Cancer prevention is a term that is on a lot of people's minds nowadays. The focus used to be on mainstream conventional treatments for cancer, but now we are seeing a paradigm shift from cancer treatment to prevention. As a result, Dr. Oz did a "Cancer Prevention Clinic" on his national television show that aired on May 21, 2010.
It's no longer just good enough to wait until you get cancer and then see how you can treat it. People are becoming smarter about preventing it before it happens, and you and I can benefit from this lifesaving information.
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It's interesting to note that Dr. Oz had three doctors of conventional medicine on the show - and they are advocating what was up until recently considered alternative medicine. Preventing cancer is going mainstream now, and Dr. Oz is leading the way along with other recognized professionals in the field.
We have already discussed the benefits of
glutathione and cancer prevention
on an earlier page on this site, but if you'd like a refresher, click on the link. Now we will discuss what was covered on the Dr. Oz show.
Cancer Prevention - Brain Cancer
Dr. David Servan - Schreiber is a French physician, neuroscientist and author. He was the first guest on the Dr. Oz show. Dr. Schreiber has been treated twice for brain cancer - his first diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor occurred at the tender young age of 31. He is now a leading figure in teaching
integrative approaches
to the prevention and treatment of cancer. He is also the author of NY Times BestSeller: "Anticancer: A New Way Of Life."
He had surgery twice, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. He realizes as he put it, "If I stuck with conventional treatments, I would probably get a conventional outcome, which doesn't look good at all for brain cancer. I learned that there is a lot you can do to help yourself resist cancer growth in your body. It's been 18 years since I to was first diagnosed with brain cancer, and I found great meaning in being able to bring what I have learned to other people so I can help them."
Notice what Dr. Schreiber has to say about preventing cancer. He focused on lifestyle, diet and nutrition to slow down cancer growth for cancer prevention. Specifically, he recommended eating an 80% vegetarian diet, or plant based diet. He encouraged us to dramatically reduce our sugar consumption, and to make sure to get our Omega-3s. Also he advocates drinking at least 3 cups of green tea per day. Green tea is a well known antioxidant, and may also be found in supplement form. Dr. Oz added in that if we are smoking, we should definitely stop smoking for cancer prevention.
Cancer Prevention - Oral Cancer
Dr. Oz then began speaking to us about chewing tobacco. He mentioned that there are 28 different carcinogens in chewing tobacco, and they are released directly into our system quickly when we chew it. Nicotine absorption is 3x faster with chewing tobacco than it is with a cigarette.
Dr. Oz had a show guest open her mouth so he could look for what is called leukoplakia - this is the beginning stage of oral cancer, and leukoplakia looks like a white line around the gums at the base of the teeth. When you catch it at this stage it is usually reversible. Then he showed a picture of full blown oral cancer, and once it gets to this point, the cancer is quite advanced. He recommend to always have your dentist check for these signs when you go in for your checkup.
Dr. Elizabeth Tanzi is an internationally-known author and lecturer on cosmetic dermatology and cutaneous laser surgery who survived skin cancer at age 37. She brought out that 90% of all mouth cancers are from either smoking or smokeless tobacco. This emphasizes the fact that for preventing oral cancer, avoidance of smoking and smokeless tobacco are very important risk factors that must be avoided.
Cancer Prevention - Esophageal Cancer
A viewer asked about alcohol and smoking, and how this relates to esophageal cancer. Dr. Oz confirmed that these do indeed damage your cells.
Our esophageal cells secrete mucus to protect the lining of the esophagus, but if stomach acid backs up, it destroys the lining of esophagus, they get inflamed, and can become cancerous. From there, the cancer spreads or metastasizes and can be deadly.
Cancer Prevention - Inflammation
Dr. Schreiber concurred that alcohol creates inflammation and this relates to cancer prevention. He said: "Alcohol by irritation creates inflammation and every cancer actually requires inflammation to stimulate the multiplication of cells and to invade neighboring tissue and eventually become the nightmare that you showed us here.
That leads to all kinds of things that people can learn to do to reduce the level of inflammation in the body, which can help with esophageal cancer, and a variety of other cancers as well, and these go back to
nutrition
and physical activity, and
managing stress
differently, and avoiding contaminants like tobacco, and alcohol, like a
variety of chemicals we find in household products
that can stimulate inflammation."
Dr. Oz concurred that if you have acid reflux, you also have chronic inflammation and are at risk of esophageal cancer.
Inflammation is a signal that your
immune system
is fighting something. It may be noted externally as an irritation and manifested as pain, swelling, redness, or heat in the joints or on the skin. Internally, inflammation can be more insidious, such as when our arteries are inflamed due to
oxidative stress
and the oxidation of fats. This type of inflammation, when prolonged, can lead to
stroke and heart disease.
Inflammation in the digestive system may be noted in digestive disorders such as
Crohn's Disease
and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Inflammation can be a good thing when your immune system initially goes to work to fight an invader, but when the inflammation is prolonged and becomes chronic, the immune system is now out of balance and diseases such as cancer have a favorable environment in which to grow. So reducing inflammation is key.
One of the components of your immune system which play a key role in inflammation are our cytokines.
Cytokines
are the "taggers" of your immune system, and they tag cells either as recognized (good) or foreign (bad), and then the killer T cells engulf the tagged bad cells and destroy them. In cases of prolonged inflammation, the cytokines begin to tag good cells as bad and then your immune system destroys the good cells, which is commonly recognized as an
autoimmune disorder.
A supplement named
Immunocal Platinum
not only
raises glutathione
, but modulates theses cytokines as well, reducing inflammation by bringing the cytokines back in balance, helping them to do their job properly, and keeping your immune system from attacking itself.
Cancer Prevention - Breast Cancer
Regarding breast cancer prevention, Dr. Oz mentioned exercise as being very beneficial for reducing inflammation and helping boost T-cell production for the immune system to exert its full potential.
Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron is the Assistant Executive Director & Chief Medical Officer of United Cerebral Palsy of New York City Inc. and is also affiliated with Susan G. Komen of Greater NYC. Dr. Richardson-Heron is also a breast cancer survivor who was first diagnosed at age 34. She had a mastectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation.
As a result, she strongly advocates physical activity and stress management. This decreases your risk of developing breast cancer and other cancers. She also advocates self-awareness, mammography, and prevention. Dr. Richardson mentioned that getting Vitamin D is very important for breast cancer prevention, and can reduce your risk by as much as 50%.
If you don't get it from moderate sun exposure, you should take at least 1000 IU of Vitamin D a day. She stressed that you need the active form of Vitamin D in Vitamin D3.
Cancer Prevention - Colon Cancer
Another show guest found inflammation in her body, and wanted to know how to prevent colon cancer from returning. Dr. Oz illustrated how the cancer cells start to grow inside the colon, and can be initially seen and removed in a colonoscopy. If it is a polyp, it can be removed, but once it becomes invasive, the cancer can metastasize and escape into your lymph nodes and other areas where it becomes deadly.
For cancer prevention, Dr. Schrieber mentioned that red meat in our diet increases inflammation, and we should reduce or eliminate red meat from our diet, and increase the amount of plant based foods in our diet to reduce inflammation.
Cancer Prevention - Ovarian Cancer
Dr. Dara Richardson- Heron mentioned there is a strong genetic disposition for ovarian cancer, so if it runs in your family, you should get genetic testing done for ovarian cancer. She also mentioned that turmeric is very powerful in killing ovarian cancer cells. Turmeric is a well known
antioxidant
and anti-inflammatory spice as well.
Cancer Prevention - Skin Cancer
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer today. Dr. Elizabeth Tanzi also mentioned for skin cancer prevention, you need to be proactive. She strongly advocates regular skin self-exams. If you catch melanoma in the earliest stages, it is almost 99% treatable. Specifically regarding life threatening melanoma, she emphasized to watch for changes in any moles or spots on your skin.
She brought out that your best defense for cancer prevention is to be proactive, and to know your skin appearance very well, and through regular self exams, to be alert for changes and report any suspicious changes to your doctor.
Melanoma can be deadly, especially when it spreads beyond the initial site, so being proactive for skin cancer prevention could literally save your life. Dr. Oz lastly encouraged us to always wear protective sunscreen during prolonged sun exposure.
In conclusion, there are many things you can do for effective skin cancer prevention. Make sure to keep your glutathione levels high. A supplement named
Immunocal Platinum
does two important things - it raises glutathione and reduces inflammation.
Eat a nutritious diet, with plenty of fruits and vegetables, and reduce or eliminate red meat. Stop smoking, and don't chew tobacco. Reduce or eliminate chronic inflammation internally and externally. Make sure to get your
Vitamin D,Omega 3s, and add turmeric
into your diet or take as a supplement. Be sure to check the appearance of your skin regularly for irregularities or changes in appearance.
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