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The Evolution of Health Science

By On · Add Comment · In American Cancer Society, cancer prevention, exercise, healthy diet, healthy lifestyle behaviors, medical science, self-healing, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, vitamin supplements

Happy that medical science is entering the new age; a little slowly perhaps, but I can appreciate the evolution. New recommendations from the American Cancer Society stress healthy lifestyle behaviors, not just as a preventative  to cancer, but also as a way to boost survival for those that currently have cancer. Bravo, ACS—welcome to the amazing world of human self-healing.

Because medical science believes strongly in evidence, yet prefers to follow the money when choosing which evidence to gather, it can take a little while to uncover what some in the healing professions (we charlatans) have known for decades through simple observation. But I’m a scientist at heart, so I appreciate. Check it:

According to the Powers That Be, healthy lifestyle behaviors—like the ones I discuss in detail in my book, The Six Keys to Optimal Health—could keep cancer from recurring, or can prevent cancer survivors from getting a new type of cancer. Yes! So healthy diet, exercise, and keeping the weight under control go a long way in enhancing and preserving health. Nice…

About 1 in 25 Americans are cancer survivors, according to Colleen Doyle, the cancer society’s director of nutrition and physical activity. Although earlier research showed healthy lifestyle behaviors to prevent cancer, no studies had looked at the benefits for current cancer patients or survivors. And remember: no evidence, no medical acknowledgement…sometimes even ridicule and accusations of quackery. But well that’s early hominid thinking, and the times they are a-changing.

“The last time we published recommendations for survivors in 2006, we didn’t feel there was enough evidence to say clearly that watching your weight, being active and eating a healthy diet can reduce risk of recurrence,” said Doyle, a co-author of the guidelines. “Since that time, 100 studies have looked at the impact of weight, diet or a combination of those things, and those studies have clearly formed a foundation for us being able to make these very solid recommendations that adopting a healthy lifestyle is one of the most important things cancer survivors can do for themselves.”

That’s wonderful…don’t you just love seeing natural selection right up close and personal?

But the guidelines still warn of supplementation. Say the elders of the tribe:

De-Evolution Anyone?

No evidence shows that supplements benefit cancer survivors, and there is some evidence that certain supplements may cause harm.

Well, they can’t get it all right too soon…that wouldn’t follow the principles of evolution being a time process. Let’s face it, though: the silly studies currently done on vitamin supplementation try to answer questions from a pharmaceutical frame of reference, like how vitamins might cure disease.

But the principles of self-healing to those of disease-curing are like comparing apples to colostomy bags—both edible but really depends on one’s tastes.

Applause to the machine, nonetheless; healthy behaviors do very much more than prevent disease—they give life. An incredibly profound concept that medical science has yet to grasp…let alone study.

Healthy Habits Not Just For Nuts Anymore

By On · Add Comment · In cancer, exercise, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), healthy lifestyle habits, Journal of Clinical Oncology, self-healing

I finish the first chapter of my book, The Six Keys To Optimal Health, with the following line: Although this book is not intended as a guide for curing any particular disease, people suffering from ill health can still benefit from the practices contained within.

A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology discloses that the more healthy lifestyle habits cancer patients adopt, the better their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In 2006, the American Cancer Society recommended that cancer patients get at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-strenuous exercise, or an hour of strenuous physical activity every week; eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily; and quit smoking. According to the study’s results, many cancer patients neglect to follow these recommendations–only 5 percent were meeting all three requirements, while 12.5 percent were meeting none. Those people following one or more of the recommendations not only did better in HRQoL, but had lower mortality and recurrence rates. Very nice!

I find this study particularly interesting because I’m naturally curious about the people who have the least compliance–what makes them neglect adopting healthy lifestyle habits. Of the 9,105 cancer survivors surveyed, only 15-19% were eating at least five servings of fruit and vegetables daily, while only 30-47% were getting the recommended amount of exercise. Not great, especially in light of how crucial both activities are for all people.

I think that if I’d just had what I’d imagine is a pretty frightening “get me in touch with my own mortality” moment, I would probably become Euell Gibbons. But that’s just me.

Maybe cancer survivors who don’t adopt healthy lifestyle habits think it’s too late for them. Or maybe they think health–and ultimately life–is not within their reach; not in their destiny. I can’t imagine it’s carelessness or laziness or self-destructive behavior. Small percentage, maybe; but not in those numbers. I really think it’s a disbelief in one’s own powerful ability to heal. This study, however, gives great evidence of our self-healing, self-regulating capabilities.

So here I say to everybody–cancer survivors and all–you can reach your full potential of health by practicing the six key habits outlined in my book. Research proves everyday how powerful the human body is, and since everybody and everything in your life is connected to your physical being, then you may as well do the things that keep you functioning optimally. Beating cancer is like being given a second chance. Take advantage of it. Give your body what it needs and it’ll repay you multiplied.

Self Healing Body

By On · Add Comment · In brain, brain cells, central nervous system (CNS), healing, health, injuries, mind-body, nerve cells, nerve pathways, nerves, paralysis, repair, self-healing, self-regulating, spinal cord

Check this tripper: Scientist say that the central nervous system (CNS) can rewire itself to bypass damaged nerves that cause paralysis. Tiny nerves in the brain and spinal cord can actually crisscross creating new nerve pathways between brain cells and nerve cells that control movement. Injuries once thought to be irreversible now seem to show hope of recovery.

The study conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles looked at mice whose long axon nerve fibers were blocked causing paralysis of their hind legs. However, researchers left the core of the mice’s spinal cords, which contained short nerve fibers, intact. Within eight weeks the mice regained movement in their hind legs, astonishing researchers. The scientists then blocked the short nerve fibers, once again, causing hind leg paralysis. This showed that the short nerve fibers, which had reconnected, were responsible for the regain in hind leg movement.

Wow! Imagine that. Nerve cells repairing themselves and creating new connections in a self-healing, self-regulating repair process. I find this new discovery absolutely fascinating, although I’m not exactly surprised by it. I would expect this type of self-repair to be inherent in living organisms, especially one as complex as Homo sapien. And I’m certain we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg. I still contend that the greatest gains in human health and healing will be realized in the realm of mind-body dynamics in the future–and perhaps not as far in the future as one might think.

The implications go way beyond reversing paralysis, in my mind. I think that all healing probably follows this type of mechanism in one way or another. There is so much about the human body and it’s physiology that we do not know, especially on the molecular (and smaller) level. I’m excited to see where science will lead us tomorrow. The human mind and body are truly magnificent, and we have yet to realize their full potential. Truth is, we probably haven’t even seen the half of it.

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