Category Archives: Cancer Care Tips

Cancer Care Tips, News

New Report: 50% of Cancer Deaths Are Preventable

image of used cigarettes in sand.
The use of cigarettes has been linked to lung cancer

Half of all cancer deaths are preventable, according to a new American Association for Cancer Research report. You may be able to cut your cancer risk dramatically by making three lifestyle changes:

  • Reduce sun exposure,
  • Quit smoking, and
  • Maintain a healthy weight.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S. with more than two million people diagnosed each year. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer. You can significantly decrease your skin cancer risk by wearing broad-spectrum sun screen that protects against both UVA and UVB rays whenever you are outdoors, even on cloudy days and in the winter.

Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the U.S., responsible for a third of U.S. cancer fatalities. Twice as many people die from lung cancer as from prostate and breast cancer. And lung cancer doesn’t just kill smokers. Non-smokers who live with smokers or work in a smoke-filled environment are also at increased risk of lung cancer. While there is some concern that electronic cigarettes may contain cancer-causing agents, a New Zealand study found that e-cigarettes are as effective as nicotine patches in helping smokers quit.

Obesity is the elephant in the room when discussing cancer and lifestyle choices. Obesity is associated with a third of U.S. cancer deaths, but the public is only just beginning to see obesity as a cancer risk factor. Obesity can interfere with your body’s metabolic function, weakening your immune system’s ability to fight off cancer and other diseases. Maintaining a healthy weight through diet and exercise may play a significant role in reducing cancer risk.

Cancer Care Tips, Cancer Research

Cytokines: Fighting Cancer at the Cellular Level

mid section view of a man sitting on a bench in a park --- Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis
Obesity can interfere with normal cytokine function.

Cytokines are protein molecules that help cells communicate with each other and have the power to enhance or suppress the body’s immune system. When infected or damaged cells are detected, cytokines work together to attack harmful and cancerous cells. But cytokines can also call in reinforcements, signaling other immune system cells to join the attack.

Unfortunately for the third of American adults who are obese, obesity can interfere with normal cytokine function. When obesity causes interruptions to the vital cellular communication process performed by cytokines, malfunctions in the body’s immune system can occur that can lead to cancer, as CBS News recently noted in a report on the connections between obesity and cancer.

Cytokines function as the immune system’s communication network. When that network is disrupted, the body’s cells are not longer able to communicate with each other to coordinate their attack on rogue cells. Without impediments, cancer cells can multiply and migrate without restriction. Issels Integrative Oncology’s program of integrative immune therapy restores and supports the health of your body’s cytokines — and thus your immune system — through alternative cancer therapies and cancer vaccines.

Cytokines fight or control cancer in a number of ways.  They can interrupt pathways that contribute to uncontrolled growth of cancer  cells and prevent cancer from metastasizing and spreading to other parts of the body. By binding to cancer cells, cytokines identify rogue cells and attract other immune system cells to attack them. In addition to augmenting the killing action of immune cells, cytokines aid in the repair of cells damaged by radiation or chemotherapy.

Find out more about cytokines and cancer on our website.

Cancer Care Tips, Cancer Research

How Does Obesity Increase Cancer Risk?

Young Couple Walking Dog
Daily walk could decrease your risk of cancer.

It seems absurd that something as innocuous as taking a daily walk could decrease your risk of cancer, as well as a host of chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes. But, as we noted in our previous post, researchers are finding that regular exercise could be the “magic pill” that saves us from a host of ills, including cancer. Exercise promotes a healthy immune system, improving your body’s ability to fight off cancer; but it is the link between exercise and obesity reductions that intrigues cancer researchers.

Affecting the health of more than a third of American adults, obesity adversely affects the body in several ways that can weaken its ability to fight off cancer and disease:

  • Obesity can change the way your body absorbs and uses energy from the food you eat, resulting in metabolic dysfunction.
  • Obesity can interfere with the process of cytokines, disrupting cell communication which can increase inflammation.
  • Obesity can also impact the body’s endocrine system, affecting production of certain hormones that can fuel cancer tumor growth.

As little as 30 to 60 minutes of brisk walking or other moderate-intensity exercise a day can be enough to promote weight loss, help maintain a healthy body weight, protect you from the deleterious effects of obesity and reduce your cancer risk. (Tip: at moderate intensity you should be able to talk but not sing.) If you don’t have the time or stamina for a 30-minute workout, experts say you can derive the same obesity-fighting, cancer-prevention benefits from several 10-minute workouts. Cumulative exercise time and exercise intensity are what matter.

Next time: Cytokines and cancer

Cancer Care Tips, Cancer Research

Diet Change Could Protect Against Fatal Prostate Cancer

Avocado halves with seed isolated on black.
Substitute to healthy choices in your diet.

Making a small dietary change could protect men against fatal prostate cancer:

Substitute healthy vegetable fats — such as olive and canola oils, nuts, seeds and avocados — for animal fats and carbohydrates.

By increasing their consumption of healthy fats, a recent U.S. study found that men could decrease their risk of dying from prostate cancer by nearly a third! For 8 years, researchers at the University of California-San Francisco tracked the fat consumption of nearly 4,600 men with non-metastatic prostate cancer. The results:

“Men who replaced 10% of their total daily calories from carbohydrates with healthy vegetable fats had a 29% lower risk of developing lethal prostate cancer.” 

The nutritional benefit of including healthy fats in your diet is not new news. High levels of monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, avocados and nuts contain important antioxidants and fat-soluble vitamins that strengthen the immune system, helping it fight cancer. But the discovery that increasing consumption of healthy fats could significantly decrease the potential fatality of prostate cancer is a ground-breaking revelation.

Researchers found that a little goes a long way. A single daily serving of olive or canola oil (1 tablespoon) decreased the risk of dying from prostate cancer by 29%; a single serving of nuts (1 ounce), by 18%. While more research is required, study leader Erin Richman of UCSF believes the findings “support counseling men with prostate cancer to follow a heart-healthy diet in which carbohydrate calories are replaced with unsaturated oils and nuts.”

Nutritional counseling is just one aspect of Issels’ integrative immunotherapy treatment for prostate cancer. Visit our website to find out more.

 

Cancer Care Tips

More Useful Advice for Cancer Caregivers

Family Caregiver
Family Caregiver

According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, the typical family caregiver is between 35 and 64 years old, has a spouse or partner, works full or part-time, is caring for a family member or relative, lives near or with the person they care for and provides from 8 to 40 hours of care per week. Care giving can be a rewarding experience but it can also be isolating and draining.

To maintain the emotional and physical energy needed to care for a loved one, family cancer caregivers need to take care of themselves. The body-mind-spirit emphasis that is the hallmark of Issels’ integrative approach to alternative cancer treatment can benefit cancer caregivers as much as the cancer patients they care for. As noted in our previous post, working with a compassionate cancer treatment team, asking for and accepting help from family and friends, taking regular breaks from care giving to nurture your own spirit and seeking support from caregiver support groups can help family cancer caregivers cope with the challenge of care giving.

Today, we offer additional advice on how to address some of the most common issues faced by family cancer caregivers:

  • Respecting patient rights. Particularly when they are caring for a family member, caregivers become understandably invested in treatment decisions. Offer your personal insights when asked but remember that each cancer patient has the right to choose his own path.This can be particularly difficult for adult children caring for parents with cancer. As people age, perspective changes. Older cancer patients may prefer alternative cancer treatments over standard medical care. Or they may choose not to prolong their lives past a certain point.Be open to alternative cancer therapies. The success of alternative cancer treatments in achieving long-term remission of many types of cancer often surprises people whose only experience is with traditional Western medicine. Encourage your loved ones to make informed decisions but respect their right to choose.
Cancer Care Tips

Helpful Advice for Cancer Caregivers

When a Caregiver Gets Cancer
When a Caregiver Gets Cancer

At some point in our lives, most of us will become caregivers for a family member, many of us for a spouse, parent or child stricken with cancer. Family caregivers must deal with myriad medical, financial and emotional issues. As the direct line of communication to other concerned family members, family caregivers must juggle not only the needs of the patient and their own concerns but those of other family members while still managing the daily life responsibilities they have to their own families.

Despite their dedication to family members struggling with cancer, family caregivers can find the weight of responsibility, the emotional toll and the logistical juggling required to accommodate competing demands on their time and energy challenging if not overwhelming. Working with a caring cancer team of compassionate professionals, asking other family members and friends of the patient to lend a hand, joining a caregiver support group and educating yourself about what to expect and possible treatment options, including advanced alternative cancer treatments, can help ease the burden of care giving.

Below we offer advice on how to address some of the key issues family cancer caregivers face:

  • Minimizing pain and discomfort. Your closeness to your family members may make you more aware of the level of discomfort or pain he is feeling. Many cancer patients are also more likely to confide how they are truly feeling to a family member than to medical personnel. Your perceptions and understanding of your family member’s facial expressions and behavior patterns can provide valuable information to his cancer treatment team. Don’t be shy about sharing your observations and opinions.

More useful caregiver tips next time