CANCER is on target to be the number one killer of Americans in 2020.
The CDC (Center for Disease Control) predicts that, by 2020, cancer will become the Leading cause of death in the United States.
That information sounds quite ominous. However, this is not all bad news.
Heart Disease has been the number one killer for decades, but the U.S. has made solid improvement reducing deaths from heart disease. That is actually the main reason that death by cancer is now beginning to overtake death by heart disease. There has been a significant decrease in death from heart disease, while death rates due to cancer have hardly moved. Look at the following chart comparing death by heart disease and death by cancer.
I feel encouraged that medical science has been able to make a difference on this. But don’t start to rejoice just yet; because while deaths have now been reduced to a mere 600,000 per year, many Americans have some form of heart disease and each year MORE people are diagnosed with heart disease. In fact, the diagnosis rates for both cancer and heart disease are on the rise.
Cardiovascular diseases affect nearly half of American adults
(Published in American Heart Association News – January 31, 2019)
A chart from the article linked above shows that, although some progress has been made, there has been very little reduction in the number of deaths from cancer. This means that over 600,000 people will die of cancer this year and over 600,000 will die of heart disease.
Another chart I found interesting is the rate of increase of cancer diagnosis. The blue line shows an encouraging trend; however it is nominal. It shows that the rate of incidence of cancer per 100,000 people is decreasing. However, the total number of cases of cancer increases each year so that in 2020 we can expect 1.9 million new cases. Ten years ago we less than 1.5 million new cases per year.
These charts simply outline the size of the problem and indicate where progress has been made. Sadly, the data shows little progress in curbing cancer, even though we have spent billions of dollars on research. We keep coming up with new expensive treatments for patients to spend their money on with very little improvement in life expectancy.
It is my opinion that we are while we should continue to do research and learn about new treatment–and hopefully cures–we should also spend more time on Cancer prevention.
Prevention is not a popular path because it can become complex, with lifestyle changes sometimes being difficult personally and socially.
Prevention requires that individuals take responsibility for their own heath by choosing what they eat, inhale and put on their skin. This sounds simple but it requires a huge amount of education of the population. Prevention requires research into the environmental causes of cancer, along with cancer caused by consumer products. And it oftentimes means rethinking all commonly-used personal products, laundry detergents and, of course, foods and drinks.
What are You Drinking?
A 2019 study by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) involving 450,000 people over a 16 year period shows that people who drank soft drinks sweetened with sugar or artificial sweetener have an increased risk of overall mortality. Of course this study included cancer along with other disease such as digestive and circulatory disease.
What Oil are you Using to Cook?
Nearly everywhere you’ll find canola oil. It abounds in restaurants and packaged foods. It’s even found in products with the USDA Label. (Huh? Canola oil was the first GMO food, created in the 1970’s!) “It’s healthy”, so many people believe. It turns out that this chemical/food-industry-promoted thinking may be dead wrong. We’ve known this for many years thru our science-backed food-as-medicine certification training, but let’s see what’s being discovered today, in 2019.
In a study published in 2019 in Cancer Prevention Research, mice were fed food fried in canola oil and others were fed food with the oil mixed in. The object was to study the effect of this on colon cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.
The researchers looked at the effects of the diets on colonic inflammation, colon tumor growth and gut leakage, finding that the frying oil diet worsened all the conditions. “The tumors doubled in size from the control group to the study group.”
To test their hypothesis that the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids, (which occurs when the oil is heated), is instrumental in the inflammatory effects, the researchers isolated polar compounds from the frying oil and fed them to the mice. The results were “very similar” to those from the experiment in which the mice were fed frying oil, suggesting that the polar compounds created inflammatory effects.
The conclusion was this: Thermally processed (heated) oil exaggerates colonic inflammation and colitis-associated colon tumorigenesis (the creation of tumors) in mice. Cancer Prevention Research, 2019
These are just two examples of the kind of useful research that is being conducted in the year 2019. Other, more controversial research is the study of such items as which pesticides, food additives, color additives, flavorings, preservatives and household cleaners contribute to cancer mortality– or other mortality– in our society.
So what can you do besides vote with your dollars & time….and hope for the best?
Holistic Medicine has some great answers for you. Changing you mind, food, habits, and cellular emotional environment can make a huge difference for your health and longevity. I equate it to safe and proactive driving. While safe and proactive driving does not rule out being hit by a drunk driver, it does reduce your odds of getting injured in an accident
The same is true for your health. Safe living habits will make you less likely to have disease in general… and less likely to have cancer.
It’s Critical to Manage the Effects of Trauma
Over the years I have noticed a pattern. Many of my patients suffered a devastating emotional trauma just prior to coming down with a very serious disease such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, or even a less serious-but-painful diseases such as shingles. I believe that the initial trauma weakened the immune system, and it became a chronic situation. This emotional injury, if not dealt with, allows disease to gain a foothold.
I believe it is critically important to address the emotional issue. It is also key to realize that the impact of trauma is an individual reaction. Just because it may not qualify in one person’s mind as a trauma, does not mean it isn’t a traumatic event or situation for another person!
Sometimes healing can come thru traditional talk therapy, but often this is not enough! We have found other and highly-effective methods. At Lotus Blossom Clinic, we now have several practitioners who have spent 20+ years in traditional mental health professions, finally discovering other highly-effective ways of working with the subconscious mind. In effect, you can rewrite your past so that it no longer predicts your future path of health, relationships, and success. Yes, NEW and abundant options can be yours!
Change your Thinking/Change Your Emotions.
Changing your thinking and what you are feeling is a key way to prevent cancer, or if you already have a serious health issue, doing this will help you overcome a health challenge. How it works is really no mystery. Our emotions create the chemistry of our blood. Our blood is the source of our life energy. It is vital to have chemically-balanced blood. Too much cortisol or adrenaline, for example, creates an unhealthy environment. It’s been well proven that Stress contributes to disease.
What we need is more serotonin (our “feel-good chemical”) and dopamine (the “reward chemical”). These create a healthier environment for all of our cells, bathing them in healing chemicals. At Lotus Blossom Clinic, we have multiple ways to help you, including private and group sessions with 20+ practitioners. These include Deep Imagery, yoga, biofeedback, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Theta Healing, acupuncture, meditation, polarity therapy, Reiki. AND we hold about 30 classes each month, including Food as Medicine and my (Dr. David Martin’s) signature class “Rockin’ Your Qi”, a super-fun, stress-relieving movement and music class.
More info: Check out our Practitioners and Services at our “About Us” website page. Check out our Calendar/Events page for specific classes and events. You’ll be sure to find the right class or event…at the right price for you, including several which are free or Love Donations!
Finally…
While it’s interesting to continue to notice new therapies the researchers are finding to combat cancer such as the new immunotherapy treatments (which can have deadly side-effects as they attack vital organs) to the newest darling, Zero Gravity in space (the Australians are sending up an experiment to the Space Station in 2020), your best bet is DON’T GET CANCER IN THE FIRST PLACE. Prevention is the Best Medicine. Come see us to find out more.
Be well, Stay well,
Dr. David Martin
And all the Providers at Lotus Blossom Clinic
www.LotusBlossomClinic.com
239-277-1399
Serving the Greater Fort Myers area with Natural and Holistic Medicine: Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, Massage, Science-backed Food as Medicine, Energy Medicine, Integrative Medicine… and 30+ Classes monthly.
Additional References/Resources
Association between Soft Drink Consumption and Mortality in 10 European Countries. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2019; DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.2478
Thermally processed oil exaggerates colonic inflammation and colitis-associated colon tumorigenesis in mice. Cancer Prevention Research, 2019; DOI: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-19-0226 Jianan Zhang, Xijing Chen, Ran Yang, Qin Ma, Weipeng Qi, Katherine Z. Sanidad, Yeonhwa Park, Daeyoung Kim, Eric A. Decker, Guodong Zhang.