In AHS Journal, January 2000, our nutritionist Stephanie Jenkins wrote the article "Nutritional Support and Cancer", explaining how important complete nutrition is for fighting cancer. You can review her article by going to the newsletter archive and clicking on the January 2000 edition.

Recently, my attention has again been focused on the rising number of cancer victims. In the last two weeks, I have become aware of four people that were recently diagnosed with the illness. I find this so disheartening, especially when I know there are things that can be done to prevent, or at least discourage, the growth of this disease.

To help increase public awareness, this month we have included two articles written by Dr. Douglas Brodie, M.D., on cancer: "A Psychological Look at Cancer" and "The Traditional Approach to Cancer - Is There a Better Way?".

For your best health...

Tamara

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There are psychological aspects and influences, which affect virtually every disease known to man, and cancer is certainly no exception. How one deals with stress has been shown to be an important factor in the development of illness and the body's response to that illness.

It has been my observation over the years that nearly all cancer victims have had a highly stressful event, or series of events prior to the onset or diagnosis of cancer. This major stress usually precedes the diagnosis of cancer by about 2 years, and it is often something beyond the cancer patient's control, such as the loss of a loved one or loss of a business.

All of us are exposed to stress, of course, but fortunately, most of us are able to cope with these stresses. The cancer patient, however, has somehow lost his/her ability to cope with these stressful situations. There are, we believe, a number of personality traits, which seem to be quite consistently present in people who are susceptible to cancer. These individuals are typically very conscientious, caring, intelligent, and hard working. They tend to take on other people's burdens and accept extra obligations to the point that they have little time for themselves, or for relaxation and pleasurable pursuits.

Another feature of those who are susceptible to cancer appears to be that they usually 'suffer in silence' and bear their burdens without complaint. Burdens of their own as well as the burdens of others weigh heavily, sometimes subconsciously, upon these individuals because they tend to internalize their cares and problems. The carefree extrovert seems to be invulnerable, or at least far less vulnerable to cancer than the caring introvert. Stress causes suppression of the immune system, and does so more overwhelmingly in the cancer-susceptible personality described above. Thus, personal tragedies and excessive levels of stress combine with the underlying personality to bring on the immune deficiency, which allows cancer to thrive. Of course, other factors still apply, such as nutrition and changes in dietary habits as well as in the patients approach to stress.

However, it is very difficult for certain people to bring about major changes in their lifestyle, and many find it too hard, too unpleasant, or just too inconvenient to make such sacrifices and alterations in their settled way of life, even in the face of a life-threatening illness.

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Dr. Douglas Brodie, M.D. has been practicing both allopathic and complementary cancer therapies for over 25 years. He has also developed several new protocols for the complementary management of cancer as well as a special program for enhancing the effectiveness of chemotherapy. Along with his medical expertise, Dr. Brodie has authored the book "Cancer and Common Sense - Combining Science and Nature to Control Cancer".

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The conventional approach to the treatment of cancer, in place for many years, has been limited to the traditional methods of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. While these methods have been successful in many cases, the over-all long-term results have been disappointing to both patient and physician. Every year, for many years now, we have been assured by the American medical establishment that great strides are being made in cancer research, and while huge amounts of money continue to be thrown at the problem, the incidence and mortality rates for the major cancers continue to climb alarmingly. Something is obviously wrong with this picture.

In the past, the accepted view has been that cancer is a foreign invader of the body that must be destroyed at all costs. The emerging view is that cancer is not really foreign to the human body, and that each one of us produces many thousands of cancer cells every day. Whether or not we develop clinical cancer depends to a great extent upon the ability of our immune systems to destroy malignant cells.

More and more physicians and other health professionals are coming to realize that the long-held concepts regarding cancer should be seriously questioned.

An increasingly accepted view is that cancer is a systemic disease and not a localized tumor that just happens to appear in a particular part of the body. Many cancers have been found to have 'metastasized' or spread to distant sites by the time they are first diagnosed, even in patients who have had the benefit of 'early detection'. Cancer thrives in the presence of a deficient immune system, as is now being increasingly recognized even in conventional circles. It is further being recognized that the old traditional methods of treating this disease have failed to a great extent.

Even establishment publications, such as the New England Journal of Medicine have published studies demonstrating that, in spite of all the effort and all of the money that have been poured into cancer research and therapeutic systems, the ultimate result of conventional treatment of cancer has been a 'qualified failure'. The term 'qualified', of course, is in reference to those cases of cancer, which are amenable to, and respond favorably to, orthodox cancer therapy.

Because the long-standing assumptions regarding cancer are proving to be flawed, and because traditional methods of treatment have proven to be so frequently ineffective and at the same time so destructive to the immune system, more and more patients are seeking alternative methods. Alternative therapies support and enhance the body's natural defenses against cancer through optimum nutrition, supplements, and certain special non-toxic substances.

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Other information on alternative cancer care can be found at:

www.canceroption.com

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To learn about the direct relation between cancer and nutrition, read Stephanie Jenkins' article "Nutritional Support and Cancer" at: AHS Journal, January, 2000

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