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Opioids and Cancer

September 27, 2014

How the use of opioids disturbs the cancer balance

OpioidsWhat are opiods?

There are several important things about opiods that you need to know at this stage. First, it is important to note that strictly speaking, the term ‘opioids’ is used to describe a group of chemical compounds that are defined by two important characteristics: having chemical action that is similar to that of morphine and being made of a distinct chemical structure. For many of the compounds that are categorized under this umbrella, their structures vary. Whereas some have distinct alkaloid structures, others occur in the form of peptides.

The second thing is about the occurrence of opioids. Naturally, opioids are found in two distinctive forms: occurring freely in the environment and within the body of human beings. Although initially the possibility of occurrence of opioids within the body of humans was strongly refuted, rigorous research has indicated that indeed the human brain contains specific endogenous opioids that play important role in different functions.

The third thing regards the interaction of opioids with complementary chemical compounds. Further studies have indicated that there are compounds whose actions contradict that of opioids. Known as antagonists, such compounds play a highly important role in their interaction with opioids in relation to influencing particular processes in the body. We shall examine this subject later.

How are opioids used?

For years, opioids have been used for a range of functions. Basically, the use of opioids has been in the form of morphine, which is a commonly occurring plant. Morphine has been used for medicinal as well as recreational purposes for long. Since the use of the plant for medicinal purposes is what matters with regard to our discussion, we shall focus on it.

At the commercial level, morphine has actually been used to relieve pain in chronically ill patients. Take cancer for example, the disease has been known to produce intense pain in patients. To relieve patients of this, morphine-based painkillers are extensively used. This is one common and formal way in which morphine (a common source of opioids) is used for commercial purposes.

The ability of opioids in general and morphine in particular to act as a strong analgesic has been a subject of research for long. Studies have indicated that the compounds have specific effects on the nervous system which translates to drastic reduction in pain. This explains the popularity of morphine-based painkillers as the standard therapy for cancer patients who have undergone an operation as part of the therapy or simply those in advanced stages of cancer.

Therefore, whether for recreation or medicinal use, opioids, have been extensively used to relieve cancer patients of pain in the course of treatment.

How opioids act

Basically, the action of opioids on the body can best be understood when you understand what opioid receptors are. Your body is made of special compounds which act as receptors for opioids. The receptors are distributed in several parts of your body, with many of them being in the central nervous system. It is this phenomenon that explains why opioids have a very strong effect on the nervous system. Others are distributed in different parts of your body such as the lungs, liver and other internal organs.

There are several types of receptors. It is the interaction between specific opioids and receptors that causes particular feelings in the body. Whereas some receptors are meant to trigger feelings of relief when they come into contact with opioids, others are designed to trigger changes in other physiological processes when opioids are introduced. The interaction between opioids and receptors is an important process when it comes to how opioids may disturb the cancer balance in the body.

How do opioids disturb cancer balance?

Simply put, cancer balance is a situation in which the process of metastasis, angiogenesis and invasion of healthy body cells by cancerous ones is completely inhibited. Research has indicated that use of opioids as painkillers can disturb this balance, thus leading to development of cancer in the body. On the other hand, other studies have indicated that morphine, in particular, may have anti-cancer properties by inhibiting the cancer development process mentioned above.

One way in which opioids used as painkillers can disturb the cancer balance is by altering the normal functioning of the immune system. Since cancer development largely depends on the state of the immune system, any compound that alters the immune system can indirectly influence the possible occurrence, development and spread of cancer. From several studies conducted, it can be concluded that particular opioids are able to alter the normal functioning of the immune system, thus exposing a patient on whom they are used to cancer development.

On the other hand, some studies have indicated that morphine is able to induce natural cell death and, as a result, control the growth of cancer cells in the body. However, this property, which highly depends on a number of different factors such as the concentration of the morphine that is used and the state of the opioid receptors in the body, remains a subject of research. What you need to know is that there has been concrete evidence to the effect that the use of opioids for relief of pain in cancer patients may actually disturb the cancer balance and trigger fresh development of cancer. This happens because of the effect that opioids have on the immune system of the patient in the form of production and inhibition of production of important hormones.

OpioidsConcluding remarks

Here at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, we use the best approaches to administer alternative and complementary treatment of cancer to patients. Dr. Dalal Akoury is a specialist in this field. One thing, though, that sets her apart is her devotion to helping cancer patients successfully fight the devastating effects of the disease. Feel free to visit us in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a completely personalized administration of alternative and complementary therapies for cancer.

How the use of opioids disturbs the cancer balance

 

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Fever Therapy as Used In Cancer Treatment

September 27, 2014

Fever Therapy and Cancer

A brief history of fever therapy

The idea of using fever as a curative method for various diseases dates back to thousands of years ago. Essentially, this method was used to treat a number of different diseases that were chronic at the time, like tuberculosis. The idea behind the method is simple. Fever of the body is seen as a natural means that the body uses to fight invading bacteria, fungi and other disease-causing microorganisms. Therefore, by stimulating fever, the body of an individual can manage to fight a number of diseases by simply slowing down the rate of growth of the microorganisms that are causing the disease. Stimulation of fever in patients was by use of special preparations.

Coley’s toxins as Alternative cancer treatment

Currently, fever therapy in cancer treatment is applied in the form of Coley’s Mixed Bacterial Vaccine. This is a form of treatment that is administered to patients intravenously. When administered to a patient, the vaccine causes a number of reactions that are prove to be beneficial after some time. First, a patient experiences high fever in the form a rise in body temperature, feelings of being nauseated and pain in some parts of the body. The symptoms that a patient experiences after it is administered are similar to those experienced in the classical case of a fever.

The most important observation that one makes when this treatment is used against cancer is that the location of the cancer becomes tender suddenly. This tenderness is an indication of the effect that the fever is having on the cancer cells. Usually, cancer cells are easily killed by heat as compared to healthy body cells. Therefore, the high body temperature that arises from fever is an effective means of killing them. This explains the feeling of tenderness at the place where the tumor is located that one experiences after this treatment is administered.

After the softness in the tumor region, a patient usually observes a drastic reduction in the extent of swelling at the area. Tumors are represented by swellings as a result of the uncontrollable division of cancerous cells. Therefore, the heat from the fever is able to kill the majority of cancer cells within the region, thus leading to a reduction in the size of the swelling.

How Coley’s toxins works as an Alternative cancer treatment

The observations that one makes when using this treatment are a reflection of complex biochemical activities that take place within the body of a patient. These are explained as follows. First, the ability of this treatment to reduce the extent of growth of cancer cells has been attributed to its ability to alter the functioning of the immune system. This happens in several interrelated ways. For example, the treatment has been known to stimulate the production of specific hormones that have been known to boost the way the immune system works in general. Since cancer thrives comfortably in an environment that is characterized by a weak immune system, boosting the overall strength of the immune system is an effective means of combating the rate of growth and development of cancer cells. This is one of the things that use of Coley’s Mixed Bacterial Vaccine achieves in the body of a patient.

Secondly, the efficacy of this treatment against cancer cells is as a result of its role in promoting the activities of lymphoid tissues in the body of a patient. The lymphoid tissues play a key role in stimulating the way the immune system works. Therefore, when the vaccine is administered to a cancer patient as part of alternative cancer treatment therapy, it triggers a fever which in turn stimulates the lymphoid glands to produce specific hormones like Interleukin2 that work to undermine progression of cancer in the body.

Lastly, Coley’s Mixed Bacterial Vaccine has been known to combat the growth and progression of cancer by accelerating the processes by which body cells remove toxic waste products. Since cancer develops in an environment in which there is a buildup in toxins such as lactic acid within the cells, this treatment reduces the possibility of further cancer development by ensuring that the cell environment is free of such toxins.

Side effects of Coley’s toxins as Alternative cancer treatment

Although Coley’s Mixed Bacterial Vaccine has been successfully used as part of a standard regimen for the treatment of different types of cancer, its use is not without side effects. There have been cases of patients experiencing headaches and pain in some parts of the body such as the back and chest. Practice however, has indicated that the side effects do clear with time.

FeverAnother important thing to note about this treatment is that it is possible for it to interact with some other forms of therapies that may be used. Therefore, it is important for the person administering it to understand possible interaction between this therapy and other forms of therapy such as use of drugs.

Coley’s toxins therapy as an alternative treatment for cancer is available at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Centre in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Together with other forms of therapy, it is used as an alternative treatment for cancer in patients. Dr. Dalal Akoury has been in the practice of treating cancer patients using alternative and complementary therapies for years now. Contact her today for highly personalized and effective care.

Fever Therapy and Cancer

 

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IV NAD in Cancer Treatment

September 26, 2014

IV NAD as an Alternative cancer treatment

What is NAD?

IV NADNicotinamide Adenamide Dinucleotide (NAD) is an important molecule in the body of humans that is related to the process of production of energy required for all life activities. Basically, the food that we eat is usually broken down through a complex biochemical process to produce this molecule. The NAD molecule that is produced is then used to transport hydrogen at the cellular level. The combination of hydrogen that is carried by this molecule with oxygen within the mitochondria of the cell produces energy and water as byproducts of the reaction. The energy, which is produced in the form of a molecule called ATP, is what drives the processes of life in the body of a normal human being.

For healthy individuals, the importance of NAD cannot be overemphasized. First, availability of the molecule in sufficient amounts is necessary for one to experience a feeling of overall physical energy. Further, having sufficient amounts of NAD in the body is associated with good mental health, increased libido and overall good health. All these are positive attributes that make this molecule an important determinant of how healthy a person is at any given time. The reverse is true; deficiency of NAD in the body often leads to prolonged fatigue and other related illnesses.

Relationship between NAD and Cancer

There is a very complex relationship between the NAD molecule and different types of cancer. To begin with, the molecule is a byproduct of a complicated biochemical process known as the citric acid cycle in the cells. At the start of the citric acid cycle is vitamin B3, an important nutrient that is derived from good nutrition. Therefore, vitamin B3 is an important precursor for the production of NAD in the body.

One of the most important types of vitamin B is Niacin. This is a chemical that is produced in the body of a healthy individual and its function is to produce special enzymes that are required for the proper production and utilization of NAD. The enzymes are also useful in that they ensure that the Kreb’s cycle within the cells progresses without any major interruption. In the event that the cycle is interrupted as a result of lack of coenzymes, which can be traced back to insufficient niacin in the body, the cells of the body get exposed to the possibility of development of cancer.

The link between deficiency of NAD and possible development of cancer can best be understood when one considers what happens to the cells of the body when the normal Kreb’s cycle is interrupted with. Under such conditions, there is increased production of lactic acid and fermentation as the body cells seek to get a new source of energy. With increased fermentation, there is a rise in the level of lactic acid within the cells. It is such anaerobic conditions that precipitate the conversion of somatids into fungi – like microorganisms that have been found to play a key role in inducing changes in otherwise normal and healthy body cells into toxic and cancerous ones.

Therefore, lack of niacin leads to deficiency in NAD which in turn causes a decline in the amount of important enzymes. The end result is that the cell environment becomes toxic, characterized by an increase in lactic acid, conditions that ultimately lead to cancer development.

How IV NAD works as an alternative cancer treatment

There are several specific ways in which IV NAD treatment works as a component of an alternative cancer treatment regimen. What one needs to know, however, is that when administered intravenously, the treatment is quite effective because then NAD is transported to the brain of patient. Since this is where the receptors of the molecule are located, intravenous administration of this treatment produces intense and long standing results in patients. It is here that the effects of the molecule are felt before being replicated in the other parts of the body.

One way in which IV NAD treatment can be useful for cancer patients as part of the alternative treatment therapy being used lies in its characteristic as a strong detoxification agent. Basically, NAD has been known to rid the cells of all manner of toxins that accumulate over the course of time, particularly under conditions of a debilitating condition like cancer. Therefore, when administered to cancer patients, IV NAD treatment enhances the overall health of the patient by cleansing the cells of the body of all manner of toxins.

Another way in which this form of treatment can be useful as an alternative cancer treatment technique lies in its ability to boost the effectiveness of other forms of treatment that are in use. This treatment is effective in enhancing the ability of pharmacological drugs being used as treatment to kill cancerous cells in the body of a patient. The exact mechanism by which the treatment enhances the cancer – killing ability of chemotherapy while preserving normal body cells is a topic of research.

IV NADTherefore, common understanding is that niacin itself shown anti- cancer properties and when used as part of an IV NAD treatment in cancer patients, is able to enhance the effectiveness of other standard therapies being used.

IV NAD is offered at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center as part of alternative cancer treatment therapy. Dr. Dalal Akoury has won accolades in the practice of alternative treatment for cancer. You can pay her a visit for this service as well as other natural methods of overcoming NAD deficiency in the body. We are located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

IV NAD as an Alternative cancer treatment

 

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Integrative Medicine and Biomedicine

September 25, 2014

The Difference between Integrative Medicine  and Biomedicine

IntegrativeThere are several differences between integrative medicine and biomedicine. These are discussed in the sections that follow.

Difference in overall purpose

Integrative medicine is an approach to medicine that is focused on combining alternative therapies with the conventional ones as a way of providing complete treatment to patients. Complete treatment in this case represents overall wellbeing in the body, mind and spirit of a patient. On the other hand, biomedicine is a distinct approach in medicine in which overall health of an individual is seen as a state in which the functioning of all the internal systems of the body is at an optimum level. It can be seen that whereas the focus of integrated medicine is on ensuring that a patient is healthy in body, spirit and mind, the focus of biomedicine is to ensure that all the internal systems are working properly. It is only when the internal systems are at their optimum level that an individual can be said to be in perfect health.

Difference in the role that the patient plays during treatment

It can be said that in both approaches, the patient takes the central position in the treatment process. Both forms lay much emphasis on the principle that good treatment should be patient – centered in the first place. It is this approach that differentiates these practices from conventional medicine.

However, the manner in which the patient is expected to play a central role in the course of treatment differs distinctively in both approaches. In biomedicine, the patient is taken to be the master. It is the uniqueness and specific demands of the patient that determine the nature, type and timing of the therapies used. This differs significantly from what takes place during the course of treatment under the integrative medicine approach. Since integrative medicine entails use of conventional and alternative therapies in the course of treatment, the role that the patient plays during this process is likely to vary depending on whether he or she is undergoing conventional therapies or getting complementary ones.

This is so because whereas the role of the patient in course of complementary therapies like nutritional supplements and exercises may remain central, this may not necessarily be the case in the course of undergoing conventional therapies such as chemotherapy in the case of cancer.

Differences in what constitutes the key aspects of a human being

The two approaches, biomedicine and integrative medicine, differ from each other in the way they view what the elements that constitute a whole person are. Although this may be a difference in principle, it does have an influence in practice since the approaches that are used and the way that they are administered really depends on the underlying principles of the practice.

In biomedicine, a whole person is seen as being composed of three key systems: neurological, digestive and immunological. It can be seen that clearly, the emphasis is on the biochemical composition of the body of a person. It then follows that disease, under this approach, is a result of a form of imbalance in any of these systems. Such imbalances may be caused by a buildup of toxins or poor intake of nutrients. Since this is the case, the approach works by seeking to restore balance to the biochemical functioning of a patient. This is done by recommending the kind of nutrients that should be taken to restore the balance in the three systems and ensure that removal of poisonous byproducts is efficient.

In integrative medicine, an individual is viewed as being made up of three aspects: the physical, spiritual and mental. Therefore, the health of an individual depends on how well the three aspects are functioning. It can be seen that the focus for integrative medicine is wider than that of biomedicine which is based on the biochemistry of the body and its related internal systems.

Differences in the kinds of therapies used

There are also fundamental differences between biomedicine and integrative medicine with regard to the kind of therapies that are used during treatment. For the case of integrative medicine, it should be noted that the approach combines conventional and complementary therapies. The conventional therapies that are used in the course of treatment under this approach vary with the disease that is being treated. A common point is that they include use of pharmaceutical drugs, special procedures such as surgery and other methods whose development and use has been based on rigorous scientific research, technological development and clinical trials.

In addition to these therapies, integrative medicine entails the use of other therapies which are derived from a number of different sources. For instance, different types of physical exercises may be used in the course of treatment. Also, practices such as acupuncture, body massage and use of special nutritional supplements may be used in the course of treatment.

The goal of combining these apparently different forms of treatment is that by doing this, the methods complement each other, thus enabling a patient to have full health in body, mind and spirit.

IntegrativeAlthough biomedicine may use some of the alternative methods that are used in integrative medicine like naturopathic medicine, the mode of treatment under this approach remains confined to such methods.

Dr. Dalal Akoury of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Centre has been on the forefront in the use of biomedicine and integrative medicine in the treatment of various diseases and conditions, chief among them being cancer. If you have a chronic disease or any condition that requires the attention of a doctor, do not hesitate to contact us for an engagement. We value our clients; that is why we endeavor to offer the most personalized care to them for any kind of condition.

The Difference between Integrative Medicine  and Biomedicine

 

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Night of Beauty with Dr. Dalal Akoury

September 23, 2014
Night of Beauty

Night of Beauty

NIGHT OF BEAUTY

Dr. Dalal Akoury founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center invites you to join us for a fabulous Night of Beauty open house dedicated to rejuvenating your beauty and healing the mind, spirit and body. Learn about the latest procedures in revolutionary natural beauty and integrative health.

Dr. Akoury unveiled a breakthrough in beauty aesthetic medicine with the launch of Platelet Rich Plasma Treatment (PRP) more commonly known as the ‘Vampire Facelift’ used for the first time in Myrtle Beach. Used by Hollywood’s red carpet elite, Advanced Dermatology take a blood sample and use a high speed centrifuge to separate the plasma for use, so the patient’s own blood is used to guarantee a perfect match. The treatment can reduce sagging, increase beauty and give skin a warm and healthy glow. This beauty treatment drastically reduces wrinkles and eliminate under eye circles.

It is a natural, safe, quick and effective beauty solution for visible improvement in texture and luminescence of the skin. ‘Vampire Facelift’ involves using the person’s own platelets for removing signs of aging and is more effective than other beauty treatments as it has no side effects and offers long-lasting, maximum guaranteed results. This non-surgical form of facial rejuvenation restores shape, improves tone, as well as literally rejuvenating new and younger tissue. The PRP treatment would be administered by Dr. Dalal Akoury and provided at 4710 Oleander Drive, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577.

Come join us for an informative night of beauty the natural way!

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