A New Revolution in Cancer Thinking

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. David Stewart- Regulations leading to Impeded Progress in Cancer (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:20:00 +0000

Dr. David Stewart discusses many aspects of Cancer that he feels need to be changed to make more progress in the field. He also discusses the importance of genetic testing before putting patients into clinical trials. Dr. Stewart is a professor of medicine and head of division of medical oncology at the University of Ottawa. He was previously professor and deputy chair of Thoracic Head and Neck Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Hospital. He has 270 peer reviewed publications and edited the textbook Lung Cancer: Prevention, Management, and Emerging Therapies Published in 2010.

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. John McGowan on the Bathtub Mechanism to treat Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:55:00 +0000

Dr. McGowan uses mathematics and mathematical software, along with development of image and video processing algorithms to model cancer. He graduated with a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology and a PHD in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In this video, he highlights the Bathtub Mechanism, which he believes could play a significant role in helping cancer patients due to abnormal level of chromosome number routinely found in cancer patients.

New Cancer Mentality: Krystal Bocanegra on her Experince with Peritoneal Mesothelioma and Advice for Current Patients

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 20:34:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality: Krystal Bocanegra on her journey fighting Peritoneal Mesothelioma and Advice for Current Patients from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Krystal’s story begins almost 3yrs ago, when she suddenly began experiencing severe stomach pains and exhaustion. At the time, she contributed these symptoms to her body reacting to working too much, but her symptoms consistently kept getting worse and worse each month. Finally, after becoming too fatigued to work, Krystal decided to go see her primary care physician. After, a CT scan was taken and surgery completed to look at what was going on, Krystal was diagnosed with the rare cancer peritoneal mesothelioma. She comes today to inform our audience of her treatment and help others who may be going through similar circumstances she did.

New Cancer Mentality: International Insight: Dr. Laura Soucek of Spain on her experimental findings studying Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:46:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality: International Insight: Dr. Laura Soucek of Spain on her experimental findings studying Cancer from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Dr. Soucek obtained a PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology at University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy. She then went on to do a Postdoctoral fellowship at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, San Francisco. She then moved on to being an Assistant Researcher as a Molecular Biologist at the university of California San Francisco. As of now, she is in in Barcelona, Spain where she is the Head of the Mouse Models of Cancer Therapies Laboratory, at the institute of Oncology Vall d’Hebron. She has received numerous awards including the AACR award for outstanding early-career scientists in cancer research as well as the MIGUEL SERVET fellowship from FIS, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo. Just last week she also received an award from the Fero Foundation, which was given to her by Princess Letizia of Spain. She speaks about targeting the inhibition of the Myc protein to treat various types of Cancer.

New Cancer Mentality: Thoracic Surgeon Dr. William R. Smythe on Mesothelioma Treatment

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:23:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Arnold Glazier on the Requirements for Cure of Cancer: A plan of Action

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 03:15:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Arnold Glazier on the Requirements for Cure of Cancer: A plan of Action from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Dr. Glazier discusses PRTT and the requirements for the cure of cancer.

Click the link below for a PDF of the interview

For additional information on the Overview of Requirements for Prevention and Cure of Metastatic Cancer click the link below

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Arnold Glazier on the importance of Prevention on Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:14:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Arnold Glazier on the importance of Prevention on Cancer from David Farzam on Vimeo.

In this video, Dr. Glazier emphasizes many important aspects relating to prevention on cancer risk and what can be done to avoid exposure to carcinogens.

Click the link below for a PDF of the interview

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Arnold Glazier on the Complexity of Cancer, Tumor Cell Evolution, and its Implications for the Future

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 03:51:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Arnold Glazier on the Complexity of Cancer, Tumor Cell Evolution, and its Implications for the Future from David Farzam on Vimeo.
In part one, Dr. Glazier reviews the evidence that cancer is an enormously diverse, unpredictable evolutionary process and discusses the logical and practical implications.

Click the link below for a PDF of the interview.

New Cancer Mentality: Jonny Imerman on Imerman's Angels and importance of connecting with others during Treatment

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Fri, 27 May 2011 04:55:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality: Jonny Imerman on Imerman's Angels and importance of connecting with others during Treatment from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Jonny Imerman is the founder of the successful organization Imerman's Angels. Jonny connects cancer patients with cancer survivors who fought the same type of cancer as the patient. Thanks to the organization, cancer patients are able to have someone to contact during difficult periods of their treatment. Cancer survivors assume a mentor position and are able to share their story with the patients and build new relationships. Thanks again to Jonny and we wish him all the best in the future.

New Cancer Mentality: Anna Warner on Thyroid Cancer and Important of Positive Mentality throughout Treatment

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:13:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality: Anna Warner on Thyroid Cancer and Important of Positive Mentality throughout Treatment from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Anna is a professional singer and has sung at weddings, minor league baseball games, the chapel for the Detroit Lions and in her community church. Anna was diagnosed with a rare form of thyroid cancer in 2008 and was told she would never be able to sing again. Fortunately, she was able to beat the odds and kept her spirits up by spending her time on her passion, lipstick. She recently wrote the book My Lipstick Journey through Cancer: A journey of Faith and Finding the Right Shade to tell others about her journey with cancer.

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. William C. Dooley on Cutting Edge Cancer Treatments

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:02:00 +0000

In this video, New Cancer Mentality Interviews Dr. William C. Dooley about his thoughts on current cancer research techniques and ideas for the future. Dr. Dooley received his medical degree from Vanderbilt School of Medicine and later did his surgical training at the John Hopkins. Dr. Dooley is the G. Rainey Williams Professor and chair of surgical breast oncology at the University of Oklahoma Breast Institute, Oklahoma City. In the video he gives excellent advice for current cancer patients and gives basic information everyone should know, including a brief history of breast cancer procedures currently performed.

New Cancer Mentality: Carolyn Aldige on Importance of Prevention on Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 05:11:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality: Carolyn Aldige on Importance of Prevention on Cancer from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Carolyn Aldige is the founder of the Prevent Cancer Foundation. The foundation has provided more than $120 million in support of its mission: cancer prevention and early detection through research, education, community-based programs and advocacy, and has become nationally recognized as a leader in the fight against cancer through prevention.

In this interview, Ms. Aldige speaks about the importance of prevention and early detection on cancer. She teaches the younger generation to follow basic principles and live a healthy lifestyle.

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. William McBride from UCLA on role of Radiation Therapy on Cancerous Lesions

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:27:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. William McBride on the role of Radiotherapy on Cancer Treatment from David Farzam on Vimeo.

New Cancer Mentality Interview with Dr. William McBride from UCLA. Dr. McBride offers excellent insight into his research on radiation therapy and what he believes needs to be done in the future to give better health generating treatment in the future. Sorry about the minor echo in the background voice of the host.

New Cancer Mentality: Dan Zenka's tips for Prostate Cancer Patients

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 03:31:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality Interview: Dan Zenka on Prostate Cancer and Advice for Patients from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Dan is the vice president of communications for the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and recently began his own personal battle against prostate cancer. Dan is reaching out to other prostate cancer patients across the globe using his blog, My New York Minute, www.mynewyorkminute.org.

New Cancer Mentality: Caroline Ronten on importance of maintaining support when diagnosed with Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 02:38:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality Interview: Caroline Ronten on importance of maintaining support when diagnosed with Cancer from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Caroline was diagnosed with thyroid cancer while in college, and was just diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago. She has an inspiring story and gives great information to other patients who need help getting through their personal fight with cancer. Caroline is also the founder of the well known blog, "Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog"

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Yamini Dalal on the Role of Epigenetics on Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:02:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality Interview with Dr. Yamini Dalal from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Interview with NIH researcher Dr. Yamini Dalal as she discusses the role of epigenetics on cancer. She gives expert insight into her current research and the methods she uses in her lab to get excellent results.

New Cancer Mentality: Aubrey de Grey on WILT system and role of Telomeres on Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 03:24:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality Interview with Dr. Aubrey de Grey from David Farzam on Vimeo.

De Grey is an English author and theoretician in the field of gerontology, and the Chief Science Officer of the SENS Foundation. He is editor-in-chief of the academic journal Rejuvenation Research, author of The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging and co-author of Ending Aging. Wikipedia. Due to technical difficulties, the voice of the interviewer echoes at the beginning. However, De Grey's voice comes out clearly and he offers excellent insight into what he believes will lead to the best advances for cancer treatment in the future.

New Cancer Mentality: Ironman Clayton Treska on Importance of Faith with Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 07:46:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality Interview with Clayton Treska from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Thanks again to Clayton Treska for sharing his miraculous story of faith and bravery. Clayton fought off stage 4 testicular cancer and completed the Kona Ironman this past October. We wish Clayton much success in the future and we know that his inspirational story and determined nature will resonate with other cancer patients around the country. We look forward to having him on the website again soon.

New Cancer Mentality: Dr. Carlo Maley on Evolutionary Dynamics of Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 09:38:00 +0000

New Cancer Mentality Interview 2 with Evolutionary Biologist Dr. Carlo Maley. Dr. Maley is currently at the Helen Diller Center at the University of California San Francisco leading a center looking at the role of evolution on cancer. He gives excellent insight into many concepts most cancer patients should know and gives his opinions on what needs to be done in the future to control this deadly disease.

New Cancer Mentality Interview 2 With Carlo Maley from David Farzam on Vimeo.

New Cancer Mentality: Rafe Furst on Cancer Prevention and Cure

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 18:41:00 +0000

A big thanks to Rafe Furst once again for sharing his expert insight on what we need to do to prevent cancer and potentially find a cure for cancer in the future.

New Cancer Mentality Interview One with Rafe Furst from David Farzam on Vimeo.

Why We Haven't Cured Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 21:55:00 +0000

I’m going to try to give everyone a brief overview as to why researchers have been unable to cure cancer for the last twenty years and I would love anyone who has additional feedback to comment. Let's get right into it. DNA is our genetic material found in every single human being. DNA consists of 4 nucleotides(A,T,C,G). Many nucleotides can form a gene and this gene can make a protein. These proteins are critical for our survival and play many important functions. In DNA the A nucleotides pair up with the T’s and the C’s pair up with the G’s. It should be stated that many of our nucleotides don’t form proteins and we still don't have a good grasp on what these nucleotides actually do. Most researchers believe these nucleotides play a role in structure. Cancer results when random mutations form in our DNA everytime we replicate our cells. For example, a T nucleotide will mistakenly base pair with a C instead of an A. One big potential problem with this inaccurate basepairing is that we no longer form the proteins that need to be made from that specific gene. Also, we could potentially form abnormal proteins that can lead to cancer forming. Clever scientists decided that it was time to sequence all the genes in cancer cells they isolated from the tumors of cancer patients and compare these with normal cells in the same area. These scientists eventually noticed similar patterns of mutations occurring in various types of cancer in different patients. As a result, these doctors attempted to inhibit these genes that were accumulating mutations shown in many patients with similar forms of cancer by using drugs. Unfortunately, our bodies are constantly changing and new mutations are always forming so eventually resistance forms against the drugs given to block these genes. Now, the next question most of you probably are asking is “why don’t we find the form of resistance and target a drug to stop this”? The overwhelming problem is that it is very hard to specifically find what mutations are causing the resistance and there are many mechanisms of resistance possible to the drugs used to treat cancer. Furthermore, while one drug might block a long sequence of one gene, all it may take is a single nucleotide mutation to cause the cells to become resistant to the drug given. By the way, these drugs(herceptin, gleevec) are pretty expensive(averaging around 60000 dollars a year). Most of the time these drugs are combined with chemotherapy to give an enhanced affect to try to kill the malignant cells and they tend to add about an extra two months to lifespan on average for some individuals. Bottom line, even a small tumor contains tens of billions of cancer cells which are constantly evolving. It is impossible for us to try to target one specific gene or try to identify one protein that could be the sole cause of cancer occurring. We can not predict the evolution that is constantly taking place in our bodies. Instead we need to focus on the simpler models of cancer and try to solve the problem on a larger scale. All cancerous cells require normal cell machinery to function. Also, all cancerous cells need to be able to proliferate and be invasive(cross the basement membrane and enter new sites of the body) in order to cause damage. Researcher needs to focus more on the mechanisms that are found in the normal machinery that are allowing all cancerous cells to do their job. If we can inhibit proteins needed for invasiveness and stop replication of cancerous cells we will be able to solve the problems of cancer. On that note, I have come to the realization that being healthy both on a physical, dietary, and mental level is of key importance. It has been shown in many studies that microtumors are unable to develop into large scale tumors unless our environment triggers this effect. Also, it has been shown that eating right and being less stressed(practicing breathing exercises, meditating) can actually change expression of genes in a positive manner and can help fight cancer. If you need evidence for this, just look at the fact that most Japanese men do not develop cancer in their own countries; however, when they migrate to America and start eating a western diet cancer rates skyrocket. Also, although i’m very new to this field of research, after reading many books I feel every cancer patient should realize that they have a choice. Cancer patients should always get a second opinion and not resort to the first form of treatment justified by their doctors. Many times surgery is not the answer and active surveillance can be used instead. Also, a cancer patients outlook on life and belief that they will win this fight is of utmost importance. With that said I will continue to find information about many questions people might have(Can biopsies spread cancer? Which foods are good for fighting certain types of cancer?). I will also continue to highlight relevant research and find out any new forms of conventional treatment proven to be helpful. For more information on why cancer is so difficult to cure, check out this excellent talk by Carlo Maley in which he gives an in depth look at all the mechanisms involved in causing cancerous lesions to form and what we want to do in the future to look at tumor evolution. http://vimeo.com/10809459

Sugar's impact on Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 06:41:00 +0000

Cancer cells are rich in insulin receptors on their surfaces. As a result, it is key for people to maintain a diet low in simple sugars if cancer is present. It's good for all of us to cut down on the amount of sugar we consume; however, it is of utmost importance for all cancer patients. It has been shown that cancer cells are unable to metabolize carbohydrates, fats, or proteins. Sugar is the fuel source of cancer cells. If you are diagnosed with cancer, going to the doctor and thinking he will cure you is not enough. The more I look into current research, the more I learn about the importance of certain factors you, the patient, can control. Also, cancer cells have been shown to thrive in acidic conditions. Drinking alkaline water while eating different vegetables to make your body more basic can help in the fight against cancer. I recently have read about a doctor(Nick Gonzalez) treating multiple types of cancer using nutrition as the main source for fighting. He gives his patients supplements and enzymes as well as detoxifies the patients bodies with many different methods. All of this is without the toxic effects of chemotherapy. Furthermore, he prescribes a diet to each patient after blood testing and taking hair samples. Afterwards, he tells his cancer patients to eat certain foods based on overactivity of their sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous systems. I hope to share more about him soon.

Sunlight vs. Vitamin D

noreply@blogger.com (Rafe Furst) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 06:16:00 +0000

[Reposted from my blog entry on Emergent Fool]

You may have heard there is an epidemic of low vitamin D levels in the U.S. An estimated 60% of Americans are at a level that has been correlated with increased risk of nearly all chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and depression. My personal belief is that the epidemiology is horribly flawed. But perhaps not in the way you might think….

As most people know by now, we humans photosynthesize vitamin D in our skin when it is exposed to direct sunlight. How fast depends on our ethnicity and amount of exposure. Since I’m light skinned and get a lot of sun in my normal life, it came as a huge surprise when some routine bloodwork I had done about 9 months ago indicated I was “dangerously low.”

My doctor immediately prescribed large doses of vitamin D supplement, but I was convinced that the result was spurious. Perhaps it was due to an abnormal period of low sun exposure. After all, I’d been traveling quite a bit and thus not outside much. Plus, maybe the jet lag was disrupting my metabolism in some way that impacted vitamin D levels?

I vowed to get my 20 minutes of sunscreen-free, noontime exposure per day. (Morning and late afternoon sun is useless for vitamin D production, and sunscreen blocks the UVB rays which initiate it). In addition I intended to eat more oily fish (like sardines) as they contain vitamin D. Though most experts agree it’s almost impossible to get what we need from food alone, I know that such foods are good for me in other ways. My plan was to get checked in three months and I was confident that I could raise my vitamin D levels back into health range without supplements.

After three months my test came back… unchanged! This was very alarming. The medically acceptable range is between 30 and 74, but I was coming in at 15. These numbers refer to the freely available levels of 25-hydroxy D in your bloodstream.

A brief aside about vitamin D: it’s not really one substance. There are many different biomolecules that are involved in a complex cycle that initiates when the sunlight hits your skin. It’s just a few of the many byproducts of this cycle that we call “vitamin D”. 25-hydroxy D is the one we typically measure, but to focus on this one substance seems unwise given how complex the cycle is. Personally, I’ve come to think of vitamin D not as a noun but as a verb, as in the “vitamin D process” (with kudos to Danny Hillis for coining this metaphor with the verb “cancering”).

Before I resigned to taking the supplements, I did some googling and stumbled across this video which alerted me to a possibly key factor I was ignorant about: soap. Turns out that if you wash with soap within 48 hours of sun exposure, you are not getting the full benefit. That’s because you are washing off the D3 that the sun photosynthesizes when it hits your skin. And it takes 48 hours to fully absorb into your bloodstream, where it is a critical element in the vitamin D process. So I switched to the recommended “soap only where the sun don’t shine” strategy. Three weeks later I got a home testing kit and my count almost doubled to 28. A month after that, I was within range at 34.

Now, it should be noted that these 25-hydroxy tests (whether performed at home or by your doctor) are notoriously poor indicators of pathology. Even still, I was advised that with a count of 15 it was very unlikely that I was maximally healthy, even though I hadn’t shown any symptoms yet. Had my low D state continued, the prognosis is that it was a matter of time before symptoms started appearing. There is another test which measures functional vitamin D efficiency at the cellular level, and which is supposedly a better indicator. But that I didn’t know about this test until I consulted with Dr. Myles Spar who is an MD with an integrative/holistic practice. On that test I scored “above 50th percentile” in vitamin D health. This was around the time of my second home test, where I scored barely within range at 34. Thus, according to the more accurate test, I am currently fine, but according to the test that is universally used, I am still in danger and almost all MDs would recommend supplements for me.

For the most part, I’m against supplements, but when presented with possibly serious consequences, it’s seductively easy to justify popping the pills “just in case” they help. After all, the epidemiology shows very strong correlation between absence of the chemical and presence of disease. There are two problems with this logic, though. Almost all bioactive substances become toxic at some dosage. In the case of vitamin D supplements, they can become toxic even at normally prescribed dosages.

But ignoring the toxicity, there is a bigger problem: taking vitamin D supplements has NOT been shown to reduce mortality. While supplements reduce melanoma incidence, so does sun exposure. According to the data, the sunlight effect is so powerful that even sunburns may reduce your chances of dying of skin cancer. Also, vitamin D supplements don’t appear to prevent autoimmune disease, whereas sunlight does. Finally, obesity is doubly-linked with depression, which is correlated with lack of sunlight.

What does all this mean?

Here is a partial list of lessons I’ve learned about how complex systems theory applies to me as an individual:

It’s appropriate to use blood level indicators to diagnose potential disorders, but it’s rarely beneficial — and quite often harmful — to treat such indicators directly with drugs. I would rather understand the etiology and treat the pathology, not the symptoms.
For every manufactured drug there are natural remedies which have been used for thousands of years without the high level of toxicity. Many of these are at least as good as the drugs even when focusing narrowly on changing blood level indicators.
I don’t want to take any substance chronically, whether it’s manufactured or natural. The only exception would be if an organ stopped functioning properly and its biochemical output could not be manufactured naturally, e.g. if my thyroid was damaged beyond repair.
Most of my body’s systems are homeostatic, meaning when they are pushed “out of whack” temporarily by outside influences, they move back to their previous state once the influence is taken away.
In homeostatic systems there emerge one or more “set points” (aka chaotic attractors). If pushed far enough away from one set point, the body naturally gravitates to a different one.
The result being that it is often harder to achieve systemic changes than it is to maintain them. This may be why it is harder for an obese person to lose weight than to maintain a healthy weight.
A valid use of drug therapy is for acute conditions, to bring the body back into a healthy homeostatic set point (or stabilize the body while other interventions do so).

Combining these lessons with my own experience and the epidemiology, the vitamin D story is not so mystifying (to me at least):

Why did my vitamin D levels drop suddenly and not bounce back once I resumed my normal lifestyle?
Why did my vitamin D level double in a short period of time without taking supplements?
Is there really an epidemic of low vitamin D?
To what extent is this related to sunshine?
How does the epidemiology relate to changes in lifestyle trends?

I’ll leave you with a final thought, and I’d be curious what you think. Could there be an epidemiological tipping point? One that either already happened, or that may be seen in the future? How would we look for such an effect in the data? How would we tell if it’s a true effect, or just something that we sought to discover and then used faulty statistical reasoning to “prove”?

Diet and Cancer Risk- Importance of Realizing the Impact of Food put into our Bodies

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 20:58:00 +0000

Diets high in fat have been linked to increased risk of various cancers, particularly breast, colon, prostate, and possibly pancreas, ovary, and endometrium (USDHHS, 1988; National Research Council, 1989). Although it is hard to put a numerical value on diet contributing to cancer risk, it has been estimated that 35 percent of cancer deaths may be related to dietary factors (Doll and Peto, 1981) while at the same time most cancers are considered entirely preventable by most leading experts. We need to realize that the food we eat on a daily basis has an important affect on our survival and well being in the future. We don’t need to stop eating the fatty foods we love completely, but we do need to stop this mindset in America that the only option is eating foods high in fat and sugar content. Unfortunately, eating plant foods is much more expensive than eating meat and foods high in sugar. At McDonald's, I can get a McDouble for one dollar but getting a small salad costs up to 4. However, it’s absolutely necessary for us to change our mentality regarding diet. In this excellent video by Michael Pollen which you can find on the bottom of this blog, he highlights the importance of maintainging a green diet and consuming less calories. In the next paragraph I discuss some of the interesting parts of the video but I highly recommend everyone to watch it.
First off, 1/3 of all fossil fuels come from producing the food we eat and the highest source of production of these fossil fuels comes from the meat industry. Not only that, according to Pollen and most leading researchers, with the rate of obesity in the American diet, children born in the year 2000 will be amongst the first generation that lives less than their parents due to the amount of people developing preventable diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cancer. So, after all this bad news, what can we do to bring about a change. Pollen gives his input which I think is absolutely valid. We need to start shopping local farmers market, eating less food, taking in more plants in our diet, and focusing on quality versus the quantity of food. Also, an excellent way to make cheaper food is to plant a garden. This can provide people with an inexpensive way to produce vegetables right from their house or apartment while helping the ecosystem at the same time. High fat diets have been shown to damage the systems of our body necessary to fight off the hundreds of mutations that form on a daily basis. If these mutations aren't fixed they eventually lead to the formation of cancerous tumors. As a result, eating high fat diets full of sugar from an early age have been correlated to much higher risks of developing cancer in the future.
I hope you have learned something substantial and will make a change on your diet to allow for a better chance of avoiding disease in the future. For some, this may involve baby steps at first, but eventually, with hard work, you will get to the point of feeling healthy and being happier with your conscious eating habits. In America, by fighting the system, you can bring about change. Let's start a new revolution in the way we eat and allow ourselves to reach our full potential.

PopTech 2009: Michael Pollan from PopTech on Vimeo.

It's that time again: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

noreply@blogger.com (David Farzam) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 19:36:00 +0000

[This paragraph used to be in the middle of the blog, but I moved it to the top to communicate that I am sensitive to the fact that many people are personally affected by breast cancer. Also, many hard-working people volunteer their time to cancer groups and I don't want the point of this blog to take away from their good hearts.] OK, now I take a step back to reiterate that I have nothing against breast cancer. I mean, my mission is to prevent all cancers in everyone. I know there are a lot of families in this country that have been affected by breast cancer. I am sensitive to that fact. One of my grandmas has had colon cancer, and the other one (much to my sadness) just passed away this week due to health complications. I understand the emotional pain and stress that comes with a family member in ill-health. Additionally, it is becoming more evident that cancer (can) be prevented but the problem is that people aren’t told how to do it! This is what irritates me. Women who survive longer than 5 years after being diagnosed with breast cancer are called “survivors”, BUT what goes unmentioned is that many of them die soon after. Too many women die either before 5 years or soon after 5 years. The rates of death are going down but not by enough (less than 2% last I checked) when the cure is right in front of our face. That’s not enough progress, that’s just raising the wrong kind of awareness, the awareness based on a half truth is more harmful than ignorance.

The pink ribbon has come to symbolize hope. Just like making progress on ANYTHING in life, we need to ask the tough questions. What are we hoping for?

It’s time for my annual plea to the American people (and those reading in other countries too). October has been tagged “breast cancer awareness month.” For years I have been frustrated with this and I’ll tell you why. Is there a woman (or man) in this country that hasn’t heard of breast cancer? What are you making people aware of by spending tens of millions of dollars each year by promoting the names of cancer organizations (for instance Susan G Komen)?
Pretty much every woman in this country has it beat into her head from a young age to start getting a screening for breast cancer when she comes of age. So what does a foundation who has raised over $1 billion dollars in the last 2 decades have to show for that amount of money? Not enough for a billion dollars in my opinion. Take for instance this whole situation of the NFL players wearing pink towels, shoes, sweat bands, pink gloves and hats. I think it’s actually sponsored by the American Cancer Society (not SGK) but that doesn’t change my point. The NFL is not a charity; that promo cost A LOT of money. I mean tens of millions of dollars in all likelihood when you take into account all the gear, activation of the sponsorship, licensing fees and what’s the tangible benefit?

There has been an increased sexual feel towards breast cancer awareness ads in the last few years. It's something to think about when considering: what are you truly hoping for?

Hence, my annual October statement. I think this month should be renamed “Cancer Prevention Month.” If we spent the same money (as they do on breast cancer) informing people that we can prevent more incidents of (all) cancer by eating more fruits and vegetables, less fried, refined foods and meat, then we could achieve better results. I am amazed how many people contact me and say how the information on this blog about eating healthier and making better decisions is brand new to them. I’m so glad that I can humbly make a contribution, but I am a small fish compared to a billion dollars. That means that the majority of America is not “aware” of how to eat healthy in a way that prevents cancer and other diseases. But for a billion dollars I bet they could be! Isn’t that encouraging?
So instead of spending my time and money donating them to a breast cancer campaign with modest (at best) results, I put them towards raising the awareness on better health over all. Before you get mad at me for voicing my views, consider this: The Susan G Komen foundation partnered with KFC last year. Umm, fried foods and meats are some of the leading factors in developing cancer. It was a travesty that the SGK foundation partnered with a fast food chain who contributes to the ill-health of the nation. What’s next, SGK partners with Krispy Kreme and gets 50 cents for every dozen doughnuts sold?? You gotta admit, that’s pretty bad. In case you were considering arguing that KFC now has grilled chicken, check this out.
I understand. The survivors are instantly part of a huge sorority. Everyone always likes to be part of a group. Additionally, being able to grieve and share the pain of traumatic experiences with others who have gone through it too is a POWERFUL healing experience. So please, don’t think that I am knocking that at all. But please be logical for one question right now: Isn’t the only way to stop the deaths by breast cancer to stop the deaths all cancers? So here’s my belief: We need to raise the awareness that all cancers are the problem and acknowledge there is no cure for cancer (gene mutation). The ONLY cure is enabling our bodies to begin the healing process to rid our body of these foreign (cancer) cells. The ONLY way to do that is through health and nutrition education. The body doesn’t selectively heal, it heals everything at once! It’s important to study certain cancers but it’s more important to promote the fact that the body will heal itself if we feed it correctly.

If people cared about heart disease as much as breast cancer, then we could cure them both at the same time. Curing heart disease in the body is the same cure for breast cancer. They would both disappear simultaneously!

Heart disease is the #1 killer in this country. It takes the lives of 616,000 people each year. This is about 9 times as many deaths as related to breast cancer at the mid 60,000 death mark. However, breast cancer is more feared than pretty much any other major risk of death in women. Maybe it’s because these “awareness campaigns” do a good job of raising fear, BUT not solutions. How about this for awareness? Black women are almost 50% more likely to die from breast cancer than white women. No, cancer isn’t racist. My theory is that it relates to vitamin D. People with dark skin have to spend more time in the sun to stimulate the same amount of vitamin D production as their lighter skinned counterparts. It’s not fair that an “awareness” campaign lets something like this go under the radar as they spend an amazing amount of money on other marketing initiatives.
Let’s start to put our money, time and commitment into causes that actively advance an awareness that cancers (for the most part) can be prevented by a healthier lifestyle. Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t inform you that cancer can start from an early age. I have seen published information that cancer cells can mutate from healthy cells early in life (before a child understands diet and health). For instance leukemia usually hits kids and there is no way that the kid can be blamed for that. Additionally, if the parents don’t understand health and nutrition, how can they impart that on their kids? So it’s not fair to blame any one person or group. It has been a multi-generation problem of misinformation fed to our population about health and nutrition that leads to disease. News flash: It will be a multi-generation challenge of informing the population about proper health and nutrition that encourages life-long health. So let’s start now! Instead of donating money to big, money machine organizations that do little to promote the overall health of the population, donate a minute or two to me and help with my mission…
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Russ Marchewka is a fellow health advocate promoting the "mostly vegan" lifestyle to prevent illness and disease. He writes The Body Blog currently at http://www.worldhealthhub.com/ and plays professional beach volleyball in the summer.