By Dr. Kristie Gering
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02 May, 2022
In early April 2022 Dr. Kristie Gering attended a the Cancer Prevention and Aftercare Conference by the International College of Integrative Medicine. It was a great conference! Here is a summary gleaned from Dr. Ellie Campbell and her nurse Heather, with a few additional details thrown in by Dr. Gering. 12 Takeaways from the Cancer Prevention and Aftercare Conference by the International College of Integrative Medicine - April 8th & 9th, 2022 In almost all cases, a cancer diagnosis is NOT an emergency (there are some exceptions, but even then a few days are not likely to be life or death). In reality, the cancer cells have been there for years. It's ok to stop, take a minute to breathe, pray, and assemble your team - oncologist (it's ok to get several opinions), integrative/functional medicine provider, physical/massage therapist, acupuncturist, chiropractor, counselor and/or spiritual advisor, etc, etc There is no ONE approach to treat cancer, so if you consult 3 different oncologists, you are likely to get 3 different care plans…and that's ok. Choose the one who resonates with you the most. Emotional stress is a huge risk factor for cancer, so it's very important mitigate our stressors to prevent cancer, as well as during cancer treatment and after cancer. Create a positive warrior attitude and strive for an attitude of gratitude. Live a life of detoxification. We live in a VERY toxic world. Some of us have genetic quirks (like MTHFR) that make it difficult to get rid of toxins, but we can overcome that. Eat clean (mostly organic/grass-fed/free-range) food, drink lots of purified water, move and exercise most days of the week, find your support group, spend time daily in prayer & meditation, focus on gratitude, spend time in nature, identify and remove toxins & heavy metals (esp. mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium). Nutrition is VERY important to prevent and address cancer. Nutrients can help kill or promote cancer cells. There are many foods and supplements that can be beneficial to boost your immune system and help inhibit rogue cancer cell growth. We KNOW that cancer risk will increase if you have an insufficiency in vitamin D, vitamin A, magnesium, iodine, iron, and oxygen. Vitamin D (which is actually a hormone) is critical for your immune system, especially the part that detects and destroys malfunctioning cells. Vitamin A is also important for that. Magnesium is used in over 300 enzyme functions that help keep cells healthy, and it acts like a bouncer to keep bad things out of the cell. Iodine is very important for not only thyroid but also breast health. Iron is required for the red blood cells to carry oxygen. Oxygen in particular has a number of considerations: Micro-blood clots can prevent oxygen from getting in to tissue. Nutrients like fish oil, vitamin K, and enzymes can help decrease these tiny clots. Also it is important to check for sleep apnea and treat it if present. Oxidative therapies such as hyperbaric oxygen, hydrogen peroxide and ozone can be very beneficial. These following things help your body kill circulating cancer cells: green tea (EGCG), berberine (and/or the medicine metformin), vitamin C (esp. high dose via IV), curcumin, sulforaphane, trans-resveratrol, genistein from organic non-GMO soy (esp fermented soy). There are non-food/non-supplement things can help the body kill cancer too: hyperthermia (high body temp) from high quality sauna, PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic field), sonotherapy (special sound frequencies) & phototherapy (specific light frequencies). It's great to know that we have tools in addition to chemotherapy and radiation to help the body kill cancer! Connect with God. Over and over again, studies show that as a whole, people who have spiritual connection and growth do better during treatment, they have lower rate of complications, and in general they have longer survival times. Even if they do not do better than average statistically, their QOL (quality of life) scores are higher. Oral health is critical. If you do not have a healthy mouth, you will have high body inflammation. Dental plaque and gingivitis are associated with an overgrowth of gram negative bacteria that secrete toxins into your bloodstream, such as LPS (lipopolysaccharide…aka "little pieces of sh*t"). Another factor of oral health that people often forget to consider is that sleep apnea often originates in the oropharynx (back of mouth and upper throat), which can often be addressed by a holistic dentist/orthodontist. Toxins cause cancer. It is VERY important to minimize exposure to toxins. Eating organic food reduces the body burden of herbicides and pesticides. Drinking clean filtered water also helps to decrease heavy metals and chemicals. Atrazine and glyphosate (the main ingredient in RoundUp) are chelating agents, which bind up good minerals like magnesium and manganese. So if you eat or drink too much Roundup, the magnesium goes down and now the cells can't keep garbage out. Cancer LOVES sugar. To prevent cancer, eat a low glycemic diet. If you have cancer, eliminate sugar/carbs so you can starve it. Hormones help. Surprise! Contrary to popular belief, natural hormones are NOT the bad guy. Dr. Lindsey Berkson ( https://drlindseyberkson.com/ ) showed us that there is AMPLE evidence that hormones are NOT a cause of cancer (we are happy to share her slides if interested). Fake synthetic hormones and hormone-like chemicals (like BPA and phthalates) can lead to cancer...but human bio-identical hormones do NOT appear cause cancer. In fact they are necessary for tissue health and repair. Testosterone in appropriate doses is cancer protective in both men and women. (Interestingly, maleness is protective of femaleness.). Contrary to long-held assumptions, testosterone is NOT the cause of prostate cancer, and it is ok to support levels during and after treatment. Estrogen is actually cancer protective for women. That's a bold statement that goes against cancer-care dogma, however Dr. Berson provided 20+ studies that resoundingly agree that estrogen is not harmful. In fact, women diagnosed with cancer who were taking hormones in peri-menopausal stage, in general have cancer that is less aggressive & smaller in size and those women tend to have an increased lifespan, compared to a woman not on hormones. Across all those studies the findings showed that hormone therapy was either neutral (a few studies) or there were improved outcomes (the vast majority) with cancer. So there is no need to be afraid of appropriately dosed bio-identical hormone replacement therapy! Melatonin (which is a hormone) is cancer protective. It blocks uptake of sugar into cells and acts as an antioxidant in the mitochondria (the cell's energy factories). Reduce blue light exposure in the evening, make sure you sleep in a DARK room, and consider supplementing with melatonin (2-10mg for prevention, and higher levels for treatment with dose depending on the stage). Pre-procedure treatment helps. As you go into a procedure to take a biopsy to identify or to treat cancer (for example an excisions biopsy, lumpectomy, mastectomy or prostate biopsy), or if you are treating with chemotherapy and/or radiation, we can exploit the cancer in the preoperative/pre-treatment stage. First - Fasting. Starve the cancer. For 24-48 hours before surgery, drink lots of water, green tea (which helps to kill circulating tumor cells), herbal teas, sparkling water…but take in NO calories. This decreases the chance that cells will be able to float away and regrow elsewhere. This technique applies to chemotherapy & radiation as well - do not eat for 24-48 hours before and 12-24 hours after the treatment - this makes the chemo/radiation work better and side-effects are generally reduced. Second - Medication/Supplement cocktail. Consider taking 4-6 of these meds/supplements right around surgery because it dramatically reduces the presence of circulating cancer cells and also decreases the risk of the cut pieces from growing "sprouts" from the "stumps". Items in the "cocktail" include dipryidamole (a specific blood thinner), certain NSAIDS, lovastatin, omega 3 fatty acids, IV vitamin C, propranolol, metformin (or berberine). Last but not least - have HOPE! Please know that EVERY SINGLE risk factor for cancer (even genetics) is modifiable. You are NOT helpless. We can help you identify risks and help you to mitigate them, so you can become more than just a cancer survivor!