How To Approach Cancer

I recently received an Email from an Internet client inquiring into the natural approach to cancer therapy. Her dog had developed a bone tumor and she was faced with some very difficult decisions. I have written a fair amount about cancer but never really put down certain thoughts I have had on this involved and frequently misunderstood condition. So…I took this opportunity to do so.

Dogtor J

How to Approach Cancer

by Dogtor J

©2010 DogtorJ.com

In my thinking, the natural approach to cancer is pretty much the same no matter what the particular diagnosis – stop all triggers (e.g. carcinogens, lectins, pollutants), feed the immune system what it needs to work properly, and institute as many natural treatment aids as possible – antioxidants, omega-3’s, spices, essential sugars, mediation/relaxation techniques (which serve to lower our body’s cortisone levels), essential oils, homeopathic remedies, etc. There are people who are much more skilled in the last category that I am but I am trying to catch up.

I hear from people regularly who have combined nutrition with alternative therapies and enjoyed phenomenal results in a wide variety of medical conditions. However, cancer is still the big frontier and, in my mind, represents the “worst of the worst” category about which I write so much on my Website. I fully expect the GI problems, skin issues, fatigue, insomnia, fibromyalgia, epilepsy and even serious neurological conditions (e.g. MS) to get better, even disappear completely, with this approach. These are really more “long-term symptoms” than anything else and persist because we never got to the root of why they started to begin with. However, with cancer, the perfect storm has occurred – triggers (carcinogens), viruses and/or pleomorphic bacteria, and immune failure have all occurred, the latter being the worst element and hardest to correct.

But…have people claimed cures in treating themselves with alternative means? Yes! Do I believe them? Yes! It can be done. As I like to write, we “simply” have to do enough right. How do we know what we have to do? We have to do all of the things we know to do to prevent cancer – eat right (eliminate bad things – like the “big 4” – and eat enough good things), get enough sun (vitamin D3)/exercise/rest, and avoid carcinogens.

Theoretically, if we do enough right, we should be able to reverse cancer, mainly because we know why it develops. Cancer occurs when our residential viruses and intracellular (pleomorphic) bacteria get tired of being bombarded with carcinogens and lectins (e.g. the big 4) and decide it’s time to make the cell start dividing, which is done to protect the cell and residential microorganisms living inside it. It’s all about adaptation…or “over-adaptation”, to use a term. Normally, the immune system kills a cell when it threatens to become a cancer cell. But… if the immune system has become incompetent, then the process can take off relatively unchecked. The body will still try to wall it off, but the damage is already done – a mass of cells has developed and one that is hard for the immune system to get into the middle of. Remember: That’s why the tumor formed to begin with – to build a wall that keeps out carcinogens. Once the wall is up, the immune system has a very hard time getting it there, especially when it’s be handcuffed by poor nutrition and constantly exposed to a rising level of carcinogens.

So…the success we can expect to have in treating cancer through alternative means is dependent on a number of things:

1. First of all, can we make the immune system healthy enough again so that it can to do its job killing these cells? That is basically the newest research – immunotherapy – in which they are trying to “train” the immune system to kill tumors, which is what a healthy immune system does without any training if we don’t handcuff it the way we do (see below). Sadly, they will fail at this approach if they don’t do the other things on this list.

2. We must eliminate as many triggers (carcinogens) as possible. This is crucial but, unfortunately, we can easily fail at this. Living in polluted cities is the easiest way to fail. Air pollution (e.g. car exhausts, cigarette smoke, factory emissions) is loaded with carcinogens. But, so is the food supply (e.g. nitrates/nitrites in bacon) and some water sources (e.g. fluoride, drug residues). The list is too long to write. A Google search for “known carcinogens” will really open the eyes. So…if we are fighting cancer and can’t escape the carcinogens (e.g. move to a non-polluted area), how can we expect to get well? Thankfully, the more minor cases can still get better but our expectations must be realistic. There are aids. They are called antioxidants!

3. Start taking in the “antidotes” to the poison. “The solution to pollution is dilution”. Antioxidants neutralize free-radicals, the main harmful component of environmental pollution. Free radicals are simply molecules that steal electrons from cells, which makes the guys inside that cell really mad. Viruses and intracellular bacteria (pleomorphic, cell wall deficient, L-form bacteria) are vitally involved in deciding when the cell will become a tumor. Antioxidants, on the other hand, neutralize free radicals by freely giving up an electron to the free radical so that it doesn’t steal one from neurons, heart cells, vessel walls, kidneys, the liver, blood cells, etc. etc.. and thereby weaken their integrity. It’s that simple. The main antioxidants are vitamin C, E, and grape seed extract, the latter being one of the most powerful we know of. Most of your berry-of-the-day, pyramid scheme products base their claims on the action of antioxidants, the most common of which is good old vitamin C. There is also a big buzz about resveratrol and others, most of which come from grapes and other fruits – natural sources that we should all be eating anyway. Spices have also been shown to be powerful antioxidants. Essential sugars (e.g. glucosamine) and essential oils can also be of benefit by facilitating the action of the innate immune system, that part of our immunity that helps neutralize threats before they ever get to cells. Essential sugars bind to lectins and keep them from attaching to cells.

4. Last but certainly not least, eat right!  This involves eating the right things and eliminating the wrong things. This is not rocket science and is where The GARD comes in. The big 4 are doing immeasurable amounts of harm to the gut’s ability to absorb nutrients. But once they enter the bloodstream, they act like free radicals and carcinogens, attaching to cells and creating inflammation. Inflammation is a natural process but, when it gets out of hand, it is one of the triggers for cancer. Simply put, viruses and bacteria “over-adapt” under these conditions in an attempt to escape the threat and safeguard the cell they were charged to protect. So…they decide when it’s time to wall themselves off from all of this mess, thus forming the “cocoons” we call tumors. Interesting perspective, eh? This fits with everything I have come to know and understand. By eliminating the “big 4”, we correct so many things – the leaky gut, malnutrition, lectin challenge and bombardment of the cells with excitotoxins, the latter leading to serious neurodegenerative diseases (MS, ALS, Parkinson’s,  etc.) – no wonder miracles have happened on The GARD.

In summary, the perfect storm we call “cancer” occurs when the carcinogens, viruses/pleomorphic bacteria, and leaky gut->malnutrition->immune failure all come together. We must all three occur for cancer to develop. Even small, local tumors are a reflection of some degree of immune failure. In fact, they are the warning signs that something bigger is coming. No one ever died of a small tumor, unless it was strategically located in the brain or heart and bled. We die from cancer when we fail to reverse the process that led to it from the start. Or, we die from the toxic effects of drugs or radiation used to treat the tumor.

Cancer victims are faced with a serious dilemma and I do not claim to have all of the answers for every case, of course. But there is no reason to do anything less that everything we can to accomplish the above steps, no matter what course we choose. Whether we decide to go the full chemo route, take the alternative path, or a combination of the two, we should always think about the above four things and try to accomplish them to the best of our ability.

Cancer is not a mystery. We know how and we know why it develops. We know all about carcinogens, the devastating effects of food intolerance (which leads to immune failure), and the viruses and bacteria involved (even though we have completely gotten their M.O. wrong). Once we see what they are really up to, we should know exactly what we have to do – stop making them mad and they will go back to their daily chores.

If we do enough right, and restore our governor (the immune system) back to health and full power, we should be able to face many of the challenges that are beyond our control and weather the storms they create. But…we must start now! You never know when the perfect storm is going to occur.

Dogtor J