To Your Health: Cancer is a Systemic Functional Disease Part 2

By Cheryl Wade, MD, PC

Cheryl D. Wade, MD, PC

Cancer is the end result of a stressed cell no longer able to compensate and so it functions in a disturbed and abnormal manner.  Treatment, therefore,  should be based on restoring normal cell function rather than solely focusing on trying to kill cancer. 

For example, Type 2 diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance.  As the body attempts to overcome this resistance, it produces an abundance of insulin and insulin like growth factors which are known triggers for cellular proliferation. We know that cellular proliferation is one of several initiating events in cancer formation.  

Additionally, Type 2 diabetes is part of “Metabolic Syndrome” which includes obesity, and elevated blood cholesterol and fats (hyperlipidemias). This syndrome is associated with colon cancer.   

Chronic inflammation is also an initiator for cancer and there is a link between immune system activation of inflammation in the blood vessels which leads to atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries and cancer. 

“The future of the management of cancer is personalized, preventive, and participatory”, according to Dr. Jeffrey Bland cofounder of the Institute for Functional Medicine. 

The patient participates in their care by accepting that health is created on a moment to moment basis by lifestyle choices. What we eat, where we live as it relates to a toxic environment, whether we maintain a healthy weight, and how we manage stress and relationships are the keys. 

Lifestyle modification is the single most effective means of preventing and treating cancer and chronic disease, however, we the people tend to regard this proposition as so simple that it must be simpleminded.  

Einstein’s equation E=mc2 is an example of truth and elegance in simplicity. This perfect equation is a unified theory that describes everything in the known macroscopic universe from galaxies to the atom. It is simple, yet profound, which is the way of nature.  

It is the human mind which seeks to make a complicated mess out of everything. Instead of the simple we prefer to rely on the complex such as surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, doctor’s visits, and prescription drugs that we must take for a lifetime.  These are the complicated yet easy choices that we make. 

So, it may be simple enough to approach the prevention and treatment of a diverse array of diseases from cancer to diabetes with diet and lifestyle modification yet paradoxically it can be the most difficult to implement in our modern culture. 

The food and drug industries in collaboration have made simple, organic, nutrient dense food almost impossible to obtain, while our stressed and high paced lifestyle prevents us from taking time to maintain a consistent exercise practice. We no longer have the means to be healthy and whole. 

Maintaining a health producing lifestyle is difficult over the short term but a lifesaver over the long term. Think of the improvements in quality of life, disease free survival, and longevity. 

The following are the findings of the World Cancer Research Fund in collaboration with the American Institute for Cancer Research. The study, “Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective” published in Washington DC: AICR, 2007. 

According to the study some foods and drinks, along with methods of food production, processing, preservation, and preparation influence the development of cancers. Physical activity and body composition are also predictors. 

In contradistinction healthy food and nutrition decrease the risk of cancers at many different levels of possible initiation. Lack of specific dietary constituents may potentially increase the risk of cancer by inducing an imbalance in the body’s diverse yet interrelated functional systems. For example, inadequate dietary intake of folate, a B-vitamin, is associated with cervical cancer. 

The important message is that most cancers are preventable. There are some inherited genetic risk factors such as specific genes that lead to increased risk of breast and colon cancer (5-10% of all cancers), nevertheless, it is generally agreed that reducing the risk of cancer with lifestyle modification is significant and achievable.  

These lifestyle modifications include avoidance of exposure to tobacco smoke, consumption of a healthy diet, being physically active, and maintaining a healthy weight. Other important factors, in particular infectious agents, radiation, industrial chemicals, and medication, affect the risk of some cancers. 

Speaking of industrial chemicals, almost our entire modern industry is based on petroleum oil and the hundreds of thousands of petrochemicals made from it. Petrochemicals are dangerous because they never go away.  

Unlike natural plant based chemicals which are water or fat soluble and which decompose and are excreted via the lungs, urine, or stool, petrochemicals and their products do not. They build up in the cells of the body and cause very serious dysfunctions that have been proven to cause cancer.   

Petroleum oil and petrochemicals do not decompose, they disperse.  These chemicals and their byproducts have effectively polluted and contaminated the air that we breath and the water that we drink along with the seas. Our bodies and all of nature have become toxic storehouses for heavy metals, pesticides, hydrocarbons, and hundreds of thousands of laboratory made petrochemicals. 

So, now let us examine each lifestyle choice that we can modify to reduce our risk of cancer and other chronic diseases that are killing us and destroying our quality and enjoyment of life.. 

Body Weight - Be as lean as possible within the normal range of body weight with a median adult body mass index (BMI weight divided by square of height)  between 21 and 23 (normal 18.5-24.9, overweight 25-29.9, obese 30>).  Ensure that body weight through childhood and adolescent growth projects towards the lower end of normal.  

Avoid weight gain and increases in waist circumference throughout adulthood.

If most of your fat is around your waist rather than at your hips, you’re at a higher risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. This risk goes up with a waist size that is greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men.  

The World Health Organization reference values for waist circumferences, 37 inches in men, and 31.5 inches in women are based on their rough equivalence to a BMI of around 25. To correctly measure your waist, stand and place a tape measure around your middle, just above your hipbones and measure after exhalation.  

The evidence that greater body fatness is a cause of cancers of the colon and rectum, esophagus, uterus, pancreas, kidney, and breast is convincing. Overweight and obesity also increase the risk of dyslipidemia, hypertension and stroke, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. 

Being overweight in childhood and early life is liable to be followed by being overweight and obese in adulthood. Maintaining weight within the normal range throughout adult life is recommended and may be one of the most important ways to protect against cancer. 

Physical Activity- Be physically active as part of everyday life. Physical activity of all types protects against cancer and obesity.  

Plant Foods- Eat mostly foods of plant origin. Diets high in vegetables and fruits protect against cancer by providing vital phyto nutrients, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. These foods also contain dietary fiber, protection against colorectal cancer. 

Animal Foods- Limit intake of red meat and avoid processed meat. The evidence that red meat, and particularly processed meat, is a cause of colorectal cancer is very strong. 

Preservation, Processing, Preparation- Limit consumption of salt. Some methods of food preservation, processing, and preparation increase cancer risk. The strongest evidence concerns processed meats (deli meats), preserved by salting, smoking, pickling, addition of chemicals such as nitrates, and other methods. Salt and salt preserved foods are probably a cause of stomach cancer. 

Alcoholic Drinks- Limit alcoholic drinks to no more than 1-2 per day. At this modest amount it may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke. However, more than 2 per day are a cause of a number of cancers such as cancer of the mouth, pharynx, and larynx, and esophagus. There is also an association with liver cancer.  

Cancer Survivors- All cancer survivors should aim to follow the recommendations for diet, healthy weight, and physical activity, except where specifically prohibited by their Doctor due to restrictions following chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. 

Let us look at a very specific study by Dr. Dean Ornish, founder and president of the non-profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California. He is Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. 

Thirty men with low risk prostate cancer were studied. They did not choose surgery or radiation, rather they underwent comprehensive lifestyle changes which included a low-fat diet 10%, whole-food plant-based nutrition, stress management 60 minutes per day with gentle yoga-based stretching, breathing, meditation, imagery, and progressive relaxation, moderate aerobic exercise walking 30 min per day for 6 days per week, and a 1-h group support session per week.  

The diet was supplemented with soy for its hormonal effects, (1 daily serving of tofu plus 58 g of a fortified soy protein powdered beverage), fish oil  for omega 3 fatty acids (3 g daily), and vitamin E (100 units daily), selenium (200 mg daily), and vitamin C (2 g daily) for their antioxidant properties. 

Dr. Ornish’s study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2008 (www.pnas.org), Gene Expression Modulation by Intervention with Nutrition and Lifestyle (GEMINAL) showed that comprehensive lifestyle changes affect gene expression, “turning on” disease-preventing genes and “turning off” genes that promote cancer and heart disease. 

Lifestyle modification is the simple and sure way to prevent cancer and chronic disease and is a vital component of an overall strategy for cure. What will you choose?

(Editor’s Note: The information in this article represents the opinion of the author and is not intended to be construed as an endorsement or promotion by Crucians In Focus of any of the information herein.)

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