Category Archives: Integrative Cancer Treatment

Certain Dietary Components That Weaken Immune System

August 2, 2014

The Negative Influences of Certain Dietary Components On The Immune System Of A Cancer Patient

ImmuneCancer is a disease that has poised lots of challenges to the world population that it has continued to depopulate greatly. The disease is not only expensive to treat but also causes lots of pain to its victims. In fact the word cancer is synonymous to pain. The changes in our environment are a major cause of cancer plus nutrition plays a great role in fighting cancer. Whatever you eat can either help you stay cancer free or will put you at a greater risk of getting this disease. Nutritionists have been involved in cancer treatments and very many researchers have done lots of work in the past to come up with those dietary components that should be avoided at all cost and those that should be used by cancer patients as well as any other healthy person who is interested in keeping away from the disease. Today there are cancer treatments that are solely based on diet. An example of this is the Gerson’s therapy which is being used even today as an alternative cancer treatment method. It involves the use of fruits and vegetables soups that are very effective in strengthening the immune system of the cancer patient as well as fighting the free radicals that are a major culprit in cancer cell formation. Generally, nutritionists have encouraged the consumption of whole foods as opposed to refined foods. This is because whole foods are rich in fiber that is vital in clearing all the toxic compounds out of the body. The whole foods are also rich in nutrients and do not contain harmful chemicals as the case with commercially produced foods which are full of toxic chemicals in the name of stabilizers and preservatives. It is therefore safer to eat those foods that help in building your body and keeping you safe from all the toxins that may enhance your cancer risk.

Some of the dietary components that may have negative influence on the immune system of the cancer patient include; sugar, omega-6 fatty acids, iron and copper. These dietary components therefore should be avoided by the cancer patient.

Sugar and the immune system

Sugar is the simple name that refers to all the glucose, sucrose and other forms of sugars present in our bodies. Cancer cell as well as the healthy body cells relies on glucose for energy to be able to live and multiply. However the healthy body cells are flexible enough to adapt to other sources of energy like the ketone bodies in absence of glucose. The cancer cells on the other hand suffer defects that cannot allow them to adapt to other sources of energy other than the sugar source. The cancer cells are also more responsive to the sugar in the bloodstream and are faster than the healthy cells in scrambling for the sugar, therefore too much sugar in the body feeds the cancer cells giving them ability to multiply and spread to the rest of the body parts. Sugar also hurts the immune system and so makes it hard for your body to fight cancer effectively.

According to Health Services at Columbia University, when you eat 100 grams of sugar, about as much sugar as you find in a 1 liter bottle of soda, your white blood cells are 40 percent less effective at killing germs. This can cripple your immune system for up to 5 hours after eating sugar.

The immune system of the cancer patient is weakened by sugar. This is because sugar competes for space with vitamin C in the white blood cells. Vitamin C is a very potent killer of viruses and bacteria and so the more it is in the white blood cells the more effective the white blood cells become in fighting diseases. However vitamin C and sugar are the same in chemical structure and so they compete for space in the white blood cells and so the more the sugar in the body the lesser the Vitamin C and this maims the cancer patient immune system to fight against the disease.

Omega-6 fatty acids and cancer

In the past omega-6 fatty acids had been linked to heart diseases. However very many research findings are suggesting that too much omega 6 fatty acids may escalate a person’s risk to cancer. This is because the omega-6 fatty acids contain linolic acid which is known to promote inflammations. Any inflammation agent is a threat to a cancer patient’s immune system and so should be avoided.

Copper and cancer

ImmuneCopper is necessary for cancer cell growth. A study that was done on mice discovered that copper which is normally present in public water increased the growth of cancer cells in mice. In a study led by Douglas Hanahan, researcher at EPFL and holder of the Merck Serono Chair in Oncology, scientists sought to examine the role of copper in cancer, to conduct this experiment they used genetically engineered mice with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. And they found that copper increased tumor growth in mice. “The biggest surprise was that a small amount of copper added to drinking water accelerated the growth of tumors, indicating that copper is an essential nutrient for them”, said Ishida. This therefore calls for reduction of copper in a cancer patient diet.

Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) has been committed to availing information on cancer treatment. She is an experienced integrative oncologist who can help you get better cancer treatment. Check this website frequently for updates. You can also call her for consultations.

The Negative Influences of Certain Dietary Components On The Immune System Of A Cancer Patient

 

Related articles
Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedin

Ketogenic Diet and Cancer

August 1, 2014

The Role of Calorie Restriction, Amino Acid Restriction, Carbohydrate Restriction And The Ketogenic Diet

It is good to appreciate this fact; just like any other normal, healthy body cell, cancer cells also need reliable supply of nutrients to keep living. The best cancer cure that can kill the cancerous cells without affecting the normal cells would be to starve them. Basing our arguments on past research works that have investigated how the cancer cell survives it will be easier to alter diets to ensure that their best sources of nutrients are cut. However in the past it was never easy to starve the cancerous cells while ensuring that the normal healthy cells are well supplied with the nutrients as well as oxygen that are needed in metabolism by the healthy cells. The researchers have tried all experiments to find ways of killing the cancer cells by starving them while leaving the nutrient supplies to the healthy cells unaffected. One of the findings that may help this approach work is that cancer cells depend entirely on glucose to survive. The healthy body cells however can find other sources of nutrients in case the glucose supply is interrupted. Because of this loophole plus others, cancer doctors have developed dietary manipulations that can help in curbing cancer and increase survival rates to those battling with cancer.

Some of the dietary manipulations have proved to be very effective in fighting cancer while others are still not well understood. The researchers are still working on other dietary approaches to cancer treatment and we can only hope that sooner or later we will be able to treat cancer more safely with these dietary approaches. Some of the dietary manipulations that are popularly used in cancer treatment include;

Ketogenic Diet and cancer

A ketogenic diet features high quality proteins and healthy fats while it eliminates all but non-starchy vegetable carbohydrates. The logic 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 carbohydrates in your body starves the cancer cells. Just like cancer cells, the healthy cells rely on glucose but 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 is a loophole that has been used by doctors to kill the cancer cell without affecting the healthy cells.

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.

Dr. Dalal Akoury is one of the sought after integrative cancer doctors that can help in personalizing even the dietary manipulations to suit you cancer therapy. She has personalized ketogenic cancer treatment for many cancer patients and you may consider seeking her for the same.

Calorie restriction and cancer

Cancer patients who have reduced their calories intake respond better to treatment and are mostly victorious in their fight against cancer. This is a fact that has been supported by many research findings. When calories consumption is reduced, expression of certain proteins that foster cancer cells survival will be inhibited. 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 inhibited. 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.

As I have said glucose is the sole energy for cancer that if restricted then the cancer cells will be starved to death. In this approach sugar is replaced by another energy source; fat, which will help healthy cells but leave the cancer cells with no energy source to keep living. The cancerous cells lack the flexibility to feed on fat as with the healthy cells hence they will starve to death in absence of glucose.

Amino acid restriction and cancer

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 led 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 treatment.

Carbohydrate Restriction and cancer

DietCarbohydrates 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.

Dr. Dalal Akoury has been helpful to many cancer patients by availing personalized treatment. He has vast experience in integrative cancer treatment and will use this experience to get the best cancer treatment that will not leave you with severe side effects. Call on her for consultations.

The Role of Calorie Restriction, Amino Acid Restriction, Carbohydrate Restriction And The Ketogenic Diet

 

Related articles
Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedin

Noscapine And Cancer

July 31, 2014

 

Research Shows That Noscapine Is Good In Fighting Cancer

noscapineCancer researchers have done lots of work in a bid to find how this dangerous disease can be tamed or better yet done away with completely. There are many discoveries that had been made in the past and each of these discoveries is based on given philosophies. These findings have seen us have many alternatives to cancer treatments. However cancer research is a very active field that is not about to go quiet any soon. Doctors and researchers are still in pursuit of a better way to treat cancer more effectively with fewer side effects. The conventional cancer treatment methods, the naturopathic cancer treatments as well as other available alternative cancer treatments have been used in the past either solely or integrative and the effects on cancer patients treatment analyzed. However as known types of cancer as well as personal bodily reactions make these treatments have unique outcome in particular patients. In some instances they have worked well but in some they have not and this is a reason enough to keep the cancer doctors working around the clock to come up with better treatment methods.

The spread of cancer is dependent on other processes in the body. Before these processes are accomplished then cancer cells can not spread to other body parts. Recently we learnt that metastatic cancer cannot take place without angiogenesis. So doctors can use that loophole to stop metastasis. If angiogenesis is stopped then the spread of cancer is curbed. Another research has also found out that mitosis plays a major role in cancer cell survival and spreading. It is therefore necessary that various ways of inhibiting mitosis be employed to help in cancer treatment.

Noscapine is a medicinal compound found in plants of the poppy family which unlike morphine is not a pain killer nor is it addictive. This compound has been used in the past as a cough suppressant in different over-the-counter medications. Recent research has however discovered that this compound is not only good for use as a cough suppressant but can also be used in cancer treatment

Noscapine inhibits mitosis

Mitosis is a process by which body cells duplicates themselves forming genetically identical cells from the parent cell. Mitosis in the case of cancer cells will lead to multiplication of cancer cells making it hard for the spread of the disease to be curbed. Mitosis occurs through spindle formation. During spindle formation, spindles pull chromosomes to the opposite sides of the cell in preparation for the cell division. Without spindle formation the survival of the daughter cells is not possible as they are separated without getting the appropriate genetic composition from the parent cell. Noscapine inhibits spindle formation therefore making it hard for the newly divided cancer cells to survive hence it affects mitosis which in turn helps in fighting cancer.

However this compound does not only help in cancer treatment by inhibiting spindle formation. Research has shown that this compound can work on varied ways to fight cancer. It has very powerful anticancer ability. This compound is said to contain strong cell killing properties that enables it to kill cancer cells before they duplicate and spread to other body parts.

Noscapine is also very effective as an anti-angiogenesis. Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels. Cancer cannot spread without angiogenesis as it is through angiogenesis that that the tumors get fed. Supplies like nutrients pass through these new blood vessels to reach the tumors and so if angiogenesis cannot happen then the growth and spread of the tumors will be inhibited and the tumor cells will be starved. It does this by inhibiting HIF-1 alpha which supports the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Vascular endothelial is known to stimulate the growth of new blood vessels.

Noscapine is also beneficial as it inhibits another powerful cancer growth factor known as the bradikinin. Scientists have opined that any drug that can inhibit bradikinin can be very essential in cancer treatment just as chemotherapy. In fact majority of research findings point out those agents that inhibit bradikinin are better at reducing cancer cell growth than chemotherapy.

Because of its strong anticancer abilities, very many doctors have begun using Noscapine in cancer treatment. Especially in treating the following types of cancer; breast, prostate, lung, ovarian, brain, and lymphomas. Though it has been used as an effective cough suppressant, Noscapine can be a very powerful drug in fighting cancer if recent research findings are to be believed.

Another research done in 2010 Current Drug Targets showed that Noscapine was not only effective in inhibiting the growth of cancer cells but also made them more vulnerable to chemotherapy drugs. In fact that may benefit cancer patients on chemotherapy.

The above research is not the only one that endorsed the effectiveness of Noscapine in cancer treatment. Information that supports Noscapine as an effective anti-cancer agent was found in the medical research finding. The study said that Noscapine was the most effective anticancer after it was discovered that it causes cancer cell apoptosis. The experiment used Mg-63 tumor cells which are a common type of tumor of the bones.

nascopineDoctors are using Noscapine in cancer treatment and one of the doctors who have come out openly to be using the noscapine is from San Diego. He is known as Dr. Israel Barken. However he has been using it to treat his prostate cancer patients alone. He availed information on his website that proved that Noscapine reduced prostate cancer in mice greatly.

Dr. Dalal Akoury is an experienced integrative cancer doctor who has made it her duty to help you stay cancer free by availing valuable information about cancer on this website. You can contact her for consultations.

Research shows that Noscapine is good in fighting cancer

 

Related articles

Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedin

Herbal supplements and cancer

July 31, 2014

Herbal Supplementation As Used in Cancer therapy

Cancer is a disease that has depopulated the world greatly, needless to mention it has caused us pain as it has taken our loved ones to the cemetery earlier than we thought and we are also at risk of getting this disease. Cancer though dangerous as it sounds can be treated very effectively by an integrative doctor. The integrative doctors are better placed to treat cancer as they combine both conventional and naturopathic treatments to ensure that the patient gets the best treatment that is devoid of all the side effects that may threaten their lives. One of the integrative doctors that have seen many cancer patients get the best integrative treatment devoid of life threatening side effects is Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) who has empowered lots of cancer patients through her website and direct consultations. She has journeyed with the cancer patients to recovery and still advocates for integrative cancer treatment.

Herbal supplementation in cancer treatment is very vital as one of the most effective cancer treatments is the use of nature given herbs, vegetables and fruits. Vegetables, fruits and herbs are rich in nutrients that cancer patient needs to strengthen his immunity as well as help in fighting the disease. They are also full of antioxidants that are useful in fighting free radicals that are often by products of conventional treatments as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In surgery these herbal supplements will help in healing the wounds and hasten the formation of tissues; a process critical in healing after surgery.

The conventional cancer treatments are not as effective as they ought to be when used without herbal supplementation. In fact they leave patients with lots of life threatening side effects. Chemotherapy is one of the most known cancer treatments that works in such a way that it kills the cancerous cells, however in the process of killing the cancer cells the healthy cell are also killed and the patient will suffer the consequences which includes loss of hair, nausea, loss of appetite and loss of weight among other dangers associated with chemotherapy. Dr. Dalal Akoury encourages cancer patients to consider using herbal supplements during and after chemotherapy. She opines that herbal supplementation may help in improving the effectiveness of chemotherapy as some of them have compounds that increase drug uptake by the cancerous cells hence making chemotherapy to be more strategic.

Using the herbal supplements after chemotherapy will also help the cancer patients to evade the life threatening side effects that chemotherapy is always known for making them popular among cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. She however advices that you need the directives of a qualified integrative cancer doctor to help you choose the best herbal supplements for you. This is because if herbal supplementation is done inappropriately, it may interfere with the chemotherapy treatment. The best thing to do is consult her so that she can recommend the best herbal supplements that are good for your cancer.

Seemingly, Dr. Dalal Akoury is not the only person who recommends herbal supplementation during cancer treatment. Colleen Doyle, the director of nutrition and physical activity for the American Cancer Society says that whatever you eat and the quantity you eat will have a long term impact in your fight for cancer. He advises that you should reduce the amount of sweets and unhealthy fats and increase the amounts of healthy foods that can help you in fighting cancer. Most foods we eat may not give us adequate nutrients as needed by our bodies to build stronger immune systems and to help in fighting cancer. Therefore it is appropriate to look for herbal supplements available in the market that may avail these needed mineral and vitamins that may help us in a bid to fight cancer.

FDA Approved

There are very many over the counter herbal supplements that can be used in cancer treatments, however the fact that they are herbal or other natural supplements does not automatically make them safe for use. In the past some researchers had linked certain compounds in the herbal supplements to cause negative interactions with the chemotherapy drugs and hence affecting the treatment. As I said, it is not wise to walk to a food store and buy over the counter herbal supplements and use it yourself without intervention of a qualified integrative cancer doctor. It may affect your treatment negatively. FDA tests and approves the herbal supplements and it is good to check for the FDA approved herbal supplements to be used for cancer treatments as they often check on the toxicity of the supplements before they are approved.

Dr. Dalal Akoury also warns that the herbal supplements should not be used solely for advance cancer treatment as that may not be logical. It calls for an integrative doctor to advice on the best way to go about herbal supplementation and no patient should combine any herbal supplement with conventional treatment without consultations from an integrative oncologist.

herbalTo learn more about cancer and stay cancer free, you need to find a reliable doctor who will not only avail reliable information about cancer but also whom you can call for consultations. Dr. Dalal Akoury has been availing very empowering information to cancer patients on this website. Information that has seen many cancer patients get the best treatment in their fight against cancer. You can check this website frequently for information about cancer plus you can call her for consultations as many others are doing.

Herbal Supplementation in Cancer therapy

Related articles

Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedin

Angiogenesis and Metastasis

July 30, 2014

 The Role of Angiogenesis Inhibitors In Integrative Cancer Care
Cancer patients always have a fear that their cancer may become metastatic. If it becomes metastatic it becomes a problem to treat and may cause lots of damage to the healthy cells in the patient’s body. Metastastasis however cannot happen without angiogenesis. Therefore if the cancer doctors find a way of avoiding angiogenesis then it can be easier to avoid metastatic cancer. One of the known characteristics of cancerous cells is that they divide rapidly and their growth is uncontrolled, this is a major challenge as the danger increases with how well they are well spread in the body. The best way to control the spread of cancer is to control angiogenesis by the aid of angiogenesis inhibitors.

What is angiogenesis?

Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels. This is a natural process that occurs majorly during growth and development of children. The mother’s womb has to form new blood vessels that are important in the development of the infant. This is a crucial process and is known as vascologeneis. However this process happens less often in adults and may happen during wound healing. In women it happens during the menstruation cycle. When this formation of new blood vessels is induced by tumor, it is referred to as tumor angiogenesis. This happens when the tumors release molecules that signal the surrounding tissues. It is this signaling that activates genes that make proteins to initiate growth of new blood vessels. These new blood vessels penetrate into the cancerous cells and help them grow by supplying them with the needed nutrients and removing wastes out of them hence creating an environment that favors their growth and metastasis.

For tumors to grow and metastasize, angiogenesis is a necessity without which the cancerous cells will become inactive and may even die. The network of newly formed blood vessels become very dangerous to the cancer patient as they enhance the growth of the cancerous cells, spreading to other parts of the body and inflicting pain. For this situation to be controlled there is need to cut the nutrient and oxygen supply to these cancerous cells.

Being that cancer cells depend on angiogenesis to grow and metastasize, cancer  therapies that target  angiogenesis can potentially help in treating cancer. Angiogenesis is necessary for growth and metastasis of all cancer cells irrespective of the type of cancer. Cancer treatments that target angiogenesis will definitely aid in treatment of all cancers. The basis of therapies that target angiogenesis is that if angiogenesis can be stopped then the cancerous cells will be killed as they will not access the necessary supplies hence will starve to death.

Copper and Angiogenesis

Copper is a trace element the needs to highly regulated as any slight homeostatic copper disruptions may result in serious health complications such as the Wilson’s disease. Copper is also known to be necessary for angiogenesis. Without copper angiogenesis cannot take place. Copper therefore fuels cancer tumor growth and metastasis. Anti-angiogenic therapies can be used to curb this situation. tetrathiomolybdate (TM) is effective in copper chelation.  Researchers have proved that TM forms a stable tripartite complex with copper and protein. If given with food, it chelates food copper with food protein and prevents absorption of copper in the bloodstream. There is endogenous secretion of copper in saliva and gastric secretions associated with food intake, and this copper is also chelated by TM when it is taken with meals, thereby preventing copper re-absorption.

Researchers have tested the effects of the tetrathiomolybdate (TM) on mice that were injected with cancer cells and left for a week for angiogenesis to begin. After the new blood vessels had been formed the mice was injected tetrathiomolybdate (TM). The angiogenesis stopped and the tumor growth stopped. Tetrathiomolybdate (TM) is targeted by many researchers who want to verify if it can be used as a cancer treatment. However from researches that had been done in the past it was concluded that tetrathiomolybdate (TM) has a unique action on the copper that fuels angiogenesis and retarded tumor growth with little side effects. If cancer patients are given TM with food their copper balance become negative which does not support angiogenesis. The copper that is bound by TM cannot do any meaningful biological activity as it cannot be absorbed by cells and is excreted in the urine having been cleared by bile.

Typically the level of cancer that is needed for angiogenesis is much higher as compared to the amount of copper that is needed for cellular activities that are dependent on cancer like cytochrome function and heme synthesis. Cancer therapy that are based on anti-copper may work well as the copper needed for cellular activities will be retained even when TM is used to as an anti-copper angiogenic agent.

Low molecular weight heparins

Researchers have also found out that Low molecular weight heparins helps in improving the cancer patient’s chances of survival as it inhibits metastasis. The low molecular weight heparins are said to curb metastasis by preventing cancer cell triggered destruction of the endothelial glycocalyx. In experimental animal models and clinical tests; it was found that the low molecular weight heparins protects against cancer progression and metastasis. This is said by the scientists is possible as the low molecular weight inhibits metastasis interfering with the cancer cell binding on the platelets. Cancer cell needs to attach themselves to the platelets to move to other parts of the body. Low molecular weight heparins also inhibit metastasis through binding of heparanase or hyaluronidase thereby protecting the vascular endothelium from invasion by the cancer cells.

Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) is an expert in integrative cancer treatment and can avail you the best advice to help you cure or better yet prevent cancer. You can always call her for consultations.

 The Role of Angiogenesis Inhibitors In Integrative Cancer Care

Related articles
Facebooktwitterpinterestlinkedin

  • Recent Posts

  • Blog Categories