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The Apocalypse of Cancer
Our society is suffering an unprecedented scourge, in biblical proportions, of severe and chronic diseases, whereby over 50% of us will die from these illnesses. Medically, there are four biochemical processes that are common to and, at least, promote all known severe and chronic diseases as well as accelerating the aging and wrinkle process. They are; Glycation, Methylation, Oxidation, and Inflammation. Glycation occurs when sugar binds to protein or fat molecules, in a haphazard way, impairing their ability to function. These glycated molecules accelerate diabetes, heart disease and cancer. As you might guess, diet plays a leading role in glycation. A diet high in refined sugar will, over time, increase the levels of protein and fat molecules that are bound to sugar. This causes the molecules to bend a little bit interfering with their ability to function thus slowing down the ability of our body to repair itself. This is one reason why people with full-fledged diabetes heal so slowly. Methylation is a biochemical process whereby a methyl group (— CH3 ) is attached to another molecule. These new molecules regulate the expression of genes in our DNA and are damaged most by heavy metal toxins. If the Methylation process is too high, it can suppress the suppressor genes that stop cancer. If the levels are too low then oncogenes, genes that can trigger a cancer, are activated. Here the B vitamins play a crucial role and are to be found in whole, unprocessed foods, beans and molasses, to name a few sources. One measure of the Methylation process is the level of the amino acid Homocysteine in the blood. High levels of Homocysteine correlate with a significantly increased risk for cardio-vascular heart disease. Oxidation reactions are commonly associated with the formation of oxides from oxygen molecules, and are a necessary process for us to get oxygen into the cells of our body. When this process goes astray from toxin exposure, it can lead to abnormal oxides in the blood – an example of this is lipid (fat) peroxidation. If the levels of lipid peroxides, a blood test, are too low in the blood, then some very important reactions of the immune system, like the activity of our natural killer cells that protect us from cancer, will fail to function. If the level of lipid peroxides are too high, as is usually the case, then that represents a state of toxicity that will promote many different diseases, the worst of which is cancer. Fat soluble antioxidants, Vitamins; A, D, E and K can, along with fish oil, reduce the level of lipid peroxides and help the immune system to function more effectively. Inflammation, like the other processes, is a very sharp double-edged sword. Local inflammation is a normal, healthy response to things like splinters, trauma and infection and is necessary for the healing process. The immune system destroys cancer through a local process of inflammation. However, left unchecked, a chronic, systemic inflammatory response from toxins, infection, or stress will fuel many severe and chronic diseases including arthritis, heart disease and cancer. Diet again plays a leading role. A diet high in non-organic meat, sugar, alcohol, cigarettes, non-organic dairy and wheat all promote inflammation. The problem has even attracted the attention of many famous celebrities. Oprah has a list of pro-inflammatory foods to avoid on her website, (http://www.oprah.com/health/ Dr-Perricones-List-of-Pro-Inflammatory- Foods). How’s that for a shift in social consciousness! Systemic inflammation can also be measured with blood tests like a hs-CRP and ESR to name just two of the many available. In varying degrees, these four processes are present to excess in all severe or chronic diseases but are most clearly evident in cancer. We must address these four issues as part of an effective management and treatment program for patients with cancer. In this regard lifestyle and diet take center stage as a starting place to correct these biochemical processes. The usual suspects; sleep, exercise, stress avoidance, a diet of organic foods, clean water and lots of it, while avoiding as many chemicals, toxins and heavy metals as is possible is the order of the day. Blood tests are, essentially, a way of “asking” to what extent these processes are perpetuating the disease and then point the way to the necessary therapeutic interventions. Taken together with all of the other information from biopsies, scans, prior treatment etc., we can then weave together an individualized treatment plan that maximizes the probability for a successful outcome. New questions. New options. New Hope.
Dr. Jesse Stoff can be reached at East End Wellness Center in Riverhead, NY. 631 591-2288. |
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In 1497 the German artist
Albrecht Duer created
his famous woodcut,
“The Apocalypse, the Four
Horsemen”. The Four
Horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in the Book of
Revelation, the last book of
the Bible’s New Testament.
It describes a “’book”, or
“scroll’, in God’s right hand
that is sealed with seven seals.
When the first four seals are
breached, four beings ride
out on white, red, black, and
pale horses and visit the Last
Judgment upon mankind.