September 23, 1987, Portland Observer, Page 5
New Views on Cancer—
HEALTH WATCH
BY Steven BatU-y N D
Book Review:
" H e a lin g A I D S N a t u r a lly "
P r e v e n t io n is P o s s ib le
by Ron Harris
Every day in the United States, 1000 people die of cancer. Many more
are saved because the disease has been detected and treated in time. But
even for those who live, the cost is still high, both in terms of money and
human suffering. Where cancer is concerned, the old adage that an ounce
of prevention is worth a pound of cure is certainly quite true.
Cancer research, of course, has devoured many billions of dollars and
it continues to be one of the most heavily funded areas of research. Much
information has been gleaned concerning the disease, including, in recent
years, prevention measures that can greatly reduce the risk of cancer.
Unfortunately, some of this information is not as widely known as it
should be. Perhaps, lacking a full and comprehensive understanding of
all the causes of cancer and with no certain cure, some authorities feel that
there still remain too many unanswered questions.
Then too, preventative medicine in general has received far too little
attention in this country, at least until recent times. The general medical
emphasis has leaned heavily toward treatment of illness while less attention
was placed on a doctor's promoting and fostering health. This is slowly
changing.
But the question remains: Are we doing enough to prevent the deadly
horror of cancer?
How many people realize that an improper diet is a more frequent
cause of death by cancer?
In America, about 35 percent of all cancer deaths are due to high-tar
intake coupled with excessive alcohol consumption. Yet 45 percent are
caused by improper nutrition —a combination of excess caloric and fat con
sumption (particularly polyunsaturated fat), a low fiber diet, and obesity.
Cancer is one of those topics that engenders a great deal of concern,
if not outright fear. It is the stalking executioner, creeping up on its victims,
pouncing undetected, often remaining so until too late. At least, that was
the old view.
But P.B. Medawar, the Nobel Prize-winning tumor biologist has
pointed out that everyone probably gets cancer thousands and possibly
even millions of times during a lifetime. But the body's natural immune
system detects and destroys the abnormal cells before they are even detec
table by researchers. Wnat actually happens when someone "gets" cancer
is that his immune system ceases to effectively combat the cancerous cells.
Today we do know many of the "causes" of cancer. High-tar intake
apparently damages the ability of the immune system to locate and destroy
cancer cells in the body. The sun's radiation is linked with skin cancer.
Other forms of radiation produce other forms of cancer.
Noble Prize-winner Linus Pauling says that the incidence of cancer due
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to radiation in the environment may be far more extensive than was once
thought. Pauling's research indicates that there may not be any safe level
of exposure to environmental radiation. Rather he says: " . . . the human
being may die from cancer—perhaps leukemia, bone cancer, some other
cancer-caused by the single radioactive atom that produced the single
little bullet of radiation." In other words, it only takes one mutant cell
(which the immune system doesn't handle) to create full blown cancer lead
ing to death. Higher levels of radiation exposure simply multiply the risk
factor, giving the body an increased number of runaway cells to handle.
The wealth of today's research information offers a number of preven
tative measures that can greatly reduce, if not eliminate, the risk of cancer.
First, there is the removal of the known high-risk precipitating causes of
cancer. Smoking, sunbathing and other forms of radiation exposure can be
either minimized or avoided. But this alone is insufficient to eliminate any
likelihood that one will get cancer.
A healthy low polyunsaturated fat, high fiber diet coupled with weight
control, per simple statistics would eliminate even more cancer deaths.
The other tact would be those expedients that increased the stamina
and effectiveness of one's immune system, particularly its ability to combat
cancerous cells. Research has indicated, for instance, that certain vitamins
can directly strengthen one's anti-cancer mechanisms.
In a University of Colorado research project involving different kinds of
animals. Dr. Cheryl F. Nockels discovered that Vitamin E increased the per
formance of B-cells tenfold and improved the T-cells' effectiveness 3 to 5
times. Vitamin A also has a stimulatory effect on the immune system and
has been observed to protect animals from developing tumors in the pre
sence of cancer-causing agents. (Excessive doses of Vitamin A have also
fostered the development of some cancers.)
Vitamin C has proved to be an immune system stimulant proofing up
the immune system to fight even advanced stages of cancer although the
mechanisms of its effect are not fully understood. Linus Pauling has in fact
cured some terminal cancer patients with Vitamin C alone and prolonged
the lives of others without any other treatment.
This should be enough to indicate that, at the very least, a healthy
diet with a balanced vitamin supplementation could go a long way toward
cancer prevention.
Far from just common sense, there is a growing body of research that
supports such an approach, a medical advance that has been heralded as
important as Pasteur's germ theory. In the "free radical" theory of aging,
developed by Dr. Denham Harman, "spontaneous mutations, cancer and
aging can be looked upon as the result of continuous internal radiation
while these same processes produced by external radiation are largely the
result of an increment in the amount of total 'radiation' to which the organ
ism is exposed." By this, Harman means that chemical reactions in the
body create reactive molecules in the same way that radiation exposure
does. It is the "free radical" or mutant molecule according to Harman
(whether created by external radiation or internally in the body) which
causes such things as aging and cancer.
The immune system, when at peak performance, can usually counter
the effects of free radical molecules in the body, thereby minimizing the
risk of cancer and degenerative diseases. Doing so is a continuous biologi
cal process. A quart of ordinary air on a sunny day contains about a billion
hydroxyl free radicals, the most dangerous type currently identified.
A strong working immune system, therefore, appears to be a key to
cancer-free longevity.
The problem of trying to formulate a simple view of the immune sys
tem is that it is not simple. It is influenced by many different factors. Nut
rition has been mentioned. But in the new science of immunology there is
also a growing recognition that mental attitudes and even stress can effect
the vigor of the immune system.
Research at the University of Washington School of Medicine, for
instance, found that people subjected to the stress of a lot of change in
their lives were at higher risk to severe illness. (Dr. Thomas H. Holmes
conducted the investigation based on the work of Dr. Harold G. Wolff .)
And as early as 1950, L. Ron Hubbard first suggested in his best-seller
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health that cancer might be pre
cipitated by mental factors. He had already discovered that arthritis,
asthma, tuberculosis, the common cold, allergies and dermatitis were all
predisposed by a person's mental condition. To date, Hubbard s work
remains the most extensive examination of how mental conditions predis
pose one to illness, as well as the most widely used technology to counter
the psychosomatic causes of illness.
In short, cancer prevention goes far beyond simply remedy of not smo
king cigarettes. And while some day, we may have a medical cure for the
disease, an injection perhaps, today cancer could be significantly reduced
by what we already know. Millions of lives could be saved now with a
broad and effective educational program that covered all the preventative
measures against cancer. And such an educational program would actually
be far cheaper in the long run than costly after-the-fact treatments like sur-
gery.
,
Why isn't such an educational program in full swing? That seems to be
by Laurence Badgley. M.D.
Human Energy Press. San Bruno, California
"Healing AIDS Naturally" offers the basic tenet that the "ARC/AIDS
disease is not fatal". Dr. Badgley uses this book as what he describes as
an "Operator's Manual for the Human Body" with a particular emphasis
on the current ARC/AIDS crisis and the natural therapeutics involved in
survival and health. Written for the lay person, this book describes the
ARC/AIDS condition, the human immune system, basic principles in
healthy life styles, as well as many wholistic therapies such as herbal medi
cine, acupuncture, nutrition and psychological, as well as spiritual,
concerns.
To most of America, AIDS is seen as a disease which is fatal and ex
tremely frightening. This promotes considerable irrational behavior toward
the ARC/AIDS patients. As AIDS primarily affects "non-mainstream"
America, those with AIDS have been treated much like the "untouchable"
casts in India. How angry we would be if our friends or family members
with cancer or heart disease were treated is such a manner. How refreshing
it would be if America were to wake up to the common-sense understand
ing of AIDS that Dr. Badgley and many of his peers in natural therapeutics
hold true regarding the causes and treatments for AIDS-infected indivi
duals.
As a graduate of Yale Medical School, Dr. Badgley has certainly not
taken the "easy professional path". To most medical doctors, the abdica
tion of the scalpai and drugs for natural and preventive therapeutics is
nothing short of sacrilege. For his personal courageousness and for the
wonderful basic book on AIDS, Dr Badgley should be acknowledged.
Let us hope that his example will awaken even more people to the logic and
importance of natural healing.
"Healing AIDS Naturally" is a very worthwhile book, and I highly re
commend it to those associated with AIDS, as well as the general public.
While the book does not outline a specific program for treating AIDS, it
does provide enough basic information about a variety of fields of medicine
so that the reader can begin a more educated program for their own health
needs. The book rightfully acknowledges the need for individualized pro
grams and personal responsibility in the care of ARC AIDS. The informa
tion on nutrition, herbal and supplemental care, etc., is basically sound and
offers many valuable tools for strengthening the weakened immune
system.
I have heard critisism that Dr. Badgley is too critical in his presentation
of orthodox medicine and its motives in research and education. He is
indeed critical, but I think his points are well taken, and our sensitivity to
them reflects the thorough marketing of high-tech drug and surgical medi
cine in America. If we open up our belief systems, we can understand how
profit, rather than compassion, is the primary motivator in the pharmaceu
tical and med-tech industries. It is most important to acknowledge this
about AIDS, because, as most of our research dollars pursue c myopic
course, it is more important than ever to return to personally responsible
health care.
A final aspect of the book that is worth mentioning is its information
about the relationship between the body, mind and spirit. One of the
fabulous things that is occuring in high-tech medicine is the scientific veri
fication of the mental, spiritual and energy affects on health. What was
once shunned by orthodox doctors as unprovable and/or absurd, is now
being documented as fact by their own equipment. Little did we know that
in looking for a better mouse trap, we'd rediscover the cat. Sometimes the
oldest of solutions are still the best.
Dr. Badgley is speaking at a public meeting at the Portland Motor
Hotel (Portland Inn), 1414 S.W. 6th, Portland, OR, this Saturday, Septem
ber 26, 1987, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The cost is $55.00 for this all-
day session.
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