Tag: Cancer

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The Relationship of Insulin Resistance and Cancer: A Botanical Approach

It’s well known that elevated fasting blood sugar is a precursor to diabetes. Less well known, but increasingly recognized, is that elevated fasting serum glucose and/or insulin levels are also risk factors for cancer, and the risk grows as fasting blood sugar and insulin levels rise. With the escalation of obesity and diabetes worldwide, it is important to recognize these diseases as causative factors for cancer development, especially for older individuals.

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The Merits of Botanicals in Integrative Cancer Medicine from an Oncologist’s Perspective

In my clinical practice, I have had the great pleasure of collaborating with Dwight McKee, M.D., a wise and compassionate oncologist who approaches the treatment of cancer in a truly integrative manner. Dr. McKee has written the forward for my new book, Adaptogens in Medical Herbalism: Elite Herbs and Natural Compounds for Mastering Stress, Aging, and Chronic Disease (September 2013, Healing Arts Press), which I would like to share with you here.

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Healing vs. Curing: Contrasting Fundamental Aims in Medicine

Healing vs. Curing: Contrasting Fundamental Aims in Medicine

Conventional modern medicine has long separated itself from traditional healing systems such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and the Eclectic tradition. However, the inadequacies of conventional medicine and the growing interest of people in the wisdom of these ancient healing traditions has created a unique opportunity to rewrite medicine as we currently know it. I believe the time is now ripe for a truly wholistic medical approach to emerge—one that integrates the wisdom of ancient healing systems with the best of modern medicine, including both botanical and pharmaceutical toolboxes.

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The Dangers of Commercial Sunscreens, Part 2

Sunscreen

In last week’s post, I talked about the toxicity of commercial sunscreens, and why they are bad for your health. I also mentioned that the sun is not the primary cause of skin aging and skin cancer, and promised to share my conclusions with you this week.

Despite the enormously bad press the sun has received in the past few decades, all skin damage is not the fault of the sun. The root cause of skin aging (including wrinkling, hyperpigmentation, and loss of collagen) as well as skin cancer is oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). While the sun is one of the factors that create ROS, there are many other culprits, including external factors (air pollution and chemical exposure) and internal factors (poor diet, emotional stress, lack of sleep, and the natural aging process). ROS are believed to trigger skin cancer and photosensitivity diseases by activating proliferative and cell survival signaling that can alter apoptotic pathways (the self-destruction of abnormal cells).

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The Dangers of Commercial Sunscreens

Dangers of Sunscreen

Wherever I go this summer, it seems that people are slathering or spraying sunscreen onto themselves and their children. Whether or not you want to use sunscreen, you essentially have no choice – aerosol sprays disperse and pollute the air, and sunscreens and sun blocks wash off in pools or lakes, contaminating the water. (Despite what labels proclaim, there is no such thing as “waterproof sunscreen.”)

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Are Fish Oils Harmful To Your Health?

fish oil prostate cancer

You may have seen last week’s highly publicized study targeting fish and fish oil as a cause of increased prostate cancer. Published in the online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the authors state that EPA, DPA and DHA (the fatty acids derived from fatty fish and fish-oil supplements) are associated with a 71 percent increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer, a 44 percent increase in the risk of low-grade prostate cancer, and an overall 43 percent increase in risk for all prostate cancers. These figures are enough to scare any man away from eating even one more salmon dinner.

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