Think an Oncologist's Goal Is to Treat You? You'll Be Stunned by Their Answers

Straight from their own mouths, oncologists reveal why their goal isn't to treat you as an individual. These cancer patients found that truth hard to swallow and instead chose to buck the system, including a glioblastoma brain tumor patient who's still alive 19 years later because he did.

Atrocious State of Cancer Treatment in the U.S.

• April 09, 2016 • 533,315 views

Story at-a-glance

• Despite a decades-long war on cancer, and the “most advanced” treatments known to 21st-century oncologists, many cancer diagnoses remain a death sentence
• Patient requests for possible experimental, natural or outside-the-box treatments are typically denied by oncologists who refuse to deviate from the hospital’s standard protocol
• The film “Surviving Terminal Cancer” follows the story of those who have survived terminal cancer by bucking the system and taking their health and cancer treatment into their own hands

By Dr. Mercola

Being diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain tumor, is considered a death sentence by modern medicine.

Despite a decades-long war on cancer, and the "most advanced" treatments known to 21st century oncologists, people who develop this aggressive, fast-growing cancer are given a prognosis of about 15 months to live — if they're lucky.

Aggressive treatment, including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, is often started, even though oncologists know it won't cure the disease. If you ever find yourself in this type of nightmarish scenario, you can imagine the desperation you would feel to find something, anything, that might offer hope.

Most people turn to their oncologists or neurosurgeons with such requests for possible experimental or outside-the-box treatments, but you're unlikely to receive any help that deviates from the hospital's standard protocol.

It's not that such treatment options don't exist; they do. The problem is that the oncologist can't, or won't, prescribe them. To do so would risk his or her reputation and even medical license, should you decide to sue.

The film interviews a number of oncologists that carefully describe their predicament. But the problem is even larger than this. Modern cancer care is not set up to treat you, an individual. Their primary goal is to validate experimental therapies for future cancer patients many years down the road.

Due to regulatory red tape, drug-company greed, failures in the scientific process and lack of a universal will to do what's best for each and every patient, modern cancer care fails an unacceptable percentage of the time.

As Albert Einstein said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This describes modern cancer treatment in a nutshell.

How One Man Survived Terminal Cancer

Ben Williams, Ph.D., professor emeritus of Experimental Psychology at University of California, San Diego, shouldn't be here today. He should be one of the statistics — 1 of the more than 15,000 people who die from glioblastoma multiforme in the U.S. every year.1

Yet, he's alive — 19 years after his initial glioblastoma multiforme diagnosis. His survival was brushed off as a rare fluke by his doctors, but Williams believes otherwise.

In his book "Surviving Terminal Cancer: Clinical Trials, Drug Cocktails, and Other Treatments Your Oncologist Won't Tell You About," he details the multi-faceted strategy he used to overcome the disease. You can hear him tell his story first-hand in the film "Surviving Terminal Cancer," above.

It's becoming increasingly clear that in order to outsmart cancer, you've got to attack it from multiple angles, especially in the case of complex brain cancer. And that's what Williams did.

He described a mushroom extract that's used routinely to treat cancer in Japan. It has zero toxicity, but it's not even mentioned in the U.S.

He did his own research, finding out about the potential to use existing non-cancer medications off label to treat the deadly disease. Once a patent expires on a drug, its potential to rake in major profits plummets. As such, drug companies typically abandon them in favor of newer, more profitable pursuits.

Abandoned Drugs Show Promise but Oncologists Won't Prescribe Them

Some of these abandoned drugs have shown promise for glioblastoma multiforme, but they're not offered to U.S. patients. While I'm not in favor of over-prescribing medications, if you're facing a deadly prognosis you're probably willing to risk the side effects if it gives you a chance for survival.

High-dose tamoxifen, a breast cancer drug, is one such medication that has shown some promise in treating glioblastoma multiforme.2

The anti-malaria drug chloroquine is another.3 There's even a good chance your neuro-oncologist may be aware of the promising studies done with these drugs, but he or she won't offer them as a potential treatment because they're considered experimental. As Williams said:

"It made absolutely no sense to me not to use everything that might have a benefit as long as the toxicities were acceptable. Why wouldn't anyone want to add them? It seemed to be totally irrational that people didn't use everything that was available."

When Modern Medicine Fails Them, Cancer Patients Turn to Self-Medication and the Black Market

In order to survive, Williams turned to self-medicating, a dangerous prospect by any account but, again, when your life is at stake you're willing to take the risk. And his story is not unique.

Many have traveled to other countries, forged prescriptions, feigned illnesses to get access to different medications and even traded medications and nutraceuticals on the "black market" in order to have even a chance at survival.

In Williams' case, his daily cocktail of off-label medications and natural products worked. In just six months, his brain tumor had disappeared and it hasn't been back since.

There are more than a handful of others who have defied odds and lived long term with glioblastoma multiforme, and they've taken matters into their own hands too.

Williams now spends the bulk of his time trying to help others with terminal cancer, and he makes his book, which he updates annually, free to cancer patients in need.

Natural Cancer Fighters Overlooked by Modern Medicine

Nature is an invaluable resource for fighting cancer, yet natural products, even those that have been intensely studied, are also left out of cancer patients' treatment plans. Curcumin — one of the most well-studied bioactive ingredients in turmeric — is one glaring example.

It exhibits over 150 potentially therapeutic activities, including anti-cancer properties.

As noted by Dr. William LaValley — a leading natural medicine cancer physician whom I've previously interviewed on this topic — curcumin is unique in that it appears to be universally useful for just about every type of cancer.

Superficially, this appears unusual considering the fact that cancer consists of a wide variety of different nuclear genetic defects. One reason for this universal anti-cancer proclivity is curcumin's ability to decrease the primary mitochondrial dysfunction that is likely one of the foundational causes of cancer. Once it gets into a cell, it also affects more than 100 different molecular pathways.

And, as explained by LaValley, whether the curcumin molecule causes an increase in activity of a particular molecular target or decrease/inhibition of activity, studies repeatedly show that the end result is a potent anti-cancer activity. Moreover, curcumin is virtually non-toxic, and does not adversely affect healthy cells, suggesting it selectively targets cancer cells — all of which are clear benefits in cancer treatment.

Research has even shown that it works synergistically with certain chemotherapy drugs, enhancing the elimination of cancer cells. If you have cancer, curcumin is one substance you should be taking, but your oncologist won't recommend it.

To Survive Cancer, Many Must Defy Their Doctors

Should you bring up the fact that you are using approaches to fight cancer that are outside of your oncologist's realm of experience — things like supplements, medical marijuana, herbal preparations, and more — you might be scolded, berated, threatened or even fired from the practice.

Williams never told his oncologists about his self-prescribed treatment; he knew it would fall on deaf ears. The cancer industry should be learning from the people who have beaten the odds and survived terminal cancer — studying their methods and trying to apply them to others — but instead they're ignored.

It's an unfortunate state of affairs when patients must actively defy their doctors in order to survive. As Williams explained, going against the advice of his doctors was initially an act of desperation, but it was necessary to save his life. This certainly applies to the majority of conventional oncologists, but there are exceptions — doctors who are blazing a new trail to find a cancer cure.

This includes Dr. Marc-Eric Halatsch, a professor and senior consultant neurosurgeon at the University of Ulm, Germany, who, along with colleagues have developed a new treatment protocol for relapsed glioblastoma.

It's based on a combination of drugs (very similar to the early HIV treatments) "not traditionally thought of as chemotherapy agents, but that have a robust history of being well-tolerated and are already marketed and used for other non-cancer indications."4 As noted in the featured film, even though the protocol uses mainstream medications, he's put his reputation on the line to step outside the conventional cancer-treatment box.

Cancer Patients Should Have Access to the Best of Eastern and Western Medicine

Dr. Raymond Chang, who is featured in the video above, is one such pioneer in the integration of Eastern and Western medicine. He is known for his work on anti-cancer Chinese botanicals especially involving bioactive polysaccharides and medicinal mushrooms.

He and colleagues with the Institute of East-West Medicine have created the Asian Anti-Cancer Materia Database, which brings together traditional Asian medicines that have potential anti-cancer activity into one database that can be accessed by all.5 In his book, "Beyond the Magic Bullet ― The Anti-Cancer Cocktail," Dr. Chang explained:

"While scientists win occasional skirmishes in the battle against cancer, the overall war continues to go badly. Stories abound about revolutionary drugs that may be available in the future, but offer no real help to those who have cancer today. At present, conventional approaches continue to rely on a narrowly focused strategy of treatments, with doctors using, at best, only one or two drugs or other therapies at a time.

While this may be acceptable in a laboratory setting or a clinical trial, it has done little to diminish the number of people who die each year from this dread disease. Recently, however, conventional medicine's core strategy has been re-examined, and a new, potentially more effective approach has emerged ― one that combines the best of Eastern wisdom with Western science."

More Than Half a Million People Expected to Die From Cancer in 2016

In 2016, nearly 1.7 million new cases of cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the U.S., while nearly 600,000 will die from the disease.6  That is nearly 1,650 people dying EVERY DAY in the U.S. alone. Public health agencies claim that we are winning the war against cancer, but from 2003 to 2012 death rates from cancer decreased by only 1.8 percent per year among men and 1.4 percent per year among women.7

Meanwhile, the 2014 World Cancer Report issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) predicted worldwide cancer rates to rise by 57 percent in the next two decades.8

The report refers to the prediction as "an imminent human disaster," noting countries around the world need to renew their focus on prevention rather than treatment only. Christopher Wild, Ph.D., director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, told CNN:9

"We cannot treat our way out of the cancer problem. More commitment to prevention and early detection is desperately needed in order to complement improved treatments and address the alarming rise in cancer burden globally."

There is so much you can do to lower your risk for cancer, but please don't wait until you get the diagnosis — you have to take preventative steps now. Cancer doesn't typically develop overnight, which means you have a chance to make changes that can potentially prevent cancer from developing in the first place. Most of us carry around microscopic cancer cell clusters in our bodies all the time.

The reason why we all don't develop cancer is because as long as your body has the ability to balance angiogenesis properly, it will prevent blood vessels from forming to feed these microscopic tumors. Trouble will only arise if, and when, the cancer cells manage to get their own blood supply, at which point they can transform from harmless to deadly. It's much easier to prevent cancer than to treat it once it takes hold.

Top Cancer Prevention Strategies

I believe you can virtually eliminate your risk of cancer and chronic disease and significantly improve your chances of recovering from cancer if you currently have it, by following these relatively simple strategies.

1.Eat REAL Food: Seek to eliminate all processed food in your diet. Eat at least one-third of your food raw. Avoid frying or charbroiling; boil, poach or steam your foods instead. Consider adding cancer-fighting whole foods, herbs, spices and supplements to your diet, such as broccoli sprouts, curcumin and resveratrol.

2.Carbohydrates and Sugar: Sugar/fructose and grain-based foods from your diet need to be reduced and eventually eliminated. This applies to whole unprocessed organic grains as well, as they tend to rapidly break down and drive up your insulin level.  

The evidence is quite clear that if you want to avoid cancer, or you currently have cancer, you absolutely MUST avoid all forms of sugar, especially fructose, which are dirty fuels generating excessive free radicals and secondary mitochondrial damage.

3.Protein and Fat: Consider reducing your protein levels to 1 gram of protein for every kilogram of lean body mass, or one-half gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. Replace excess protein with high-quality fats, such as organic eggs from pastured hens, high-quality grass-fed meats, raw pastured butter, avocados, pecans, macadamias, and coconut oil.

4.GMOs: Avoid genetically engineered foods as they are typically treated with herbicides such as Roundup (glyphosate), and are likely to be carcinogenic and contribute to mitochondrial dysfunction. Choose fresh, organic, and preferably locally grown foods.

5.Animal-Based Omega-3 Fats: Normalize your ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats by consuming anchovies, sardines, wild Alaskan salmon or taking a high-quality krill oil and reducing your intake of processed vegetable oils.

6.Optimize Your Gut Flora: This will reduce inflammation and strengthen your immune response. Researchers have found a microbe-dependent mechanism through which some cancers mount an inflammatory response that fuels their development and growth.

They suggest that inhibiting inflammatory cytokines might slow cancer progression and improve the response to chemotherapy. Fermented foods are especially beneficial for gut health, and the fermentation process involved in creating sauerkraut produces cancer-fighting compounds such as isothiocyanates, indoles and sulforaphane.

7.Exercise and Move More: Sit less, move around more and try to take 10,000 steps a day.  Exercise also lowers insulin levels, which creates a low-sugar environment that discourages the growth and spread of cancer cells. In a three-month study, exercisewas found to alter immune cells into a more potent disease-fighting form in cancer survivors who had just completed chemotherapy.

Researchers and cancer organizations increasingly recommend making regular exercise a priority in order to reduce your risk of cancer and help improve cancer outcomes. Exercise may also help trigger apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancer cells. Ideally, your exercise program should include balance, strength, flexibility, and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). For help getting started, refer to my Peak Fitness Program.

8.Vitamin D: There is scientific evidence you can decrease your risk of cancer by more than half simply by optimizing your vitamin D levels with appropriate sun exposure. Your serum level should hold steady at 50 to 70 ng/ml, but if you are being treated for cancer, it should be closer to 80 to 90 ng/ml for optimal benefit.

If you take oral vitamin D and have cancer, it would be very prudent to monitor your vitamin D blood levels regularly, as well as supplementing with vitamin K2, as K2 deficiency is actually what produces the symptoms of vitamin D toxicity.

9.Sleep: Make sure you are getting enough restorative sleep. Poor sleep can interfere with your melatonin production, which is associated with an increased risk of insulin resistance and weight gain, both of which contribute to cancer's virility.

10.Exposure to Toxins: Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, herbicides, household chemical cleaners, plastics chemicals, synthetic air fresheners and toxic cosmetics.

11.Exposure to Radiation: Limit your exposure and protect yourself from radiation produced by cell phones, towers, base stations, and Wi-Fi stations, as well as minimizing your exposure from radiation-based medical scans, including dental x-rays, CT scans, and mammograms.

12.Stress Management: Stress from all causes is a major contributor to disease. It is likely that stress and unresolved emotional issues may be more important than the physical ones, so make sure this is addressed. My favorite tool for resolving emotional challenges is the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT).

Have You Been Diagnosed With Cancer?

One of the most essential strategies I know of to treat cancer is to starve the cells by depriving them of their food source. Unlike your body cells, which can burn carbs or fat for fuel, cancer cells have lost that metabolic flexibility. Dr. Otto Warburg was given a Nobel Prize over 75 years ago for figuring this out, but virtually no oncologist actually uses this information.

You can review my interview with Dominic D'Agostino, Ph.D. below for more details. Integrating a ketogenic diet with hyperbaric oxygen therapy is deadly to cancer cells. It debilitates them by starving them of their fuel source. This would be the strategy I would recommend to my family members if they were diagnosed with cancer.

Download Interview Transcript

Your health is under siege from every direction. Environmental toxins, ultra-processed foods, EMFs, government-subsidized GMOs and a host of other threats surround us. It is simply not possible to protect yourself unless you are armed with cutting edge health information.

The most complex tasks can be made easy if you just take one step at a time. Taken as a whole, this 30-tip plan makes for a comprehensive guide that can change your life. Just a few of the topics addressed are:

• What to eat and when to eat it
• Exercise strategies that you can implement today
• The power of emotional health
• Enhancing your health with essentials like air, sunshine and water
• How to get the restorative sleep that your body requires

It may seem that health and wellness are no longer the norm. An opioid epidemic sweeps the country, the obesity rate is skyrocketing, life expectancy is dropping and chronic diseases are rampant. Our communities are being damaged at every level and the only way to reverse these trends is through education and personal example. My 30-tip plan provides you with the tools you need to take control of your health. The time is ripe for revolution — a health revolution.

CLICK HERE TO GAIN ACCESS


https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/04/09/atrocious-state-cancer-treatment.aspx?

Ways to reduce risk of breast cancer and help your body heal from it

For most women today, a diagnosis of breast cancer is not the end of the world. It is only a temporary distraction – one that can be treated with advanced medical modalities and with fewer side effects than before.

February 19, 2018 Health, Nutrition, Wellness

By Datuk Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar

A compound found naturally in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables may reduce some of the harmful effects of Type II diabetes in overweight adults. — Photos: TNS

This means that we cannot just think about breast cancer in the context of treatment alone, but within the broader picture of moving on with life and preventing recurrence.

We can do a lot with the food we eat – choosing the right types of natural and wholesome foods, preferably organic, can give us access to the right nutrients, which can work in sync with many other as-yet-undiscovered compounds in food (particularly fruits and vegetables) to maintain optimal health and balance in the body.

However, it is becoming more difficult to put such foods on our table. Due to modern growing and harvesting methods and environmental toxins in the atmosphere, foods today contain less-than-optimal levels of essential fats, vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients.

Even when you do consume these nutrients, your body’s ability to absorb them may be depleted by the battering it has received from the disease and the treatment regimen. Here are a few ways you can help your body heal from breast cancer, and how to avoid the things that harm your body.

Helping Your Body

If your body is unable to absorb nutrients well, you may need supplementation. Supplementing your diet with vitamin D can have protective effects against cancer, as low vitamin D levels may increase the risk of breast cancer, as well as the risk of dying from it.

Omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA have numerous antiproliferative effects on breast cancer cells and enhanced protective effects when combined with several chemotherapeutic agents. DHA and EPA are also recommended for breast cancer survivors as they are believed to reduce inflammation and fatigue.

Another omega-3, GLA, can also promote the anti-inflammatory effect by helping to maintain balance in the fatty acids.

Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage, have long been known to have anti-cancer properties. The main active compounds in the vegetables that possess these protective roles are isothiocyanates and DIM (3,3’-Diindolymethane).

DIM inhibits cancer cell growth in oestrogen-receptor positive and negative cells, and also modulates oestrogen metabolism. Melatonin is a hormone that may help to improve survival in some cancers and may enhance the effectiveness of conventional therapy.

Curcumin, the active component of turmeric, is believed to inhibit many types of tumours while sensitising cancer cells to other therapies like chemotherapy.

There are also several vitamins that can help cancer patients after therapy. These include vitamin E and vitamin K2. The latter, which is the most stable of all forms of vitamin K, is associated with reduced cancer incidence and death.

As Asia is the cradle of traditional therapies, it comes as no surprise that several native herbs and spices also complement cancer treatment. One example is Scutellaria barbata, a herb that grows in South Korea and southern China. An extract of this plant has been shown to inhibit cancer cell growth and induce cancer cell death in advanced breast cancer.

Curcumin, the active component of turmeric, is believed to inhibit many types of tumours while sensitising cancer cells to other therapies like chemotherapy. Two components of milk thistle, silymarin and silibinin, have antiproliferative and antimetastatic properties.

Lastly, we look at the powerful role of functional ingredients, namely antioxidants. Catechins, which are found in green tea, have numerous antimetastatic and antiproliferative benefits, while also enhancing other therapies.

Red wine and grapes contain an antioxidant called resveratrol, which has the potential to influence the methylation of genes in women at high risk of breast cancer. Resveratrol may also have beneficial effects for women undergoing radiation therapy, as it is believed to reduce the toxicity of the radiation.

Quercetin can potentially inhibit breast cancer proliferation and induce apoptosis (programmed cell death) in the cancer cells. This antioxidant can also alter the metabolism of oestrogen to less toxic compounds, making it more beneficial for HER2/neu-positive cancer.

Finally, grape seed extract has been shown to inhibit the development of breast cancer cells in response to several common toxins. It may also inhibit the enzyme aromatase, a factor in hormone-sensitive cancers.

You must seek the advice of your doctor or nutritionist before taking any of these or other types of nutritional supplements. If you take the wrong types or in the wrong dose, supplements can interfere with the effects of treatment for cancer and other diseases.

Harming your body

Some components present in our food can increase the risk of breast cancer. One example is DDT, a pesticide ingredient that is also a hormone-disrupting chemical. DDT interferes with the functioning of oestrogen and increases the risk of birth defects, infertility and type 2 diabetes. It can increase the risk of breast cancer by four times.

You may wonder why DDT is still a concern if it was banned almost 20 years ago in Malaysia. Unfortunately, the effects of DDT last for decades after exposure to it.

A large study of 20,000 women and 10,000 of their daughters has found that women exposed to higher levels of DDT while in their mother’s womb were nearly four times more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer, compared to women exposed to lower levels of DDT in the womb.

These findings provide evidence that the harmful effects of DDT are seen across generations. DDT and similar chemicals tamper with the body’s natural oestrogen functioning, also increasing a person’s risk of birth defects, infertility and type 2 diabetes.

DDT can last in the soil for a very long time – it takes two to 15 years for half the DDT in soil to break down. Therefore, food sources can still contain DDT long after the pesticide has been used on the crops.

We can be exposed to DDT from foods like meat, poultry, fish and shellfish, which had been exposed to DDT up to 15 years ago, and from imported foods from countries where DDT is still used. Eating fewer animal products and eating locally-produced food can lower our exposure to DDT.

We must continue to be vigilant against environmental causes of breast cancer that can pose a threat to generations of women. Also stop smoking; live healthily to avoid antibiotics and drugs; reduce animal proteins, dairy, well-cooked meat and high glycaemic carbohydrates; and avoid alcohol and fried foods.

https://www.star2.com/health/2018/02/19/ensure-breast-cancer-doesnt-come-back/

Curcumin Supplementation May Impart Long-Term Cognitive Benefits

And those who took this small dose for 18 months also had less brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's. Its mode of action? It crosses your blood-brain barrier where it powerfully quenches inflammation and protects your cognitive function. Plus, other studies show it can help treat depression, tumors, IBD and arthritis.

February 8, 2018 

Story at-a-glance

• Curcumin, a bioactive ingredient in the spice turmeric, has over 160 potentially therapeutic activities, including anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective and anticancer benefits
• Recent research suggests curcumin may have long-term effects on your cognitive function by protecting against brain inflammation. By boosting mood, it may also help prevent depression
• Compared to controls, patients who took 90 mg of curcumin for 18 months experienced a 28 percent improvement in memory; brain scans also show they had less brain plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease
• Research also suggests curcumin may offer potent protection against cancer, and it’s been shown to enhance conventional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy
• Consumed alone in its raw form, bioavailability of curcumin is poor; however, there are formulas and methods that improve absorption. The addition of piperine can increase absorption of curcumin by 2,000 percent

By Dr. Mercola

Turmeric, a yellow curry spice used in Indian cuisine, has a long history of medicinal use in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine. Modern science has confirmed many of its ancient claims, and curcumin alone — one of the most well studied bioactive ingredients in turmeric — has been shown to have over 160 potentially therapeutic activities.

Studies suggest it can be a powerful ally in the treatment of depression, cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases and rheumatoid arthritis, for example. Many of curcumin's benefits are attributed to its ability to quench inflammation, which is a hallmark of most chronic diseases, from obesity and metabolic syndrome to heart disease and dementia.

Importantly, it has the ability to cross your blood-brain barrier and exhibits potent neuroprotective properties, suggesting it may be useful for neurodegenerative disorders. Researchers at the University of California recently demonstrated it may have long-term effects on your cognitive function by protecting against brain inflammation.1

Curcumin May Protect Against Dementia

The double-blind, placebo-controlled study, published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry,2 included 40 adults between the ages of 50 and 90 who reported mild memory lapses. None had a diagnosis of dementia at the time of their enrollment. Participants randomly received either 90 milligrams (mg) of curcumin (Theracurmin supplement) twice a day for 18 months, or a placebo.

A standardized cognitive assessment was administered at the start of the study and at six-month intervals thereafter, and the level of curcumin in their blood was measured at the beginning and end of the study. Thirty of the participants also underwent positron emission tomography (PET) scans to assess their level of amyloid and tau deposits before and after treatment, which are strongly associated with Alzheimer's risk.

Those who received curcumin saw significant improvements in memory and concentration, while the control group experienced no improvement. The treatment group also reported better mood, and PET scans confirmed they had significantly less amyloid and tau buildup in areas of the brain that control memory and emotion, compared to controls. Overall, the curcumin group improved their memory by 28 percent over the year-and-a-half-long treatment period. As reported by Science Daily:3

"The researchers plan to conduct a follow-up study with a larger number of people. That study will include some people with mild depression so the scientists can explore whether curcumin also has antidepressant effects. The larger sample also would allow them to analyze whether curcumin's memory-enhancing effects vary according to people's genetic risk for Alzheimer's, their age or the extent of their cognitive problems.

'These results suggest that taking this relatively safe form of curcumin could provide meaningful cognitive benefits over the years,' said Small, UCLA's Parlow-Solomon professor on aging."

Curcumin — A Powerful Neuroprotectant

Curcumin has also been shown to increase levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)4 and this may be yet another mechanism that can help explain its neuroprotective effects.5 Reduced levels of BDNF has been linked to both depression and Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers have also discovered that curcumin has an effect on several pathways in your body that may reverse insulin resistance, hyperlipidemia and other symptoms associated with metabolic syndrome and obesity,6 and this too can lower your risk of dementia and Alzheimer's. Autopsies reveal people with high blood sugar tend to have greater amounts of amyloid plaque in their brains, and diabetics have a 65 percent higher risk of Alzheimer's disease than nondiabetics.7,8

Curcumin Shown to Relieve Symptoms of Depression   

As in the featured study, earlier research has also demonstrated curcumin's mood-boosting effect, suggesting it may be helpful against depression. A 2017 meta-analysis9 of six short-term, placebo-controlled clinical trials concluded curcumin "appears to be safe, well-tolerated and efficacious among depressed patients," and could serve as a "novel antidepressant." Three of the trials also reported significant anti-anxiety effects.

Another recent study10,11 evaluating curcumin's effect on depression was done in Australia. A total of 123 people diagnosed with major depressive disorder were included in the double-blind, randomized study, receiving either 250 or 500 mg of curcumin extract, 250 mg of curcumin with 15 mg of saffron, or a placebo, for three months.

Compared to placebo, all three treatment groups experienced improvement in their symptoms. Curcumin was particularly effective for those with atypical depression. Interestingly, there was no significant difference in efficacy between the dosages. (On a side note, saffron has also been shown to have antidepressant effects in a number of studies,12,13,14,15 which is why it was included in one of the treatment groups here.)

A second scientific review16 — also published last year — concluded curcumin may be beneficial not only for depression but also on a number of other psychiatric disorders, thanks to its anti-inflammatory effects. According to the authors:

"[C]urcumin can influence an array of biological activities. Many of these, such as its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, neuroprotective and monoaminergic effects are dysregulated in several neuropsychiatric disorders …

[I]n vitro, animal and human studies investigating … curcumin as a treatment for neuropsychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder … and autism are reviewed … It is concluded that curcumin is a promising, natural agent for many of these conditions …"

Curcumin's Anticancer Effects

In addition to its neuroprotective effects, research also suggests curcumin may offer potent protection against cancer, and has been shown to enhance conventional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy.17 These effects have been demonstrated in animal models treating head and neck tumors,18 and in culture of human breast, esophageal and colon cancers.19,20

For example, curcumin appears to reduce side effects of Mitomycin C — a potent antineoplastic drug that can cause kidney and bone marrow damage with long-term use, as well as secondary tumor growth — while simultaneously improving the effectiveness of the drug.21

Patients treated for chronic myeloid leukemia with chemotherapy also had a reduction in cancer growth factor when curcumin was added to the treatment.22 Protection against radiation therapy was demonstrated in a study using breast cancer patients receiving radiation therapy.23 At the end of the study those taking curcumin had less radiation damage to their skin.

In the video above, Dr. William LaValley explains how curcumin affects cancer growth. Tumors typically take years to develop, and the progression of a cell from normal growth to cancer happens through several stages. Deregulation of physiological and mechanical processes that initiate and promote the growth of cancer cells makes use of hundreds of genes and signaling routes, which is why a multitargeted approach is needed for successful prevention and treatment.

Curcumin has been shown to affect multiple cellular targets,24 triggering a variety of actions that affect the growth, replication25 and death of cancer cells. This multifaceted action of curcumin has made it useful in the treatments of several different types of cancer, including colon cancer,26 pancreatic cancer27 and amyloidosis.28

Importantly, curcumin has been shown to activate the apoptosis (cell death) signaling pathway, enabling the cells to die within a natural time span.29 Cancer cells lose the ability to die naturally, which plays a significant role in the hyperproliferation of cells that eventually end up forming into a tumor.

Cancer cells thrive in an inflammatory environment, and curcumin is able to block the pro-inflammatory response at several points, reducing the levels of inflammatory cytokines in your body.30 The anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin have even been shown to match the effect of some drugs.31 Curcumin also helps support your immune system, which is capable of seeking out and destroying early cancer cells naturally.

How to Optimize Absorption of Curcumin

Since curcumin makes up only 3 percent of turmeric's weight, simply cooking with turmeric will not be enough to produce clinical benefits. To achieve the kinds of results found in studies such as the ones mentioned here, you have to use a supplement that has been optimized for bioavailability. Even in its raw form, curcumin has a very poor absorption rate.

As a general rule, only 1 percent of the product will be absorbed by your body; even supplements that have a 95 percent concentration are absorbed at 1 percent. Researchers have investigated a variety of different delivery methods, including oral, intravenous, subcutaneous and intraperitoneal delivery, as well as a variety of formulations, to optimize bioavailability. The following methods were all found to improve the absorption rate of curcumin:32

• When delivered as a nanoparticle
• Combined with polylactic-co-glycolic acid
• Liposomal encapsulation
• Taken orally with piperine, the active ingredient in black pepper.33 In one study, the addition of piperine increased absorption of curcumin by 2,000 percent34

Anticancer doses typically range between 1,200 and 3,000 grams of bioavailable curcumin extract. Since curcumin is fat-soluble, you might be able to further increase absorption by making a microemulsion. Simply combine 1 tablespoon of curcumin powder with one or two egg yolks and 1 to 2 teaspoons of melted coconut oil, then use a hand blender on high speed to emulsify the powder.

Absorption may also be increased through boiling. Add 1 tablespoon into a quart of water that is already boiling. (If you add it to room temperature water and then boil, it doesn't work as well.) After boiling it for 10 minutes, you will have created a 12 percent solution. Drink once it has sufficiently cooled.

The curcumin will gradually fall out of the solution over time and in about six hours it will be a 6 percent solution, so it is best to drink the water within four hours. However it is far easier and more convenient to obtain curcumin that has already been modified to be more available, such as microactive curcumin.

Curcumin May Be a Valuable Supplement for the Prevention of Many Chronic Ailments

Researchers have demonstrated curcumin may affect more than 100 different cellular pathways, thereby helping prevent and/or treat a number of chronic diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders and cancer. By quenching inflammation, curcumin definitely has great medicinal potential.

In addition to being a potent antioxidant in its own right,35 curcumin also boosts the function of your body's own antioxidant enzymes.36Some studies suggest it may even work as well as some anti-inflammatory medications to treat arthritic conditions.37

Several studies have demonstrated an impact on transcription factors and signaling pathways, and have reviewed the molecular mechanisms curcumin uses to regulate and modulate gene expression.38,39,40 Overall, curcumin is powerful, cost-effective and has a low toxicity profile.41 As such, it may be a valuable supplement for many — especially for the aging population, which has not only heart disease and cancer to contend with, but also the looming threat of dementia.

For younger people, curcumin's beneficial impact on pathways that help reverse insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and obesity42are well worth noting. In all, I believe curcumin is one of the more valuable nutritional supplements worthy of consideration for all-around good health, as inflammation drives so many different disease processes. Importantly, its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, thereby lowering inflammation in the brain, may be of particular benefit to a lot of people.

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/02/08/curcumin-supplementation-cognitive-benefits.aspx

Why Checking Your Iron Level Is so Crucial for Optimal Health - MUST READ

• One in 3 reading this likely has a serious overload of a mineral that may be more dangerous to your health than lack of vitamin D. That mineral is iron.  Iron overload is incredibly common and likely as dangerous to your health as vitamin D deficiency, as it creates excessive free radicals that damage your mitochondrial DNA, cell membranes and electron transport proteins. 

June 12, 2016 

Story at-a-glance

• Iron overload is incredibly common and likely as dangerous to your health as vitamin D deficiency, as it creates excessive free radicals that damage your mitochondrial DNA, cell membranes and electron transport proteins
• Iron overload is easily diagnosed by measuring your serum ferritin. Lab normal levels are correct and should be between 20 and 80 ng/ml; between 40 and 60 ng/ml is the sweet spot
• Iron overload is easy and inexpensive to treat. Most adult men and non-menstruating women would benefit by donating blood two to three times per year to keep their mitochondria healthy

By Dr. Mercola

One in 3 reading this likely has a serious overload of a mineral that may be more dangerous to your health than lack of vitamin D. That mineral is iron.

Making matters worse, few physicians fully appreciate the danger of excess iron, which Gerry Koenig, former chairman of the Iron Disorders Institute and the Hemochromatosis Foundation,1 discusses in this interview. Koenig’s personal story is a powerful illustration of what can happen to someone with excess iron.

Approaching his 50th birthday, he'd lost a lot of weight, worked out, and felt healthy. By age 55, he was in good shape, but he did drink more than recommended. Eventually, during a physical exam, he found out his liver enzymes were high.

"The doctor recommended I stop drinking," Koenig says. "I stopped drinking. But I got sick again ... Turned out I had hemolytic anemia. My red blood cells were breaking down.

I didn't know what that meant, nor, apparently, did my doctor. They never tested my iron ... Finally I had an episode where I went to the hospital. I had encephalopathy, a pretty serious condition ... They said I would need a new liver.

I didn't get an iron test until the eve of my liver transplant in 2005 ... By chance I ran across a Scientific American article. It described something called hemochromatosis, which I didn't know anything about. I decided I would have the test.

As it turns out, I have a single gene for one of the variants for hemochromatosis — C282Y. Because of that, I decided to look into it more and started researching it ... I've been doing that for the last 11 years."

Are You at High Risk for Iron Overload?

Most all adult men and non-menstruating women have damaging levels of iron. However, there is a genetic disorder called hemochromatosis which causes your body to accumulate excessive and dangerously damaging levels of iron.

If left untreated, it can damage your organs and contribute to cancer, heart disease, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases and many other disorders.

The good news is iron overload is easy and inexpensive to treat. By monitoring your serum ferritin and/or gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) levels, avoiding iron supplements and donating blood on a regular basis, you can avoid serious health problems.

Sadly, many doctors are severely underinformed about iron overload. Hence the problem tends to go undetected.

How High Is Too High?

The serum ferritin test measures your stored iron. I strongly recommend all adults to get your iron tested (serum ferritin test) on an annual basis. I believe iron overload is every bit as dangerous to your health as vitamin D deficiency.

Just don't make the mistake of going by what's considered "normal."2 In some labs, a level of 395 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) falls within the normal range, which is FAR too high for optimal health. In reality, you're virtually guaranteed to develop disease at that level.

Ideally, your serum ferritin should be somewhere between 20 and 80 ng/ml, certainly no higher than that. As a general rule, somewhere between 40 and 60 ng/ml is the sweet spot for adult men and non-menstruating women.

Unfortunately, few besides children, premenopausal women who lose blood through monthly menstruation, and those with acute blood loss like a bleeding ulcer, have these ideal levels.

"Even some premenopausal women (if they're not under control) will go up to 60 or 70, which is dangerous if they get pregnant. There's a greater chance of poor outcomes in the pregnancy.

The U.S. is 35th in the world in infant survival. It's a terrible situation when you look at the numbers. There's no reason for this. There's no reason for us to have a population that's so unhealthy given the access to medical care that we have,"Koenig says.

Again, if your iron level is high, the solution is to simply donate your blood. If you're an adult male, you'll want to donate blood two to three times a year once your levels are normal. If ferritin levels are over 200 ng/ml, a more aggressive phlebotomy schedule is recommended.

Although your local blood bank may not realize this, recent U.S. legislation allows all blood banks to perform therapeutic phlebotomy for hemochromatosis or iron overload. All you need is a doctor's order.

Recommended Lab Tests

While a full iron panel that checks serum iron, iron-binding capacity and ferritin can be helpful, you really only need the serum ferritin test. It's fairly inexpensive — typically less than $40.

Your doctor can write you a prescription for it, or you can order it from Koenig's website, HealtheIron.com. They recently also added a (GGT) test.

GGT measures liver enzymes, which can tell you if you have liver damage. It can also be used as a screening marker for excess iron. The free iron measured by GGT is also great indicator of sudden cardiac death.

"If you only took that marker (GGT), you have an indication of iron that's not well-bound. When you have iron in the serum, it's generally bound by transferrin, which carries two iron atoms through the serum.

Ferritin can hold 4,000 to 4,500 iron molecules and put those inside the cells. If those measures are high, they’re risky, because you don’t know how well your body is going to hold on to that iron when the cells fall apart over time hemolysis or catabolism.

Our diet is the biggest factor today that's really causing this problem. It's not so much that we're eating too much iron; it's that the iron we have in our body effectively can harm us. That's where the GGT comes in. It's a surrogate measure of free iron."

For women, a healthy GGT level is around 9 U/L, whereas the high end of "normal" GGT lab ranges are generally 40 to 45 U/L for women. For men, Koenig recommends a level of 16 U/L (normal lab ranges for men is 65 to 70 U/L).3

"Women with GGT above 30 U/L have higher risk of cancers — breast cancer, all kinds of cancers — and they will have high risk of autoimmune disease," Koenig warns.

What Causes Excess Iron Buildup?

Besides having one or both genes for hemochromatosis, you may also end up with high iron levels for the simple fact that most people don't excrete iron very well. So what's the biology behind iron loading?

Ninety percent of the energy your body creates is by burning carbs or fat with oxygen in your mitochondria to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP). You need oxygen to burn the fuel because it goes through the Krebs cycle. Ninety-five percent of the time, oxygen is converted to water.

But anywhere from 0.5 to 5 percent of the time, you're going to develop what's called a reactive oxygen species (ROS). The first one is superoxide, which then transforms to the next ROS, which is hydrogen peroxide.

Here's the key: when you have excess iron in your blood, the chemical reaction (Fenton's reaction) doesn't produce water. Instead, the excessive iron catalyzes the formation of hydroxyl free radicals, which are the most potent and destructive free radicals known to man. They will decimate your mitochondrial DNA, mitochondrial electron transport proteins and cellular membranes.

This is how iron overload accelerates every major disease we know of. That's how it causes the pathologies, especially in liver and cardiovascular disease. Believe me, very few health care professionals understand the molecular biology of this reaction, which is why virtually no one is sounding the alarm about excessive iron levels. This is why you need to share this article with your friends and family as you can literally save many of their lives.

It is absolutely vital to confirm that you have safe iron levels, and once they are in a safe range, continue to monitor them so they don't rise. Remember, you don't have to have hemochromatosis to be affected. According to Koenig, iron levels have literally DOUBLED in the general population over the past four decades.

“Serum ferritin was not measured for the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I,4 1971 to 1974) was done. But during NHANES II5 (1976 to 1980), they measured ferritin. The male serum ferritin was under 100 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml). Now the median is close to 200 ng/ml. In some minorities, it’s a lot higher ...

If you look at the scales of premature death and infant mortality in African-Americans versus whites, that big difference can be accounted for by this one element. Hispanic-Americans live longer than white Americans. They also handle the iron a little bit better,” Koenig says.

Beware of High Iron, High-Carb Diet Combination

If you eat a lot of net carbs (total carbs minus fiber), the situation is exacerbated. Unfortunately, most reading this are burning carbs as their primary fuel, which adds another 30 to 40 percent more ROS on top of the hydroxyl free radicals generated by the presence of high iron.

"What people generally have when they eat better, in terms of slowing those little fires down before they become a raging fire, are antioxidants," Koenig says. "The most important one is glutathione. If you don't have good cellular health, including glutathione, those fires (inflammation) will just self-ignite and you'll have a chain reaction of effects that go on until you're really sick.

That happened to me. I got peripheral neuropathy. They try to say it's a diabetic problem, and I never had diabetes. Both of my legs were on fire. The pain was unbelievable. You wind up going to a specialist for that, a neurologist. But when the membranes on your neurological system essentially flare up and melt, the pain is unbearable. But nobody connected that to the iron."

Hemochromatosis, Another Iron-Damaging Disease

About 1 in 3.5 or an estimated 100 million people in the U.S. have the single gene for hemochromatosis. But not all of them get sick with an iron overload disorder. If you have both genes for hemochromatosis, then your risk of developing iron overload and associated health problems rises significantly.

Approximately 1 million people have the double gene variant (C282Y/C282Y), which is considered the genotype most predictive of liver disease complications. However, this only becomes a serious problem if significant iron overload occurs before a diagnosis is achieved and proper treatment can be administered.

Each year there are roughly 36,000 deaths from liver diseases and about 6,000 liver transplants. Most all of these cases are affected by excess iron, whether or not they have a hemochromatosis genotype.

The primary cause for liver transplantation and liver death is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a condition that can advance to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and cirrhosis. Excess dietary fructose is likely a primary contributor or initiator to NAFLD these days (especially in children and young adults), but high iron is another major culprit that triggers insulin resistance and disease progression.

Certainly, if you combine a high-sugar diet with excess iron, you’re asking for trouble. That will create a powerfully poisonous, deadly synergy that will accelerate just about any pathology. If you’ve read this far, you probably know more about this problem than your physician. High iron simply isn’t brought to their attention in the medical literature. The reason I know about it is because I’ve been personally affected.

My dad has beta-thalassemia and he gave me the gene, which is a form of hemolytic anemia (similar to sickle cell anemia). As a result of that, my red blood cells die faster than normal, and I’m prone to excess iron. My dad had a ferritin level of 800 when I diagnosed him 20 years ago.

He would be dead by now if we hadn’t taken measures to correct it. He’s now 90 years old. He was recently hospitalized with pneumonia. His doctor did an iron test, which came back “low,” despite being well over 200 ng/ml! They were about to give him an iron injection when my sister intervened and stopped them. Had she not been there, he might have ended up another medical error statistic.

Key Treatment Points

To reiterate, the three keys to control this situation are:

1. Lower your net carb intake and increase your consumption of healthy fats, including animal-based omega-3, to switch over to fat-burning mode and protect your mitochondria. This will help to radically reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) and secondary free radical production.
2. Regularly screen for iron overload with a serum ferritin or GGT level to confirm that you don't have excess iron, and if you do, donate blood to lower your levels.
3. If you are an adult male or non-menstruating woman, make sure that you donate your blood at least twice a year.

Relying on antioxidants to indiscriminately suppress ROS can backfire, as ROS also act as important signaling molecules. They're not all bad. They cause harm only when produced in excess. You're better off lowering the production of them rather than squelching them after they're produced.

So optimize your ROS levels biologically rather than relying on vitamins and supplements. Eating healthy fats can make a bigger difference than you might think, especially if you have high iron. Koenig explains:

"There was a very interesting group of studies on captive U.S. Navy dolphins. The dolphins had metabolic syndrome. Very, very high ferritin (serum iron). They were unhealthy. Metabolic syndrome in any population is a sign of potential risk of going from diabetes to heart disease. They cured it by providing them good fish to have plenty of fats, where they had been getting fish with poor fats ...

If anybody remembers the film 'Lorenzo's Oil,' that's where children have brain damage as a result of having this metabolism that doesn't create a good mixture of fatty acids in the cell linings. If the cell linings are damaged, particularly if it happens in the brain ... you're going to get hurt

... If you have leakage of iron from subcells, lysosomes, and/or red blood cells (hemolysis) ... it will shoot the ferritin level up high as an indication of risk. That’s when action should be taken. But it’s hard to find specialists. We need a couple of thousand general practitioners who know about this.”

Be Mindful of Food Combos That Promote Iron Retention

Here are a few other tips and suggestions regarding diet. Eating vitamin C-rich food with a meal that has iron will increase iron absorption. If you're anemic, this might be a good thing, but if you struggle with high iron, avoid combining foods high in vitamin C and iron. On the other hand, calcium will bind to iron, limiting absorption.

It impairs iron, so to speak, so if your iron is high, consider eating iron-rich foods with foods high in calcium. Interestingly, curcumin (derived from turmeric) acts as a potent chelator of iron and can be a useful supplement if your iron is elevated.

"For most people that works well. Your body is designed to not over-absorb non-heme iron, which is elemental iron. That's the iron inside vegetables and fruits. If you do something to enhance that absorption, the body will take it in.

The iron from meats you can’t control very well. We’re the only country in the developed world, together with Canada, to put 44 parts per million of elemental iron in our grains and flours.  The other one is the U.K. They put 16.5 parts per million. That’s a lot of iron, and [many] don’t need it,” Koenig says.

More Information

To learn more, I recommend visiting HealtheIron.com, where you can also order your serum ferritin and GGT tests or either of their special FeGGT-LifePRO™ test panels. If either serum ferritin or GGT is elevated, you need to take action. The treatment couldn't be simpler. Unless you're a menstruating woman, simply donate blood two to three times a year. If you cannot donate blood due to restrictions for hemochromatosis, get your doctor to write you a prescription for therapeutic phlebotomy.

Every blood bank can do that for you and many will do it free of charge, so shop around. Otherwise, a typical charge ranges from $30 to $90, which is still fairly inexpensive considering the health benefits. Most people with moderate iron overload will require no more than two or three such treatments a year to keep this risk under control.

There's also a really informative book called "Dumping Iron: How to Ditch This Secret Killer and Reclaim Your Health," which is a well written and easy to understand resource. Remember, high iron may not only be as common, or more, than low iron. It's also more dangerous, and may actually be a factor in a significant number of diabetes, heart disease and cancer cases.

Unfortunately, nearly every physician is still clueless about this, and so you need to be your own advocate if you suspect (or know) your iron is too high.

I believe correcting elevated iron levels may be just as important, if not more so, than optimizing your vitamin D. If you have high iron, you definitely have the pedal to the metal when it comes to speeding up disease and aging. Koenig is a perfect example. He ended up needing a liver transplant as a result of iron overload. In conclusion, Koenig notes:

"If your doctor tells you that you have fatty liver disease, you probably have high iron, high ferritin. He probably will not test you for that. Get the test. You can see some benefit by donating blood, or changing your diet. On my website, I have about 700 publications. If you want to dig into it, it's a section. Find out how to reduce [your iron] by diet alone. It's been done and done successfully."

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/06/12/iron-overload-disorder.aspx