Category Archives: Integrative Cancer Treatment

Cancer Therapy; Dietary manipulations for Cancer

July 5, 2014

Dietary manipulations that affect the growth of cancer cells

Cancer therapy

Cancer therapy

Cancerous cells just like other healthy body cells depend on steady supply of nutrients to be able to survive. Many nutritionists have opined that the best way to safely kill the cancerous cells is to starve them. However over the years it has never been easy to starve the cancer cells while supply the healthy cells with nutrients since they all depend on glucose. There are many researchers that went a step further to come up with safer ways to kill the cancer cells through starving them without hurting the healthy cells. Other loopholes have been found that have enabled nutritionists to come up with some effective dietary manipulations to help fight cancer without leaving the patients with life threatening side effects. These dietary approaches are meant to be a better alternative to cancer therapy of and other nutritionally afflicted diseases.

Some of the dietary approaches developed are still up to now being researched on to establish how effective they are. Some are even controversial as they are supported and rejected in equal measure.

Here are some of the dietary manipulations that are said to have an effect on cancer cells survival and growth.

Ketogenic Diet and cancer therapy

A ketogenic diet advocates for high quality proteins and healthy fats while it eliminates all but non-starchy vegetable carbohydrates. The argument behind the ketogenic diet is that: since cancer cells need glucose to survive and the carbohydrates turn to glucose in the body reducing the amount of glucose in your body starves the cancer cells. The healthy cells also rely on glucose for survival, fortunately our healthy cells are flexible enough to turn to ketone bodies for energy unlike the cancer cells that suffer defects that deny them this flexibility to turn to ketone sources of energy. This gives a loophole to starve the cancer cells by reducing the amount of glucose in the body.

cancer treatment

The healthy cells will survive in absence of glucose as they can depend on ketone bodies for energy and live on however the cancer cells solely depend on glucose hence will be starved to death.

The ketogenic diet also minimizes the mTOR pathway that enhances cell proliferation. This diet that restricts all starchy vegetable carbohydrates but advocates for healthy fats and high quality is a better way to kill the cancer cells and should be adopted by anybody not only to treat cancer but as a daily feeding lifestyle as it is an ideal fat burning diet.

Calorie restriction and cancer and Cancer Therapy

Reduced calories intake has a positive impact in fighting cancer. Researchers have come out with findings to support this notion, however a more detailed argument is that when humans reduce the calories intake the expression of certain proteins that foster cancer cells survival will be limited.

Basically eating calories results in the calories being broken down to provide energy for building of proteins so when calorie intake is restricted there will be slowed rate of metabolism and the functions of  most proteins will be limited. The researchers have also found out that reducing calories intake will help in minimizing over expression of Mcl-1 which is the protein linked to formation and growth of cancer cells.

Sugar is the sole energy for cancer and if sugar is restricted and replaced with another alternative: fat, there will be no fuel to help in the growth of cancer cells since they cannot switch to fat since they do not have the metabolic flexibility to change to other energy sources other than sugar fuel.

Amino acid restriction and cancer therapy

Amino acids are vital building blocks in our bodies and the cancerous cells are dependent on the amino acids for growth. Two of the amino acids these are phenylalanine and tyrosine have an ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Most cancer cells are dependent on these two amino acids but melanomas, breast cancer and prostate cancer are greatly affected by restriction of these two amino acids. When the amino acids are restricted the growth of cancer cells is inhibited greatly. Restriction of amino acids has also induced apoptosis on many cancer cells. A research that was spearheaded by Dr. Meadows who is the Director of the Cancer Prevention & Research Center at Washington State University showed that amino acid restriction can be a very valid alternative cancer therapy.

Carbohydrate Restriction and cancer therapy

Carbohydrates are a major source of glucose and the cancer cells solely depend on the glucose for their survival. The cancer cells need more of the glucose than the healthy cells. When there are lots of carbohydrates in the diet the cancer cells are poised to grow and spread even faster. Since the cancer cells can only survive on the glucose when the carbohydrates are restricted they will not find enough glucose to feed on and will therefore starve to death. The normal cells are able to adapt to other sources of energy like fats in the body.

Finally…

Alternative cancer therapy  are becoming the most popular options to cancer Cancer therapy. This is because the conventional  Cancer therapy like chemotherapy are not only expensive to most cancer patients but also leave the cancer patients with lots of life threatening side effects.

To be able to live a cancer free life you need to get empowered on how you can keep away from the unhealthy habits that may put you at risk. You also need to know the better alternatives to cancer therapy

 Coley’s Toxins as an Alternative Cancer Therapy 

Just contact Dr. Dalal  Akoury(MD) who is dedicated to availing vital information about cancer to all those who seek them. Check her website for regular updates AWAREmed

Dietary manipulations that affect the growth of cancer cells

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NUTRIENTS AND CANCER THERAPY

July 4, 2014

THE ROLE OF NUTRIENTS IN CANCER THERAPY

cancerHealthy and perfect nutrition is significantly essential for patients suffering from cancer. This is mainly because the disease itself, as well as its management, may change and distress you’re eating ways or appetite. Cancer and cancer cure or treatments may also amend and adjust your body’s capacity to endure certain foods and the use of nutrients.

These nutrients need of people suffering from cancer will depend and vary from one cancer patient to another. Your dietician, doctors and nurses can assist you in identifying your nutrition purpose and target strategies to aid you meet them. Healthy eating and diet whilst undergoing cancer therapy can help one to:

  • Feel good about themselves
  • Give you strength and well as energy especially during the chemotherapy
  • When you practice healthy eating during cancer treatment, you will also help you keep your weight in check as well as the storage of your body’s nutrients
  • Healthy eating or good diet will particularly help you overcome the side effects of chemotherapy.
  • Your risk of infection will also increase immensely.
  • Fast and quick recovery as well as healing

When we talk about eating well it does not mean that you eat anything, no, a patient will need to eat a mixture or range of foods that will provide nutrients that they will need to  health and strength during the  a variety of foods that provide the nutrients you need to maintain your health while combating cancer. The nutrients will consist of carbohydrates, protein, water, fat, vitamins as well as minerals.
The nutrients are broken down below
Fats and carbs: fats and carbohydrates provide and contributes to the body’s energy and gives it the massive calories it requires. This quantities of energy and calories that each person requires relies or varies generally on one’s, their physical fitness and even their age. Food that will provide fat in our bodies include nuts or peanuts, anything from dairy produce, margarine and butter, meat, poultry, fish as well as seeds. Carbohydrates are foods like bread, cereals, grains, peas, dried beans, fruits etc.

Protein: Protein nutrients aids in the repair of body tissue, it will ensure growth and it will also maintain a healthy immune system. Where there is not enough of protein, the body will always take a long time to recover from all if not most illness leaving one with the risk of other infections and will even develop very low infection resistance. Patients suffering from cancer will require lots of protein than the normal standard or people without this disease. It is mandatory that patients gets extra protein after chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy to help heal the tissues as well as prevent further infections. We all know or it’s advisable to know what kinds of foods provides our bodies with protein, and it will be found in fish, lean meat, and soy foods among other foods.

Minerals and vitamins: These nutrients of Vitamins and minerals will make sure of the proper development and growth of the body.  It will further allow the body to use calories and energy that they will get in foods rich in these nutrients. A patient who follows a well balanced diet that constitute enough protein, calories or energy will most of the time get lots of minerals and vitamins. Eating a well balanced diet however can be rally challenging to cancer patients when receiving medication mainly if the side effects continue for a longer period of time. Your nutritionist or physician may recommend a dose of multivitamin and other supplements you may require should this happen to you.

nutrients and cancer

Water: fluids like water are very important in one’s health and daily up keep. In fact water is the most important nutrient for any human being whether sick or not. So imagine a cancer patient with diarrhea or who is vomiting. They will become very dehydrated if they don’t consume lots of water or any fluid that will be suggested by their nutritionist. Such patients may need to consult with their nurses, doctors or even nutritionist on what amount of fluids they may require to contain or prevent dehydration.

The American Cancer Society Guidelines for Nutrition for Cancer Prevention has a plan of helping you know what to eat and how to measure it. Your nutritionist will sometimes propose increased serving on particular kind of food. Below find a guideline that will aid or assist you when choosing a healthy diet when fighting cancer.

  • Try as much as possible to consume more than five servings of various fruits and vegetables daily.
  • Always prefer to eat foods that are whole grain instead of processed or refined sugars or grains.
  • Avoid red meat totally or take very little of it in particular, avoid ones that are high in fat and that are processed. Learn to eat white meat like chicken or fish instead.
  • Endeavor to eat foods that will not give you unhealthy weight. Avoid French fries, deep fried foods and any other food that will add too much weight as it is not healthy for your heart and health in general.

Cancer treatment can affect a patients eating routine that may even result in one losing their appetite. In such occurrences, one is advised to take meals in very little but frequent portions. Try Snacking every few hours and a patient should also try his or her level best to stay away from smells when food is being prepared. Lots of rest is vital though one should lie down not less than an hour after taking a meal

At Awaremed health and wellness resource centre, we will ignite a new sparkle of wellbeing in you. We have able and trained medical team to advise and take you through your treatment program.  We are a dedicated team when it’s coming to healing of the body mind and spirit.

THE ROLE OF NUTRIENTS IN CANCER THERAPY

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Substance Abuse and Addiction

July 2, 2014

Substance Abuse and Addiction- Alcohol the most Abused drug

Alcohol addiction

Substance abuse and addiction are not friendly to anyone but the good news is whatever drug you are addicted to be it alcohol there is hope of recovery

In your neighborhood probably there is a bar or just any place ware legal is sold and you will confess that in those places there are individuals who will never miss visiting those joints not even for one day. These are the people I want to talk about in this article. Moderate alcohol consumption may not be that bad health wise and in fact can be soothing and relaxing. However when consumed disorderly alcohol can be poisonous and injurious to human life in many ways which includes traffic accidents, homicides, suicide and rape, alcohol abuse also has adverse effects on social and domestic life ranging from absconding employment duties, spousal and child abuse and even crime.

Those who take alcohol are likely experience changes in their bodies immediately as mood changes to complete loss of coordination, vision, balance, and speech these changes can be attributed to acute intoxication or just drunkenness. It is important for the public to know that the authorities regard a rate of 0.08% of alcohol in the bloodstream as evidence of intoxication. If the rate becomes more in the blood then this can impair brain function and eventually cause unconsciousness but an extreme overdose is serious alcohol poisoning and can be fatal.

Substance Abuse and Addiction- Understanding Alcohol Abuse

Chronic alcoholism is a potentially fatal disease characterized by continuous craving for amplified tolerance of physical dependence upon and loss of control over alcohol consumption. The physical dependence on alcohol differs with individual consumer with some chronic alcoholics get very drunk and others exercise enough control to give the appearance of coping with everyday affairs in a near-normal way. However, alcoholism can lead to a number of physical ailments, including hypoglycemia, high blood pressure, brain and heart damage, end-stage liver damage, enlarged blood vessels in the skin, pneumonia, tuberculosis, chronic gastritis, and recurrent pancreatitis.

The consequences of alcoholism may include: impotence in men, damage to the fetus in pregnant women, and an elevated risk of cancer of the larynx, esophagus, liver, breast, stomach, pancreas, and upper gastrointestinal tract. And also because alcoholics rarely have proper diets, they are at a high risk of being malnourish. Nevertheless high level consumers will have impaired liver function with one in five developing cirrhosis.

Symptoms of Alcohol Abuse

If you have to take good precaution to be free from being an alcoholic, you must know the signs and symptoms of alcohol abuse and the following are just but a few:

  • Short-term blackouts or memory loss.
  • Repeated arguments or fights with family members or friends as well as irritability, depression, or mood swings.
  • Continuing use of alcohol to relax, to cheer up, to sleep, to deal with problems, or to feel “normal.”
  • Headache, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, or other unpleasant symptoms when you stop drinking.
  • Flushed skin and broken capillaries on the face; a husky voice; trembling hands; bloody or black/tarry stools or vomiting blood; chronic diarrhea; and drinking alone, in the mornings, or in secret; these symptoms are specifically associated with alcoholism.

Keep in mind that alcohol abuse is different from alcohol dependence.

  • With abuse, a person uses alcohol in excess but may not have regular cravings, a need to use daily, or withdrawal symptoms during sudden stoppage. The person may often have heavy alcohol binge episodes separated by periods of not drinking.
  • If a person is dependent on alcohol, he or she needs to drink regularly or even daily and drink more and more to get the same effects. The person also experiences withdrawal symptoms if he or she stops drinking and wants to quit drinking alcohol but can’t.
Substance Abuse and Addiction- Treatments for Alcoholism

The ultimate objective of treatment for alcoholism is abstinence. Among alcoholics with otherwise good health, social support, and motivation, the chances of regaining is good. About 50% to 60% remain abstinent at the end of a year’s treatment and a majority of those break dry permanently. However those with poor social support, poor motivation, or psychiatric disorders have a tendency to relapse within a few years of treatment. For these people, success is measured by longer periods of abstinence, reduced use of alcohol, better health, and improved social functioning.

Substance Abuse and Addiction- Conventional Medicine for Alcoholism

Treatment for alcoholism can begin only when the alcoholic accepts that the problem exists and agrees to stop drinking. They will have to understand that alcoholism is treatable and must desire to change and to diligently follow the three treatment procedures:

  1. Detoxification (detox): This may be needed immediately after stopping alcohol use and can be a medical emergency, as detox can result in withdrawal seizures, hallucinations, delirium tremens (DT), and in some cases may result in death.
  2. Rehabilitation: This involves counseling and medications to give the recovering alcoholic the skills needed for maintaining sobriety. This step in treatment can be done inpatient or outpatient. Both are equally effective.
  3. Maintenance of sobriety: This step’s success requires an alcoholic to be self-driven. The key to maintenance is support, which often includes regular Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings and getting a sponsor.

Because detoxification does not stop the craving for alcohol, recovery is often difficult to maintain. For a person in an early stage of alcoholism, discontinuing alcohol use may result in some withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety and poor sleep. Withdrawal from long-term dependence may bring the uncontrollable shaking, spasms, panic, and hallucinations of DTs. If not treated professionally, people with DTs have a mortality rate of more than 10%, so detoxification from late-stage alcoholism should be attempted under the care of an experienced doctor and may require a brief inpatient stay at a hospital or treatment center.

Treatment may involve one or more medications. Benzodiazepines are anti-anxiety drugs used to treat withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety and poor sleep and to prevent seizures and delirium. These are the most frequently used medications during the detox phase, at which time they are usually tapered and then discontinued. They must be used with care, since they may be addictive.

There are several medicines used to help people in recovery from alcoholism maintain abstinence and sobriety. One drug, disulfiram may be used once the detox phase is complete and the person is abstinent. It interferes with alcohol metabolism so that drinking a small amount will cause nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, confusion, and breathing difficulty. This medication is most appropriate for alcoholics who are highly motivated to stop drinking or whose medication use is supervised, because the drug does not affect the motivation to drink. Our job is to help you get better and be free from any form of addiction and that is why at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center Doctor Akoury who is the founder is offering a focused Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) treatment with the sole intension to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE when this is done you will not only have a testimony but life a productive and happy life free from addiction.

Substance Abuse and Addiction- Alcohol the most Abused drug

 

 

 

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Integrative Treatment for Cancer

July 2, 2014

Integrative Treatment for Cancer: Finding Lasting Solutions

Integrative TreatmentThere is continued change in people’s feeding patterns from traditional to modern; with more chemical components being introduced to the food chain that eventually find their way into the human system. This coupled with environmental factors and chemicals to which people get exposed on a daily basis, cases of cancer have been on the rise. There is increased probability of an individual getting diagnosed with cancer at a much early age today.

This is dreadful to many people. Latest studies show that about one in three people will have to confront cancer at some point in their lives. There is a general fear of having a greater percentage of the population being patients and victims of the disease.

In attempting to arrest the menace, science is working hard to find lasting cure for the disease. Changes are cropping up in the world of cancer treatment to move away from pure medical therapies to embrace more integrative approaches to cancer treatment.

The benefits that arise from integrative cancer care are fast seeing the number of cancer survivors growing globally each year. These approaches have shown effectiveness at helping adjust the body chemistry to better ward off cancer. They involve supplementing all of the medical work with some more holistic ideas including intravenous nutritional therapy among other treatments.

Cancer patients are probably familiar with the type of chemotherapy designed to help them get over the various forms of the disease. Insofar as these medical treatments for cancer have been helpful to the patients they have strong side effects and the condition may recur. The emerging integrative approaches have largely been as a result of the search for more effectiveness and minimum side-effect alternative treatments.

A number of practices are being undertaken by cancer patients to supplement their chemotherapies Dahn Yoga for instance is being regarded by people with cancer as a generally positive approach which has been proven very successful in various occasions in the complementary and integrative treatment field.

Patients have reported strengthening their immune system prior to a cancer surgery by taking Dahn Yoga classes more often- engaging in acupuncture treatment and receiving individual holistic healings from their respective Dahn Yoga centers or individual trained healing professionals.

This program tracing its origin in Korea involves different forms of intense physical activity characterized with the mastery and use of energy, enhancing the body-brain connection and self-managed, holistic health care.

Integrative Treatment

Dahn Yoga not only has physical benefits to the body’s health, it is also important in strengthening one’s morale, attitude and viewpoint. Tension and even conflict between the different health treatments for cancer are commonly witnessed as things could always go wrong during the surgery. It is therefore vital that the victim remains positive without relenting at the face of these possibilities. It is at such circumstances that Dahn Yoga becomes elementary.

Visualization

Visualization is yet another tool that usually goes hand in hand with many, if not all the successful cancer therapies. The patient is advised to breathe along with his or her therapist while visualizing the chemotherapy as a white light going into their body to cleanse them. At this point the tool of visualization is recommended to be used in a consistent way. There is no guarantee the patient will find this process easy at all. There are points when they backslide into the reality of having the disease and the possibility of imminent fatality.

Integrative cancer treatment also requires the patient to have a daily drill of exercise, eating and sleep in order to support the medical treatment and lessen its negative side effects while enjoying the benefit of a positive mental attitude.

The power of vision should not be underestimated in treatment of cancer. Just the same way it applies to all other aspects of life in general, it is vital to have a big vision or purpose-build on something you wish to live for. This could be one’s family which they are to take care of, a job that solely relies on the person for its brighter future, a people or nation to be led, a battle whose victory is hinged on the vital input of this individual or even some divinely inspired purpose to serve a people. All these can provide a cancer patient with a strong reason to live and inspire their fight to get well.

Pranic Healing treatment

The side-effects of Chemotherapy can be minimized by this form of treatment. Pranic healing is a highly evolved system of energy medicine that has been tested and found suitable for cancer integrative therapy. It was developed by a Chinese GrandMaster Choa Kok Sui. This exercise utilizes prana (life-force) to balance, harmonize and transform the body’s energy processes.

Experts observe that this invisible vital bio-energy is responsible for keeping the body alive and maintaining a state of good health. It is based on the principle that the body is a self-repairing living entity with the ability to heal itself. A Pranic healer can draw in life energy from the surroundings (sun, air and ground) to minimize the side effects of chemotherapy.

Integrative Treatment for Cancer: Finding Lasting Solutions

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Hyperthermia and Cancer Treatment

July 1, 2014

Hyperthermia widely used in Treating Cancer

HyperthermiaHyperthermia is a condition in which the body temperatures are higher than the normal degrees. Hyperthermia can be caused by certain diseases but it can also be created by medical experts to help in treatment of certain diseases especially cancer. In this case it is referred to as heat treatment. Higher than normal temperatures are known to cause various health complications but in hyperthermia the heat is under careful control of qualified medical personnel hence cannot kill the patient but only kill the cancerous cells.

Use of hyperthermia which is also called thermal therapy in cancer treatment involves exposing the patient’s body tissues to high temperatures of up to 113°F.Thermal therapy is used to kill or damage the cancerous cells without or with minimal hurt to the healthy cells.

Thermal treatment helps in making the cancer cells more vulnerable to treatments like chemotherapy and radiation therapy. High temperatures may also kill the cancer cells instantly. Hyperthermia is very effective in treatment of cancer but it may also lead to the death of healthy cells for this reason it needs to be handled by doctors who are well versed in the area and can take good control of the heat so as to avoid harm to the patient.

Hyperthermia had been used in the past however, back then the tools used in hyperthermia were not as effective and so the results were not constant. The reason to this was that the doctors were finding it hard to maintain that heat on a specific area of the body for a certain time without affecting the remaining parts of the body that was not subject to the treatment. This means the other body parts that did not have cancerous cells also got affected adversely. Nevertheless there is no hopes left as today’s tools used in hyperthermia are more effective and it is now easy to control the heat on a certain area without affecting the rest of the body. Today very many health institutions are using hyperthermia in treatment of cancer worldwide.

There are two ways through which hyperthermia is done. All this are related to the surface that that the heat is concentrated on and the intensity of the heat. The heat can be concentrated in one area that is infested by the cancer cells especially on tumor. When the heat is focused on one small area it is referred to as local hyperthermia or thermal ablation. In local hyperthermia the heat used is much stronger and so helps in killing or damaging the cancer cells on that small area.

hyperthermia

 The cancer cells are killed when the proteins in them get coagulated and the blood vessels that supply them with nutrients are killed. This leaves a place that is cooked hence no living cancer cell. Various sources of energy can be used in this process including Radio waves, microwaves, and ultrasound waves.

Thermal ablation can be either internally or externally. When done external the source of heat is focused on a specific area of the patients body while in internal ablation involves using a needle that is pricked into the tumor. The needle releases lots of heat at the tip killing the cancerous cells.

Thermal ablation can be used in treatment of cancers that are deeply rooted In the internal organs. It is the method that is used in killing cancer cells in brain tumors. This technique is called Interstitial and it releases lots of heat than the external thermal ablation. Needles that release heat are used in the tumor to kill the cells in it.

At times the heat can be concentrated on whole body of the patient. This is especially when the cancer cells are well spread in the body of the patient. When the heat is concentrated on the patient’s whole body, it is referred to as whole body hyperthermia or regional hyperthermia.

Regional hyperthermia is not used with a lot of heat as in the thermal ablation. It is used on an entire organ or on a large surface affected by the disease. Regional hyperthermia is mostly used with other treatment methods like chemotherapy as well as radiation therapy

The regional hyperthermia can involve the following techniques in treating cancer:

  • Deep tissue hyperthermia– Deep tissue is used to heat a specific area that is affected by the cancer. It involves use of external applicators that are placed around the affected organ and then Radio waves, microwaves or ultrasound waves are focused on that area to heat it killing the cancerous cells.
    • Whole body hyperthermia– whole body hyperthermia is an approach that is used to treat cancer that is widespread in the body. Metastatic cancer is mostly spread hence use of thermal ablation may not be very effective. Here the temperatures can be heightened upto108° Fahrenheit.
  • Regional perfusion– regional perfusion involves removal of some of the patient’s blood, heating it and then pumping it back into the system after the cancerous cells have been killed. It is useful in treatment of specific areas of the body for example the lung or the liver.

Are there risks Associated with hyperthermia?

Hyperthermia can be safe when it is used under the control of experts in the field it involves use of heat that can be dangerous if not well controlled and the patient needs to assess the credibility of the oncologists that is to control the heat. In most cases the healthy cells are rarely affected by hyperthermia. However side effects like burns, blisters and pain may occur due to the high temperatures. Perfusion may cause other problems like blood clot, tissue swelling and even bleeding. Generally these side effects are associated with hyperthermia: Vomiting, nausea and diarrhea.

Doctors are doing research daily to find better ways of treating cancer. Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is particularly committed to finding you the best information that can help you in staying away from cancer. Visit her website regularly for information about cancer and other diseases.

Hyperthermia widely used in Treating Cancer

 

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