One common mistake I see many patients make is that they assume, "I take vitamins, therefore I am healthy." But there is a difference between taking vitamins and taking the right vitamins.
She took medications for the blood pressure and diabetes, and picked out a series of well-marketed herbal blends she felt would help control her glucose levels, reduce the absorption of carbohydrates in food, support the thyroid for faster metabolism, etc. She also claimed to eat healthy foods and exercise.
Yet despite her efforts, none of the aforementioned problems improved and one year later, the cancer returned. Now the oncologist recommended 60 radiation treatments! Herbal blends may work and they may not, but the bottom line in this case was that this patient's health continued to deteriorate.
Without diagnostic testing, taking vitamins and supplements to improve your health is simply guesswork. This patient took medication for diabetes and two herbal supplements designed to help with sugar regulation – yet her glucose and hemoglobin A1C were still out of control. This was especially dangerous for her because cancer cells thrive in a high-glucose environment.
Several studies have shown that patients with diabetes have a 30-40 percent increased chance of developing breast, endometrial, pancreatic, liver or colorectal cancer.1-2 Diabetic patients who develop cancer have also been shown to have higher mortality rates than cancer patients without diabetes, with the increased risk of death sometimes as high as 80 percent.3-4
Obesity and diabetes often go hand in hand and obesity is a known risk factor for cancer, but a study out of South Korea suggests that even diabetics of a healthy weight have an increased risk. Researchers discovered that patients most likely to develop cancer and die from it were the ones with the highest blood sugar levels.5
With my patient already overweight, diabetic and on her second cancer diagnosis, it was imperative to seek out the sources of her problems rather than treat just the symptoms. At the first visit to my office, she was still morbidly obese at 261 lbs and her blood pressure was controlled on medication at 125/80. She suffered from headaches, only slept 3-4 hours per night and I noted +2 edema around both ankles. I immediately put her on a high-protein, low-glycemic vegetable diet, which allows very limited intake of carbohydrates and fruit (designed to help regulate her blood sugar) and sent her out for testing.
A good baseline includes bloodwork (glucose levels, comprehensive metabolic profile, liver panel, lipid panel, thyroid panel, complete blood count, erythrocytes sedimentation rate, c-reactive protein, creatine kinase and 25-hydroxy vitamin D), hair analysis (toxic elements and essential elements), basic urine dipstick and blood occult stool test. These tests allow a glimpse into each area of the body to ensure everything is functioning properly. The results showed a few areas to upon which to improve (Table 1).
Because this patient was facing a recurring cancer diagnosis, she was completely committed to doing whatever was necessary to avoid radiation and prevent the cancer from spreading. This was one of the best turnarounds I have seen, with 25 of her test results improving in just two months. She feels "fantastic," is more active, has lost about 30 lbs and her glucose, which previously jumped anywhere from 130-180, now runs between 100-128, allowing her to cut her diabetes medication to just of what she was taking previously! Check out the blood test results following treatment in the table below (Table 2).
Over the next few years, the CEA and CA125 did fluctuate a little bit and her oncologists continued to monitor her tumor using CT and PET scans. Each time they measured the mass, the number of recommended radiation treatments dropped: June 2008 – 60 treatments recommended; October 2008 – 25 treatments recommended; August 2009 – 12 treatments recommended; November 2009 – three treatments recommended.
The patient did agree to the final recommendation and had three radiation treatments done in November 2009. Scans in January 2010 showed the tumor was completely gone and at every three-month check-up since, oncologists have been unable to find cancer cell growth.
Nutrition is a vital key to achieving optimal health and is an essential component in recovery from cancer. By living a healthier lifestyle, controlling her blood sugar levels by changing her eating and exercising habits, and using diagnostic testing to find out what supplements her body really needed, this patient was able to avoid 57 radiation treatments and is now happily living cancer-free.
References
- Everhart J, Wright D. Diabetes mellitus as a risk factor for pancreatic cancer: a meta-analysis. JAMA, 1995;273(20):1605-1609.
- Chan J, Malik V, Jia W, Kadowaki T, Yajnik C, Yoon K, Hu F. Diabetes in Asia: epidemiology, risk factors, and pathophysiology. JAMA, 2009;301(20):2129-2140.
- Barone B, Yeh H, Snyder C, Peairs K, Stein K, Derr R, Wolff A, Brancati F. Long-term all-cause mortality in cancer patients with preexisting diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA, 2008;300(23):2754-2764.
- Chan J, et al. Op cit.
- University of Massachusetts Medical School. Carbohydrate Content of Fruits & Vegetables. Internet handout.
Dr. Van D. Merkle, president of Science Based Nutrition, is a diplomate of the American Clinical Board of Nutrition and the American Board of Chiropractic Internists. He is also a diplomate of the recently formed Chiropractic Board of Clinical Nutrition and currently serves as vice president. Dr. Merkle has practiced in the Dayton, Ohio area for more than 25 years, and hosted the call-in radio talk show "Back To Health, Your Guide to Better Living" since 1995.