Dhaya Integrative Health. Focusing on Integrative Cancer Care

 

Introducing our new website for Dhaya Integrative Health

 http://dhayahealth.com

I am very proud to be a part of the team at Dhaya Integrative Health.  Our clinic focus is on cancer prevention and supporting patients and their caregivers throughout a cancer diagnosis.

Dr. Chamandeep Bali is the founder of Dhaya Integrative Health and HimaPure Research Labs.

“Dr. Bali’s unique approach to cancer care is garnering attention of oncology circles globally for his ability to seamlessly fuse time proven traditional wisdom with conventional evidence based medicine

It is because of Dr. Bali’s strong belief that nutrition and nutritional therapies play a significant role in a complete cancer protocol that I am a member of his team.

“Our specialized team is dedicated to providing the most effective adjunctive cancer care and to the advancement of research and development in the field.

Thanks to all of the people that have worked so hard to reflect a website that captures our essence.

Live Life Naturally

 

Dhaya Integrative Health Website

 

Small, sustainable weight loss may reduce risk for breast cancer

Small, sustainable weight loss may reduce risk for breast cancer

By Serena Gordon, HealthDay News  |  Dec. 8, 2017

It’s never too late for women to lose weight to lower their breast cancer risk, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that a 5 percent or greater weight loss after menopause could lower the odds of breast cancer by about 12 percent. For a 170-pound woman, a 5 percent weight loss would be 8.5 pounds.

“A modest weight loss that seems to be sustainable could have important health consequences,” said lead study author Dr. Rowan Chlebowski. He’s a research professor in the department of medical oncology and therapeutics research at the City of Hope in Duarte, Calif.

“These are encouraging findings. You don’t have to get to a normal weight to see a benefit, and you don’t need to lose a colossal amount of weight. A 5 percent weight loss is achievable on your own,” Chlebowski added.

Obesity is a known risk factor for breast cancer. But Chlebowski said it hasn’t been clear if losing weight could prevent breast cancer. And if weight loss could make a difference in breast cancer risk, it wasn’t known if there was an optimal time to lose weight.

This study included data on more than 61,000 postmenopausal women from the Women’s Health Initiative, a large, long-running study of older women by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The women were all ages 50 to 79 when they entered the study between 1993 and 1998. None had a history of breast cancer and all had a normal mammogram when the study began.

Women’s weights were measured at the start of the study and again three years later, Chlebowski said. Their health was then followed for an average of more than 11 years.

During that time, more than 3,000 women developed invasive breast cancer.

From the original group, more than 8,100 women lost 5 percent or more of their body weight. The researchers compared these women to more than 41,100 women whose weight remained stable.

The women whose weight remained stable had an average body mass index (BMI) of 26.7. BMI is a rough estimate of body fat based on height and weight measurements.

A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal, while 25 to 29.9 is overweight and over 30 is considered obese. A 5-foot-6-inch woman who weighs 170 pounds has a BMI of 27.4, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Women who intentionally lost weight in the study started out with a BMI of 29.9.

“Women who had a 5 percent or greater weight loss were heavier and less active,” Chlebowski noted.

The researchers found that when women lost even more weight — 15 percent or more of their body weight — the risk of breast cancer went down 37 percent.

There are a number of factors linked to weight loss, such as less inflammation, that could explain the lower risk of cancer, Chlebowski said. But the study did not prove that weight caused breast cancer risk to drop.

In addition to finding that losing weight was linked to reduced breast cancer risk, the researchers also looked to see what affect gaining weight had. More than 12,000 women gained weight during the study, and overall, that gain didn’t seem to boost the risk of breast cancer.

However, when the researchers looked at specific types of breast cancer, they saw a 54 percent increased risk of a type of cancer called triple negative breast cancer in women who gained weight after menopause.

Chlebowski said it’s not clear why weight gain would boost the risk of this specific cancer.

Dr. Virginia Maurer, chief of breast surgery and director of the breast health program at NYU Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, N.Y., said this is an important study that shows it’s never too late to lose weight.

“Losing weight and increasing exercise are two things you have control over,” said Maurer, who wasn’t involved with the study. “You’ll lower your risk of breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, joint diseases and other cancers related to weight.”

She recommends three to four hours of aerobic exercise a week, along with some strength training.

 

immmunotherapy

Gut Health Influences Response to Immunotherapy

Cancer cells develop the ability to avoid detection by our immune system. This understanding has lead to the development of a class of therapy, called immunotherapy, that strives to engage aspects of one’s own immune system to gain or regain the ability to detect and destroy cancer.

Our understanding of the microbiome and its impact on our immune system is ever evolving but what we can land upon is that there is a symbiotic relationship between our microbiota and our immune system. A healthy, diverse microbiota positively influences our immune system.

With this understanding, it is not too surprising that two recent studies have found a connection between gut health and the outcome of certain cancer immunotherapies.

In the first study entitled Gut microbiome modulates response to anti–PD-1 immunotherapy in melanoma patients scientists examined the oral and gut microbiome of melanoma patients undergoing a therapy called Anti-PD-1 immunotherapy.  As stated in the study,

“Significant differences were observed in the diversity and composition of the patient gut microbiome of responders (to the treatment) versus non-responders (to the treatment)…Immune profiling suggested enhanced systemic and anti-tumor immunity in responding patients with a favorable gut microbiome”

The second study entitled Gut microbiome influences efficacy of PD-1–based immunotherapy against epithelial tumors found evidence suggesting that antibiotics taken in close proximation of treatment depleted microbiome diversity resulting in less favourable results than those with a more diverse microbiome.

These studies lend support to that adage that all roads to good health lead to the gut.  More importantly they demonstrate the importance of fostering a healthy microbiome.  Cancer protocols must lend support to promoting gut health.  In general terms this would suggest a diet that incorporates fermented foods, one that is rich in fruits and vegetables, high in fiberous foods and one that is devoid of all processed foods.

 

The Importance of Magnesium for Blood Sugar Management

Magnesium is a mineral and is involved in over 300 enzymatic functions within our body including protein synthesis, blood pressure regulation, muscle and nerve function, energy production and blood glucose management. In its management of blood glucose levels, magnesium therefore can play a role in decreasing risk factors for Type 2 Diabetes and to further this can decrease the risk for cancers of the colon, breast, pancreas and liver[1].

Blood levels of glucose are elevated after we eat and it is the role of insulin, which is secreted by the pancreas, to push that glucose in to our cells. If glucose is consistently elevated, the pancreas is called upon to continually secrete insulin to try and move that glucose from our blood in to the cells. The result of this chronically elevated insulin level is that the receptors on our cells for insulin stop responding with the result that glucose does not get removed from our blood stream and blood glucose levels rise. This condition is better known as insulin resistance.

This study helps us to understand how magnesium influences insulin resistance demonstrating that magnesium is critical for our insulin receptors to function properly. The study also brings to light the fact that high insulin levels can cause an increase in the amount of urinary magnesium excreted from the kidneys. Thus someone with sub par magnesium levels can

enter a vicious circle in which hypomagnesemia causes insulin resistance and insulin resistance reduces serum Mg(2+) concentrations[2]

Getting the daily recommended amount of magnesium, 420mg per day for men and 320 mg per day for women is therefore very important for managing blood sugar and in turn for fighting disease. To ensure that you are achieving your recommended daily allowance of magnesium include foods high in magnesium such as spinach, swiss chard, pumpkin seeds, kefir, black beans, bananas and avocados in your diet daily.

 

References

[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20309918

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11478333

 

cancer

Fasting-like Diet Turns the Immune System Against Cancer

I read many studies and theories about nutrition and nutritional therapies within the realm of cancer care. Although I do try to keep an open mind to all that I read and base my opinions on the evidence presented, I must admit that I tend to favour those that resonate with me.  I do understand that this may put me under the umbrella of bias, but it allows me to be fully invested when my thoughts do align with solid research that I read. 

I have been follow the work of Professor Valter Longo for some time now.  I find his research to be both solid and promising.  He has researched and published findings on fasting, the immune system and increasing effectiveness of chemotherapy.

The study referenced below was published in 2016.  In it, Longo demonstrated (in mice) how implementation of a fasting-mimicking diet can stimulate the immune system of the mice and increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy in breast and skin cancer.

In speaking about his findings he stated:

“The mouse study on skin and breast cancers is the first study to show that a diet that mimics fasting may activate the immune system and expose the cancer cells to the immune system,” Longo said. “This could be a very inexpensive way to make a wide range of cancer cells more vulnerable to an attack by the immune cells while also making the cancer more sensitive to the chemotherapy.”

He further noted:

“It may be that by always being exposed to so much food, we are no longer taking advantage of natural protective systems which allow the body to kill cancer cells,” Longo said. “But by undergoing a fasting-mimicking diet, you are able to let the body use sophisticated mechanisms able to identify and destroy the bad but not good cells in a natural way.”

Below is the link to an article reporting Longo’s finding.

Fasting-like Diet Turns the Immune System Against Cancer