetic radiation from electrical lines, microwave ovens, smart meters, cell phones, and other sources have been linked to an increased risk of cancer. A number of US studies have reported an increased risk of leukemia, lymphoma, and brain tumors among children living near power lines and workers exposed to EM fields on the job.
The cholesterol connection
Cholesterol has been vilified and correlated with heart attacks, but when cholesterol drops too low, as with the use of statin drugs, cancer risk goes up, since cholesterol has a protective function in the body.
Diet and nutrition
Dietary factors are involved in as many as half of all cancers. That’s a huge amount, and diet is one of the factors that are most within one’s control.
Sugar intake increases the glucose in the blood. Cancer cells use much more glucose than normal cells, so eating a lot of sugar feeds cancer cells, which depend on a fermentative environment for their growth. Refined white flour quickly turns to sugar in the body and is thus similarly harmful. High fructose corn syrup is considered by many to be even worse than regular sugar.
Trans fatty acids, which hold potentially toxic chemicals as well as being toxic in themselves, have been implicated in degenerative diseases such as cancer, especially breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers.
Meats contain arachidonic acid, linked to cancer development. Meats that have been grilled, charcoal-broiled, cured or processed with nitrates and other chemicals, or smoked are especially carcinogenic.
There are a number of nutrients, from vitamins to minerals to healthy oils to antioxidants, that can help build up the immune system and increase the body’s resistance to cancer in general.
What can be done?
Since cancer is so potentially deadly and devastating, and since prevention is to a large extent within your control, it is crucial to live and eat in such a way as to minimize cancer risk. In addition to the suggestions in this article, there is much more detail in the book Detox or Disease, available at CAM. Although not specific to cancer, this book provides plenty of information on how to avoid toxins in the environment and how to detoxify them from your body.
If you are concerned about cancer, whether you already have it, or have a genetic tendency to get it, or just want to stay healthy, make an appointment to see one or more of the practitioners at CAM.
