Naturopathic Medicine and Cancer

By Dr. Cynthia Bye
Licensed Naturopathic Physician

Most of us have a fear of getting cancer. With the cancer statistics showing ever increasing numbers of people getting cancer, we need to look at doing things differently. We need to look closer at a holistic approach to cancer. So what would this look like?

First: we have to be more proactive in improving preventative measures. If the average cost of cancer care from diagnosis till death is $250-350,000.00, we can reduce the demand on the medical system and spare the traumatic impact on ourselves and our family by being proactive in preventing cancer to begin with. Statistics show that the best way to obtain a 100% cure rate from cancer is to never get it in the first place.

Second: For those who already have cancer we need to provide co-management of the cancer patient while they are going through some very harsh therapies to reduce side effects and protect the healthy cells in the body.

Third: Once the cancer patient has finished their standard therapies, we need to build the body back to health and decrease the chance of recurrence.

Most of us are familiar with the lifestyle practices that contribute to the risk of cancer.

• Standard American Diet (SAD) - high in refined carbohydrates, sugar and fat, and low in fiber, fruits and vegetables which have all the antioxidants in them. According to the National Academy of Science, 60% of Cancer in women and 40% in men may be due to dietary and nutritional factors.
• It is a well know fact that sugar and simple carbohydrates that raise the blood sugar quickly depress the immune system. Sugar is the preferred fuel source for cancer cells. Cancer cells proliferate faster when the blood sugar is high.
• Stress depresses the immune system, and lack of sleep decrease our ability to repair our bodies.
• Lack of sunshine (I know what you are thinking, but we need sun to be healthy, just don't burn).
• Lack of exercise. Cancer cells live in an anaerobic (low oxygen) environment, it is theorized that one of the reason people who exercise regularly don't get as much cancer is due to the increased oxygenation of their blood. This increased oxygenation is not just during exercise but also at rest because their heart is stronger and can pump more oxygen carrying blood around.

For those who already have cancer, it is time to empower yourself to optimize your health. Most people don't know this, but we all have cancer cells running around in our body. The good news is if we are healthy and our body is functioning optimally, we have natural systems in place that help to detect and eliminate these abnormal cells. The question becomes, what in the body of a person with cancer is not as healthy as it should be, allowing for these abnormal cancer cells to grow beyond what the body can handle? So the first thing I do with my cancer patients is functional medicine whereby I help the body to function the way it is supposed to. This includes:

• Digestion -we are not what we eat, we are what we digest. If you don't digest your food, you will be malnurished
• Liver function to eliminate toxins from the body and reduce the toxic load.
• Immune function- to help eliminate the cancer cells
• Blood sugar regulation-high blood sugar increases the proliferation rate of cancer cells
• Reduce inflammation in the body- cancer is an inflammatory process
• Reducing oxidative stress by eliminating things like smoking
• Reducing the toxic load going into the body and increasing the body's ability to get rid of toxins. This would include up-regulating all the eliminatory pathways in the body. We are all familiar with two eliminatory paths, but there is also the liver, the lungs, the lymph and the skin. Did you know that the skin is the largest elimination organ in the body? The skin is also one of the last organs of elimination. So when someone comes to me with skin problems, I suspect that they have a high toxic load.

The other things that I do with my cancer patients is to work with them in conjunction with their oncologist to design a program that is cancer specific, chemotherapy or radiation specific. There is a lot of research now showing that natural support with supplements, herbs and diet can help increase the effectiveness and reduce the side effects from the standard cancer therapies. We know the standard of care for cancer is very hard on the body. Many times cancer therapy damages the immune system, irritates the digestive system so we can't eat, and reduces white blood cells which are part of our immune system and our red blood cells that carry our oxygen around resulting in fatigue and a low oxygen environment. Many of the systems we need to be healthy are negatively affected by the chemotherapy and radiation used to treat the cancer. My job is to prevent or reduce these damaging effects and do everything to support my patients through their therapies. This approach reduces the debilitating side effects and allows for improved quality of life while going through cancer treatment.

Finally if we have had cancer, we need to be proactive in preventing a recurrence. Many times my patients tell me after they are done with their cancer care, they are sent home and told to "carry on" and get back to their old lives. I remind my patients that carrying on as they did before cancer is what got them there in the first place. We work together to focus on changing the things that were probable contributors and making sure the body functions the way it was intended to in order to improve their health and reduce their chance of recurrence.

Dr. Cynthia Bye
Licensed Naturopathic Physician

Working with you to proactively optimize your health

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©2004 Dr. Cynthia Bye
Journey to Wellness, LLC
315 E. Evergreen Blvd. Ste G
Vancouver, WA 98660
Phone: (360) 281-6928
Web: http://www.CynthiaBye.com/
Email: cynthia@CynthiaBye.com