Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are
unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumours.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.


WHAT CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very sma ll amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk, cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to no urish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at
temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.


12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the
body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax
and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

I AM ASHAMED

“I AM ASHAMED” said a decrepit man to his grandson on watching the aftermath of ‘Kargil in Mumbai’ on television. Can the series of events on and post 26/11 be an eye opener for all of us please?

The lust for power, fame and wealth displayed by the acts of certain sects of responsible people was disgraceful to the core. We know that a person who gives away his life for the motherland is said to attain immortality. Why then is his soul being treated as filth by the mortal souls? Have our souls gone dead? A foreign citizen might get a second grade treatment in another country, but why is he getting third grade treatment in his own country?Can we for a moment pause and dwell within our own selves to find out if we are a part of the problem or the solution.


Ø Why can’t we question as to where is our hard earned money being used? Do we have any idea of where are the huge sums of cess and taxes are being deployed? If corporate India can present quarterly Profit & Loss Account, and Balance Sheet why can’t the administrative machinery do the same?

Ø Are we doing our duty well? After all rights and duties are complementary to each other. Do we ever hesitate to bribe the traffic police after breaking traffic laws and being caught? Do we think twice before throwing a chocolate wrapper or any garbage on the road from our vehicles? Are’nt we adding to the poisonous environment? Do we want our coming generations to breathe in the poison contributed by none other than us?

Ø Why have we become so used to adopting shortcuts? Do shortcuts take us to the destination of human life or to deep pits? As they say, as you sow, so shall you reap.

Ø Why have we become so complacent that nothing but only self interest interests us? Why have we become so redundant that we can take everything lying down with ease first and then taking out our frustration somewhere else? Is there no room for improvement? Are there any locks without keys?

Let’s pause for a moment and do a little rethinking about our own acts, so that we do not have to say this to our grandchildren “I AM ASHAMED”.

Jagjit Singh in one of his ghazals says “yeh mere khvabon ki duniyan nahin sahi lekin, ab aagaya hoon to ---- karta chaloon”. I beg to differ, though I love the ghazal, it’s we who have turned away from our dreams, and not the other way around. Let’s take the first step in the right direction so that we don’t die leading a life full of compromises. I’ll end with a prayer that has helped me through various ups and downs of life:
GOD GIVE ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE,
THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN,
AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.

Your suggestions and comments would be of immense value.