Health News

BREAST CANCER TREATMENTToday, women with breast cancer (and people with nearly any other type of cancer) have many decisions to make in determining the best treatment options available for them. Fortunately, there are services available to help you get the best information, even if you live in a fairly remote area of the country. The important thing to remember is that in most instances, taking the time to thoroughly check out your physician’s track record and his or her philosophy on the best treatment is always a good idea. Is his or her treatment recommendation consistent with that of the major cancer centers in the country? Check out the doctor’s credentials and the past experiences of patients who have seen this doctor as well as the surgeon who will perform your biopsy and other surgical techniques. If possible, seek a facility that has a significant number of breast cancer patients, does many surgeries, is regarded as a “teaching facility” for new oncologists, treats large numbers of patients, has the “latest and greatest” in terms of technology, and is highly regarded by past patients. Often, cancer support groups can give you invaluable information and advice. Treatments range from the simple lumpectomy to radical mastectomy to various combinations of radiation or chemotherapy. Remember that it is always a good idea to seek more than one opinion before making a decision.*20/277/5*

GYNECOLOGICAL CANCERS AND THEIR TREATMENTThe human body is made up of millions of cells. Most of these have a specific function and all cells are constantly dying and being renewed. The life cycle of the cell is dependent upon its genetic programming. The time it takes before it dies, or alternatively divides, depends on the genes present within the cell’s chromosomes.Genes have a variety of functions, but two major actions are to either switch the cell on to grow and divide or alternatively the opposite effect to stop it growing and dividing.Cancer occurs because of a lack of balance between these two sets of genes. If the genes are abnormal (‘mutated’) then cells will divide more rapidly. If the genes responsible for switching off cell growth are in some way altered, then the switching off process does not happen and the cell will continue to divide and cancer eventually develops. What is currently unknown in the vast majority of cancers is why and how these genes undergo the changes responsible for causing the cell to lose its programming and to have such rapid growth.As the cell grows and divides more frequently than it is supposed to, it produces an abnormal lump or ‘mass’. The cell will in some way signal the tissues in which it finds itself with a message that it wants to grow into these tissues and eventually spread.
Cancer is a very clever animal. When it breeds it builds bridges over veins and eats you up. I have the simplistic idea that I can talk to the germs, bacteria or whatever they are, it’s very primitive really, and I think they are like ‘beings’ inside me.AngeliqueFor cells to spread elsewhere in the body they have to invade surrounding tissue and to get into either lymph channels or blood vessels. They often do this by forming new blood vessels (‘angiogenesis’) that are different to the normal blood vessels since they have a very thin wall that is more swollen. The blood flow through these vessels is altered and can be detected as being different by ultrasound.Cancer therapies have traditionally been aimed at stopping cells dividing, but new approaches include trying to stop the development of new blood vessels (‘anti-angiogenesis’) and also interfering with the signals between the growing cells and the surrounding tissues.*8/144/5*

‘Aspiration’ means sucking up. Cytology, as you know, means the study of cells. We all know what needles are! Biopsy literally just means getting a specimen from a live person. The above terms are used to describe getting a specimen from a suspicious area with a needle. With aspiration cytology, a very fine needle is used and the specimen consists of separate or very small groups of cells. With a needle biopsy, a special type of slightly larger needle is used and a tiny solid sliver of tissue is obtained. If the lesion is just under the skin, the needle goes through the skin. Sometimes needle specimens are also taken through the vagina or rectum. Local anaesthetic (numbs the area but doesn’t put you to sleep) is used and the procedure should be no more painful than a blood test. If the specimen is to be taken from an area that is not an easily felt lump, the test may be carried out under X-ray control, to make sure the right spot is sampled. This applies, for example, in needle biopsies of the lung or some bones.

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You may well ask: ‘If they can’t see cancer cells in the blood, why on earth do they do so many blood tests?’ Blood is a very complicated mixture and there are many different tests that can be done on it. It can be looked at under the microscope to check the proportions, numbers and appearance of the different types of blood cells. The number of red cells and their ability to carry oxygen can be measured. There are many tests to determine whether the blood can clot normally. A large number of different hormones, minerals, proteins and waste products can be measured, enabling us to check the function of many organs in the body. They don’t do every possible test on eadh sample of blood, but only the tests your doctor asks for. Abnormalities will only be found if the right test is requested.

How then does your doctor decide what tests to recommend when looking for possible blood-borne secondary deposits? Firstly, he or she searches for clues by checking your symptoms, and examining you carefully. Secondly, your doctor should know how your particular type of cancer usually spreads. Thirdly, he or she should consider whether or not the result of each proposed test would make a difference to your care. The doctor must combine knowledge about your type of cancer in general with knowledge about you in particular in order to best decide what tests to recommend.

These three considerations should be in your doctor’s mind continually from when he or she first sees you. They apply at every stage of the disease, but especially at decision-making points. These points include, of course, when the cancer is first found but also whenever a change in treatment is being considered. The change could be to start, stop, or change treatment directed against the cancer itself, or to alter symptomatic treatment (treatment directed at relieving symptoms, without attacking the cancer).

The most common sites for blood-borne secondary deposits are lungs, bones, liver and brain. Some types of cancer are more likely to go to one of these sites and some have other ‘favourite’ sites. Ask your doctor what the usual pattern is with your particular type of cancer.

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A three day spring cleanse helps the body to remove toxins, cleanses the blood and helps to restore good health and well-being.

Day One

On Rising

Warm water – 2 glasses with 1/2 a squeeze of lemon or lime.

Breakfast

Fresh Papaya with lime or lemon juice squeezed on top.

Mid-morning

Freshly made juice — suitable juices include carrot, beet, kale or apple and ginger.

Lunch

Fresh watermelon or grapefruit and a vegetable consomme or cleansing broth.

Mid-afternoon

Your choice of fresh apple/lemon and ginger juice, or pear and grape juice.

Dinner

Fresh pineapple and vegetable consomme.

Before retiring

Your choice of herbal tea – choose from chamomile, dandelion, red clover or peppermint.

Day Two

On Rising

Warm water – 2 glasses with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

Breakfast

‘Morning Energizer’ – carrot, celery, ginger, beet and parsley juice.

Mid-morning

Herbal tea of your choice. Good choices include dandelion, lemongrass, red clover, rosehip or peppermint.

Lunch

Fresh vegetable juice and a vegetable consomme or cleansing broth.

Mid-afternoon

Herbal tea of your choice. If you are hungry, vegetable juice or vegetable consomme.

Dinner

Fresh watermelon juice and 2 bowls of vegetable consomme.

Before Retiring

Herbal tea of your choice.

Day Three

On Rising

Warm water – 2 glasses with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.

Breakfast

Compote of stewed apples with prunes or figs.

Mid-morning

Fresh fruit or freshly made vegetable juice.

Lunch

Salad of mixed lettuces with green beans, bell peppers and tomatoes.

Mid-afternoon

Fresh fruit or freshly made fruit juice.

Dinner

Steamed vegetables – kale, spinach, broccoli or cabbage, together with 2 bowls of vegetable soup.

Before Retiring

Your choice of herbal teas.

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Practice Creative Imagery

Positive visualization or creative imagery is a powerful tool in creating health, well-being, happiness and success. In terms of ideal health, you must picture yourself with perfect health if you truly wish to attain this state. You can use visualization in all areas of your life, but particularly in creating better health levels. Creative visualization is a unique and simple tool in helping to overcome cancer. Some of the most prominent research on the power of positive visualization involves enhancing the immune system in the treatment of cancer. Be creative and have fun with your visualizations and you will soon find yourself experiencing your dreams in real life. Dreaming is a powerful and inspirational means to self-healing and fulfillment.

One of the easiest ways to achieve your desires, whether it be ideal health or a better state of mind, is by using your favourite photographs. Place these pictures of yourself looking full of vitality, health and youthfulness beside your bed, in your office and home. These ideal images are transformative and leave a positive imprint on your subconscious mind to create the positive changes that you desire.

Laugh Heartily and Often

It has been proven that laughter enhances the body’s immune system and improves general health and well-being. Research indicates that laughter enhances blood flow to the body’s extremities and improves cardiovascular function. Laughter actively causes the release of endorphins and other mood elevating and pain killing chemicals. It likewise improves the transfer of oxygen and nutrients to internal organs. Here are some simple tips to create more laughter in your life:

• Watch comedy shows and movies on television. Go and see a comedy movie with a friend or

even by yourself.

• Listen to comedy tapes in your car while driving.

• Play with children and animals.

• Learn to laugh at yourself- try not to take life too seriously.

• Learn jokes. Play games. Humour and laughter make life enjoyable and fun.

• Do fun things – go out and immerse yourself in exciting and fun activities.

• Read the comics or funny magazines.

• If you feel depressed, jump up and down and shake yourself out of this space.

• Have FUN! FUN! FUN!

Surround Yourself with Positive People

Life is full of struggles and trials, joys and new experiences. There are all types of people in this world, dealing with their problems in different ways. Knowing this, to keep your natural happiness, positivity and joy in life, it is wise to surround yourself in positive, light-hearted people.

Happy, positive souls can lighten your life and brighten your day. Negative, pessimistic people can bring you down and fill you with foreboding and unhappiness. Likewise many negative people do not like happy, successful people and will often say nasty things to make themselves feel better about their lives. I know which people I prefer to be around – definitely positive people. Family, friends and colleagues are a prominent part of our lives for so many of our waking hours. If these loved ones are negative, it won’t be too long before you’re brought down to their level. Our everyday moods are partly a reflection of the moods of the people that we surround ourselves with. So it is important to make sure that the people you surround yourself with are joyful, optimistic and positive in nature.

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Nausea/Vomiting

Nausea and vomiting are the major side effects of radiation therapy, especially if the area being treated is around the abdomen. Doctors give anti-nausea drugs like Maxalon or Zocor, but these tend to create their own nasty and energy-zapping side effects. Often nausea is caused by the body’s liver trying to degrade carcinogenic substances and toxins left over from the radiation therapy.

Diet

• Try to eat small amounts of food often. Eat six small meals a day instead of three large ones. Take at least one bite of food each hour to keep food in your stomach. An empty or full stomach can cause discomfort.

Avoid greasy, fatty or fried foods. Plain foods are better tolerated than spicy foods.

Do not eat large amounts of food prior to treatment.

Regular sips of cool, clear drinks are useful, especially if you don’t feel like solid rood. Drink plenty of liquids especially energy-dense vegetable juices, fruit juices, ice cubes and soups.

Fresh salads are easy to digest.

Barley water is also useful. Try drinking water mixed with baking soda to ease nausea. This reportedly works by neutralizing stomach acids.

Try blending your meals into a liquid form, warming and eating like soups.

Beneficial Foods

Ginger is great for nausea. You can chew on ginger or use it in your soups or cooking.

• Mustard seeds in cooking are also useful.

• Olives help to dry the mouth and minimize excess liquid that adds to stomach queasiness.

• Crackers or dry toast in the morning is helpful if you can’t face a large meal.

• Eat fresh fruits such as papaya, pineapple, apples, grapefruit, and watermelon if you feel queasy in the stomach.

Herbs

• Cinnamon sticks and cardamom seeds (about 8 seeds) are great. Use a nut or coffee grinder, place mixture in a jar and use one teaspoon in boiling water.

• Goldenseal root (1 or 2 capsules 3 to 4 times/day) is useful. Do not take for more than one week.

• Bitters formula (contains gentian, calamus, angelica, turmeric) – 1 teaspoon in 60 ml of water, sipped over 20 minutes aids nausea.

• Cloves taken as an infusion or take 1 to 2 drops of essential oil on food or clove powder sprinkled onto food.

Herbal Teas

• There are many useful herbal teas. Ginger tea made with fresh grated ginger (1 teaspoon in boiling water) is very helpful. Other useful teas include peppermint tea, meadowsweet tea, chamomile tea, grapefruit tea (made from fresh grapefruit peel), peach tea and raspberry leaf tea (600 ml of boiled water poured over 2 rounded teaspoons of dried raspberry or chamomile leaves. Steep, strain and drink throughout the day.)

Vitamins and Nutrients

• Supplements containing slippery elm, glutamine, glucosamine, fructo-oligosaccharides, modified citrus pectin, aloe vera and pysllium husk) – take 1 teaspoon in water 3 to 4 times/day. These nutrients in combination provide quick relief from the dreaded nausea; it also helps to protect and repair the gut lining and prevents diarrhoea and constipation.

Homeopathics — Ipecac is effective.

Neuropathy (numbness and tingling)

This is a common side effect which is basically caused by poor peripheral circulation and if neuritis is involved, inflammation to a nerve. The symptoms experienced are numbness and tingling, normally in the extremities. Another similar symptom is pain in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.

Vitamins and Nutrients

• This condition is primarily a sign of severe vitamin B6 deficiency. Adequate Vitamin B6 will reduce any pain in the palms and soles of the feet (at least 100 mg per day). Do not exceed 500 mg per day.

• Vitamin B3 is believed to alleviate symptoms.

• Inositol improves the function of the sensory nerves adding relief.

• Vitamin Â5 is useful with neuritis (inflammation to a nerve).

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Creative Imagery Exercise to Ensure a Successful Surgery and a Healthy Self

If you truly wish to be healthy and cancer-free then why not use the power of your mind to create this. Visualize yourself regaining perfect health, vitality and happiness. If you can see the surgery in your mind, the tumour, the treatment proposed and the white blood cells, then visualize a positive outcome from treatment, visualize yourself in a state of ‘ideal health’. Imagine yourself performing fun activities that you would love to do if you were perfectly healthy. Try to actually feel the ‘wellness’ of your body and mind. Picture yourself at the healthiest and happiest time in your life. Bring these images into the present feeling exactly that way and watch the magic of your visualizations unfold. Another positive step is to bring your favorite photo of yourself looking healthy and vibrant into the hospital and keep this beside your bed. If a beautiful, healthy and vibrant image greets you everyday, then this image will enter your subconscious mind creating a mirror image of yourself in real life. Never underestimate the incredible power of your mind…

Other Recommendations

• If you smoke, stop smoking. Smoking interferes with recovery from surgery and decreases overall healing time. Smoking increases the body’s needs of various vitamins and minerals, which are already needed in extra amounts at this time.

• Many operations require that the patient be shaved. If this is your case, ask to be shaved the day of surgery as this decreases chances of infections.

• Before surgery you are given a detergent type mixture, to cleanse the bowel of any wastes. The bowels are also shut down. You can ask to clean the bowels yourself, which can be done naturally with fibres, enemas or colonic irrigation. It is important to add adequate fibre to your diet to ensure better intestinal tract function.

• Try to de-stress as much as possible before the operation. Surgery is very stressful, both mentally and physically. It would be advisable to have a good therapeutic massage with relaxing aromatherapy oils before surgery.

• The use of affirmations, imagery and self-hypnosis can aid recovery and accelerate healing. Listen to relaxing and positive music before and after surgery.

• Transform your hospital room into a healing environment. Bring your favorite music; surround yourself with bright colours, beautiful smells, loving family and friends and your most treasured items, to enhance your healing environment.

• Surgery performed on women with breast cancer should be done during the luteal phase (day twenty-one to thirty-six) of the menstrual cycle. Generally this is associated with a much better healing outcome, particularly in oestrogen receptive negative tumours.

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What Are Your Chances of Beating Cancer Today?

Your chances of fighting and overcoming cancer in today’s world are extremely good, particularly if detected early. New improved techniques of detecting cancer have led to a decrease in mortality. In most cases, cancer is not a death sentence, as it was in the past. If detected early, survival and quality of life after treatment with both (and/or) orthodox medicine and natural methods is greatly- improved.

It is difficult to beat cancer if it has been detected in the very late stages and has spread throughout the lymph and blood system. However, it is not impossible. Miracles occur every day; I know of many people including myself, who have overcome cancer even after it has spread to a number of different body areas. Remember, God and the universe often gives you a second – and sometimes a third and fourth – chance to right the wrongs done to your body and mind. Think of cancer as a message from God to repair the delicate pattern of your soul and internal bodily health through love, nurturing, understanding and acceptance, and as a way to bring those aspects of your life that are out of balance back into balance.

Causes of Cancer

There are many causes of cancer. Some common carcinogens and pre-cursors of cancer are environmental toxins, chemicals, pollution, cigarette smoke, alcohol abuse, artificial additives in foods, radiation, viruses, man-made electromagnetic fields of high frequency, hereditary factors, bad dietary habits such as a high fat intake, an insufficient fibre intake, excess sugar, inadequate antioxidant and immune system nutrients, excessive sun exposure, stress and psychological and emotional factors.

In adults, it is believed that at least sixty per cent of cancers are due to environmental causes. However, this is unlikely to be true for childhood cancers. More than half of the cancers today are preventable. For instance, more than thirty per cent of lung cancer deaths can be avoided by not smoking! That’s an amazing statistic, yet one we prefer to ignore, particularly if we are smokers. Cancer is becoming more common every day and environmental toxins and pollutants are ever-increasing in our society.

Many people live by the saying ‘ignorance is bliss’. This may be true for those who ignore their own health and manage to stay healthy, but for those who develop cancer, life certainly takes on a less than blissful existence. The pain and suffering that you experience with cancer and cancer treatment makes you want to know answers and to take affirmative action to change your world.

A normal healthy body has the ability to detoxify chemicals and toxins. If our bodies are unable to do this, due to any number of reasons, disease and in some cases cancer will result.

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