Anyone know who should advise on supplements?

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I recently read a very interesting book called Life a Over Cancer. It had all the usual recommendations in about diet, exercise & meditation, but there was also a suggestion that you should ‘change your terrain’ to reduce the chance of recurrence. This involves having a blood test for inflammatory, oxidative, stress & immune markers & then taking supplements to correct any excesses. The theory is that conditions within your body led to the cancer developing, so to avoid it happening again you need to address imbalances.

 

Does anyone know how I could go about getting this done? The book was written by the Block Centre, which is in the US, but can’t find anything similar in London.  I found one place, but they wanted a ridiculous amount if money for a consultation & I just had the impression that they were all about the money & not our wellbeing. My husband thinks all of this stuff is a waste of time, but I just want to do everything I can to avoid it coming back & I can get on with my life.  I have had surgery, chemo, radio, Herceptin & Tamox, so this would be an add on not instead of conventional treatment. Thanks

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Hi Bibby,

 

this is a challenging one - as most of the times - money is earned on the fear people have. And unfortunately it is also the fear we have of re occurance of our cancer.

 

Whatever we do - we cannot live in a vaccuum, without anything enhancing/ increasing risk.  However, I can certainly understand, why you wish to explore this rounte.

 

Disposition of getting breast cancer and reoccurance is based on so may facts - from genetics to age and what we eat and drink. Let’s not blame our body for not behaving and the way it was put together, when we were conceived by our parents.

 

I have done a small amout of research myself - especially on chemicals, supplements, etc - unfortunately it has to be said - some of the research is rather dubious with little solid evidence and some is funded by organisations and companies, which will actually benefit from the proceeds - hence biased. Not that dissimilar to food intolerance and alergy testing. The food and chemical industry, as well as various organisations, have to make money - and unfortunately that sometimes means we are the victims. Reason they succeed is often based on placating our fears and success stories can often not be scientificallly proven and therefore could be the famous placebo effect.

 

I am definitely not saying it is a waste of time, yes you may wish to be more cautius with what you put into and onto your body - after all - it is said - we are what we eat.

There are some basics, which have been proven and evidence can be found on some specific breast cancer sites.

 

Such as, if you have an ER+ cancer - avoid soya and anything that has a high level of phytoestrogens - the natural mimic of this hormone. Surprisingly this also includes flax seed/oil.

 

However there needs to be some realism - it is nearly completely unavoidable to come across these in our daily food and lives. AND most importantly it is so important to understand the percentages…as these are often also used to make us panic - 

 

So here is, for example a way percentages really work.

8% of all UK women are likely to be diagnosed with breastcancer during their lifetime - means following 

There are currently 32.2 million women in the UK of which an average of 2,576,000 or 2.576 million will be diagnosed at some point in their lifetime.

Another statistic also is - please read very carefully 6% of breast cancer cases are alcohol related.

Now  - keep drinking your glass of bubbly or wine! In modration, of course!!

AS -

  1. does not specify which tye of breast cancer, could be specific or all…
  2. 6% of 2.576 million is 154.560 
  3. So 154,560 out of 32,2 million women will increase their risk due to too much alcohol

Does not seem to be quite so dramatic anymore, does it?

 

Please do not misunderstand me - there should be none! 

 

Don’t fall prey to businesses, which want to make a quick buck because of your fears. Research carefully, consider carefully and look for realistic tangible evidence - that is all I am saying.

 

I wish you much luck in trying to find your way.

 

xxx

 

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Thanks Sue & hope your chemo is going well (I think you must gave started by now). I was high ki-67, grade 3 AND HER2+, so high risk for recurrence, hence trying to look at all the avenues.  The block centre us doing some amazing work…really interesting.  For example, they have found out if you give chemo at certain times of the day it is more active on cancer tissue & less active on healthy cells. Apparently different cells have different times for peak activity.

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Sorry that froze half way through.  Anyway it’s a good book to read along with You Can Conquer Cancer by Ian Gawler. The latter decided to look at people who had survived against the odds & work out what they had done. It’s a very uplifting book for of ways you can help yourself (for free!?). Good luck with everything xx

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If anyone else is interested in this, it’s a naturopath who you can access via BANT x