Thursday, May 30, 2019
Monday, May 20, 2019
How Optimal Functioning Of The Organism Provides True Health
How would you define the optimal functioning of the organism?
In a new video, integrative oncology expert and An Oasis of Healing founder Dr. Thomas Lodi offers an answer to this timeless question of how optimal functioning of the organism will provide true health.
“Optimal functioning of the organism equals health; it is health’s only true definition. There is not another one that works,” he said. “In order for an organism to perform its function in this whole thing called nature, it must be in the environment that supports it. They call this an ecological niche in biology.”
An ecological niche refers to the “relational position of a species or population in an ecosystem.” A niche may include how a population responds to the abundance or scarcity of resources and enemies (e.g. predators) as well as to the “abiotic or physical environment.” The latter influences the way populations affect and are affected by, resources and enemies.
An ecological niche may also include an organism’s history of life, habitat, and position in the food chain. It is said, according to the competitive exclusion principle, that “no two species can occupy the same niche in the same environment for a long time.”
This is because species in the same niche have “identical needs,” which means they would compete for the same resources. It is rare that two species will occupy the exact same niche but as their niches overlap, the stronger the competition will be.
Environments are “dynamic and diverse” so there is no definitive set of ecological attributes that puts an organism above others. All living populations are in a continuous process of “evolving interactions” in response to stimulus from the environment and from other organisms.
Optimal Functioning of The Organism Requires The Right Environment
Dr. Lodi explained, “For example, if you took a tuna and put it in a freshwater lake, it wouldn’t be able to achieve optimal functioning. If you put a chimpanzee in Alaska, it would be impossible for it to have optimal functioning.
The same goes for a human in Norway. It is not where we arose from so attaining optimal functioning would be impossible. Humans arose out of the equatorial zones and we’re closest to primates.” He explained that primates have 48 chromosomes and humans have 46, so there is still a significant difference despite the close connection.
In ecology, one of the many facets that scientists’ study is the way the environment shapes organisms. In each environment, there are both “resources and constraints” that affect the appearance of organisms, as well as their survival and reproduction strategies.
For instance, the temperature is one of the factors that influence the ecology and evolution of species. When it is cold, organisms tend to “slow down or freeze” whereas high temperatures cause overheating or loss of function.
Thus, many organisms have “evolved traits” to be able to adapt to changing and extreme temperatures. “Humans can survive in Norway, in Germany, however, we pay the price, and that price is called health because we have to adapt,” he added.
Achieving holistic, long-term and sustainable health is one of the key pillars of An Oasis of Healing’s comprehensive cancer care program. Read more about it here or contact the center to find out more about it.
Friday, May 17, 2019
Monday, May 13, 2019
What Is Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome?
What is systemic inflammatory response syndrome or SIRS and how do you treat it?
In a new video, An Oasis of Healing founder and integrative oncology expert Dr. Thomas Lodi provides a brief overview of systemic inflammatory response syndrome what causes it and how it can be managed.
As the name implies, SIRS is a condition wherein there is “inflammation throughout the whole body.” This inflammation may be caused by severe bacterial infection or sepsis, pancreatitis or trauma. Symptoms include low blood pressure, fast heart rate, low or high body temperature, and blood cell count. If unchecked, SIRS can lead to multiple organ failure, shock, and death.
SIRS happens when there is an amplification of the “positive feedback loop between cytokines and inflammatory cells.” Cytokines are “proteins, peptides and glycoproteins” released by specific cells of the immune system. They are “signaling molecules” that regulate immunity, inflammation, and hematopoiesis (production of all the cellular components of blood).
Dr. Lodi explained, “It can happen to people with cancer or any end-stage chronic disease. People with SIRS can mimic the same problems as people with sepsis. Their blood pressure would be going down and their heart rate going up as well as having a fever and other things.
The only difference is the blood cultures are negative as there is no bacteria in there. It just gets set into motion with all this cascade of cytokines and negative type things from the endothelium, etc.” He noted that pharmaceutical companies came up with a drug that “worked a little bit.”
People who have SIRS can mimic the same problems as those with Sepsis
“They found out that the reason the drug worked is that it had the ability to prevent endothelial dysfunction associated with suppression of certain chemicals produced by the cell. It actually suppresses the NF-kB. NF-kB is a central molecule involved in inflammation. This drug was able to suppress it. Well, vitamin C is also able to do this,” Dr. Lodi furthered.
NF-kB is “one of the key regulators of inflammatory immune responses.” It also helps regulate cytokine production and is “implicated in a number of pathologies,” including cancer. According to a study, vitamin C is able to inhibit the activation of NF-kB through multiple stimuli. They also found that vitamin C was “not toxic to cells.”
“In fact, Vitamin C not only suppresses NF-kB but also nuclear translocation of p65 and regulated expression of the COX-2,” Dr. Lodi added. “It also decreased the hypoxia-induced factor and targeted VEGF.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a major target for cancer treatment because many tumors produce large quantities of VEGF. In fact, cancer diagnosis and prognosis may be assessed via changes in VEGF concentration in blood.
In the video, Dr. Lodi reiterated why it “does not make sense” to do targeted therapy. “Nature doesn’t single out one single thing and try to fix it. Nature does it all,” he said. “You can’t stick your finger in this big biochemical dance and just stop this one thing and think you’re going to fix it.”
Vitamin C therapy for cancer is one of An Oasis of Healing’s intravenous therapies, which are part of the center’s comprehensive cancer care program. Visit the website and get in touch, for more information and expert guidance on alternative cancer therapies.
Thursday, May 9, 2019
Monday, May 6, 2019
Progesterone Metabolites and Cancer
What are progesterone metabolites and how are they related to cancer?
In a new video, An Oasis of Healing senior medical staff member Dr. Nathan Goodyear addresses the topic of progesterone metabolites and cancer, as part of a weekly in-house staff education program. In these sessions, Dr. Goodyear leads the discussion on pertinent cancer-related topics and how it relates to An Oasis of Healing’s comprehensive care program and their patients’ healing journeys.
First off, let’s review. What is progesterone and what does it do?
Progesterone is a hormone secreted by a temporary endocrine gland produced by the female body after ovulation, during the second half of the menstrual cycle. It prepares the endometrium for the possibility of pregnancy after ovulation.
It triggers the lining to thicken, in preparation for a fertilized egg. When the body is producing high levels of progesterone, it will not ovulate.
If no fertilization occurs, the corpus luteum (the temporary endocrine gland) breaks down, thus lowering the body’s progesterone levels. This, then, triggers menstruation.
If the woman does become pregnant, the progesterone works to stimulate the body to provide blood vessels to the endometrium to nourish the growing fetus. The placenta also secretes progesterone once developed, and this is the reason why the body does not produce more eggs throughout the pregnancy.
According to Dr. Goodyear, there is a lot of correlation between estrogen and progesterone metabolites.
He explained, “Again when we talk about ER (estrogen receptor) positive breast cancer, or other types of cancers, we’re referencing ER-alpha. That’s a particular receptor for estrogen, but there’s also an ER beta, so when you look at estrogen there’s ER alpha and ER beta.
ER alpha promotes proliferation and inhibits apoptosis, so it promotes cancer. When you see somebody that has ER-alpha-positive breast cancer, that’s alpha. ER beta inhibits ER alpha, so it inhibits proliferation, it promotes apoptosis.”
Dr. Goodyear further noted that in breast, prostate, ovarian or colon cancer, the loss of ER beta is “paramount” to the stimulation and initiation of carcinogenesis or the formation of cancer.
ER beta inhibits ER alpha, so in turn, it inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis.
There are two pathways in progesterone metabolism. One is 5-alpha reductase, and another one is driven by 3-alpha and 20-alpha hydroxy steroid oxide reductase. 5-alpha reductase is the enzyme which converts testosterone into DHT (5-alpha-dihydrotestosterone)—a “potent androgen involved in male sexual differentiation.”
He added, “5 alpha-reductase promotes 5 alpha pragmeme, the others promote 4 alpha. Pro cancer and anti-cancer. These pathways really are showing us which way the person’s going.
When you look at 5 alpha hydroxy progestogen metabolite and 3 alpha, when given at the same time, inhibits 5 alpha hydroxyprogesterone. ER beta will regulate the metabolite of progesterone, 3 alpha, which is a 4 alpha pragmeme, which will inhibit that pro carcinogenic progesterone metabolite when given together. Just like the body created all these checks and balances, you even see it in the metabolites.”
Dr. Goodyear refers to the work of Dr. John Wiebe on hormonal regulatory mechanisms. Dr. Wiebe is a professor at Western University’s Department of Biology.
He and his team identified two new types of steroid hormones produced in breast tissue from progesterone metabolites that “appear to have the ability to regulate all forms of breast cancer.” One hormone (5aP) is “cancer-promoting” because it stimulates tumor growth and metastasis. The other hormone (3aHP) is “cancer-inhibiting” because it “suppresses cell proliferation and detachment.”
Their studies found that both hormones “act on estrogen-responsive and estrogen non-responsive cells, as well as on tumorigenic and non-tumorigenic cells.” The results “strongly suggest” that these steroid hormones “may have the capacity to regulate all forms of breast cancer,” depending on the ratio of 5aP and 3aHP in the breast tissue microenvironment.
Dr. Goodyear concluded, “This brings full perspective that progesterone metabolism is complex, but then how that’s interacting with lots of other hormones, is complex, and how there’s this cross talk and cross-regulation and cross-communication at the level of the hormones, at the level of the metabolites, and at the level of the receptors.”
For more insightful information about cancer research and treatment from experienced clinicians, follow this blog. Remember: With knowledge, we all have power over cancer.
Thursday, May 2, 2019
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