LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Cancer Tips

CANCER SNIFFING DOGS?

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This is not the first article to identify just how powerful a dog’s sense of smell is.  The research has been small, but pretty darn consistent on our canine friends’ ability to differentiate cancer cells from normal ones.  Imagine the power of their sense of smell to be able to detect microscopic physiological changes from one cell to the next!!

Not much else to say about this study, but wanted to point out just how wonderful dogs are (sorry cat people–cats really seem to care less about our health…)

http://gut.bmj.com/content/60/6/814.abstract

DON’T WORRY ABOUT DIABETES–CANCER WILL GET YOU FIRST

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The beauty about not taking good care of ourselves is that every aspect of our physiology goes to hell in a handbasket.  There’s no need to worry about focusing on a single organ system or medical specialty.  Just assume that everything bad is happening.  See?  No need to needlessly focus on your cardiologist and worry about your GI doc finding something.  They will, don’t worry.

On the plus side, this is why positive lifestyle changes can be so profound.  They don’t just improve what you are shooting for (weight loss, lower cholesterol, etc..), but improve everything.  Massive bang for your buck.

In this particular study, authors looked at patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH or NAFLD).  This is prediabetes.  Period.  Bad enough news.  But they looked for the presence of colon cancer and found a massive 534% higher risk of having advanced cancers in those with NAFLD.

Now maybe you can understand why I get frustrated when a new patient comes into my office and proudly states that their doctor is “keeping an eye on” their progression to diabetes.  As if there is no concern until one crosses that magical barrier of blood glucose to be called diabetic.  If you are prediabetic (too much weight in the abdominal region, ANY lipid / cholesterol problem, PCOS, high blood pressure, gout, sleep apnea, etc..) then understand that your single goal is to make lifestyle changes to pull back from the progression.  Anything less is signing an early death war

IS COLONOSCOPY OVERUSED?

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I’m pretty sure there are no readers out there that actually enjoy the process of a colonoscopy.  (actually–it’s the day BEFORE the procedure that’s the rough part)  We have them done because we are fearful of the ramifications of not finding a cancer early enough.  We follow our physicians’ recommendations as to how often they should be repeated if we have a clear report.  Our doctors are, of course, following the recommendations determined from the medical literature, right?

Not even close.  The recommendations for those with a clean colonoscopy is to wait 10 years before the next one.  In this particular study of Medicare patients, repeat colonoscopies were done too soon in almost 43% of patients.  This is a tremendous waste of resources.

Now, I understand that early detection saves lives.  But we also need to understand that false positives, which occur with a degree of regularity with any cancer screening, come with their own set of problems.  Dangers with the procedure itself (anesthesia, biopsy, etc..) or the stress of a potentially dire diagnosis create additional testing and costs.  With any type of screening, there is balance that needs to be obtained.  We cannot afford to test every single person every single year and identify potential problems that may never develop into real problems.  The health care system here in the US is already massively expensive without this added burden.

The answer?  Prevention coupled with appropriate screening.  Colon cancer has a very long list of things that we KNOW contribute to it.  Prediabetes, animal based diets, constipation, low fiber (both soluble and insoluble), imbalanced bacteria in the gut, heterocyclic amines from grilled foods and probably 20 other things I’m forgetting right now.  The more we do on prevention, the less important the screenings become.  The poorer our lifestyles, the more important the screenings become.  Personally, I would rather prevent something from happening rather than catching it earl

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/archinternmed.2011.212?etoc

TYLENOL LINKED TO CANCER?

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The long list of problems associated with pharmaceutical pain control never seems to get any shorter.  NSAIDs have been linked to heart attacks, joint destruction, impotence (yikes!), dementia, liver damage, kidney damage, gut destruction, heart arrhythymias and probably more stuff I’m forgetting right now.  Tylenol has clear associations with asthma in both adults as well as newborns whose mothers took Tylenol during pregnancy.  Kidney and liver damage are on the list as well.

Now we can officially add ad almost doubled risk of some nasty hematological cancers.  The bottom line is that, in general, even “safe” over the counter pain relievers have very serious potential side effects.  Of course, this is where I must interject that chiropractic care has NEVER, to my knowledge, been linked with increased risk of cancer.  We have, however, been accused of causing disc herniations, paralysis and strokes (all of which, by the way, either make no sense biomechanically or have been disproven statistically).

Because of this, I always find it funny how some people shy away from chiropractic care like the mere idea of in office treatment could cause some time of long term detrimental effect, but will pop ibuprofen or Tylenol without a single thought to the very real harms.

http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/early/2011/05/06/JCO.2011.34.6346.abstract

CAN WE REALLY WIPE OUT BREAST CANCER?

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Maybe not wipe out, but how about an lower risk with just some general changes?  I typically volunteer in the medical tent at the Komen 3-day events and strike up conversations with the walkers.  It seems like there are more and more 20-something walkers that are there in honor of their mothers who have experienced breast cancer.  When asked what they are doing to protect themselves, most are not aware that you can do anything beyond annual mammograms.  Uhhhhh???  Maybe I live in my own little bubble, but are we that disconnected in society that we don’t think we can prevent cancer?

In this particular study, researchers looked at a “healthy lifestyle index.”  This consisted of moderate and/or vigorous-intensity physical activity, low consumption of fat, processed foods, refined cereals, complex sugars, and the avoidance of tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption.  Not a very difficult lifestyle to adhere to.

The benefits?  Premenopause women with the highest adherance to the index had a 50% lower risk of breast cancer.  Postmenopausal???  A massive, cancer destroying 80%.  Forget “stamping out cancer.”  This smashes it before there is anything to treat.

Of course, this does not even include things like specifically increasing the intake of cruciferous veggies, avoidance of toxic chemicals like BPA and pesticides, fixing constipation and taking a good quality multivitamin.  What happens when we include these?

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/20/5/912.abstract

DOES SOY REALLY INCREASE RISK FOR BREAST CANCER?

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I’m unsure how soy has managed to get such a bad reputation.  But there is no doubt that the internet has contributed to the idea that soy is bad for our health and increases the risk of cancer, thyroid problems, breasts on men and maybe even hangnails.  It is a topic that I frequently have to address both in the community and in my office.

First, let me make a few things clear.  We are talking about unprocessed soy, so NOT veggie burgers, TFP (textured vegetable protein) or soy hot dogs (do people seriously buy these?).  Given the concern over the genetic modification of foods (GMO), organic or at least non-GMO soy is the only way to go.  So soy milk, tofu, edemame, tempeh.

I can tell you that the overwhelming majority of research studies on soy are very positive, especially as it relates to breast cancer.  Lowering the risk and improving outcomes have been shown consistently in the medical literature.  This particular study found a whopping 54% lower risk of dying after a breast cancer diagnosis.  Wow!  Too bad they don’t post this type of info all over the Komen 3-day sites.

The compounds believed to provide the most benefits in soy are the isoflavones.  We also know that isoflavones are converted by specific bacteria in the gut to the aglycone form, which is the most protective form.  This is likely why some populations get greater benefits from soy (like Asian women raised in Asia) because they have consumed soy over a lifetime and the bacteria in their gut have adapted.  It is also likely that antibiotics will destroy these beneficial bacteria–yet another downside to society’s heavy dependence on antibiotics for every little sniffle.

http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/20/5/854.abstract