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Healthy Immunity Newsletter 6th Edition |
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Fight cancer and win
 No other medical diagnosis strikes fear into the hearts of people like "cancer". One in four will contract cancer in their lifetime and one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Over three million North Americans have cancer today and another 1.7 million will be diagnosed this year. Patrick Quillan, in his book Beating Cancer with Nutrition, states that "half of all cancer victims will be alive five years from now but of the other 50 percent, 40 percent will die of malnutrition, not of the cancer." The word cancer is derived from the Greek word karkinos, which means crab. This word was chosen because of the claw-like appearance of certain tumors.
Why do we get cancer?
Poor diet, environmental toxins, lack of antioxidants, viruses, chronic stress and feelings of hopelessness are some of the possible reasons why the body allows cancers to grow.
Viruses are a known factor in your risk of getting certain cancers. Helicobacter pylori is now thought to be a causative agent for stomach cancer; human T-cell lymphoma virus is responsible for T-cell lymphoma; human papilloma viruses is involved in cervical cancer and the hepatitis virus is linked to liver cancer.
A healthy immune system will deal with viruses in a vicious way. Yet the viruses mentioned above are sometimes able to circumvent the body's defenses and cause serious cancers to develop.
Although genetics or a family history is a predisposition to acquiring cancer, it can be factored out if "super nutrition" is adopted. Regardless of your genetic makeup, if you keep your toxic load under control and strengthen your immunity, cancer can be avoided.
What is cancer?
Normal, healthy cells go through a series of steps to ensure life. They grow, divide and create new cells in a carefully performed, predetermined symphony. During this highly complex reproductive process, the cell's genetic code, or DNA, is duplicated and transferred to the new cells. Normally this process takes place without error but every once in a while (approximately 1 in 1000 divisions) a mistake may occur. Most mistakes are quickly repaired, but on occasion a mistake may miss detection, and these abnormal cells are allowed to perform differently than intended.
Cancer begins from these "renegade" cells. They turn the immune system against itself, multiply unchecked, steal nutrients and reroute blood supplies away from normal body functions. Because these turncoat cells are similar to other healthy cells, the immune system may fail to detect and kill them. Or if the body's defense system is not functioning optimally, it can also miss these marauding cells.
Normal cell conduct organizes cells into their correct location, turns growth off and on as required and ensures that cells do not crowd each other. Due to this set of rules, normal cells do not travel to incorrect areas of the body and they do not form abnormal structures such as tumors. Cancerous cells on the other hand do not follow any hard and fast rules. They mutate as often as possible, to avoid detection and survive at all costs, even if it means killing their host.
It is believed that due to environmental and nutri-tional factors, natural killer cell function may become depressed, resulting in an inability of the immune system to recognize cancerous cells. Without a method for recognizing cancer cells as foreign, the immune system cannot deal with them.
Cancer can develop in any tissue of the body and it is thought that a cell's DNA may become damaged by any one of the following: radiation exposure, ultraviolet damage from the sun, free radicals, chemical toxins, viruses, hormones, tobacco and alcohol. Each one of the above potentially DNA-damaging substances can be neutralized with specific nutritional treatments.
Cancer is a complicated disease. Each type of cancer has different traits. Some are slow growing and easy to treat while others are aggressive and require a much more diverse treatment approach. Treatments that work for one cancer may not have any effect on another. Similarly each person has a unique biochemistry and this must be factored in when treating a patient. Several different treatments, combined with supplementation with a wide range of immune nutrients, should be adopted.
Natural therapies pack a punch
Several fruits and vegetables are especially rich in cancer-blocking agents. Broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes rich in lycopene, Brussels sprouts, turnips and mustard greens are a few of the most notorious cancer fighters. Citrus fruits are rich in D-limonene, another powerful anti-carcinogenic that stops toxic agents from damaging the DNA of our cells. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center noted that it only took three half-cup servings per week of broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, which contain high levels of indoles, to decrease the risk of prostate cancer by 41 percent.
In addition to the powerful ingredients mentioned above, fruits and vegetables are rich in plant sterols and sterolins. A tremendous body of research, including human studies, has been accumulated using plant sterols and sterolins for cancer treatment. The following looks at some of those studies.
Sterols and sterolins, star cancer protectives
 Over the last ten years a team of researchers led by Professor Bouic, head of Immunology at Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa, have been investigating plant sterols and sterolins and their action on the immune system. They have been able to show that both sterols and their glycosides, sterolins, have potent immune properties. These natural plant sterols are able to enhance the proliferation of T-cells and in so doing, enhance the secretion of the potent cancer-fighting cytokines Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and gamma interferon. Sterols and sterolins also enhance the activity of natural killer cells, our first line of defense against cancer, while lowering the pro-inflammatory and immune suppressing agent Interleukin-6 (IL-6).
In immune-compromised individuals the secretion of IL-2 and gamma interferon, both required for the activation of killer cells, is defective. In order for the natural killer cells of the immune system to recognize and destroy cancerous cells, gamma interferon and IL-2 must be present. If these factors are defective then immune cells are not able to recognize and destroy tumor cells, allowing them to grow and destroy the body. Sterols and sterolins increase IL-2, gamma interferon and natural killer cell activity. Sterols and sterolins not only enhance the activity of natural killer cells but of cytotoxic T-cells as well. Cytotoxic T-cells inject killing agents into virus-infected cells to deal with cancers caused by viruses.
A study published in the International Journal of Immunopharmacology showed that sterols and sterolins increased T-cell function up to 920 percent in humans. In the same study in vitro data showed an increase in IL-2 and gamma interferon secretion by up to 41 percent, as well as an increase in the ability of natural killer cells to destroy experimental cancerous cells.
Cancer patients taking plant sterols and sterolins during chemotherapy treatments noticed a reduction in nausea, vomiting, hair loss and mouth sores. A reduction in nausea is an important benefit when we consider Patrick Quillan's observation that many cancer patients die because they are so nauseous they can't eat.
Since the mid 1900s sterols and sterolins have been investigated for their anti-cancer properties. Further research has found that betasitosterol and its glucoside, betasitosterolin, have anti-tumor activity, activating macrophages to enhance their ability to kill tumors.
Animal research performed by Raicht and colleagues found that when a combination of sterols and sterolins were fed to rats, colon tumors were reduced by 70 percent. In the control group tumors occurred in 54 percent of the rats, but sterols and sterolins also significantly decreased the proportion of tumor-bearing animals.
In 1999 Professor Awad at the University of Buffalo showed that betasitosterol significantly reduced the number of in vitro breast cancer cells by 66 percent within five days, compared to controls. In 1996 he also showed that betasitosterol was a powerful inhibitor of colon cancer cell lines.
DHEA, cortisol and immune enhancement
Scientists have shown that DHEA has important immune-regulating actions, as it enhances the cells that secrete IL-2 and gamma interferon while inhibiting the secretion of IL-6. Most importantly cortisol, our stress hormone, and DHEA, are directly linked. When cortisol is secreted in response to stressful events a corresponding drop in DHEA occurs. When cortisol levels become too high, the resulting drop in DHEA levels causes immune suppression to occur, inhibiting the cancer-fighting ability of our natural killer cells and T-cells. When we increase DHEA levels, a modulation of cortisol occurs. A balance between cortisol and DHEA is required to ensure proper functioning of the immune system.
In a study published in the International Journal of Sports Medicine, professor Bouic showed that sterols and sterolins were able to enhance DHEA and regulate cortisol levels, thereby ensuring adequate immune protection. By controlling the inflammatory immune factor IL-6 as well as cortisol, DHEA levels and immune status were maintained.
 Cancer is a complicated disease to treat. Our immune system is the body's most powerful defense against cancer. Treatments should focus on enhancing our immune system's ability to seek and destroy cancerous cells, keeping DHEA at adequate levels, and regulating cortisol. No one nutritional supplement can cure cancer; a multifaceted approach including a diet high in vegetables, fresh fish, and juicing, along with many well-researched nutritional supplements, is the key to ensuring our body can fight cancer from within.
References available upon request
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