Vitamin D: A Study On How It Prevents Breast Cancer

General Health, blog, Cancer Treatments, Well Woman

It has been said that optimizing one’s vitamin D levels can prevent up to sixteen different types of cancer from growing and developing. Doctors Clinic’s doctors in Houston have already made explicit the degree to which cancers that affect organs such as the pancrease, ovaries, testicles, and skin begin to vitiate when vitamin D doses are greatly increased. Just recently, the professionals at Doctors Clinic have noticed that patients with breast cancer start feeling stronger and healthier when they take in over 5,000 IUs of vitamin D.

Vitamin D Decreases Risk of Cancer by Over Seventy Percent

Prevention is always preferable to treatment. And when it comes to cancer, things are absolutely no different. Certainly, a great many cancer survivors are alive and kicking in the world thanks to treatment methods such as chemotherapy and even Simpson oil; though no doctor recommends that you totally rely on even the most cutting-edge treatment methodologies. None of them are fail-safe, and for this reason, it is best to focus on prevention rather than cure. A study in 2007 has shown that just raising one’s serum levels to forty ng/ml is enough to obviate the most acute forms of cancer – and breast cancer in particular.

What is most surprising of all, even to some of the most seasoned health and nutrition professionals around, is that raising one’s serum levels to forty ng/ml is not that difficult at all. It takes relatively little effort to get to said level, and fortunately, for women, it can be enough to keep breast canncer away. Regarding this particular 2007 study, there was a seventy-five percent reduction of incidence of cancers after only 5 years – a remarkable feat and one that ought to be celebrated all across the globe.

Vitamin D Destroys Breast Cancer Cells

The illustrious Dr. Ced Garland – the man around town at UCSD, who has remained among the most esteemed professors at the university’s cancner center – has made a connection between Vitamin D definiciency and the development of cancer. Mr. Ced says that in practically every single case for patients with breast cancer, there is a lack of vitamin D, which affects the structure of the all important epithelial cells. Essentially, these particular cells stick to one another by a sticky substance known as E-cadherin. E-cadherin provides structure to the cell. And we all know that withotu structure, nothing can be sustenable for any great length of time – whether we’re talking about man-made structures like buildings and skyscrapers or biological and natural phenomena at the cellular level. E-cadherin is mostly composed of vitamin D and calcium.

Without adequate vitamin D, that particular structure begins to call apart, and those cells do what they are programmed to do in order to survive – multiply. If this growth process spirals out of control, what results is cancer.

Daily Doses

Houston doctors recommend a daily dose of 8,000 IUs of vitamin D3 per day. It is important to stress that we are talking about D3, and not just vitamin D. Taking vitamin D3 is much safer than the synthetic D2 version, and going over the recommended dose of D3 per day doesn’t do as much harm as doing so with D2. The only thing to keep in mind is that it is important to also increase one’s intake of vitamin K2. Without vitamin K2, vitamin D can calcify, resulting in clogged arteries. Overall, though, it is an imperative to get one’s vitamin D levels checked. Doctors Clinic Houston offers extensive vitamin deficiency testing. A minor investment of time in choosing to get one’s blood taken and tested can go a long way toward understanding what the body is lacking and what it needs in order to optimize health.

Sugar: A Leading Promoter of Cancer & Heart Disease

General Health, blog, Cancer Treatments, Diabetes Care, Cardiology

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More than 1.6 million new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in the United States of America this year – and over half a million are expected to die from the disease. Another 600,000 Americans die every single year due to heart disease – it being the number one cause of death among both males and females.

Regardless of the incredible technological advances over the past century, Western medicine still has no idea of how to stop the progression of these two diseases in their tracks.

It’s becoming more and more clear that many of the conventional strategies claiming to properly and effectively treat and prevent cancer and heart disease hold many flawed assumptions that do more harm than they do good.

The sad thing is that these conventional strategies actually fail to address the core of the problem: that a diet high in sugar and processed foods is the culprit.

For many years, saturated fats have been where physicians and nutrition experts were placing the blame. They thought that eating foods high in saturated fat would lead to clogged arteries, which would then lead to the inevitable heart problems. Now, more and more folks are beginning to realize that saturated fats are healthy, and necessary for optimal brain function.

What they have realized is that a diet high in sugar, and fructose in particular, is what leads to serious health problems – heart disease, cancer, and many others. Equipped with this pivotal information puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to the prevention of these pernicious diseases.

So How Much Sugar Is in Your Diet?

So high sugar consumption deleteriously affects one’s health. But hold on a second, cutting out sugars is not the be all end all. Many food ingredients out there do even more damage than sugar, and the bad thing is that there are a few that are in over half of the boxed foods that you find in the grocery store. They all have funky, difficult to pronounce names. The word sugar isn’t appended to them to warn you of how unhealthy they are. Rather, it seems as though there is an attempt to obscure the truth from the general public, so that they do not know what they are eating. If they did, they would be able to make wiser, healthier choices and thus boycott the companies that pump out foods with harmful ingredients.

Hidden sugar, in the form of high fructose corn syrup is in just about every single processed food imaginable. You can even find it in stuff that you would generally consider to be the healthiest foods of all – like yogurt and certain juices. They are in just about every soda you can think of, and now, they are beginning to appear in just about every other bread or sauce that you buy from the store. The majority of the grains have this noxious corn syrup. Grain-based staples, like pancakes, muffins and cereals, have a bunch of sugar in them already (they quickly turn to sugar in your body). Now, adding high fructose corn syrup into the mix is just adding fuel to the fire.

Studies indicate that if you limit your sugar, you dramatically decrease your chances of developing cancer – and that includes breast and colon cancers. Those who want to optimize their health need to think long and hard before they make their next trip to the grocery store. Chances are, they are consuming far too much of both sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

Fructose Increases Cancer Risk

As we mentioned earlier, high fructose corn syrup is in just about every single soda out there. Many companies have attempted to conceal this fact by using a different name for the ingredient instead. Regardless, the body’s reaction to the exposure of such unhealthy stuff is going to be the same. DNA damage, altered cellular metabolism and inflammation are all symptoms that develop as a result of drinking too much soda.

Tumor cells thrive in glucose. This, by itself, confirms the old adage that sugar feeds cancer. Cells have the capacity to use fructose for cell division. A rapid and unmitigated growth of cells is what causes cancer. The tumors you see are a bunch of cells that have reproduced at a rate much faster than normal.

This by no means suggests that one ought to totally avoid fruits just because they are high in sugar as well. The benefits of fruit definitely outweigh any concerns regarding fructose. It is recommended not to juice fruits and to eat them whole. Fruits today are a great deal sweeter than they were in the past, and for that, should be consumed in moderation. The greatest problem, though, is the high fructose corn syrup that is in practically each and every one of the processed foods and drinks you see.

Don’t Forget the Exercise

Exercise actually does more than merely help you look thin and good. Controlling your blood-glucose and insulin levels can be an incredibly effective way of recovering from cancer. Exercise is a fantastic way of doing this. Of course, this is not the be all end all by any stretch of the imagination. But exercise is a big factor, if not in recovering from cancer, at the very least, preventing cancer. Folks who spend a great deal of time getting their heart rate up and running do seem to develop cancer much less than the inert who remain listless on a regular basis.

In short, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising on the regular creates an incredibly healthy feedback loop that makes certain that insulin and leptin levels are at an optimal level. Insulin and leptin resistance – mostly driven by not exercising and by eating a lot of refined sugars – are the underlying factors that result in pretty much the majority of chronic diseases.

Cancer Control Month

General Health, blog, Cancer Treatments
 

April Is Cancer Control Month

What Is Cancer Control?

Cancer control month highlights advances in fighting cancer. This includes prevention, early detection, and treatment of cancer. One way to control cancer is to find cancer cells and get rid of them. Cancer screenings can help find cancer early. The earlier the cancer is found, the better the prognosis. The American Cancer Society’s recommendations for cancer screening can be found on the next page.

What are the Key Statistics about Cancer?

  • After heart disease, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States.
  • About 1,665,540 new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2014.
  • Over a lifetime, about 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women in the United States will develop cancer.
  • Cancer rates and deaths have been on the decline since the early 1990’s.
  • One third of cancers detected will be related to overweight or obesity, physical inactivity, and nutrition.

Who’s at Risk?

While everyone is at risk for cancer, some people are at greater risk than others are. Age is the greatest risk factor for cancer, since nearly 77% of cancers are detected at age 55 and older. Also, people who use tobacco, drink heavily, are physically inactive, eat a poor diet, are regularly exposed to carcinogens (cancer causing agents) in their occupation, or have prolonged and unprotected exposure to sunlight are all at increased risk for certain cancers.

Everyone should follow cancer prevention and screening guidelines. Those at highest risk for specific cancers should pay close attention to symptoms and screening recommendations and should seek prompt medical attention if they occur. Below are screening guidelines published in the American Cancer Society’s 2014 Cancer Facts and Figures.

Can Cancer Be Found Early or Controlled?

Scientific or medical discoveries have a major impact on controlling cancer. Some examples of controlling cancer are:

Genetic Testing

Researchers have found changes (mutations) in genes may cause cancer. Some genetic changes may increase a person’s chance of getting cancer. People who are concerned about cancer in their family should talk to their doctor. The doctor may send them to a cancer genetics specialist. People with a strong family history of cancer may be recommended to have a blood test. These tests may show if they have inherited any of these genetic changes. Genetic counseling helps people decide if testing is right for them as well as understand and deal with the results.

Genetic counseling is available through The Hereditary Oncology Prevention and Evaluation (HOPE) program at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Please call 732-235-7110 to schedule an appointment or for more information about the program.

Gene Therapy

Cells normally have genes that help prevent cancer from developing. A large part of cancer cells have changes in these genes. This is still experimental, but it may be possible to treat cancer by placing a healthy gene into the cancer cells.

Vaccines

Scientists are studying cancer vaccines that can stop (or in some cases, prevent) certain cancers. Vaccines help the immune system to fight the cancer.

Chemopreventive Agents

New chemopreventive agents (agents given to prevent cancer) are being developed. They can act alone or with other medications to reduce the risk of certain cancers.

Early Detection

The development of new and more accurate cancer screening methods will allow earlier detection of some precancerous lesions and early-stage cancers. This allows physicians to treat people before the disease progresses.

Lifestyle Changes

The development of new findings about lifestyle changes, especially concerning diet, nutrition, and physical activity, may prevent some cancers.

Chemotherapy

Clinical trials are in progress to test new chemotherapy drugs or combinations. Other studies are testing new ways to combine proven drugs to make them even more effective. These medications can help control or cure cancer once it has developed.

Immunotherapy

Scientists are testing treatments that work with the immune system. This type of treatment can help fight cancer or control the side effects caused by some cancer treatments. You may also hear this referred to as biological therapy, biotherapy, or biological response modifier (BRM) therapy.

Antiangiogenesis Agents

Tumors cannot grow without a blood supply. Researchers are studying antiangiogenesis therapy, which is the use of drugs or other substances to stop cancerous tumors from developing new blood vessels.

©Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Patient Education Committee

Breast Cancer Treatment Takes Toll on Heart

, , , , , , , , , , , General Health, blog, Cancer Treatments, Well Woman

Radiation therapy has value in breast cancer, but the benefit comes at the price of an increased risk of ischemic heart disease later, researchers reported.

In a population-based case control study, the risk of major coronary events rose after radiation therapy by a mean of 7.4% for every gray (Gy) of exposure to the heart, with no apparent threshold, according to Sarah Darby, PhD, of the Clinical Trial Service Unit in Oxford, England, and colleagues.

The increase in risk was greatest in the first 5 years after radiotherapy but persisted for at least 2 decades, Darby and colleagues reported in the March 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

In addition, women with preexisting cardiac risk factors had greater absolute increases in risk, the researchers reported.

“Clinicians may wish to consider cardiac dose and cardiac risk factors as well as tumor control when making decisions about the use of radiotherapy for breast cancer,” Darby and colleagues concluded.

The study – among 2,168 breast cancer survivors in Sweden and Denmark — is a wake-up call for physicians, commented Jean-Bernard Durand, MD, of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

“We have to be extra vigilant with women, making sure we assess them. We make sure they’re on correct medicines and we make sure they gain all of the benefits from surviving breast cancer,” he told MedPage Today.

Durand noted that in the U.S., women are much less likely than men to receive preventive cardiovascular care; changing that would help to mitigate the risk highlighted by Darby and colleagues.

“Follow their cholesterol, watch for diabetes, manage their blood pressure – all those things can be done to lower their risk of a cardiovascular event,” he said.

The study also highlights the importance of good post-cancer follow-up, he said.

Doctors “have an opportunity to intervene in a young woman and really change the course of her life rather than wait for an event and try to change the course of her life when she’s older,” Durand said.

Radiotherapy for early-stage breast cancer has been shown to reduce both recurrence and death, the researchers noted, but the effect of incidental exposure to the heart has not been clear.

They looked at women with breast cancer who had radiotherapy between 1958 and 2001, including 963 women with major coronary events and 1,205 controls.

Case patients had no recurrence of the breast cancer or incidence of any other cancer before they suffered a major coronary event, defined as myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, or death from ischemic heart disease.

Controls were matched for country of residence, age at diagnosis, and year of diagnosis, and also had not had a recurrence of their breast cancer or any new malignancy.

Of the major coronary events among women in the study, 44% occurred less than 10 years after the breast cancer diagnosis, 33% occurred in the next decade, and the remaining 23% occurred still later.

The average dose to the heart was 6.6 Gy for women with left breast tumors, 2.9 Gy for those with cancer in the right breast, and 4.9 Gy overall.

While the rate of events rose by 7.4% per Gy of exposure, the rate varied with time — 16.3% in the first 5 years after exposure, 15.5% in the second 5 years, 1.2% in the second decade, and 8.2% in later years.

The only tumor characteristic that significantly affected the risk was location, as women with left breast tumors were more significantly likely to be case patients (P<0.001).

The rate ratio for women who had a history of ischemic heart disease, compared with those who did not, was 6.67 (95% CI from 4.37 to 10.18). Rate ratios were also elevated for women with other circulatory diseases, diabetes, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as smokers.

The researchers cautioned that few of the women in the study were under 40, so the results may not apply directly to that age group.

In an accompanying editorial in the journal, Javid Moslehi, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston commented that the findings may be the “tip of the iceberg.”

“In addition to ischemic cardiac disease,” he wrote, “radiation therapy has been associated with other cardiac conditions, including pericardial disease, peripheral vascular disease, cardiomyopathy, valvular dysfunction, and arrhythmias.

Those diseases were not part of the study, nor were those associated with some forms of chemotherapy, he noted.

One implication for practice, he argued, is that the time to look at cardiovascular issues is at the time of breast cancer diagnosis and before treatment starts.

Source: written by Michael Smith, North American Correspondent, MedPage Today

Published: March/2013
Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner
Interview with Dr. Jean-Bernard Durand of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

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