The Cancer Project
After hearing about the recent passing of actor Patrick Swayze from pancreatic cancer, I wanted to pass along this link to a great website called The Cancer Project. It has lots of clinical research info on the disease but it mainly focuses on the details about how a correct diet can help you to prevent cancer in the first place. There is also really great info for all the survivors to follow to never have it re-occur in your life again.
I know first hand about the insidiousness of pancreatic cancer since I watched helplessly as my father suffered and died from it within 4 months of being diagnosed. I was 22 at the time and it really rocked my world. When he first got sick, I was living on the other side of the planet on a kibbutz in Israel having a great time. I came home to be with him and researched as much as I could about cancer and the nutrition connection since I had just graduated from college with a degree in nutrition. This was before the convenience of the internet so I relied on textbooks, alternative health magazines, the library and talking with various doctors like I was a reporter. No one really had the answers I was looking for.
The only book in print on the subject of cancer at the time was a recent book by Dr. Bernie Siegel called “Love, Medicine and Miracles.” It explained the mind/body connection and visualizing cancer cells being destroyed as well as the concept that “Love Heals.” Such a wise doctor he is!
I think the power of the mind over the body is second to none but when people are in a deep state of fear and wondering if they will live, it is difficult to keep the focus needed to apply these techniques. My father and I both read the book and he applied the techniques only to have various doctors at the time shoot down the idea when he mentioned that he was visualizing his cancer cells being eaten by Pac Man (remember that video game?). I can’t tell you what choice words I had for the docs (and others) who made him doubt what he was doing! So frustrating!
I would have LOVED a site like the Cancer Project (or a publication since this was pre-internet) so he could have looked at cold, hard facts and real techniques to apply to help himself heal along with using visualization. Sadly, there is no real recovery from this particular glandular cancer still to this day.
The key here, then, is PREVENTION. For pancreatic cancer in particular, the major studies that have come out on this disease show that smoking cigarettes, alcohol consumption, having diabetes, eating red meat – especially cooked well done (the way my Dad liked it), eating cow dairy products, obesity and even some genetic factors all greatly enhance your chances of developing this disease. Cruciferous veggies such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts as well as other fruits and veggies consumed daily help to greatly decrease your chances of developing pancreatic cancer.
Daily consumption of fruits and vegetables has been shown to lower risks of developing all types of cancer. It really boils down to simple facts when you read the studies: diet, exercise, your stress level, your daily thoughts, words and actions all add up to how likely you will be to develop a disease like this.
I for one am grateful for the info. Now I know what to avoid and what to expand in my daily life to stay happy and healthy and never suffer the same terrible fate my father, Patrick Swayze and many others did.
September 22 2009 10:00 pm | Health and food and nutrition
