JANUARY FEBRUARY 2009 Wellness.indd - Cancer Support ...
JANUARY FEBRUARY 2009 Wellness.indd - Cancer Support ...
JANUARY FEBRUARY 2009 Wellness.indd - Cancer Support ...
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WELLNESS<br />
WELLNESS<br />
WELLNESS<br />
WELLNESS<br />
WELLNESS<br />
WELLNESS<br />
WELLNESS<br />
Magazine of the <strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association<br />
RRP<br />
Environment, <strong>Wellness</strong> & Healing<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association of Western Australia Inc.<br />
Patron – His Excellency Dr. Ken Michael AC, Governor of Western Australia<br />
Vol. 24 No. 1. <strong>JANUARY</strong> / <strong>FEBRUARY</strong> <strong>2009</strong><br />
CSA’s interactive cancer information website:<br />
illuminate<br />
TRUE HEALING<br />
LIFE, HAPPINESS...AND<br />
CANCER: SURVIVE WITH<br />
ACTION & ATTITUDE!<br />
QUESTIONS THAT<br />
MATTER<br />
STORIES OF COURAGE<br />
AND GRACE<br />
SUMMER SALADS<br />
& JUICE DETOX<br />
SOME CANCERS SIMPLY<br />
DISAPPEAR<br />
MEDITATION<br />
FOR CANCER<br />
AND MUCH MORE!<br />
$5.00
WELLNESS<br />
Bimonthly magazine of the<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association<br />
of Western Australia Inc.<br />
<strong>Wellness</strong> magazine is distributed free to<br />
members of the <strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association<br />
and also sold in retail outlets in the Perth<br />
metropolitan area at a cost of $5.00.<br />
<strong>Wellness</strong> magazine is the only health<br />
publication in Australia dedicated entirely<br />
to environment, wellness and healing.<br />
The magazine is for people with cancer<br />
or serious health issues; for people who<br />
are well and want to maintain their good<br />
health naturally; and for complementary,<br />
alternative and integrative health<br />
professionals.<br />
The <strong>Wellness</strong> team cares for the health<br />
and wellbeing of our readers, and of our<br />
planet. Our publication is printed on 100%<br />
genuine post-consumer oxygen bleached<br />
recycled paper, eliminating dioxin and<br />
other potentially harmful chemicals from<br />
the product, and minimising consumer<br />
waste. Our printer uses only vegetable<br />
based inks and chemical free solvents in an<br />
environmentally friendly printing process.<br />
Please enjoy your <strong>Wellness</strong> experience!<br />
news team...<br />
Editor .................................... Mandy BeckerKnox<br />
csa_wellnessnews@yahoo.com.au<br />
Editorial Consultant: .................. Dr. Peter Daale<br />
Advertising: .................. Kylie Dalton 9384 3544<br />
Printing ..................................... Artproof Printers<br />
A HUGE thanks to our volunteers<br />
who help send our newsletter out.<br />
contact csa...<br />
80 Railway St, Cottesloe, Western Australia.<br />
PO Box 325 Cottesloe WA 6911 Australia<br />
Phone 08 9384 3544, Fax: 08 9384 6196.<br />
Email: csa@cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Web: www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Printed on 100% genuine<br />
recycled oxygen-bleached<br />
paper using environmentally<br />
friendly vegetable based inks.<br />
Fully recyclable.<br />
Dear members & friends,<br />
For this New Year edition of<br />
<strong>Wellness</strong> magazine we take our theme<br />
of illumination from Christmas which has just past. When we think of<br />
illumination we think of light which shines from external sources, and<br />
in the context of Christmas we think of the Evening Star which led the Three<br />
Wise Men to Jesus.<br />
This story of the guiding light is a metaphor, for it is not an external light<br />
which guides us, but an inner light which shines brightly within each one of<br />
us. When our attention is turned inwards towards this source of illumination<br />
we discover our inner sanctum, our own secret, sacred place which is the<br />
source from which everything arises. In the deep silence of meditation on<br />
this inner light no words are necessary as the language of the heart is simply<br />
silence and love.<br />
When the Three Wise Men left everything that was familiar to them and<br />
travelled in search of an unknown new beginning their countrymen thought<br />
they had lost their way, but the Three Wise Men knew, as do we, that when we<br />
have glimpsed the light there is no turning back from the path.<br />
Those who have had near death experiences often speak of approaching<br />
a light and then drawing back. This inner illumination emerges when the<br />
individual personality with its baggage of ‘I’, ‘me’ and ‘my’ begins to fade and<br />
the recognition dawns that the same light shines in all human beings.<br />
The wonderful secret is that this light never dims. Although the universe<br />
constantly changes, at its source is this shining illumination – the light of<br />
consciousness. Not far away, but very near. Turn your gaze inward, close your<br />
eyes and experience your own precious journey towards that light.<br />
The articles in this edition of <strong>Wellness</strong> have been selected to shed light on<br />
diff erent aspects of your wellness and healing journey. Within these pages,<br />
I hope you fi nd many things to inspire and awaken the light of knowledge<br />
within.<br />
May your inner light shine brightly this new year and guide you towards lasting<br />
peace, healing and deep joy! ✦<br />
Love and peace,<br />
Mandy<br />
cover art...<br />
‘cosmic dream’ by Mandy BeckerKnox<br />
editorial<br />
Do not forget that<br />
the world is one<br />
great family…<br />
Regard Heaven as<br />
your father,<br />
Earth as your<br />
mother,<br />
and all things as<br />
your brothers and<br />
sisters.<br />
Shintoism, Oracle of<br />
the Deity of Atsuta<br />
Our cover art was created using one of the most incredible deep<br />
sky images ever photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope<br />
and The Spitzer Space Telescope. Focusing both instruments<br />
at the incredibly photogenic Orion Nebula let astronomers<br />
create this spectacular image. The Hubble Telescope shoots in<br />
visible light while Spitzer shoots at infrared wavelengths. The<br />
combined data far exceeds what either could do by itself and is<br />
simply one of the most amazing astronomical images of all time.<br />
Hubble image courtesy of www.astronomy-pictures.net.<br />
<strong>Wellness</strong> magazine is published by the <strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association of WA Inc (CSA). <strong>Wellness</strong><br />
magazine contains a diverse selection of articles and information on subjects related to cancer,<br />
wellness and healing. The contents of this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions<br />
of the CSA and should be not be construed as medical advice. CSA encourages readers to be<br />
discerning with information presented and when making treatment, dietary and lifestyle choices.<br />
© Copyright of all articles and images remains with individual contributors.
features regular<br />
6 24 4<br />
KEEPING A BROAD PERSPECTIVE TO<br />
ALLOW TRUE HEALING Discover the<br />
sense of wellness by establishing a<br />
deeper connection to the whole<br />
10 QUESTIONS THAT MATTER: STORIES<br />
OF COURAGE & GRACE Something<br />
precious happens in moments of<br />
suffering when we simultaneously<br />
break down and break open<br />
14<br />
18<br />
22<br />
HEALING CANCER’S EMOTIONAL<br />
SUFFERING Phil Kerslake is New<br />
Zealand’s highest profile cancer<br />
survivor. He shares insights on<br />
how to address and heal the<br />
deeper effects of cancer<br />
STUDY SUGGESTS THAT SOME<br />
BREAST CANCERS MAY DISAPPEAR<br />
New research concludes that not all<br />
breast cancers should be treated<br />
HOW PATIENT POWER IS CHANGING<br />
BREAST CANCER CARE<br />
Ion-70 Portable Air<br />
Purifier: Cutting edge<br />
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99.7% of bacteria, germs,<br />
viruses, mould, pollen,<br />
allergies, dust, smoke,<br />
chemical and volatile<br />
organic compounds.<br />
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RRP $599<br />
NOW $499*<br />
Elite Far Infrared<br />
Saunas: Tomorrows<br />
sauna technology today.<br />
Infrared heat penetrates<br />
deeper, dispelling<br />
chemical toxins such<br />
as mercury, aluminium,<br />
sulphur and formaldehyde.<br />
Condition and detox your<br />
body.<br />
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GEMINI HEMLOCK<br />
LOCAL TREATMENT OF PROSTATE<br />
CANCER: A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION<br />
Less intervention could mean better<br />
quality of life for men<br />
26 IS FURTHER RESEARCH NEEDED?<br />
Dentist Robert Gammal provides an<br />
in-depth analysis of dental procedure<br />
and its link to disease<br />
36<br />
39<br />
42<br />
56<br />
HEALING POWER OF BEAUTY Beautiful<br />
artworks painted as painkiller; Sharing<br />
the Vehicle to Spiritual Healing<br />
RESTORING OUR EARTH TO VIBRANT<br />
HEALTH Each of us has a role to play in<br />
caring for our planet and each other<br />
CITY CHICKENS Tips on how to get<br />
started with backyard hens<br />
MEDITATION FOR CANCER A beautiful<br />
meditation transcript to facilitate deep<br />
relaxation and healing<br />
in this edition<br />
“We are continually faced with great<br />
opportunities which are brilliantly disguised as<br />
unsolvable problems” ~ Margaret Mead<br />
5<br />
21<br />
34<br />
41<br />
48<br />
52<br />
58<br />
CSA WEEKLY PROGRAM<br />
A look at what’s on at CSA<br />
WELLNESS IN WA<br />
12 Week <strong>Wellness</strong> Course<br />
IN THE NEWS Lack of sleep causes<br />
breast cancer; Talcum powder<br />
linked to ovarian cancer<br />
CANCER SPOTLIGHT<br />
IP6 - an overlooked alternative<br />
FOOD & NUTRITION<br />
The Problem with Meat<br />
Eating for Peace<br />
Herbs, Spices & Nutrition<br />
Vegetable juice detox<br />
RECIPES Superb Summer Salads<br />
Super Summer Juices<br />
BOOKS & MEDIA REVIEW Inspiring<br />
reading, viewing & listening<br />
CSA COMMUNITY NOTICES<br />
Keeping our community connected<br />
Compact Living<br />
Juicer/Food<br />
Processor: Produces<br />
potent enzyme and<br />
vitamin rich juices from<br />
fruit, vegetables, sprouts<br />
and grasses. LIFETIME<br />
WARRANTY ON MOTOR.<br />
RRP $349<br />
NOW $249*<br />
Hydros Water<br />
Distiller: Steam<br />
distillation removes<br />
chemical toxins, inorganic<br />
minerals, biological<br />
organisms and radioactive<br />
elements with a 99.9%<br />
success rate without<br />
wasting the water<br />
resource.<br />
Stainless Steel or White<br />
NOW $269*<br />
*Prices do not include<br />
delivery or installation.
About the <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association<br />
of WA Inc<br />
The <strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association<br />
of Western Australia Inc is a nonprofi<br />
t charitable organisation<br />
which was established in 1984.<br />
CSA’s key intention is to help people<br />
become informed, empowered<br />
and supported on their cancer and<br />
wellness journeys. CSA encourages<br />
an integrative, well-informed<br />
understanding of health and<br />
treatment options and strategies,<br />
and is committed to supporting<br />
all people, regardless of their<br />
treatment choices.<br />
CSA supports individuals who are<br />
living with cancer, their families,<br />
carers and the wider community<br />
through the services we provide,<br />
as well as through our widely<br />
distributed publications and unique<br />
cancer information website.<br />
CSA’s workshops, courses, groups,<br />
and complementary therapies<br />
are advertised throughout this<br />
publication and are held at CSA’s<br />
premises in Cottesloe unless<br />
otherwise stated.<br />
Join the CSA Village<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Go to our website to join the CSA<br />
Village and use your Village Card<br />
for great discounts at a number<br />
of retail and online outlets.<br />
Remember: this is a great way<br />
to support CSA as a donation is<br />
made with every purchase!<br />
CSA weekly program<br />
January & February <strong>2009</strong><br />
MONDAY<br />
Meditation Made Easy .................................................................................10.00 – 11.30am<br />
Ongoing Lessons with Bavali Hill. FREE FOR MEMBERS<br />
(non-members $5) No bookings necessary.<br />
TUESDAY<br />
Yoga with Sydel Weinstein ($10 / $5 members) ...................................... 9.15 – 10.30am<br />
<strong>Wellness</strong> and Healing Open <strong>Support</strong> Group ............................... 10.00 – 12.00noon<br />
with Dr. Angela Ebert and Christine Robbins<br />
Carer’s <strong>Wellness</strong> and Healing .............................................................. 10.00 – 12.00noon<br />
Open <strong>Support</strong> Group (1st and 3rd Tues) with Christine Robbins<br />
Reiki Clinic .....................................................................................................12.15pm – 1.30pm<br />
Refl exology with Barbara Cole $40 (by appointment) ..................11.45am – 12.45pm<br />
WEDNESDAY<br />
Laughter Yoga with Kimmie O’Meara ($3.00) ...................................11.45am – 12.45pm<br />
Grief and Loss Open <strong>Support</strong> Group ................................................... 1.00pm – 3.00pm<br />
last Wednesday of each month with Christine Robbins (28th January, 25th<br />
February)<br />
THURSDAY<br />
Carers’ <strong>Support</strong> Group .........................................................................10.00am -12.00noon<br />
Counselling with Dr. Peter Daale (by appointment) ............................. 1.00pm – 5.00pm<br />
FRIDAY<br />
Meeting the Challenge 1 Day Seminar ................................................9.30am – 4.30pm<br />
1ST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH with Dr. Peter Daale (and others).<br />
Next courses: 6th February, 6th March.<br />
DAILY<br />
<strong>Wellness</strong> Counselling and Information Sessions<br />
with Dr. Peter Daale ........................................................................................... by appointment<br />
Please phone CSA on 9384 3544 or check our website for further<br />
information. We can help you with information packs, course<br />
prices, confi rm course times and make bookings.<br />
The CSA is totally self-supporting and services are greatly<br />
subsidised in order to be aff ordable for all. However, if you<br />
are having diffi culty making fee payments, please speak with<br />
reception.
to have your wellness event listed here email the<br />
Editor at csa_wellnessnews@yahoo.com.au<br />
NLP Seminar with Gary<br />
De Rodriguez<br />
Learn the power of Humanistic<br />
NLP to make breathroughs<br />
in all areas of your life in this<br />
informative new seminar.<br />
Attend on either the 20th, 21st,<br />
22nd or 23rd February 6.30pm-<br />
8.30pm. Call 0400 141 712 to<br />
book your tickets.<br />
One thousand women<br />
qigong workshop<br />
February 21st 9.00-1.00pm.<br />
Awaken your inner power<br />
with qigong. Alleviate<br />
common health issues.<br />
www.glenysbrown.com or<br />
phone 9457 0965.<br />
Retreat day: Universal<br />
Call to Consciousness<br />
Saturday 7 March at Trinity<br />
College Conference Centre UWA<br />
230 Hampden Rd CRAWLEY<br />
Entry $20. (Conc. Available.)<br />
BYO lunch.Tea and coff ee<br />
provided. Enquiries: CMC WA<br />
Phone 9444 5810<br />
wellness in WA<br />
CSA presents The Gawler Foundation’s<br />
12 WEEK CANCER<br />
SELF HELP PROGRAM<br />
WITH ENIGMATIC CSA MEMBER AND LONGTERM<br />
CANCER SURVIVOR GEOFF BARBOUR<br />
15th April–1st July <strong>2009</strong>. Wednesdays 10-12.30pm<br />
at CSA, 80 Railway St, Cottesloe<br />
By attending you will learn how to:<br />
• Fully activate your potential for inner healing<br />
• Relax effortlessly, meditate profoundly<br />
• Develop and sustain a positive state of mind<br />
• Use good diet and nutrition for healing<br />
• Find meaning and purpose in life<br />
• Draw upon effective support<br />
• Overcome obstacles to peace of mind, such as pain and fear<br />
• Sustain health, healing and happiness<br />
The Gawler Foundation’s acclaimed 12-week program has helped thousands<br />
of people with cancer and their families since 1981. It is a unique educational<br />
program for people experiencing cancer which teaches the principles that will<br />
enable participants to activate and develop their own healing potential.<br />
This unique and innovative program provides an active self-help approach designed<br />
to improve quality and quantity of life by helping people to help themselves. The<br />
program works complementary to any mainstream medical treatment.<br />
Each session focuses upon a specific self-help theme based on a chapter from<br />
Ian Gawler’s book ‘You Can Conquer <strong>Cancer</strong>’. There is plenty of time to practise<br />
techniques as well as discussions and questions. We encourage the attendance<br />
of support people/partners to maximise the effectiveness of the program.<br />
The program will be held at the CSA building in Cottesloe and facilitated by Geoff<br />
Barber who is endorsed by the Gawler Foundation. Geoff ran this program at CSA<br />
last year with great success. There are limited places on the program so be sure<br />
to book your place early.<br />
COST IS $300 FOR CSA MEMBERS OR $360 FOR OTHERS<br />
FOR INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER PHONE 9384 3544<br />
Between Subiaco & Fremantle for all your essential supplies<br />
• Organic Supplies • Biodynamic & Organic Soya & Dairy<br />
• Healthy Lunches to Go • Extensive Range of Vitamins<br />
• Bulk Foods • Wheat & Gluten Free Products<br />
• Juice Bar • Eco-friendly Cleaning Products<br />
• Fairtrade Teas & Coffees • Certified Organic Skin Care<br />
20 Napoleon St, Cotttesloe. Ph 9384 8900<br />
Open Mon-Fri 8.30am-5.30pm. Saturday 9.00am-5.00pm
6<br />
WELLNESS<br />
Chinese Lotus Flower by Cindy Curran<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
“My objective in this article<br />
is to inspire – to stimulate<br />
a widening of your thought<br />
processes – and to increase<br />
the understanding of what<br />
happens when we participate<br />
in any type of healing work<br />
either as practitioners or<br />
as the recipients of that<br />
healing. My aim is to assist<br />
you to discover that sense of<br />
wellness in yourself that will<br />
spread out to all you touch, to<br />
fan the flames of your desire<br />
for greater understanding<br />
and a deeper connection to<br />
the whole.”<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Keeping a Broad<br />
Perspective to Allow<br />
True Healing<br />
By Shazar Robinson DipOcc Ther. Member ATMS, AFEM.<br />
What is health – what is healing?<br />
True healing goes far beyond what each practitioner does in their individual clinics and to<br />
widen our understanding we must turn our attention to the principles surrounding the nature<br />
of reality itself.<br />
This will move us into new dimensions – into quantum physics, and into the work of people<br />
such as David Bohm, Ilya Prigogine, and Stephen Hawking.<br />
These people have given us new models of reality which begin to explain the holistic views<br />
that natural methods of healing have been based on for centuries, leaving behind the theories of<br />
reductionism and moving into the consciousness where all is connected to everything else.<br />
Healing is about healing the whole being – going beyond the disease, beyond the symptoms<br />
and opening up to the widest possible perspective so that you give the person you are working<br />
with an expanded view of reality in which health becomes attainable.<br />
We have a birthright of perfect health. Just as we are already living in abundance and all we<br />
need is already available to us – health is also available. To expand on this concept you might<br />
like to refer to the work of a gentleman who lived in the 1800’s called Wallace D Wattles. 1<br />
Let’s rename health for now to a state of wellness which can be described as “A state of<br />
being in harmony with life”. It’s that big. Don’t settle, or let those you work with, settle for<br />
anything less.<br />
We have a responsibility to continually increase our own understanding of this ever expanding<br />
field of information so that we do not get caught in the traps of the past.<br />
Showing the way<br />
Victor V Woolf – in the <strong>Wellness</strong> Manifesto states:<br />
From a quantum view, life emerges from a quantum potential field and when a person<br />
suffers from a disease, that disease is only possible because of various holodynes (or<br />
information systems) that are giving off frequencies that create a field in which diseases<br />
flourish. Healing must include transforming this field and that can only be understood from<br />
a quantum perspective.<br />
The potential for health already exists enfolded within the quantum potential field. Health is<br />
about being in harmony with life. So in other words, the blueprint for perfect health is already<br />
there but sometimes we need to be ‘resonated’ in the right direction. The healer’s role is to<br />
‘resonate’ coherence and balance.<br />
What is coherence? Coherence means that subatomic particles are able to cooperate. They can<br />
communicate together. They begin resonating together. In relation to healing, when a person<br />
is in a coherent state, they can be said to be in health – when all of the aspects of the being are<br />
working together in harmony and light.<br />
environment • wellness • healing
The ‘healer’ gives a reference point to the person being healed – reminding the sick person<br />
what health is about so that the sick person can move back into balance or coherence and from<br />
that state, can begin to heal the body/mind/spirit – if the person does not understand what it is<br />
to be healthy, then it is up to the healer to show the way.<br />
Think about the kirlian photograph of a leaf – even though the leaf is torn in half, and the end<br />
discarded – the energy field will still show that full outline of the leaf.<br />
It is about showing people the full picture – the wholeness of health, so they can move in the<br />
right direction. Homeopathics clearly are useful as they seem to give the Being information<br />
which energetically changes their field back into coherence (I believe we must refer to the Being<br />
rather than the body, as body is only a fraction of what we are working with).<br />
Focusing on health not disease<br />
It is very important to move away from the naming of disease states. The problems of<br />
“diagnosing” reach far beyond that of legal implications. Labelling the disease state does not<br />
contribute to healing – in fact it holds people in the sickness industry and keeps them focused on<br />
the negative. The healer has to encourage people to understand the overall concepts of balance<br />
and harmony so they can move out of imbalance and disharmony.<br />
If you get stuck inside a label, that is – a “diagnosis” – solutions can seem difficult to find<br />
so therefore you must focus on health. When you focus on health not disease, you can move<br />
outside of the problem where you are better able to see possible solutions.<br />
When you understand what health is, you know what you are aiming for and will more easily<br />
cease poor health habits as you will understand and want to experience the reward of health.<br />
How can the healer increase effectiveness?<br />
A very useful method of increasing effectiveness is to utilise diagnostic aids such as computerised<br />
health screening devices known as EAV (electroacupuncture according to Voll). For more<br />
information on this refer to the webpage: www.besthealth.com.au/Avatar.htm.<br />
Initially the practitioner assesses where the Being is out of balance. The practitioner then assesses<br />
why is the Being is out of balance. And finally will examine how to bring the Being back into<br />
balance – back to homeostasis from which state the Being can then heal itself. It could be said<br />
that they provide a menu of options for healing.<br />
Using these tools – such as the EAV system – the person is given the choice to be aware of<br />
their options and take responsibility for what is best for their wellbeing. They are assisted to<br />
access more possibilities than those they may be aware of.<br />
The most important things the healer (practitioner) can do for the person who consults them<br />
are:<br />
1. Give them back the responsibility for their own health<br />
2. Help them to understand that they have choice<br />
healing<br />
3. And to understand why they got sick and how they can return to health and stay healthy.<br />
How do they achieve this? First they listen. It is their primary task. People need to be heard. If<br />
first they listen to you, they can meet you on your level. It gives the practitioner the opportunity<br />
continued on next page...<br />
Meditation Made Easy<br />
Every Monday at CSA from 10am to 11.30am. Newcomers welcome.<br />
Cost: Free for CSA Members, $5 for non-members. No booking necessary.<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 7<br />
weekly meditation classes with Bavali Hill<br />
Lotus Lotus Dream Dream 1 1 by by Hong Hong Mi Mi Lim Lim<br />
The Lotus<br />
A lily belonging to the genus Nymphaea,<br />
an ancient and universal symbol; in India<br />
spoken of innumerable times under its<br />
Sanskrit name padma. “It is the flower<br />
sacred to nature and her Gods, and<br />
represents the abstract and the Concrete<br />
Universes, standing as the emblem of<br />
the productive powers of both spiritual<br />
and physical nature. It was held sacred<br />
from the remotest antiquity by the Aryan<br />
Hindus, the Egyptians, and the Buddhists<br />
after them; revered in China and Japan,<br />
and adopted as a Christian emblem by<br />
the Greek and Latin Churches. The lotus<br />
is the symbol of the self-producing soul<br />
which, during manifestation immersed in<br />
material life as the lotus seed is embedded<br />
in the mud of lake or pond, is wakened<br />
by the warm rays of the spiritual sun,<br />
and grows upward through the world of<br />
illusion (symbolised by water) to blossom<br />
in the free air and sunlight of truth.<br />
~ Theosophy Dictionary<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
8<br />
WELLNESS<br />
...from previous page<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
to access the information systems in your Being that are holding the<br />
disease in place. Then real healing can occur.<br />
Then as the consultation continues, the education process begins,<br />
using all the skills available the priority should always be to, explain,<br />
educate and encourage.<br />
The practitioners should help the person to understand the toxic load,<br />
not only that of the chemicals, pesticides heavy metals and so on, but<br />
also the toxic effect of relationship stress, work place politics etc.<br />
Teach them where the toxins come from, and how to avoid them,<br />
help them to understand the damaging effects of stress and how to<br />
de-stress. Give them simple de-stress techniques, encourage them<br />
to exercise, meditate, to walk barefoot on the grass. Above all help<br />
them to understand how to begin to reclaim their own power, to access<br />
their full potential self in order to effect true healing.<br />
As practitioners, we need to understand that we do not heal the<br />
person, the person heals themselves – our function is to bring light<br />
to the matter, so we can help the client to have an understanding of<br />
their problems and imbalance, which can be 9/10ths of the job done<br />
already.<br />
An example of this can be seen with emotional stress. If you have<br />
suppressed the real emotion it cannot be cleared. But once it is brought<br />
to the light and the person has an understanding of what they are<br />
really feeling, then they can release it.<br />
It is the same with physical toxins – chemical xyz – when brought into<br />
the light by your testing becomes exposed, and it can then be dealt<br />
with in whatever way you choose - homeopathics, energy vibrational<br />
remedies, herbs, nutritionals, flower essences and so on.<br />
The role of intention in healing<br />
I believe that the intention behind all healing work is very<br />
important.<br />
It is imperative that the practitioner really understands what they are<br />
doing and that they understand their role.<br />
It doesn’t matter what they are using. In fact it doesn’t even matter<br />
IF they are using an EAV or energy medicine system - what matters<br />
essentially is the person, as the healer - the intention to direct the<br />
healing energy flow in a positive direction.<br />
It has been proven in quantum physics that the intention of the tester,<br />
or the person setting up the experiment cannot be removed from<br />
the experiment. In other words, there is no way your intention as a<br />
practitioner or a healer can be taken out of the equation.<br />
CSA Laughter Club<br />
with Kimmy O’Meara<br />
At the CSA every Wednesday morning 11.45am to 12.45pm.<br />
Cost: CSA Members $3; Others $5. For enquiries phone CSA on 9384 3544.<br />
HE WHO LAUGHS LASTS!<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
In my role as Avatar (EAV) system trainer, I am often asked by<br />
potential users – “But what about the influence of the practitioner?<br />
Doesn’t the person operating the system have an influence on the<br />
result? Of course the answer is “yes” the EAV practitioner can<br />
influence the readings and in fact does.<br />
But here again it is the intention behind the testing that is of prime<br />
importance. If your intention is to heal the person then why would<br />
you want to influence the readings in any one direction? That’s<br />
why the practitioner has to maintain such an objective viewpoint<br />
when testing.<br />
Be aware: If you get too focused on one area, you will miss what<br />
the Being wants to reveal.<br />
I was very fortunate – I was taught from an early teacher that the most<br />
important thing was to allow yourself to be continually surprised by<br />
what you find. Let the Being give you the information.<br />
For instance if you are a practitioner and consider that a particular<br />
toxin, bacteria, or causative agent is commonly found, and you<br />
do find it in almost all of your clients, then you will continue to<br />
always find it. But is it REALLY the thing which most needs to be<br />
cleared?<br />
For example, if you get focused on candida overgrowth, then every<br />
person who walks through the door will present with a candida<br />
problem.<br />
Be aware – let yourself be surprised – rather than proving your own<br />
belief systems to be true.<br />
A short example – While working in Hong Kong I tested a young<br />
Chinese woman who spoke no English. On initial testing she showed<br />
with the priority of emotional stress.<br />
I tested through the emotions list and ‘suppressed’ came up. In HK<br />
they have a useful translation program that activates when you put<br />
the tool tip (or pointer of the computer) on the word. It instantly<br />
translates in a little box next to it.<br />
We did that and the woman read it and began to cry. Her husband<br />
who did speak English said to me, “yes that is totally true – her boss<br />
suppresses her completely.”<br />
How did this happen? I don’t know. But it is only one example of<br />
many seemingly miraculous happenings with the EAV instruments.<br />
We can borrow from quantum physics to try to explain this – looking<br />
for models amongst shared consciousness, information fields and so<br />
on – however really at this stage of our understanding we need to<br />
simply accept that it is the mystery that we work with.
Limiting beliefs create limited healing<br />
Sometimes in order to feel accepted by the current regulation-happy environment<br />
we forget to embrace the whole and begin to put on the blinkers of the mechanistic<br />
and disease focused health professionals – dominated by the assumptions of classical<br />
physics and the linear diagnostic thinking that goes along with that.<br />
Let us be aware, wake up, and step beyond the treatment of symptoms so that we can<br />
move into the realisation of a state of being in harmony with life.<br />
Let us feel grateful that we have the opportunity to be involved in this wonderful<br />
world of healing – using modalities that allow us to contact the whole – that allow<br />
us to access this information field that can assist others to unfold their full potential<br />
and return to wellness.<br />
I know we can discuss this endlessly – and you will all have your own particular<br />
view point on the subject. So I will leave you simply with two photos of Dr Masuro<br />
Emoto’s work with water... ✦<br />
Recommended Books:<br />
The Chronic Illness Workbook: Strategies and Solutions for Taking Back Your Life<br />
by Patricia A. Fennell<br />
Living Better: Every Patient’s Guide to Living with Illness by Carol J. Langenfeld<br />
Self-Care Now! 30 Tips to Help You Take Care of Yourself When Chronic Illness Turns<br />
Your Life Upside Down by Pauline Salvucci<br />
Shazar Robinson has been involved in health and healing for most<br />
of her life. Beginning her career as an Occupational Therapist – over<br />
time she became fascinated by the principles and practice of energy<br />
medicine and complementary health care.<br />
For the past 15 years she has utilized a computerised health screening<br />
system called Avatar in her busy clinic in Mosman Park, Western Australia and is now the<br />
Australasian distributor and trainer for this system. She has always looked for the means<br />
to assist people to heal their body, mind and spirit in order to reach their full potential as<br />
spiritual beings in the human body.<br />
To schedule an appointment or for more information contact Best Health on 08 9385<br />
3088 or 0402 008801 or email admin@besthealth.com.au. The Best Health website is<br />
at: www.besthealth.com.au.<br />
MEETING THE<br />
CHALLENGE!<br />
one day cancer wellness workshop<br />
NEW CSA members<br />
can attend free!<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 9<br />
Healing Words<br />
This is water which has been<br />
shown the words –<br />
“I hate you, I want to kill you .”<br />
This is water which has been<br />
shown the words –<br />
“Love and Gratitude.”<br />
Life Changing Information<br />
for people with cancer presented<br />
by Dr. Peter Daale, Helen Maynier,<br />
Paul Alexander & Bavali Hill<br />
One day seminars for people living with cancer<br />
and their carers with a special focus on accessing<br />
key cancer information online, nutrition, and<br />
meditation. Held on the fi rst Friday of every<br />
month. Coming dates for workshops are 6th<br />
February, 6th March, 3rd April, 1st May, 5th June,<br />
3rd July from 9.30am-4.30pm.<br />
To book phone CSA 9384 3544<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
10<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
Imagine...<br />
Moraine Lake, Canada by QT Luong<br />
taking a hefty spoonful of salt and stirring<br />
it into a cup of water. It would be very<br />
unpleasant to drink. But if you took that same<br />
hefty spoonful of salt and stirred it into an<br />
enormous, clear-blue mountain lake and drank<br />
a mouthful, it would be sweet. The problem is<br />
not the salt; it’s the size of the container.<br />
As a therapist and minister, I’ve spent more than 20 years<br />
in the company of people who suffer. As I listen more<br />
deeply in each encounter, I notice something happens in a<br />
moment of suff ering, something that can be quite precious,<br />
a moment that simultaneously breaks us down and also<br />
breaks us open.<br />
At such times, we can respond to suff ering by bringing<br />
everything we have-body, heart, spirit-as a sacramental<br />
off ering into the company of others, be they friend, child,<br />
parent, lover, family member, or community member.<br />
If we allow ourselves to be awake, an almost inevitable<br />
fountain of grace begins to open. Certain questions begin to<br />
arise in our hearts and our minds. One of the fi rst questions,<br />
of course, is, “Why did this happen to me?” But beyond that<br />
other, deeper questions arise: “What does this all mean<br />
about the nature of life? What do I hold to be sacred? What<br />
can I touch, that when I hold it in my hand will make me<br />
feel safe?”<br />
Over the years, I and others have wrestled with some deep<br />
questions, questions that don’t have pat answers and<br />
whose answers change from year to year, often from hour<br />
to hour.<br />
The questions are like mantras or koans; they’re something<br />
to hold in our hearts as we make our way through life...<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
Questions<br />
that Matter<br />
Stories of courage<br />
grace<br />
and<br />
By Wayne Muller<br />
Who Am I?<br />
Most spiritual traditions begin the process of pilgrimage with this<br />
question, whether it is in the form of a vision quest, a naming ceremony,<br />
or some other way of beginning to listen to the names we call ourselves.<br />
This is because our identities color everything we do. Whom I believe<br />
myself to be will influence the paths I choose to walk, the friends I<br />
take as mine, and the enemies I choose.<br />
For example, if I wake up in the morning and call myself a Christian,<br />
then I will look with Christian eyes at a world that seems to be moving<br />
from sin to salvation, and perhaps I will remember the teachings of<br />
Jesus about the lilies of the field: “They neither toil nor spin, and yet I<br />
tell you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these.<br />
. . and therefore I tell you do not worry about tomorrow.” And maybe<br />
I heed his prescriptions to feed the hungry,clothe the naked, and visit<br />
the sick and those in prison.<br />
If I wake up in the morning and think of myself as a Jew, then perhaps<br />
I feel my life aspart and parcel of an enormous sweep of history from<br />
slavery to liberation, and I recite the covenants that God has made<br />
with my people. I vow to do those things that are necessary towalk<br />
humbly and do justice.<br />
If I wake in the morning and see the world through Buddhist eyes,<br />
then perhaps I’ll be thinking about the Four Noble Truths, the nature<br />
of suffering, the origin of suffering, alleviation of suffering, and escape<br />
from the wheel of birth-death-rebirth. Perhaps I take the vow as a<br />
Boddhisatva to alleviate the suffering of all beings.<br />
And so it is with every name that we take: sisteer, brother, mother or<br />
father, employer or employee – every name we use as our identity<br />
colors and shapes the way we walk and the way we feel about ourselves<br />
and the people we meet.<br />
I’ve noticed a distressing trend in this regard during the last 20 years<br />
or so wherein people have named themselves using psychological<br />
terminology or diagnostic names such as “adult child of alcoholic” or<br />
“manic-depressive” or “multiple personality” or “incest survivor.”<br />
Although these terms may apply to some aspects of our lives, they’re<br />
not names that are large enough to hold the true nature of who<br />
we are.
Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” The Buddha said, “You<br />
are saturated with Buddha nature.” Jesus did not say “You are the<br />
light of the world as long as your parents were really nice and you<br />
lived in a nice neighborhood and you got a red wagon every year<br />
for Christmas and you go to church every Sunday.” He simply said<br />
“You are the light of the world.”<br />
This means that regardless of what sorrow or suffering or ache or<br />
loss or fear that travels through your body, there is this light of the<br />
world, this Buddha nature, this still small voice, this kingdom of<br />
God that will not leave you uncomforted.<br />
Where I live in New Mexico, Native Americans often take their<br />
names from nature, perhaps from the color of the sky, the way an<br />
eagle seems to defy gravity as it makes its way into the air, or the<br />
way an animal exhibits its power as it walks across the face of the<br />
Earth.<br />
And so, when they speak their name, they remember their strength<br />
or courage or wisdom even when frightened, lost, or confused.<br />
Their name calls forth what doesn’t break; it keeps them company.<br />
However, if I take as my name Adult Child of Alcoholic, for example,<br />
it doesn’t touch that place that can’t be named even though it may<br />
be true of some aspects of my experience.<br />
Telling stories about the way people treated us may be useful up to a<br />
point, but there is another way of looking at this. A wonderful parable<br />
by the Buddha expresses it so well: Imagine coming to the edge of a<br />
river, and you need to get to the other side. You take grasses, sticks,<br />
and branches; lash them together to make a raft; and paddle across<br />
the river. When you get to the other side, you’re so grateful to the<br />
raft that you carry it with you for the rest of your life.<br />
This would be rather silly, wouldn’t it? Of course, what you would<br />
do with such a raft is tie it on the bank and let someone else use it or<br />
just let it float down the river. So it is with the story of our life, and<br />
even with the Buddha’s teachings certain things have usefulness to<br />
a point; to carry them on our back for the rest of our life, however,<br />
is just silly.<br />
As circumstances change, what we need and what is useful in life<br />
also change. Curiously enough, our names actually change as we<br />
grow because as we ourselves become deeper and more spacious,<br />
our names get larger. Another wonderful Buddhist parable captures<br />
this insight:<br />
Imagine taking a hefty spoonful of salt and stirring it into a cup of<br />
water. It would be very unpleasant to drink. But if you took that<br />
same hefty spoonful of salt and stirred it into an enormous, clear-<br />
healing<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 11<br />
blue mountain lake and drank a mouthful, it would be sweet. The<br />
problem is not the salt; it’s the size of the container.<br />
And so as you take your name, when you say who you are, I invite<br />
you to begin to investigate what kind of name can be large enough<br />
to hold the truth of who you are.<br />
What Do I Love?<br />
The Chinese say that when a teapot has been in use in a family for<br />
over a hundred years, after a while you need only pour hot water into<br />
the pot and the pot itself will make you tea. In other words, if we do<br />
something day after day, year after year, generation after generation,<br />
our lives will come to hold the fragrance of that thing. If we hold<br />
something in our hands, day after day, year after year, our hands will<br />
come to hold the shape of that thing.<br />
And so it is that if we do what we love, day after day, year after year,<br />
generation after generation, then we become what we love. This is<br />
not magic, of course; this is simple “spiritual physics.” So, like our<br />
names, it is important to know what we love. What do you love? If<br />
God is love, as most of the spiritual traditions seem to suggest in<br />
one form or another, then if we follow what we love we will be led<br />
inevitably up the steps and onto the doorstep of the divine.<br />
Many of us have spent perhaps quite a bit of time getting rid of<br />
the things we don’t love-part of our histories, our stories about the<br />
aches and struggles we’ve carried. This is useful work. Yet at a<br />
certain point it will bring us back up only to zero. All of the poets<br />
and mystics and saints of the world have indicated that a human life<br />
can go higher than zero. And what star we choose to follow is the<br />
star of what we love.<br />
What opens our hearts? What excites our spirit? What galvanizes our<br />
passion and our curiosity? “Curiosity,” of course, shares the same root<br />
as “cure,” so in a way what we love and what captures our curiosity<br />
draw us forward into some place of great destiny.<br />
Another reason to pay attention to what we love is that it will live in<br />
our eyes: What we love will actually change what we see. I’ll give<br />
an example. A couple of years ago, in the Santo Domingo Pueblo,<br />
I joined a family of close friends on an Easter-egg hunt in the hills.<br />
Now, when you picture Easter-egg hunting in northern New Mexico,<br />
it’s not at all like it is on the White House lawn. Wind and dust<br />
blow into your eyes and on your teeth, and you’re also competing<br />
continued on next page...<br />
Balance your Mind, Body & Soul<br />
Feeling Tired? Emotional? Anxious? Stressed? These symptoms and many<br />
others can be your body‛s way of letting you know that you are out of balance.<br />
By using holistic methods like sound therapy, fl ower essences, affi rmations,<br />
acupressure & chakra balancing, kinesiology can unblock any “stuck” energy, so<br />
you can feel…<br />
• LIGHTER • ENERGIZED • HAPPIER • GOOD ABOUT YOURSELF<br />
If you want to know more about Kinesiology nd what it can do for you,<br />
call Katy at Inner Balance Kinesiology on 0417 239 520.<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
12<br />
WELLNESS<br />
...from previous page<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
with cactus, gophers, and rattlesnakes. It’s a different sort of Easter<br />
experience.<br />
I was with my son Maxwell, who was about 3, and we had found<br />
a few eggs. Timothy, the son of our host family, had quite a few<br />
more, obviously having much greater success. We asked him where<br />
he found the eggs and whether there were any left. All of sudden,<br />
Tim looked down and said, pointing to some yellow sand on the<br />
ground, “You know, I need that yellow sand for my pots.” Tim’s<br />
a potter, from generations of potters, and loves making pots. His<br />
family, of course, doesn’t go to “Clays-R-Us”; they get their clay<br />
from the earth. Tim’s eyes know to look for those colors that he<br />
loves, and because he loves that particular color yellow, he stopped<br />
in the middle of a conversation about the egg hunt and said, “I need<br />
to go get a plastic bag and the pickup and bring some yellow clay<br />
back for my glazes.”<br />
Because Tim loves pots, he could see that yellow in a way that I,<br />
standing right next to him, could never have seen: What we love lives<br />
in our eyes. What we love actually changes what we see.<br />
It is important, therefore, to be mindful of what we love. Do you<br />
love dance? Do you love God? Do you love colour? Do you love<br />
beauty? Do you love justice? Do you love children?<br />
Those things that you love will guide your steps, and they will also<br />
live in your eyes.<br />
How Shall I Live,<br />
Knowing I Will Die?<br />
How Shall I Live,<br />
Knowing I Will Die?<br />
What kind of people shall we be, knowing that we have only a short<br />
period left here on this Earth? Shall we be courageous? Shall we be<br />
playful? Shall we be loving? Shall we be quiet people? How shall<br />
we live, knowing that we will die?<br />
A friend of mine had a son, Forrest, 4 years old, who used to keep a<br />
journal. He didn’t actually keep the journal, of course. His mother<br />
would sit down on his bedside every evening and ask him, “Forrest,<br />
do you have anything you would like to say about how it was for<br />
you today?” And she would write down what he said, so as he got<br />
older he could have this journal as a memory of his childhood. She<br />
read me some of Forrest’s entries when he was 4:<br />
Thursday, May 5: “I love dinosaurs, I love ‘em, love ‘em, love ‘em.<br />
I love sharks. T. Rex is the most fierce hunter. It’s Thursday today.<br />
My days are getting different now because we’re doing different<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
stuff. I don’t know why my pterodactyl’s sick for 3 days. I love my<br />
dinosaurs.”<br />
Sunday, June 12: “I’m happy today. I wish we’d go out on a hike.<br />
I wish there were butterflies in rainforests. Is there a rainforest in<br />
Micronesia? I played on my tricycle. I slipped and almost fell, but<br />
I didn’t. I ran over Sissy’s tail and hand. Sissy growled, I said I’m<br />
sorry. I want to go to the rainforest sometime.”<br />
On June 24, Forrest was killed in a car accident. His mother was<br />
driving. Forrest and his brother Bryce, who was 1, were in the<br />
back seat, and both were killed-her only two children, along with<br />
her father, who was in the front passenger’s seat. Forrest’s mother<br />
somehow survived.<br />
I was blessed to be in the company of Forrest’s parents for quite a<br />
period after that, trying to listen along with them for what doesn’t<br />
break, for what still lives in the midst of such unspeakable grief.<br />
Knowing what we know, now, about Forrest’s life and death, pay<br />
attention again for a moment to some of the things he had to say: “I<br />
love dinosaurs, I love ‘em, love ‘em, love ‘em. I want to go to the<br />
rainforest sometime.”<br />
We listen to Forrest’s words differently when we feel his life<br />
framed by his death. I would like to suggest that the difference<br />
between Forrest and ourselves is really quite small, that our lives,<br />
like Forrest’s, are also brief and also framed by death. There’s a<br />
kind of poignancy that weascribe to Forrest’s life because it seems<br />
somehow unnaturally short. And yes, our lives as well are simply<br />
naturally short.<br />
When I’m in the company of people dying of cancer or AIDS or<br />
other terminal illnesses, one of the things that happens, not always<br />
but often, is that people begin to feel the preciousness of what it<br />
means to breathe and to be able to love one another, to be able to<br />
put one day at the service of someone who is in need or to be able to<br />
be in the company of other beings in love or kindness. Every touch<br />
of the hand becomes a miracle; every word of kindness shared is a<br />
symphony; every day that the sun rises miraculously and bathes the<br />
Earth in sunlight is an epiphany because this could be the last time<br />
I see this unspeakably magnificent event.<br />
Those of us who believe we will live for a very long time tend to<br />
get sloppy, and we live by accident. Yet every breath we take, every<br />
prayer we speak, every conversation we have can be a moment of<br />
great healing, or grace, or creation, or birth. Can we be that awake?<br />
How do we live, knowing that we will die?One of the things that<br />
happens, paradoxically, to people who are close to death is they<br />
become grateful, which makes no sense from the outside. Yet from<br />
the inside there is sometimes this deep pool of gratefulness. Thank<br />
you for coming to see me. Thank you for this cookie that you baked<br />
for me with your loving kindness. Thank you for sitting with me<br />
on this bed.<br />
I remember sitting with a man close to death who said, “You<br />
know, I’ve done an awful lot of spiritual practice; I’ve prayed, I’ve<br />
meditated, I’ve taken vows, I’ve taken initiations, and I think I’m<br />
ready to die. But to be perfectly honest, I wish I had just 10 years of<br />
cancer-free life, just 10 years.” So I said, “If I could grant you that<br />
boon, if I could give you those 10 years, what would you do with<br />
them?” And without skipping a beat he said, “I would be kind. I<br />
would teach children everything I’ve ever learned about how things<br />
work, and how to be strong, and how to be courageous, and how<br />
to be loving.”
What Is My Gift to the<br />
Family of the Earth?<br />
All of the practices we do-every prayer we speak, every meditation,<br />
every invocation, every vow, every ordination-is not for our own<br />
healing alone. We do this work for the healing of all beings.<br />
One of the most painful things for me as a minister and therapist<br />
working with people who have been given some suffering or some<br />
illness, some poverty, some injustice, or some violation is that they<br />
feel so hurt or broken-down or ripped open or defective because<br />
of the depth of the ache they carry in their body. They believe they<br />
have no gift at all to bring to the family of the Earth. And this, to<br />
me, is a suffering perhaps even greater than the one caused by the<br />
original abuse or illness.<br />
What is your gift to the family of the Earth? One of the first things<br />
that happens to us when we think about our gift is we think that it<br />
must be something large and magnificent. “If we’re going to be<br />
truly spiritual saviors of the planet, we must have something terribly<br />
impressive and dramatic to offer to the world.” But our gifts need<br />
not be dramatic or magnificent. In point of fact, they can be quite<br />
small and unobtrusive.<br />
Sometimes we wait until we’re quite certain that our gifts will be<br />
useful. And this of course is a trap because we never really know<br />
whether our gifts will be useful. We cannot wait until we know the<br />
results of our gifts before we offer them. The Buddha in the Eight-fold<br />
Path speaks quite passionately about right understanding and right<br />
mindfulness and right effort and right action, but the Buddha never<br />
speaks of right result. We do not know what will happen to what we<br />
bring, and we can’t hold the world hostage waiting for the promise<br />
that what we bring will do some good. As a matter of fact, sometimes<br />
our gifts will at first blush seem as if they do nothing at all.<br />
A good friend of mine, Sharon Salzberg, wrote a book about 8 or 9<br />
years ago. She was studying with a particular Buddhist teacher, and<br />
she and some friends decided to collect his meditations and teachings<br />
into a book. Wisdom Publications published it, and it sold a couple<br />
of thousand copies.<br />
Many years later, Sharon was reading about Aung San Suu Kyi, who<br />
was imprisoned in Burma for her work trying to lead her people to<br />
freedom and democracy. She was placed under house arrest for many<br />
healing<br />
What Is My Gift to the<br />
Family of the Earth?<br />
Reflexology<br />
at CSA on Tuesdays with Barbara Cole<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 13<br />
years. She was alone and frightened and mishandled. When she was<br />
eventually released, some people asked her, “What sustained you<br />
during that time?” And she said, “Well, I learned how to meditate.”<br />
They asked her how she learned. She said, “I had this little book,<br />
and it taught me everything I needed to know in order to survive<br />
my imprisonment.”<br />
And, of course, it was Sharon’s book.<br />
We don’t know where our gift will bear fruit, but we do know that<br />
our gift is required. All it requires is for you to listen to the impulse<br />
that arises, as it does in each and every one of us not because it’s<br />
dramatic, not because it’s particularly spiritual, but just because<br />
it’s yours. You are the light of the world. What permission are you<br />
waiting for before you feel as if you could offer your gift with<br />
ease and playfulness and grace? What is your gift to the family of<br />
the Earth? ✦<br />
This essay by Wayne Muller is narrated on the DVD which accompanies<br />
the book Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body<br />
Medicine published by Elsevier, Inc. Some essays from the book can<br />
be found on the IONS (Institute of Noetic Sciences) website at www.<br />
noetics.org. IONS is a nonprofit organisation that conducts and sponsors<br />
leading-edge research into the potential and power of consciousness<br />
– including perceptions, beliefs, attention, intention, and intuition. The<br />
Institute explores phenomena that do not necessarily fit conventional<br />
scientific models, while maintaining a commitment to scientific rigour.<br />
See their website at www.noetics.org for more information. For a review<br />
of the book Consciousness & Healing please go to page 52.<br />
NEW! BOOKINGS<br />
FROM 20TH <strong>JANUARY</strong><br />
Reflexology is a tactile therapy where pressure or massage is applied with the<br />
thumbs and fingers to reflex points in the hands and feet, which brings about a<br />
corresponding reflex response in the related areas of the body, including organs<br />
and glands. Reflexology restores balance to the body and brings about wellbeing.<br />
Reflexology is relaxing and revitalising and can have quite powerful results.<br />
Cost $40. Bookings essential. Ph 9384 3544.<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
14<br />
WELLNESS<br />
Terrible Gifts and<br />
Savage Grace<br />
I asked God for strength,<br />
that I might achieve. . .<br />
I was made weak,<br />
that I might learn humbly to obey.<br />
I asked for health,<br />
that I might do greater things. . .<br />
I was given infirmity,<br />
that I might do better things.<br />
I asked for riches,<br />
that I might be happy. . .<br />
I was given poverty,<br />
that I might be wise.<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
I asked for power,<br />
that I might have the praise of men. . .<br />
I was given weakness,<br />
that I might feel the need of God.<br />
I asked for all things,<br />
that I might enjoy life. . .<br />
I was given a life,<br />
that I might enjoy all things.<br />
I got nothing that I asked for,<br />
but everything I had hoped for.<br />
Almost despite myself,<br />
my unspoken prayers were answered.<br />
I am among all people, most richly blessed.<br />
Anonymous<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Despite some noteworthy treatment advances, the predominant approach to fighting<br />
cancer differs little today from 30 years ago, when I received the first of six lifetime<br />
cancer diagnoses.<br />
The disease (and incidentally, the person with the disease) is attacked aggressively in<br />
the hope that wellbeing will emerge for the host from the embers of the assault. It’s an<br />
approach that, while regrettably still necessary and relatively helpful for some, is invasive<br />
in the extreme and often causes more pain and suffering than the disease itself.<br />
But physical trauma is not the only burden people living with cancer must bear. Studies<br />
show that for about half, the emotional suffering is perceived as even worse than the<br />
physical affects of their disease and treatments.<br />
While the physical side-effects of conventional treatments are now better contained by<br />
medicine, the emotional impacts remain, as they did 30 years ago, with the person with<br />
cancer to resolve themselves or more commonly, to grin and bear. My theory on this<br />
conundrum is that medical folk feel however troubling for the person, these challenges<br />
are ultimately inconsequential. After all, they won’t kill them – the cancer might.<br />
Emotional challenges and their effects<br />
Part of the reason for this minimising and patronising attitude is that few medical<br />
practitioners allow themselves to get close enough to their patients to fully appreciate<br />
what it is they must endure, beyond their physical symptoms.<br />
It’s noteworthy that medical people who contract cancer themselves often return to their<br />
roles with a very different attitude, turning their focuses towards the wellbeing of the<br />
person with the illness rather than just the destruction of the disease itself.<br />
Taking stock of the many emotional hardships people living with cancer must contend<br />
with can illustrate how and why they can be debilitating, and why, therefore, they warrant<br />
healing attention. The following are just six common examples:<br />
• They fear for their lives, often for the first time in their lives: They hope for the<br />
best but often fear the worst. The sudden realisation that they were never immortal<br />
after all and that they could actually end in the midst of this experience can have<br />
a devastating impact on their psyche.<br />
• <strong>Cancer</strong> takes them away from everything they hold familiar: The hospital<br />
environment is a very foreign one to the uninitiated. Familiar places and regimes<br />
are replaced by new, often frightening, painful, uncomfortable and unpleasant<br />
ones. Daily regimens are so completely determined by ‘the system’ that a person<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
Healing<br />
cancer’s emotional<br />
suffering<br />
By Phil Kerslake<br />
“The subjective aspect (of illness) that is the experience of the sick<br />
person is by definition un-measurable; so is regarded as somehow<br />
less real…” Jeff Kane MD, US author of ‘How to heal’.
can feel unable to control any of their circumstances, leading to passive, helpless responses that<br />
weaken their resolve and imbue them, at least temporarily, with a victim mentality.<br />
• They find the medical system not so systematic: Well out of their comfort zones in the hospital<br />
setting, they dearly want to trust the medical system to be cohesive and effective, to give<br />
them confidence they are in safe and competent hands. Instead they encounter the frustrating<br />
idiosyncrasies typical of hospitals. The department silo effect requires them to explain their<br />
medical histories to many staff on a daily basis. They may even have to intervene to prevent a<br />
treatment administration error or omission that could have had undesirable consequences.<br />
• Their physical deterioration creates emotional disquiet: The physical deterioration and mutilation<br />
that can occur with the disease and conventional treatments contribute to the depletion of energies<br />
and self-confidence. So too can the many common symptoms and side-effects associated with<br />
them such as alopecia, extreme weight loss, weight gain, nausea, anaemia, fevers, diarrhoea,<br />
constipation, shingles and insomnia.<br />
• They must manage the responses of families and friends: Everyone close to the person diagnosed<br />
is emotionally distraught with their brush with mortality too, and needs reassurance and<br />
comforting. The person diagnosed can find themselves helping others with their responses to the<br />
cancer diagnosis while trying to come to terms with their own surreal and often quite terrifying<br />
circumstances.<br />
• They must contend with a raft of societal prejudices: Some people close to a person diagnosed<br />
with cancer can seemingly disappear on them. It can be as though they have contracted the plague<br />
rather than a non-contagious, acute illness. More often than is imagined, employers have little or<br />
only short-term tolerance for their circumstances too. While fighting for their lives they can fear<br />
with reason for their incomes and the hardships their loss might create.<br />
Mind-body-spirit and my emotional healing<br />
Mind-body-spirit measures (MBS measures) employed to serve individual needs at a given moment (note:<br />
these needs can change through time); can substantially ease distress created by the emotional challenges<br />
of a cancer journey. In so doing they can truly be said to underpin cancer recovery endeavours.<br />
When I was first diagnosed with a lymphoma, the doctors decided not to treat me just yet. I was said<br />
to be terminal, yet paradoxically had to get a lot sicker to be a candidate for their treatments. As a<br />
teenager left to my own devices, I found myself intuitively gravitating to MBS measures to help cope<br />
with my predicament.<br />
I never for a moment accepted the mantle ‘terminal’ and I somehow knew that actively managing<br />
my emotional response to the cancer would be crucial to my coping with and ultimately beating the<br />
prognosis.<br />
Though the lumps I had first noticed under my arms as a 15 year old remained, grew and multiplied<br />
somewhat, they were painless and I otherwise kept good health. But in my late 20s I became very ill.<br />
Diagnosed this time with a stage 4b Hodgkin’s disease, the most advanced stage of another type of<br />
lymphoma, I started on conventional treatments.<br />
This very testing period included a relapse and a new cancer diagnosis (the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma<br />
returned to replace the treated Hodgkin’s disease). Throughout the 18 months of chemotherapy,<br />
radiotherapy and operations I found MBS measures terrifically effective in helping me cope.<br />
Measures I employed and their benefits<br />
There are numerous MBS measures available for people living with cancer to use. I chose those mentioned<br />
following, because they appealed to me.<br />
Meditation and visualisation enabled me to relax and remain positive and focused on my recoveries in<br />
circumstances – with treatment failures and recurring disease – that would otherwise have been difficult.<br />
They also helped lessen my treatment side-effects, such as nausea and pain.<br />
Different types and applications of music and writing helped me to release stress, express my notoriously<br />
repressed emotions, replace depression with positivity bordering on elation, and overcome fears that<br />
could otherwise have stifled my ability to communicate, make optimal decisions, and build and maintain<br />
my determination and resilience.<br />
continued on next page...<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 15<br />
Thankyou<br />
Thankyou to all CSA<br />
members and supporters<br />
who generously donated to<br />
CSA during our November<br />
Extraordinary Appeal.<br />
Your generous donation<br />
will help us continue to<br />
support people living with<br />
cancer.<br />
As an independent charity,<br />
CSA depends on donations<br />
throughout the year.<br />
Whenever you are able<br />
to, you can donate by<br />
using our secure online<br />
donation facility at www.<br />
cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
16<br />
WELLNESS<br />
...from previous page<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
Humour has always been my best friend and it served me particularly<br />
well now. I took the lead from Norman Cousins (author of the classic<br />
1979 book Anatomy of an illness) and built my own laughter library.<br />
I tried to retain and enjoy my ability to laugh no matter what my<br />
predicament.<br />
Humour’s therapeutic benefits were numerous. It raised and<br />
maintained my spirits. It helped me face countless procedures, and<br />
contributed along with music and writing to enable me to access and<br />
express my emotions, enabling tensions to be released.<br />
Meanwhile affirmations, positive language use, visioning and goal<br />
setting collectively focused my mind on favourable outcomes and in<br />
a very real sense sustained my hope, faith and will to live.<br />
Coping in my darkest hours<br />
I have always been at my core, an enthusiast for and lover of life. But<br />
when you find yourself in the dark abyss that cancer and its treatments<br />
can take you to, the pain of the present can make it difficult to see a<br />
future worth fighting for.<br />
As my MBS programs helped sustain me, I reminded myself<br />
constantly that my suffering was only temporary, while always<br />
conceptualising and planning for an even better future ahead to fight<br />
for. I was adhering to Nietzche’s philosophy that people can endure<br />
almost anything if they have a why.<br />
Packaged into self-administered programs, these measures have<br />
allowed me to manage my circumstances to a discernable extent<br />
through all of my cancer diagnoses across four decades. Thanks to<br />
their healing effects, for the most part I have felt empowered rather<br />
than helpless, hopeful rather than hopeless.<br />
Having relative control over my circumstances enabled me to<br />
remain stronger mentally, emotionally and physically, even when<br />
sorely tested through advancing disease and heavy treatments and<br />
procedures.<br />
I have always adjusted my programs and their focuses as I felt<br />
necessary. I try to listen to my intuition to meet my needs at a given<br />
time. Meanwhile, I haven’t ignored my physical needs. Exercise,<br />
diet modification and supplementation, and a range of anti-cancer<br />
and immune system-boosting products and interventions have been<br />
embraced too.<br />
The science of MBS medicine<br />
While conventional medical interventions ultimately became my front<br />
line weapons against cancer, there is no doubt in my mind that MBS<br />
measures have also been crucial to the restoration of my wellbeing,<br />
to my longevity, and to the wonderful quality of life I enjoy today.<br />
Lending ever-increasing credence to the healing properties of MBS<br />
measures is the science of psychoneuroimmunology – the study of<br />
how mental state and neurological and hormonal factors affect the<br />
functioning of the immune system. International research in this<br />
discipline has indicated crucial benefits for people living with cancer<br />
including:<br />
• greatly enhances their ability to cope physically, mentally and<br />
emotionally with their diagnoses, ensuing battles and posttreatment<br />
challenges<br />
• enhances their tolerances to, and can speed their recoveries from<br />
the primary treatments – maximizing the treatments’ efficacy<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
• stimulates their bodies’ natural healing mechanisms to function<br />
better, establishing environments more resistant to the cancer<br />
and more receptive to the recovery process<br />
• positively influences their ‘points of view’ – their states of<br />
mind, attitudes, emotional tendencies and expression, thought<br />
patterns and processes, and ways of seeing their situations<br />
– such that they may become catalysts for the positive<br />
outcomes sought from their cancer battles and for quality-oflife-enhancing<br />
changes during and after cancer.<br />
An under-utilised healing resource<br />
Incomprehensible as it is to me, most people living with cancer don’t<br />
engage in MBS measures, or in any other way actively try to manage<br />
their emotional trauma. Discussions with people living with cancer<br />
indicate the following reasons:<br />
• A complete lack of awareness of their existence. Many<br />
cancer support organisations offer a range of MBS measures<br />
(they sometimes refer to them collectively as ‘psychosocial<br />
support’). But the great majority of people diagnosed with<br />
cancer don’t approach these organisations. Some studies have<br />
suggested around 10% do, but many within the 10% only access<br />
general information about the cancer they are diagnosed with<br />
and/or the treatments they are to receive.<br />
• No appreciation of how in practical terms such measures could<br />
support them during a cancer wellness journey.<br />
• No awareness of where or how they could access them. It’s<br />
unfortunate that as a generalisation, oncologists are notorious<br />
for not referring their patients to where MBS/psychosocial<br />
support measures can be accessed.<br />
• An aversion to asking for help of any kind or accepting help<br />
offered (sometimes perceived as an admission of weakness;<br />
or a selfish action).<br />
• Enquiries made about them to medical professionals can be<br />
met with either neutral or negative responses as to their worth.<br />
Doctors’ wholesale scepticism and suspicion of complementary<br />
measures is lessening, but the pace of change is slow.<br />
An invaluable inclusion in a cancer<br />
wellness program<br />
Mind-body-spirit measures perfectly complement conventional<br />
treatment programs, as well as those based exclusively on the holistic<br />
therapy philosophy. They sit particularly well within integrative<br />
programs combining conventional and complementary measures.<br />
What’s more, when self-administered or accessed through a non-profit<br />
cancer support organisation, they can be totally cost-free or heavily<br />
cost-subsidised. And, they are all simplicity itself to practice.<br />
Given their proven benefits, my heartfelt hope is for a future where<br />
all people living with cancer employ MBS measures in whatever<br />
recovery programs they establish. ✦<br />
Phil Kerslake is a New Zealand leadership coach, speaker, author and<br />
television presenter who has appeared frequently on the week-day<br />
morning series, Good Morning as well as in numerous other New<br />
Zealand media. Phil is also perhaps New Zealand’s most well-known<br />
and noteworthy cancer survivor.
Phil’s Journey<br />
Phil Kerslake is a 49-year-old, New Zealand-based life coach and motivational speaker. A six-time<br />
cancer survivor over 30 years, Phil is a passionate advocate for people who are living with cancer<br />
adopting mind-body-spirit measures and an active patient approach to cope better on their journeys,<br />
and enhance prospects of recovery.<br />
Phil’s book Life, Happiness … & <strong>Cancer</strong>: survive with action and attitude! was first published in<br />
New Zealand in 2006 where it became a best seller and remains the country’s most widely read<br />
cancer support resource. The Australian edition has just been released, with international editions<br />
pending.<br />
Phil was a 15-year-old schoolboy in 1975 when he first discovered lumps under his arms. Diagnosed<br />
to be part of a glandular fever bout at the time, they were predicted to go away, but didn’t. In 1979<br />
doctors diagnosed a stage 2, low-grade, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – an incurable cancer of the<br />
lymphatic system. At age 19, he was told he had an outside chance of living ten years.<br />
Over the three decades since, battles with cancer have occurred sporadically, with good remissions<br />
followed by recurrences and new cancer diagnoses. Phil has contended with six separate encounters<br />
of both Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas.<br />
Today in full remission, Phil has weathered two years and several different regimes of chemotherapy,<br />
high-dose chemotherapy and a stem-cell transplant, two courses of radiotherapy and eight operations<br />
including the removal of his spleen. With a mind-body-spirit approach as his main coping lifeline<br />
(and the focus of his book), he also utilised various complementary and alternative products and<br />
practices to help him prevail.<br />
Phil dedicates much of his time to talking to thousands of people on their cancer wellness journeys<br />
and cancer support and medical professionals in New Zealand and Australia. He frequently represents<br />
cancer support NGOs’ interests in the media, and has been consulted by District Health Boards<br />
reviewing their cancer services strategies.<br />
Nominated as New Zealand’s representative for 2007, from hundreds of international lymphoma<br />
survivors Phil won a Re-Building Lives Award in Vienna, Austria for his inspiring story of survival<br />
and for his work in cancer support.<br />
Phil married Gillian in 1998 and despite his treatments having left him infertile, they now have a<br />
gorgeous baby son, Rhys, and are expecting their second baby on Christmas Eve 2008. ✦<br />
Phil Kerslake’s book ‘Life, Happiness & <strong>Cancer</strong>: Survive with Action & Attitude!’ is available for loan from<br />
the CSA Library. You can purchase this book from bookstores around the county or online at the publisher’s<br />
website: www.fontainepress.com. For a review of Life, Happiness and <strong>Cancer</strong> please turn to page 53.<br />
cancer cancer cancer cancer<br />
support<br />
ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 17<br />
“I have always been at<br />
my core, an enthusiast<br />
for and lover of life. But<br />
when you find yourself<br />
in the dark abyss that<br />
cancer and its treatments<br />
can take you to, the pain<br />
of the present can make<br />
it difficult to see a future<br />
worth fighting for. “<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Online is the website of the <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association. Designed to provide you with the<br />
cancer support you need 24 hours a day anywhere in<br />
the world! SUBSCRIBE for full access to a searchable<br />
database of hundreds of articles, <strong>Wellness</strong> magazine<br />
archives, interactive cancer treatment decisionmaking<br />
tools, free counselling, online library, a<br />
wellness shop for the best supplements and more!<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
18<br />
WELLNESS<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong>s, even advanced<br />
cancers, can sometimes<br />
undergo what is called<br />
‘spontaneous regression’<br />
i.e., they can simply<br />
disappear without trace.<br />
A study carried out by<br />
a team of researchers<br />
led by epidemiologist<br />
H. Gilbert Welch, MD,<br />
of Dartmouth Medical<br />
School, suggests that<br />
spontaneous regression<br />
may be considerably<br />
more common than<br />
previously thought.<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Study suggests that some<br />
breast cancers may simply<br />
disappear<br />
By Dr. Ralph W.Moss PhD<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong>s, even advanced cancers, can sometimes undergo what is called ‘spontaneous regression’ - i.e.,<br />
they can simply disappear without trace. This is a phenomenon well known to medical science. In the<br />
1960s, Tilden C. Everson and Warren H. Cole wrote a small book on the topic, Spontaneous Regression<br />
of <strong>Cancer</strong>. Spontaneous regressions are poorly understood and have generally been thought to occur<br />
only rarely, but a recent study carried out by a team of researchers led by epidemiologist H. Gilbert<br />
Welch, MD, of Dartmouth Medical School, suggests that spontaneous regression may be considerably<br />
more common than previously thought.<br />
The study, published this week in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, followed a group of<br />
almost 110,000 Norwegian women who underwent periodic mammographic screening for breast cancer<br />
over a five-year period between 1992 and 1997, and compared these women with a second, matched<br />
group of women who did not undergo regular routine breast cancer screening during the same period.<br />
Surprisingly, the women who underwent regular screening had 22 percent more invasive breast cancers<br />
than those who did not (Zahl, 2008).<br />
In this closely-reasoned Archives of Internal Medicine paper, Welch and his colleagues suggest that the<br />
most plausible explanation for this sizeable discrepancy is that many of the women in the unscreened<br />
group probably also had an equivalent number of cancers, but in the absence of screening those cancers<br />
went undetected, and therefore untreated. Furthermore, rather than progressing, those cancers may<br />
simply have resolved and disappeared over time.<br />
It seems counterintuitive, but up to one fifth of all breast cancers that are detected by mammographic<br />
screening may potentially resolve themselves without treatment. “Because the cumulative incidence<br />
among controls never reached that of the screened group,” the authors wrote, “It appears that some<br />
breast cancers detected by repeated mammographic screening would not persist to be detectable by<br />
a single mammogram at the end of 6 years. This raises the possibility that the natural course of some<br />
screen-detected invasive breast cancers is to spontaneously regress,”<br />
The study’s conclusions, published in a journal of the American Medical Association, were considered<br />
important enough to be featured in the New York Times. In an interview with Gina Kolata, the Times’s<br />
medical correspondent, Dr. Welch explained the study’s controversial conclusion, that “there are some<br />
women who had cancer at one point, and who later don’t have that cancer” (Kolata, 2008).<br />
Readers of thie <strong>Cancer</strong> Decisions newsletter may recall that I have previously discussed the risks and<br />
benefits of screening mammography. Indeed, I have published an investigative report on mammography<br />
- “Mammography, Biopsy and the Diagnosis of Breast <strong>Cancer</strong>” (See: www.cancerdecisions.com).<br />
There is considerable evidence to suggest that a significant proportion of the abnormalities detected<br />
on mammography may in fact not represent an immediate threat. They may instead represent ‘overdiagnosis’<br />
- that is, the detection of lesions that, left alone, might never progress to invasive cancer<br />
at all.<br />
This week’s Archives of Internal Medicine paper takes this possibility one step further. “We believe<br />
that there are ‘pseudo’ cancers in this population [of mammographically screened women] and we<br />
suggest that most of these pseudo cancers regress,” said Jan Maehlen, MD, professor of pathology at<br />
the Ulleval University Hospital in Oslo, Norway, and one of the study’s authors, in an interview with<br />
the online medical forum Medscape (Mulcahy, 2008).<br />
environment • wellness • healing
The publication of the study was considered sufficiently important<br />
to merit an accompanying editorial in Archives of Internal Medicine.<br />
The authors of the editorial point out that it will be impossible to<br />
verify whether or not the 22 percent difference in breast cancer<br />
diagnoses between screened and unscreened women is indeed due to<br />
spontaneous regression of breast cancers unless a full-scale clinical<br />
trial is performed. That said, it would probably never be possible to<br />
conduct such a clinical trial since it would be considered unethical<br />
to leave one group of women untreated. “Despite the appeal of early<br />
detection of breast cancer,” wrote the editorialists, “uncertainty about<br />
the value of mammography continues.”<br />
This study is not the first to raise troubling questions about the natural<br />
history of certain breast cancers and the risks versus the benefits of<br />
screening mammography. For example, an earlier study carried out<br />
in Canada in 2002 also found an identical 22 percent difference in<br />
cancer diagnoses between women who went unscreened and those<br />
given regular mammograms (Miller,2004) . Another study, this one<br />
published in the prestigious British Medical Journal in 2004, reported<br />
similar rates of over-diagnosis, concluding:<br />
“Without screening, one third of all invasive breast cancers in the<br />
age group 50-69 years would not have been detected in the patients’<br />
lifetime. This level of over-diagnosis is larger than previously<br />
thought” (Zahl, 2004).<br />
Screening for Breast <strong>Cancer</strong>:<br />
Rethinking the Accepted Paradigm<br />
There is no doubt that when detected in its early stages, breast<br />
cancer is very often curable in the truest sense of that word, and<br />
screening mammography may be useful as a component of an early<br />
detection program. But as with any medical procedure, there are<br />
risks as well as benefits to screening for cancer, and the possibility<br />
of over-diagnosis leading to unnecessary treatment is an inherent<br />
drawback.<br />
Undoubtedly, the study will cause considerable controversy. Already,<br />
Robert A. Smith, director of breast cancer screening at the American<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> Society (ACS), has commented in a surprisingly intemperate<br />
way on the study: “Their [the study’s authors, ed.] simplification of<br />
a complicated issue is both overreaching and alarming,” he told the<br />
New York Times. The ACS has long been a staunch promoter of<br />
screening mammography.<br />
Yet the design of the latest study was indisputably an ingenious one,<br />
and the findings demand further investigation. The purpose of the<br />
cancer treatment<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 19<br />
study was to quantify the potential size of the over-diagnosis/overtreatment<br />
problem - a problem that even proponents of screening<br />
mammography acknowledge exists. In their conclusions, the authors<br />
take pains to point out that their aim was not to discredit the use of<br />
mammography in screening for breast cancer.<br />
“It is also important,” they write, “to emphasize that our findings<br />
have no bearing on the debate on whether screening mammography<br />
reduces breast cancer mortality. Our findings are equally consistent<br />
with the possibility that mammography either leads to a reduction in<br />
breast cancer mortality or has no effect at all. Instead, our findings<br />
simply provide new insight on what is arguably the major harm<br />
associated with mammographic screening, namely, the detection and<br />
treatment of cancers that would otherwise regress.”<br />
Another important consideration (and one that the Archives of Internal<br />
Medicine study was not designed to address) is the contribution of<br />
radiation exposure from repeated mammograms to the overall<br />
incidence of breast cancer. Despite emphatic assurances concerning<br />
the safety of mammography, it is acknowledged by experts that the<br />
procedure (like all exposure to ionizing rays) does somewhat heighten<br />
the risk of radiation-induced cancer. This is particularly so when a<br />
mammogram has to be repeated because of questionable readings.<br />
The danger begins to add up when hundreds of thousands of women<br />
are being screened annually. The risk of radiation-induced cancer<br />
needs to be taken into account in making the decision as to when to<br />
begin regular screening mammography.<br />
There is no doubt that every life saved is something to celebrate.<br />
But there is legitimate cause for concern that a significant number of<br />
women are being treated unnecessarily for abnormalities that might<br />
never have become clinically apparent or represented any threat to<br />
life. The onus is now on the cancer research community and the<br />
medical profession to look long and hard at the basic assumptions<br />
underlying the wide-scale adoption of mammographic screening<br />
programs. After all, if one could identify in advance which tumours<br />
are likely to progress to cancer, and which are just a temporary<br />
aberration, a great many women could be spared the ravages of<br />
aggressive treatment. ✦<br />
References:<br />
Everson, Tilden C and Cole, Warren Henry. Spontaneous<br />
regression of cancer; a study and abstract of reports in the world<br />
medical literature and of personal communications concerning<br />
spontaneous regression of malignant disease. Philadelphia,<br />
Saunders, 1966.<br />
continued on next page...<br />
A weekly group held every Tuesday at CSA from 10am –<br />
12noon. Anyone who’s life has been aff ected by cancer<br />
or other life threatening illnesses is welcome to attend.<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
20<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
The One and Only New Year’s Resolution:<br />
REMEMBER RULE #6<br />
By Christine Robbins, CSA Membership Liaison<br />
Each day presents us with opportunities for new beginnings in every hour, minute,<br />
and second. But it seems to be the start of the New Year which propels many of us<br />
into a desire to “really” make some positive changes in our lives. We come up with<br />
great intentions to improve in some way, be it physically, mentally, emotionally,<br />
socially, environmentally, creatively or spiritually, and often the desire to reduce<br />
stress and anxiety in our lives is the underlying reason for change.<br />
For me the thought of creating a long list of resolutions would defeat my wish for<br />
peace and contentment in my life so when I found the following in “The Power<br />
of Intention” by Wayne Dyer, it appealed to my resolution to keep things simple.<br />
He shares this story from “The Art of Possibility” by Benjamin Zander.<br />
“Two prime ministers are sitting in a room discussing affairs of state. Suddenly a<br />
man bursts in apoplectic with fury, shouting and stamping and banging his fist on<br />
the desk. The resident prime minister admonishes him: “Peter”, he says, “kindly<br />
remember Rule Number 6,” whereupon Peter is instantly restored to complete<br />
calm, apologizes and withdraws.<br />
The politicians return to their conversation, only to be interrupted yet again twenty<br />
minutes later by an hysterical woman gesticulating wildly, her hair flying. Again<br />
the intruder is greeted with the words: “Marie, please remember Rule Number<br />
6.” Complete calm descends once more, and she too withdraws with a bow and<br />
an apology.<br />
When the scene is repeated for a third time, the visiting prime minister addresses<br />
his colleague. “My dear friend, I’ve seen many things in my life, but never<br />
anything as remarkable as this. Would you be willing to share with me the secret<br />
of Rule Number 6?”<br />
“Very simple,” replies the resident prime minister. “Rule Number 6 is DON’T<br />
TAKE YOURSELF SO SERIOUSLY.” ✦<br />
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www.positivepotential.com.au<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
...from previous page<br />
Kolata G. Study suggests some cancers may go away.<br />
New York Times Nov 25 2008.<br />
Miller AB, To T, Baines CJ, et al. The Canadian National<br />
Breast Screening Study-1: breast cancer mortality after<br />
11 to 16 years of follow-up. A randomized screening<br />
trial of mammography in women age 40 to 49 years.<br />
Ann Intern Med 2002;137(5 Part 1):305-12.<br />
Mulcahy N. Mammography study suggests some<br />
breast cancer may spontaneously regress. Medscape<br />
Medical News Nov 25 2008, accessed at: http:// www.<br />
medscape.com/viewarticle/584147 (subscription<br />
required).<br />
Zahl P-H, Maehlen J, Welch, HG. The Natural history<br />
of invasive breast cancers detected by screening<br />
mammography. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(21):2311-<br />
2316.<br />
Zahl P-H, Strand BH, Maehlen J. Incidence of breast<br />
cancer in Norway and Sweden during introduction of<br />
nationwide screening: prospective cohort study. BMJ<br />
2004;328(7445):921-4.<br />
From: <strong>Cancer</strong> Decisions Newsletter<br />
Archives at www.cancerdecisions.<br />
com. This article was originally<br />
p u b l i s h e d i n t w o p a r t s o n<br />
November 30, 2008 and December<br />
7, 2008. Dr Ralph Moss is a highly<br />
respected medical writer and cancer<br />
researcher who has independently evaluated the<br />
claims of various cancer treatments, conventional and<br />
nonconventional for over 30 years. He currently directs<br />
The Moss Reports, a periodically updated library of<br />
detailed reports on 200+ varieties of cancer diagnoses.<br />
These reports are available from the CSA Library closed<br />
reserve section upon request.<br />
All seminars from 1 – 3pm.<br />
Perth metro venue will be<br />
advised when booking.<br />
To book your seat NOW<br />
phone Robyn on<br />
9316 1792 OR email<br />
mail@positivepotential.<br />
com.au<br />
Reaching for Optimum Health
By Reuben Chow<br />
research<br />
A study on almost 24,000 Japanese women recently published in the British Journal of<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> has found that lack of sleep can greatly increase the risk of breast cancer, with<br />
women who slept 6 hours or less every night having a significantly higher risk.<br />
The Ohsaki National Health Insurance (NHI) Cohort Study started in 1994 and involved<br />
28,515 women in northeastern Japan. The questionnaire used included information on<br />
sleep duration and other lifestyle habits.<br />
Data for some participants was omitted from the NHI study if they had a history of<br />
cancer; did not provide information on their sleep duration; or who slept for less than<br />
4 hours or more than 12 hours every night. This left the data for 23,995 women to be<br />
analysed. An 8-year period, from 1995 to 2003, was used, during which 143 of the<br />
women developed breast cancer.<br />
The women who slept 7 hours each night were used as the reference group. It was then<br />
found that women who slept 6 hours or less each night had a 62% higher risk of getting<br />
breast cancer. On the other hand, those who slept 9 hours or more every night had a 28%<br />
lower risk of getting the disease.<br />
It would follow, then, that those who slept 6 hours or less every night had 2.25 times<br />
the risk of getting breast cancer when compared to those who slept 9 hours or more<br />
each night.<br />
The results remained largely consistent even when participants who were diagnosed with<br />
breast cancer within 3 years from the start of the study were excluded, or when the data<br />
was analysed by age and menopausal status.<br />
The findings of this study validate the findings of two previous prospective cohort studies<br />
relating breast cancer and sleep duration (Verkasalo et al, 2005, Wu et al, 2008). Those<br />
two studies had also shown a significant decrease in breast cancer risk for those who<br />
slept the longest.<br />
Why is breast cancer risk linked to sleep duration? The answer could lie in melatonin,<br />
which is secreted during night sleep. When a person sleeps fewer hours, less melatonin is<br />
secreted, and lower levels of the chemical had previously been associated with increased<br />
breast cancer risk.<br />
In addition, melatonin may possess an inhibitory effect on gonadal function, which<br />
includes synthetizing and secreting sex hormones. It had also been found to have an<br />
antiproliferative effect on breast cancer cells.<br />
If the findings from this study are indeed accurate, then there is an immense difference<br />
in breast cancer risk between sleeping 4 to 6 hours every night, and just sleeping 1 to 3<br />
hours more each night. In fact, it is more than likely that the protective effects of sufficient<br />
sleep also extend to other forms of cancer. Seven hours of sleep a night may thus be a<br />
good number to aim for. ✦<br />
Reference<br />
Sleep duration and the risk of breast cancer: the Ohsaki Cohort Study (http://www.nature.<br />
com/bjc/journal/v99/n...)<br />
From: www.naturalnews.com, 7th December, 2008. Reuben Chow has a keen interest in<br />
the area of natural health and healing and carries out regular research on the topic. His<br />
website, All 4 Natural Health, off ers a basic guide on natural health information. It details<br />
simple, eff ective and natural ways, such as the use of nutrition, various herbs, herb remedies,<br />
supplements and other natural remedies, to deal with various health conditions as well as<br />
to attain good health.<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 21<br />
1. Create a relaxing bedtime routine. Give yourself<br />
time to get ready for bed slowly. Savour the<br />
moments of winding down as you wash your<br />
face, brush your teeth, and change into your<br />
bed clothes. You can use aroma oils, soft music<br />
– be creative! If spirituality is important to you,<br />
include a prayer.<br />
2. Keep your bedroom cool, quiet, and dark.<br />
(Usually a cool room promotes sleep, but you<br />
will have difficulty sleeping if you feel cold,<br />
so experiment. If your feet are cold in winter,<br />
warm them up before bed!)<br />
3. Drink a cup of warm milk (you can add<br />
nutmeg for its sleep inducing properties) or a<br />
relaxing tea, like chamomile.<br />
4. Massage your feet, especially with warm oil,<br />
right before bed - it’s very relaxing.<br />
5. Stretch a bit before you lie down. You can<br />
literally stretch out some of the “kinks” and<br />
tension of the day. Stretching makes some<br />
people more energetic and some more sleepy,<br />
so experiment and find out what works for you.<br />
Don’t overdo it – stretch just enough to help<br />
you relax.<br />
6. Take a hot bath. A hot bath can be extremely<br />
relaxing. Light some candles. Add a relaxing<br />
aroma oil, such as lavender oil, to the water.<br />
Luxuriate!<br />
7. Once you are in bed, listen to relaxing music<br />
or a relaxation or sleep CD to help you shift<br />
gears and relax into sleep. ✦<br />
If trying these tips at bedtime doesn’t help you<br />
relax into sleep, you may need to make some<br />
lifestyle changes for a more long term solution.<br />
From: www.heartofhealing.net<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
22<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
Be gentle with<br />
yourself. You are a<br />
child of the universe,<br />
no less than the trees<br />
and the stars; you<br />
have a right to be<br />
here. And whether or<br />
not it is clear to you,<br />
no doubt the universe<br />
is unfolding as it<br />
should.<br />
~ Max Ehrmann,<br />
author of Desiderata<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
How PATIENT POWER<br />
IS CHANGING<br />
Breast <strong>Cancer</strong> Care<br />
By Barbara Brennan<br />
The integration of energy/spiritual healing into general medicine is a slow and often arduous<br />
process. Traditional positions in the medical world can be rather inflexible and are best moved<br />
by continual education.<br />
They will shift more, I firmly believe, as a new generation of doctors, nurses and administrators<br />
edge towards embracing a more holistic approach to health care. Of course, there are shining<br />
examples of acceptance and understanding in hospitals and clinics across the globe, even if<br />
growth could be faster.<br />
What may be the primary catalyst today in altering viewpoints is something relatively new<br />
– patient power. There is growing evidence of patients demanding that alternative treatments<br />
be considered by the medical profession, not so much as to replace existing methods, but to<br />
support them.<br />
Something of a breakthrough – one that can be directly related to patient power – occurred<br />
in late March in the French Riviera town of Nice where the 5th European Breast <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
Conference welcomed the use of complementary treatments and medicines as support for<br />
cancer patients.<br />
The gathering of leading breast cancer specialists from throughout Europe was told that its<br />
delegates can no longer ignore the importance of alternatives treatments in view of their<br />
popularity among patients.<br />
The conference adopted new guidelines after hearing that studies had found that up to 90<br />
per cent of women diagnosed with breast cancer now turn to alternative remedies of some<br />
kind. Treatments favoured by patients ranged from spiritual and energy healing to yoga and<br />
aromatherapy, the specialists were told.<br />
This may well be the first time that an international body of medical experts has not only<br />
officially endorsed, but directed such action. Even the delegates who resisted this new approach<br />
were largely persuaded by the argument that, on safety grounds alone, doctors needed to know<br />
what their patients were taking or doing.<br />
The new guidelines call for a single standard of evaluation of therapies and urge doctors to<br />
have ‘open and factual’ discussions about their use.<br />
This is an exciting development. The next step may be that the breast cancer specialists entertain<br />
a presentation from representatives of ‘alternative’ healing methods, particularly in the area<br />
of post-operative care.<br />
There would be none better to explain this than one of their own, a European breast reconstruction<br />
surgeon and one of many doctors who are graduates of the Barbara Brennan School of<br />
Healing.<br />
This particular surgeon normally does three energy healings on a cancer patient – one before he<br />
operates and two after. For his graduation year paper, he carried out a survey in which patients<br />
were divided into two groups – those who received healings and those who did not.<br />
The findings showed a considerable difference between the two groups in the relationship these<br />
patients have with their newly constructed breasts.<br />
Many of the women who did not receive healings said the new breast felt heavy, like something<br />
hanging on their chest, while those in the other group (where he did the surgery) said they<br />
could all feel the breast, that it felt sexual and that it felt like their breast. So for self-esteem<br />
and confidence alone, the healings appear to have had a tremendous effect.<br />
environment • wellness • healing
In addition, the patients who received healings needed much less postop<br />
pain medication, if any. That and faster recovery time was also a<br />
regular feature of pilot studies by other doctor graduates.<br />
This could have major implications not just in the treatment of<br />
mastectomy patients but in all post-operative care. Of course, findings<br />
like these are not entirely new. They have been known among healers<br />
for a few years but have had virtually no circulation in the medical<br />
world.<br />
One of the issues, as I have said before, is the absence of funding for<br />
large-scale research. Studies by individuals and among small groups,<br />
while highly relevant, go unrecognised by the medical profession.<br />
The new guidelines set by the European breast cancer conference<br />
may help to change all that. If the specialists follow the directive for<br />
open discussion, the results of their studies can only be positive. Add<br />
the patient-power factor, and we may be seeing the start of a new<br />
dawn. ✦<br />
From: www.barbarabrennan.com. Brilliantly bridging science and<br />
spirituality, Barbara Brennan, a former research scientist for NASA and<br />
atmospheric physicist, is one of the fi rst scientists to have studied and proven<br />
in-depth the existence of what will hopefully soon be widely recognised as the<br />
human energy fi eld (known in lay terms as “aura”). Trained as both physicist<br />
and psychotherapist and having spent over 20 years studying the human<br />
energy fi eld and working as a healer, Brennan is the author of the classic<br />
”Hands of Light: A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field ” (based<br />
on her observation of 5000 clients and students), as well as a follow-up called<br />
”Light Emerging: The Journey of Personal Healing”. Blending ancient tradition<br />
and modern scientifi c theory, she provides a comprehensive introduction to<br />
the science of the human energy fi eld and its intimate connection to a person’s<br />
health and well-being, discussing how to work with this fi eld to cure physical<br />
and emotional disease (dis-ease).<br />
While screening is an important step in fi ghting breast<br />
cancer, many researchers are looking for alternatives<br />
to mammography. Burton Goldberg totes the safety<br />
and accuracy of new thermography technologies.<br />
Able to detect cancers at a minute physical stage of<br />
development, thermography does not use x-rays,<br />
nor is there any compression of the breast. Also<br />
important, new thermography technologies do not<br />
lose eff ectiveness with dense breast tissue, decreasing<br />
the chances of false-negative results.<br />
Some doctors are now off ering digital mammograms.<br />
Digital mammography is a mammography system in<br />
which x-ray fi lm is replaced by solid-state detectors<br />
that convert x-rays into electric signals. Though<br />
radiation is still used, digital mammography requires<br />
a much smaller dose. The electrical signals are<br />
used to produce images that can be electronically<br />
manipulated; a physician can zoom in, magnify and<br />
optimise different parts of breast tissue without<br />
having to take an additional image. ✦<br />
By Dawn Prate.<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 23<br />
The Right<br />
to Refuse<br />
“Mammography itself is radiation: an X-ray picture<br />
of the breast to detect a potential tumour. Each<br />
woman must weigh for herself the risks and benefits<br />
of mammography. As with most carcinogens, there<br />
is a latency period or delay between the time of<br />
irradiation and the occurrence of breast cancer. This<br />
delay can vary up to decades for different people.<br />
Response to radiation is especially dramatic in<br />
children. Women who received X-rays of the breast<br />
area as children have shown increased rates of<br />
breast cancer as adults. The first increase is reflected<br />
in women younger than thirty-five, who have early<br />
onset breast cancer. But for this exposed group,<br />
flourishing breast cancer rates continue for another<br />
forty years or longer. “<br />
Excerpt from: Eat To Beat <strong>Cancer</strong> by J Robert Hatherill, page 132<br />
New Screening Technologies “Whatever you may be told, refuse routine<br />
mammograms to detect early breast cancer,<br />
especially if you are premenopausal. The X-rays may<br />
actually increase your chances of getting cancer.<br />
If you are older, and there are strong reasons to<br />
suspect that you may have breast cancer, the risks<br />
may be worthwhile. Very few circumstances, if any,<br />
should persuade you to have X-rays taken if you<br />
are pregnant. The future risks of leukaemia to your<br />
unborn child, not to mention birth defects, are just<br />
not worth it. “<br />
Excerpt from: The Politics Of <strong>Cancer</strong> by Samuel S Epstein MD,<br />
page 305<br />
* Editor’s Note: in the next edition of <strong>Wellness</strong><br />
magazine to be published on the 1st March <strong>2009</strong><br />
we provide an in-depth review of emerging cancer<br />
screening technologies.<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
24<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
Everyone knows that breast sparing<br />
surgery is about as effective as radical<br />
surgery (mastectomy) for many cases<br />
of breast cancer. Could the same<br />
sort of sea change in treatment now<br />
be taking place in prostate cancer?<br />
Could doctors limit their intervention<br />
to areas of known malignancy<br />
and thereby spare the rest of the<br />
prostate gland? And could this be<br />
done in a way that spares the nerves<br />
that make sexual potency possible,<br />
while avoiding the risk of urinary<br />
incontinence. Yes on all counts,<br />
according to a team of urologists<br />
writing in a well-respected cancer<br />
journal.<br />
Sexual impotence and urinary<br />
incontinence are two major threats<br />
to the quality of life of many prostate<br />
cancer patients. These things “affect<br />
the male self image no less than<br />
the loss of a breast does a woman,”<br />
according to Gary Onik, MD.<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
LOCAL TREATMENT OF<br />
PROSTATE CANCER: A CAUSE<br />
FOR CELEBRATION?<br />
By Dr. Ralph W. Moss PhD<br />
Dr. Onik is director of Florida Hospital/Celebration Health’s prostate cancer research<br />
program. He is a Harvard graduate who received his medical degree from New York Medical<br />
College. He completed his residency at the University of California San Francisco and<br />
has specialized training in ultrasound from New England Deaconess Hospital (Harvard)<br />
in Boston. He is the inventor and pioneer of ultrasound guided cryosurgery for both the<br />
prostate and the liver. In 2005 he published a textbook titled The Male Lumpectomy: Focal<br />
Therapy for Prostate <strong>Cancer</strong>.<br />
Why haven’t other doctors thought of simply removing or otherwise destroying just the<br />
cancerous tissue in appropriate cases? According to Dr. Onik, “traditional thinking has held<br />
that prostate cancer is multifocal and therefore not amenable to a focal treatment approach.”<br />
But recent literature on the pathology of prostate cancer indicates that up to 25 percent of<br />
all prostate cancers are in fact solitary and unilateral. This fact therefore raises the question<br />
of whether or not such patients can be identified and treated with a limited “lumpectomy”<br />
or focal cancer treatment.<br />
The authors used a method called “focal cryoablation.” This is the use of an extreme cold<br />
probe to destroy areas of the prostate that were known to be cancerous based on previous<br />
staging biopsies. Patients were then followed with prostate specific antigen tests (PSAs)<br />
that were obtained every 3 months for 2 years and then every 6 months thereafter.<br />
Forty-eight patients who had at least 2-year follow-up had this type of focal cryoablation for<br />
their cancer. Follow-up has now ranged from 2 to 10 years, with a mean of 4.5 years. At the<br />
time of publication of their report in the Journal of Urologic Oncology, 45 of the 48 patients<br />
(or 94 percent) have stable PSAs with no evidence of cancer. This was so despite the fact<br />
that 25 of these patients were considered to be at medium to high risk for recurrence.<br />
Twenty-four patients who had stable PSAs were also routinely biopsied after the treatment;<br />
all were negative for cancer. No local recurrences were noted in the areas that were treated<br />
with the cold probe. As hoped for, sexual potency was maintained to the satisfaction of the<br />
patient in of 36 of 40 patients who had been potent preoperatively. Of the 48 patients treated,<br />
all had maintained urinary continence.<br />
Comparisons to Radical Prostatectomy<br />
This was not a randomized trial, so we do not know exactly how men who received radical<br />
prostatectomy (RP) for similar types of prostate cancer would have done by comparison.<br />
But consider the Prostate <strong>Cancer</strong> Outcomes Study (PCOS). This large, multi-center study<br />
concluded that sexual dysfunction among men who underwent surgical removal of the<br />
prostate was far more prevalent than previously believed. The results first appeared Jan.<br />
19, 2000, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. At 18 or more months<br />
after surgery, the impotence rate among 1,288 men was an astonishing 60 percent.<br />
In 2008, the same authors followed up on these 1,288 men after five years. Of these men 14<br />
percent now reported frequent urinary leakage or no urinary control five years after diagnosis.<br />
This was slightly higher than the 10 percent reporting such incontinence at 24 months. In<br />
addition, at 60 months 28 percent of the men had erections firm enough for intercourse<br />
compared with just 22 percent at 24 months. Thus, even after recovering from the surgery,<br />
76 percent of these men were sexually impotent, although about half of the men who used<br />
Viagra reported that it was helpful - “somewhat” or “a lot.” The authors concluded that a large<br />
environment • wellness • healing
percentage of radical prostatectomy patients<br />
suffered from incontinence or impotence at least<br />
five years following surgery.<br />
By contrast, the preliminary results coming out<br />
of Celebration, Florida, are indeed a cause to<br />
celebrate. For a select group of patients, these<br />
findings indicate that a “male lumpectomy,”<br />
in which only the region of frank malignancy<br />
is destroyed, appears to preserve potency in<br />
a majority of patients and also limit other<br />
complications (particularly incontinence),<br />
without compromising control of the cancer.<br />
If this is confirmed by further studies and by<br />
longer-term follow-up, this new approach could,<br />
as Dr. Onik suggests, have a profound effect on<br />
the management of prostate cancer. ✦<br />
Resources<br />
Dr. Onik is at the Department of Radiology and<br />
Urology, Division of Surgical Imaging, Center<br />
for Surgical Advancement, Celebration Health/<br />
Florida Hospital, Celebration, FL 34747, USA.<br />
onikcryo@aol.com<br />
References<br />
Onik G, Vaughan D, Lotenfoe R, Dineen M,<br />
Brady. The “male lumpectomy”: focal therapy<br />
for prostate cancer using cryoablation results in<br />
48 patients with at least 2-year follow-up. J. Urol<br />
Oncol. 2008 Sep-Oct;26(5):500-5.<br />
Penson DF, McLerran D, Feng Z, et al. 5-year<br />
urinary and sexual outcomes after radical<br />
prostatectomy: results from the Prostate <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
Outcomes Study. J Urol. 2008 May;179(5 Suppl):<br />
S40-4. The authors are at the Department of<br />
Urology, Keck School of Medicine, University<br />
of Southern California, Los Angeles, California<br />
90089, USA. penson@usc.edu<br />
Stanford JL, Feng Z, Hamilton AS, et al. Urinary<br />
and sexual function after radical prostatectomy<br />
for clinically localized prostate cancer: the<br />
Prostate <strong>Cancer</strong> Outcomes Study. JAMA. 2000<br />
Jan 19;283(3):354-60<br />
Originally published in Dr Ralph W. Moss’<br />
newsletter <strong>Cancer</strong> Decisions November 23, 2008.<br />
To subscribe go to: www.cancerdecisions.com<br />
cancer treatment<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 25<br />
Talcum powder linked<br />
to ovarian cancer<br />
Women have been warned to immediately stop using talcum powder around their<br />
genitals in the wake of research which suggests particles may travel to the ovaries and<br />
trigger a process of inflammation that allows cancer cells to flourish.<br />
Although previous studies have raised concerns over talc, the latest findings from the<br />
United States suggest women who use it are 40 per cent more likely to get ovarian cancer<br />
– a much greater risk than first thought – the Telegraph newspaper reports. The findings,<br />
published in the journal <strong>Cancer</strong> Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, apply only<br />
to talcum powder used around the private parts, not on the rest of the body.<br />
Experts from Harvard Medical School in Boston studied more than 3,000 women and<br />
found using talc merely once a week raised the risk of ovarian cancer by 36 per cent,<br />
rising to 41 per cent for those applying powder every day. Dr Maggie Gates, who led<br />
the study, said that until the outcome of further research women should avoid using talc<br />
in the genital area. One alternative is cornstarch powder.<br />
The study revealed that the risks were greater still for those with a certain genetic profile.<br />
Women carrying a gene called glutathione S-transferase M1, or GSTM1, but lacking a<br />
gene called glutathione S-transferase T1 (GSTT1), were nearly three times as likely to<br />
develop tumours. Around one in 10 Caucasian women are thought to have this genetic<br />
profile, putting them at sharply increased risk.<br />
Ovarian cancer is often termed the silent cancer, as it grows quietly and is often only<br />
detected at the final stages, and it is the sixth biggest killer of all cancers for Australian<br />
women. About 1,200 new cases are diagnosed annually with 800 deaths. Until now, it<br />
has been thought the main risk factors included a family history of the disease, having<br />
already had breast cancer and starting periods at a young age. Women who are overweight<br />
or use hormone replacement therapy are also thought to be more at risk.<br />
Talc is made from a soft mineral called hydrous magnesium silicate, which is found<br />
throughout the world. It is crushed, dried and milled to produce powder used in cosmetic<br />
products by millions. Some experts say it has chemical similarities to asbestos, which<br />
can cause a deadly form of lung cancer.<br />
Laboratory tests show ovarian cells exposed to talc divide more rapidly – a characteristic<br />
sign of cancer.<br />
Until recently there was no proof that powder could travel through a woman’s reproductive<br />
tract as far as the pelvis and then on to the ovaries. But last year, a separate group of<br />
doctors at Harvard Medical School identified tiny particles of powder in the pelvis of<br />
a 68-year-old woman with advanced ovarian cancer who had used talc every day for<br />
30 years. ✦<br />
From: The West Australian, 29th September 2008<br />
De Stress Group<br />
with the enigmatic Geoff Barbour<br />
FRIDAYS 10am-12 noon. All Welcome.<br />
A support group open to all at Mercycare Employment Centre,<br />
4 Brewer Place Mirrabooka. Gold coin donation.<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
26<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
“The acquisition of a new truth is<br />
identical with the acquisition of a new<br />
sense, for with it you can conceive,<br />
perceive and recognise things that<br />
you could not recognise before you<br />
had that new truth, and with that<br />
new truth you can perceive things<br />
that people without that truth cannot<br />
perceive.”<br />
Painting by Judith Giordano<br />
Delivered before the St Louis Dental<br />
Society Nov 1916 by Dr Weston Price<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Is Further Research<br />
Needed?<br />
By Robert Gammal BDS FACNEM(dent)<br />
This paper was written as a response to the Journal of the<br />
Australian Dental Association Endodontic Supplement Vol 52 No<br />
1, March 2007. All red text with the heading ‘Robert Gammal’<br />
has been added by the author. Paragraphs headed with ‘ADAES’<br />
are direct quotes from the Australian Dental Association<br />
Endodontic Supplement. In these quoted sections any bold<br />
or italic text has been highlighted by the author and does not<br />
appear in the original document.<br />
This Journal Supplement has the following editorial comment at its beginning:<br />
ADAES Editors Note from the supplement:<br />
“New directions in Endodontics are based on the principles of evidence based practice<br />
with particular emphasis on a risk/benefi t approach. In this context, the Guest Editor,<br />
Professor Paul Abbott, has selected an impressive panel of experts to produce this<br />
series of review papers on key topics in Endodontics. A broad range of topics central<br />
to everyday clinical practice has been selected.”<br />
“I hope that this impressive collection of papers will be kept as a handy reference in<br />
your surgery and I invite you to carefully read and put into practice the suggestions<br />
and recommendations provided in these papers.”<br />
Professor P Mark Bartold Editor<br />
Australian Dental Journal<br />
Introduction<br />
This document which represents the latest in scientific research about Root Canal<br />
Therapy, according to the Australian Dental Association, in many ways agrees with my<br />
own views. Perhaps not in its sentiment, but absolutely in its findings and conclusions.<br />
They also agree with the work of Dr Weston Price who published in 1920s. Both Dr<br />
Price and the Australian Dental Association state clearly that;<br />
• It is not possible to remove all of the dead tissue from even the main canal of the<br />
root, leaving large amounts of dead and necrotic tissue in the tooth. It is equally<br />
impossible to remove all dead tissue from the accessory canals and dentine<br />
tubules.<br />
• It is not possible to sterilize a tooth.<br />
• It is not possible to completely seal a tooth.<br />
• All toxins can escape from the tooth.<br />
• Toxins and bacteria from dead teeth can cause disease in other parts of the body<br />
and may have lethal effects.<br />
environment • wellness • healing
Surprisingly there is minimal discussion in this supplement of any<br />
of the ‘Root Filling’ techniques.<br />
Less surprisingly there is only cursory mention of systemic<br />
consequences of retaining dead teeth in the body.<br />
Little attention is given to the toxicity of root filling cements and<br />
medications.<br />
The only time medical history is mentioned is in relation to the<br />
projected outcome of the root treatment in terms of local healing<br />
and lack of pain. There in minimal discussion of the affects of Root<br />
Canal Therapy on systemic health.<br />
Discussed clearly is the fact that placing antibiotics into a tooth will<br />
only serve to create antibiotic resistant micro-organisms.<br />
The most telling section states that neither the practice of endodontics<br />
or of implant treatments scores very high, when subjected to<br />
principles of Evidenced Based Dentistry.<br />
In other words the Australian Dental Association and some of the<br />
leading endodontists in Australia, admit that the basic requirements<br />
of Root Canal Treatment are unacheivable! Even after 100 years<br />
of research!<br />
Focal Infections<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
The seriousness of dental infection is reflected in the first of the<br />
papers presented in this collection. They state clearly that infection<br />
from a tooth (not root treated), can affect other parts of the body. In<br />
medical language this is called ‘ Focal Infection’. The reality is that<br />
root treatment will NOT negate the possibility of focal infection.<br />
ADAES<br />
The magnitude of pulp-related problems should not be<br />
underestimated,…<br />
The most serious consequence of pulp disease is oral sepsis, which<br />
can be life threatening.[1, 2]<br />
Bacterial infection is the most frequent cause of pulp and periapical<br />
diseases.<br />
Bacterial infections of the pulp space consist of mixed microbial and<br />
predominantly anaerobic flora.<br />
As time progresses, necrotic pulp tissue will become infected by oral<br />
micro-organisms penetrating into the root canal system via caries,<br />
cracks or marginal breakdown of restorations. The microbes will<br />
migrate apically through the tooth root and digest the pulp tissue<br />
which renders the tooth pulpless.<br />
If the infection spreads from the maxillary teeth, it may cause<br />
purulent sinusitis, meningitis, brain abscess, orbital cellulitis<br />
and cavernous sinus thrombosis, whereas infection from the<br />
mandibular teeth may cause Ludwig’s angina, parapharyngeal<br />
abscess, mediastinitis, pericarditis, emphysema and jugular<br />
thrombophlebitis.<br />
1. Walsh L. Serious complications of endodontic infections: some<br />
cautionary tales. Aust Dent J 1997;42:156-159.<br />
2. Lejeune HB, Amedee RG. A review of odontogenic infections. J<br />
Louisiana St Med<br />
review<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 27<br />
...because the tooth bridges between the bacteriologically sterile<br />
environment of the jawbone and the heavily contaminated<br />
environment of the mouth through an oral epithelial membrane,<br />
diseases in the pulp will invariably extend through the apical<br />
foramen into the surrounding bone causing further problems.<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
In fact from the paper quoted above, (Walsh L. Serious complications<br />
of endodontic infections: some cautionary tales. Aust Dent J<br />
1997;42:156-159) it is worth noting some of the other statements<br />
made in this paper. It is also worth mentioning that Professor Walsh<br />
was at one time the Dean of Dentistry at Queensland University.<br />
He states;<br />
“While endodontic (dentoalveolar) abscesses can cause significant<br />
morbidity, in susceptible individuals they can pose life-threatening<br />
problems.<br />
... the anatomical proximity of periapical regions to the bloodstream<br />
can facilitate bacteraemia and systemic spread of bacterial byproducts<br />
and immune complexes from the abscess.<br />
Complications of endodontic abscesses<br />
Osteomyelitis of the mandible<br />
Maxillary sinusitis and orbital abscess<br />
Wound botulism<br />
Ludwig’s angina<br />
Necrotizing fasciitis<br />
Cavernous sinus thrombosis<br />
Persistent pyrexia of unknown origin<br />
Septicaemia – Streptococcus milleri and Pseudomonas spp23<br />
Septicaemia with disseminated intravascular coagulation24<br />
Pulmonary abscess<br />
Pyogenic hepatic abscess<br />
Brain abscess<br />
Brain abscess and acute meningitis – Actinomyces viscosus28<br />
Paraspinal abscess and paraplegia<br />
Bacterial endocarditis and splenic abscess<br />
Mediastinal abscess and pneumonia<br />
Clinicians should be diligent in their treatment and follow-up of<br />
endodontic abscesses, and should be aware of the potential for adverse<br />
events in patients whose immune system is compromised.”<br />
Bacteria and Mechanics<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
One could imagine that these ‘further problems’ would be exacerbated<br />
if the bacteria are also antibiotic resistant. No further discussion of<br />
the magnitude of these further problems is offered.<br />
The invasion of the tooth by bacteria is discussed. Clearly the<br />
removal of the dental pulp permits great influx of bacteria and allows<br />
for a progression of the bacteria throughout the dentinal tubules.<br />
Interestingly they also talk about the hydrostatic preasure within a<br />
tooth which is under the control of the autonomic nervous system<br />
and thus is affected by stress and diet. These studies were originally<br />
conducted by Dr Ralf Steinman and published in dental journals in<br />
the 1960’s and 70’s.<br />
continued on next page...<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
28<br />
WELLNESS<br />
...from previous page<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
ADAES<br />
A recent study on the bacterial invasion into dentinal tubules of<br />
human teeth with or without viable pulp has shown that teeth with<br />
pulps are much more resistant to bacterial invasion into the dentinal<br />
tubules than are teeth with root canal fillings.[4] In the latter,<br />
bacteria are able to enter teeth and reach the root canal system in a<br />
relatively short period of time. Hence, the pulp plays an important<br />
role in this defense process. In teeth with pulps, the dentinal tubules<br />
are occupied by dentinal fluid and odontoblastic processes, which<br />
may behave collectively as a positively charged hydrogel.[5,6] The<br />
hydrogel is capable of arresting a great number of the bacteria that<br />
enter the pulp. The outward flow of the dentinal fluid is important in<br />
the pulp’s defense against the entry of harmful substances because<br />
it affects the rate at which toxic substances from the mouth diffuse<br />
into the dentinal tubules.[7,8]<br />
…the tissue fluid volume in the pulp. Remains constant. The<br />
relatively high pulp tissue pressure results in an outward flow of<br />
fluid in the dentinal tubules, which helps to dilute toxins and wash<br />
out bacteria.<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
The root treated tooth which has had the pulp removed is more<br />
vulnerable to bacterial infection than a tooth with a healthy dental<br />
pulp.<br />
ADAES<br />
…teeth with pulps are much more resistant to bacterial invasion<br />
into the dentinal tubules than are teeth with root canal<br />
fi llings. [4]<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
Another paper by the same authors gives a description of various<br />
stages of pulp disease. The diagnostic tools offered are still limited<br />
to the stimulation of pain – or not – in the tooth and radiographic<br />
evidence of bone loss in the periapical area. Effectively we are<br />
still only left with an on-off switch of pain perception, which they<br />
agree is very subjective. X-rays have been shown to be an unreliable<br />
diagnostic tool. No mention is made of more sophisticated techniques<br />
such as electrodermal screening for testing the viability of a tooth.<br />
Medical history taking is mentioned as such but no details are<br />
presented in this paper.<br />
Cleaning the Canal<br />
Another paper discusses the techniques used for cleaning root canals.<br />
Great detail is given to the pros and cons of different techniques<br />
4 Nagaoka S, Miyazaki Y, Liu Hj, Iwamoto Kitano M, Kawagoe M.<br />
Bacterial invasion into dentinal tubules of human vital and nonvital<br />
teeth. J Endod 1995;21:70-73.<br />
5 Linden LA, Kallskog 0, Wolgast M. Human dentine as a hydrogel.<br />
Arch Oral Biol 1995;40:991-1004.<br />
6 Vongsavan N, Matthews B. The permeability of cat dentine in vivo<br />
and in vitro. Arch Oral Biol 1991;36:641-646.<br />
7 Matthews B, Vongsavan N. Interactions between neural and<br />
hydrodynamic mechanisms in dentine and pulp. Arch Oral Biol 1994;39<br />
Suppl:S87-S95.<br />
8 S. Vongsavan N, Matthews B. Fluid fl ow through cat dentine in vivo.<br />
Arch Oral Biol 1992;37:175-185.<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
that are available and the need to do a thorough job so as to aid the<br />
elimination of bacteria. The bottom line is that the shape of the canal<br />
does little to improve the success of the treatment. The other reality<br />
is that it is impossible to completely clean the tooth!<br />
ADAES<br />
Despite the considerable shaping advantages offered by rotary NiTi<br />
instrumentation, there is very little direct evidence from clinical<br />
follow-up studies on the impact of improved canal shapes on healing<br />
outcomes.<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
It is clear that no amount of mechanical cleaning will remove bacteria<br />
from the tooth. Scraping and medicating the inside of a tooth does<br />
not remove all the bacteria. The tooth is NOT sterile.<br />
ADAES<br />
From a biological perspective, the goals of chemomechanical<br />
preparation are to eliminate microorganisms from the root canal<br />
system, to remove pulp tissue that may support microbial growth,<br />
and to avoid forcing debris beyond the apical foramen which may<br />
sustain inflammation. [3]<br />
There was no significant difference between the two instrumentation<br />
techniques with 72 per cent of instrumented teeth still returning<br />
positive culture.<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
Of equal interest is the fact that no matter how hard they tried with<br />
any of the available techniques to remove dead tissue from the main<br />
root canal, at least 35% of the dentine surfaces remained untouched,<br />
leaving large volumes of dead, gangrenous tissue in place which<br />
serves as a nutrient source for the bacteria remaining in the tooth.<br />
This paper looked only at the main root canal of the tooth. It does<br />
not discus the fact that the dentinal tubules and accessory canals are<br />
completely ignored in the process of root canal preparation.<br />
Thus the bulk of dead tissue is ignored and remains in the tooth. In<br />
fact it remains in the parts of the tooth that are also the most heavily<br />
infected with bacteria – the DENTINE TUBULES & ACCESSORY<br />
CANALS.<br />
ADAES<br />
The technical goals of canal preparation are directed toward shaping<br />
the canal so as to achieve the biological objectives and to facilitate<br />
placement of a high quality root filling.<br />
… all instrumentation techniques left 35 per cent or more of the<br />
canals dentine surface untouched, with very little difference found<br />
between the four instrument types.<br />
These findings highlight the limited ability of endodontic instruments<br />
to clean the root canal…<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
A lengthy discussion is presented about the procedure of extremely<br />
severe filing of the end of the root, creating a huge hole in the end<br />
of the root, as a way of eliminating most (not all) of the bacteria at<br />
the end of the root. The following rationale is given;<br />
ADAES<br />
…the apical canal may harbour a critical amount of micro-organisms<br />
that would maintain periradicular inflammation…
Larger apical preparations will enhance removal of the more heavily infected inner dentine. It is<br />
known that irrigants exert a greater antimicrobial effect on superficial dentine than deep dentine.<br />
(Vahdaty A et al Eficacy of chlorhexidine in disinfecting dentinal tubules in vitro. Endod Dent<br />
Traumatol 1993;9:243-248)<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
This approach is condemned in a latter paper in the same journal.<br />
“Most authors have found that there was no difference in healing when it came to apical<br />
enlargement.”<br />
ADAES<br />
Microbes grow as biofilms in the root canal system and may be located in areas that are inaccessible<br />
to instrumentation such as or accessory canals.<br />
Thus, on the basis of currently available information there is insufficient scientific support for the<br />
idea that it is possible to eliminate infection by apical enlargement of the canal space.<br />
Further instrumentation of an apically enlarged canal significantly increases both the risk of<br />
procedural errors (perforation, zipping, etc.) and heightens the risk of excessive apical root weakness<br />
or splitting.<br />
Based on current knowledge, the answer to the question ‘does increased apical enlargement predictably<br />
eliminate bacteria?’ is no. To the question ‘does apical enlargement provide better clinical results<br />
and with a suitable margin of safety?’ the answer is no.<br />
… the thin evidence for apical enlargement as a means of bacterial eradication, and the signifi cantly<br />
increased risk of procedural errors, the disadvantages and risks of apical enlargement far outweigh<br />
the perceived benefi ts. [5]<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
Another problem with all forms of mechanical debridement is that debris can be forced through the<br />
end of the root. This debris includes dead tissue and bacteria and their toxins, which will allow these<br />
bacteria and materials to spread throughout the rest of the body.<br />
ADAES<br />
During instrumentation, potentially infected dentine debris is produced which may accumulate within<br />
the apical canal or be extruded into the periapical tissues.<br />
Extrusion of debris into the periapical tissues is undesirable and may play a role in flare-ups and in<br />
treatment failures.<br />
(Yusuf H The significance of the presence of foreign material periapically as a cause of failure of<br />
root treatment. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol 1982:54;566-574)<br />
continued on next page...<br />
Grief and Loss<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Group at CSA<br />
Last Wednesday of each month. 1-3pm.<br />
Coming 2008 Dates: 26th November<br />
and 17th December<br />
This open support group is for anyone experiencing grief<br />
as a result of losing a loved one to cancer. Join us for an<br />
opportunity to share these feelings with others in a safe and<br />
compassionate space.<br />
FREE FOR MEMBERS. $10 NON-MEMBERS.<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 29<br />
Further research is<br />
always needed.<br />
How many people must<br />
suff er until the research<br />
is done?<br />
How many times do we<br />
need to reinvent the<br />
wheel before accepting<br />
that the research has<br />
been done nearly 100<br />
years ago?<br />
How many people are<br />
the unwitting guinea<br />
pigs in the gigantic<br />
experiment called<br />
‘Further Research Is<br />
Needed’?<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
30<br />
WELLNESS<br />
We are made<br />
wise not by the<br />
recollection<br />
of our past,<br />
but by the<br />
responsibility<br />
for our future.<br />
George Bernard<br />
Shaw<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
...from previous page<br />
Bacterial Infections<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
The paper by Sundqvist [5] agrees with the doctrine that the environment is responsible for the growth of the organisms<br />
within it. The environment inside a tooth is continually changing and this change is accompanied by changes in the<br />
types of micro-organisms which inhabit it.<br />
ADAES<br />
Bacteria are everywhere, but the environment selects an anaerobic milieu, interactions between microbial factors and<br />
the availability of nutrition are principal factors that define the composition of the microbial flora.<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
Sadly, this paper which is presented as the state of the art knowledge about the organisms residing in a dead tooth,<br />
does not mention pleomorphism, nor does it take into consideration the latest in microbiology regarding cell wall<br />
deficient forms, funguses and yeasts which are observable under dark field microscopy.<br />
They do however mention that it is difficult if not impossible to rid the tooth of all bacteria. It is not possible for<br />
ANY medicaments to penetrate all areas of the dentine, with consequent increase in the numbers of the remaining<br />
organisms.<br />
ADAES<br />
Thus, these species may have the capacity to shelter from the main root canal in web-like areas, canal ramifications<br />
or dentinal tubules where some level of protection or buffering of the antimicrobial agent is possible. Although most<br />
root canal bacteria are sensitive to the high pH of calcium hydroxide,” several species involved in persistent infection<br />
are known to have a capacity to resist a high pH.<br />
… many of the bacteria are protected in the irregularities and branches of the root canal system and in dentinal tubules.<br />
Only a few cells need to survive treatment so that when the canal is closed, the anaerobic milieu will be restored<br />
and the bacteria can re-multiply.<br />
… bacteria cannot be completely eliminated after thorough instrumentation and irrigation regardless of the<br />
technique<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
The various medicaments which are used in an attempt to sterilize the tooth are discussed at length. The pros and cons<br />
of most materials are clearly outlined. How each material works to kill the bacteria and even the toxicity of some<br />
of the materials is presented. After all of this there is acknowledgement that none of these materials are affective<br />
in killing all intracanal bacteria.<br />
There is in fact NO known way of sterilizing a tooth aside from boiling it for 30 minutes or autoclaving.<br />
Patients are not being told that some of the materials used in this procedure may be carcinogenic, teratogenic,<br />
embryotoxic, allergenic and neurotoxic. Patients are not informed that all medicaments and materials will pass out<br />
of the tooth and be transported throughout the body. Transport is via the blood, lymphatics and along nerve fibres.<br />
Informed consent to place these materials into the body is not sought.<br />
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A special group for those special people caring for someone<br />
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environment • wellness • healing
For example, the MSDS for Pro Root MTA sates;<br />
“This product contains chemicals (trace metals) known to the state<br />
of California to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive<br />
harm.”<br />
I am sure that cancer patients would want to know this information.<br />
I am sure that people with undiagnosed cancers would want to<br />
know if they are being subjected to a known carcinogen. I would<br />
be pretty certain that most people who are healthy would like to be<br />
informed of the warnings that the manufacturer has placed on<br />
their own product.<br />
The Dental Boards of the various states of Australia are the controlling<br />
bodies in matters of professional negligence and misconduct. They<br />
are responsible for protecting the wellbeing of the patients. Why is<br />
it that the dental boards do not require this information to be given<br />
to patients? How can a patient give informed consent, written or<br />
implied, if they are not given the information with which to make<br />
such a decision?<br />
How many people would accept a treatment which starts off costing<br />
$2000 - $4000 to ‘SAVE’ a tooth if they knew that;<br />
• It is impossible to sterilize the tooth – the basic tenet of Root<br />
Canal Therapy.<br />
• It is impossible to remove all dead and gangrenous tissue from<br />
the tooth.<br />
• The medications that will be used to try to sterilize and then fill<br />
the tooth may be carcinogenic and at best are cytotoxic, may<br />
have serious effects on reproduction and possibly cause liver<br />
damage.<br />
• All of these toxins, including the carcinogenic compounds of<br />
dimethylsulphides, will disperse from the tooth to the rest of<br />
the body, creating or exacerbating allergic reactions and a great<br />
number of disease states as acknowledged by the American<br />
Dental Association in 1951 and also in the Journal of Clinical<br />
Periodontology in 1984.<br />
• It is impossible to completely seal a root canal – there is always<br />
leakage from the tooth to the rest of the body.<br />
• Officially, Root Canal Therapy has a very poor success rate-<br />
roughly 60% failure rate and that is just in regard to local reactions<br />
about the tooth and the bone. Systemic affects are not considered.<br />
If systemic affects were included than the failure rate would be<br />
much worse.<br />
• Root Canal Therapy is a treatment which has been described by<br />
one of America’s leading endodontists, Dr George Meinig as;<br />
“…the story of how a “cast of millions” which become<br />
entrenched inside the structure of teeth can end up causing<br />
the largest number of diseases ever traced to a single<br />
source.”<br />
In 1920 Dr Price wrote;<br />
“The entire problem of whether or not infected pulpless teeth<br />
should be extracted or may be treated, should perhaps be settled<br />
right on this fundamental premise; for if this cannot be done<br />
there is no basis for argument.”<br />
Thus it is clear that nothing has really changed in over 100 of<br />
endodontic practice.<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 31<br />
Why is this information NOT given to patients so that they really<br />
can make an informed decision about the treatment offered.<br />
Material Eff ects<br />
From the paper ‘Treatment Planning the endodontic case’ by T. Yeng,<br />
HH Messer, P. Parashos, we find in the conclusion;<br />
‘The dentist must determine whether the needs are best served by<br />
providing endodontic treatment or advising extraction. … The overall<br />
treatment planning in endodontics should be in agreement with the<br />
overall dental management of the patient.’<br />
In other words the whole decision about what to do with your tooth<br />
should be decided by the dentist - the patient, presumably, has little<br />
say in this.<br />
Unfortunately no consideration is given to the systemic health of the<br />
patient when making decisions about whether to root treat a tooth.<br />
ADAES<br />
Many medicaments have been used in an attempt to achieve the above<br />
aims but no single preparation has been found to be predictable<br />
or effective.<br />
Current medicaments used in association with instrumentation and<br />
irrigation are unlikely to predictably achieve a bacteria-free root<br />
canal system.<br />
“It has been estimated that as much as 50% of the canal wall may<br />
remain un-instrumented during preparation. The remaining<br />
necrotic tissue remnants may provide a source of nutrition for any<br />
surviving bacteria. , In addition bacteria are likely to remain in<br />
dentinal tubules after instrumentation. …<br />
The long standing popular notion of entombment and perishing<br />
of intraradicular microbes following treatment lacks scientifi c<br />
validity.”<br />
Some relevant quotes;<br />
ADAES<br />
Thus, in view of its limited action on faecalis and Canadida, calcium<br />
hydroxide cannot be considered as a panacea for all cases of<br />
infected root canals.<br />
Ledermix and Septomixine: Neither of these can be considered as<br />
suitable for use against the commonly reported endodontic bacteria<br />
because of their inappropriate spectra of activity.<br />
The antibacterial action of phenolic materials may not persist for<br />
prolonged periods of time. Hence some bacteria may survive and<br />
have the opportunity to multiply and persist in the root canal system.<br />
CMCP can diffuse beyond the apical foramen…<br />
The authors cautioned against using Cresophene due to its known<br />
cytotoxic and possible carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic<br />
properties.<br />
CMCP is the most toxic and irritating phenolic antiseptic agent<br />
followed by Cresatin, formocresol, and camphorated phenol<br />
(CP)<br />
Nair et al. found that even after instrumentation, irrigation and<br />
obturation in a one-visit treatment, microbes existed as biofi lms in<br />
continued on next page...<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
32<br />
WELLNESS<br />
...from previous page<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
untouched locations in the main canal, isthmuses and accessory<br />
canals in 14 of the 16 root-treated teeth examined. Bacterial<br />
biofilms are reported to be the most common cause of persistent<br />
inflammation and apical periodontitis is considered to be the result<br />
of an intraradicular biofilm-induced chronic disease.<br />
… chemical changes to the environment in the biofilm where the lack<br />
of oxygen inhibits some antibiotics and accumulated acidic waste<br />
leads to a difference in pH which has an antagonizing effect on the<br />
antibiotic, depletion of nutrients or accumulation of waste products<br />
can result in bacteria entering a non-growing state which protects<br />
bacteria from the antibiotics, as well as the dose and frequency<br />
of exposure to the antimicrobial agent,’<br />
It is estimated that bacteria grown in a biofilm have a 1000-1500<br />
times greater resistance to antibiotics than planktonically-grown<br />
bacteria.<br />
With regard to – host defenses, bacteria in biofilms are less easily<br />
phagocytosed and less susceptible to complement than their<br />
planktonic counterparts!<br />
E. faecalis has been shown to form biofi lms in the root canals<br />
of human teeth, with or without intracanal medicaments,<br />
after only two days with depths of 2um for 86-day biofilms and<br />
28-30um for 160-day biofilms. Root canals inoculated with E.<br />
faecalis for 86 days resulted in the bacteria becoming embedded in<br />
branching filamentous material which represented an extracellular<br />
polysaccharide produced by bacteria. Biofilms maintained for 160<br />
days had a highly organized structure consisting of mushroom-shaped<br />
clumps of bacteria with vacant areas which were thought to contain<br />
water channels for the delivery of nutrients and to remove waste<br />
from the biofilm bacteria.<br />
Antibiotic Resistance<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
Bacterial resistance to all medicaments is of major concern. It<br />
appears that the bacteria are quite able to form resistance to ALL<br />
the materials used in endodontics. This of course creates a serious<br />
risk for the patient as they multiply and escape into the rest of the<br />
body. Root Canal Therapy is thus a cause of antibiotic resistant<br />
bacteria in the human body. This is even more important as the<br />
risk of focal infection from antibiotic resistant organisms is high.<br />
As the number of root therapies increases, so to will the increase in<br />
bacteria which are resistant to antibiotics.<br />
ADAES<br />
Despite this, sub-optimal biocide concentrations may result in<br />
the emergence of non-susceptible organisms which could also be<br />
resistant to antibiotics.<br />
Bacterial resistance to tetracycline usually results in cross resistance<br />
to other tetracyclines and this was observed be Bystrom et al.<br />
where the strains resistant to tetracycline were also resistant to<br />
doxycycline. Gulabivala reported that Enterococcus, Staphlococcus<br />
and Lactobacillus species contributed to the majority of strains<br />
that were resistant and they also had the highest degree of multiple<br />
antibiotic resistance.<br />
Sub-lethal concentrations of antibiotics (tetracycline and<br />
chloramphenicol can act as inducers of multi-drug resistance. It is<br />
possible that during root canal therapy, only sub-lethal doses may<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
be in contact with the infecting organisms, particularly in the narrow<br />
and more inaccessible parts of the canals.<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
The presence of E. Faecalis is another concern and serves as an<br />
example of the inability to eradicate the organisms from the tooth.<br />
ADAES<br />
E. faecalis has many remarkable and distinct features which make<br />
it an exceptional survivor. It can:<br />
• live and persist in the poor nutrient environment of endodonticallytreated<br />
teeth.<br />
• survive in the presence of several medications, sodium<br />
hypochlorite, clindamycin and the most popular medication,<br />
Ca(OH)2, form biofilms in medicated canals,<br />
• invade and metabolize fluids within the dentinal tubules and<br />
adhere to collagen in the presence of human serum, convert into<br />
a viable but non-cultivable state<br />
• endure prolonged periods of starvation and utilize tissue fluid<br />
(human serum) that flow from the periodontal ligament and bathe<br />
alveolar bone, to recover<br />
• establish mono-infections in medicated root acquire gene-encoding<br />
antibiotic resistance combined with natural resistance to various<br />
antimicrobials agents, and survive in extreme environments with<br />
low pH, high salinity, and high temperatures.<br />
• E faecalis can participate in plasmid mediated horizontal<br />
transfer of virulence determinants. It has the ability to acquire<br />
plasmid-encoded resistance genes from other bacteria which<br />
results in intra-species propagation of resistance. Resistance<br />
is a major issue with this bacterial species.<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
The knowledge that mechanical preparation does not remove all<br />
bacteria from the tooth has necessitated the use of irrigants and other<br />
medicaments to try to sterilize the tooth. The authors of this paper<br />
clearly state that this is an unachievable goal;<br />
ADAES<br />
While measures such as increased apical enlargement or a more<br />
effective antimicrobial irrigation regimen may enhance the reduction<br />
of the microbial load, predictable eradication of bacteria from the<br />
root canal still remains an elusive goal.<br />
Further clinical research is needed to strive for complete<br />
disinfection of the root canal system in apical periodontitis.<br />
• Calcium hydroxide may not be the most ideal medicament for<br />
all cases with infected root canal systems with or without apical<br />
periodontitis and in previously root-filled teeth.<br />
• Antibiotics may not be ideal as the active component for intracanal<br />
medicaments.<br />
• Corticosteroid/antibiotic pastes are best suited in situations where<br />
pain control is required.<br />
• The use of a combination of calcium hydroxide and Ledermix<br />
pastes needs further investigation.<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
Dentists do NOT routinely do pathology testing to find out what<br />
bugs inhabit the tooth. No testing is done to find out if the tooth is<br />
sterile or infected. Anaerobic testing for all root therapies is simply
not practical, not financially viable and not available. There is NO<br />
testing done. The decision that the tooth is ready to be filled is not<br />
a scientific one. At some stage in the process the dentist makes<br />
the decision to fill the tooth without having any clear knowledge<br />
about the state of infection of the tooth. Neither x-ray nor clinical<br />
observation demonstrates the state of infection of a tooth. At best it<br />
is a massive guess but in reality it is a completely arbitrary decision<br />
by the dentist.<br />
The Dentine is an important and neglected route for toxins to escape<br />
from the tooth. What is the point of trying to seal the root canal if<br />
the toxins are going to leak out the side of the root to the rest of the<br />
body? This is in fact the main way that toxins escape from the tooth.<br />
The length, breadth and surface of the root of the tooth is the major<br />
source of leakage from a dead tooth, and this is acknowledged by<br />
the Australian Dental Association;<br />
ADAES<br />
“the two therapeutic components of Ledermix Paste, (i.e.,<br />
triamcinolone and demeclocycline) are capable of diffusing through<br />
dentine tubules and cementum to reach the periodontal and periapical<br />
tissues. Abbott et al showed that the dentinal tubules were the major<br />
supply route to the periradicular tissue, while the apical foramen was<br />
not as significant a supply route”<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
Dispersal throughout the body is relatively easy for the microorganisms<br />
and their toxins and also for the ‘therapeutic’ carcinogenic<br />
agents that dentistry places in the tooth. Transport to the rest of the<br />
body is via the blood and also along nerve fibres.<br />
Root Therapy or Titanium implants<br />
This journal also discuses the dilemma of whether to do a root filling<br />
in a tooth or to extract it and then place a titanium implant. Most<br />
studies of success of implant techniques are based on a five year<br />
survival of the implant. (Failure is measured mechanically if the<br />
implant breaks or becomes loose, and if there is recurrent infection<br />
around the implant.) Is it coincidental that cancer treatments have<br />
the same time frame for defining success or failure?<br />
Implant failure was defined as removed or lost implants.<br />
ADAES<br />
Implant complications may be broadly divided into two categories:<br />
biological and technical (mechanical). Biological complications<br />
refer to disturbances in the function of the tissues supporting the<br />
implant. These include implant loss, which can be distinguished<br />
into early and late losses. Early failures (pre-osseointegration) are<br />
associated with surgical or postoperative complications. Late failures<br />
(post-osseointegration) can occur after the restorative phase and has<br />
been attributed to peri-implantitis (marginal and retrograde) and<br />
biomechanical overloading. Biological complications also include<br />
reactions in the peri-implant hard and soft tissues, which may<br />
require adequate clinical and radiographic examination methods<br />
for detection.<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
All assessment of success or failure is limited to local tissue reactions<br />
and mechanics. Nowhere in the paper is there a mention that titanium<br />
spreads throughout the body nor that it is capable of initiating severe<br />
autoimmune responses as demonstrated by MELISA testing.<br />
If you are considering an implant it is critical to read the<br />
information at www.melisa.org<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 33<br />
I complement them that a much overlooked effect of implants is<br />
mentioned here. This effect may have severe consequences for the<br />
entire cranio-sacral system and of course the consequent disease and<br />
pain states associated with this.<br />
ADAES<br />
Implants lack a periodontal ligament and therefore the ability to<br />
buffer or dampen the forces of occlusal trauma. Dental implants<br />
also lack the periodontal mechano-receptors of the natural tooth that<br />
signal information about tooth loads (proprioception).<br />
Patients who lack information from periodontal receptors show an<br />
impaired fine motor control of the mandible. It is a bit like hitting<br />
your head on a brick wall and wondering why it is so hard.<br />
Evidence Based Dentistry<br />
The opening editorial for this journal supplement states;<br />
ADAES<br />
“New directions in Endodontics are based on the principles of<br />
evidence based practice with particular emphasis on a risk/benefi t<br />
approach.”<br />
This forms the fundamental basis for the validity of these<br />
treatments.<br />
At the same time they quote from the Journal of Evidence Based<br />
Dentistry, that good scientific support for these treatments is<br />
lacking!<br />
ADAES<br />
White et. al., in a recent evidence-based review of the outcomes of<br />
both treatment modalities, noted that if evidence-based principles<br />
are applied to the data available for both treatment modalities, few<br />
implant or endodontic outcome studies can be classifi ed as being<br />
high in the evidence hierarchy.<br />
Robert Gammal<br />
In ‘other words’ the Australian Dental Association and one of<br />
Australia’s leading endodontists, are stating that the principles<br />
underlying the procedure of endodontics to ‘save’ a tooth, are not<br />
supported by the scientific literature.<br />
The polar opposition of these two statements in the one journal is<br />
incredible. Perhaps flicking a coin would be more reliable than the<br />
current outdated teachings? How long must we continue to do<br />
procedures which do not work?<br />
The promotion of unachievable goals is justified by the concept that<br />
‘further research is needed’.<br />
In fact, of the 11 papers presented in this special supplement on<br />
endodontics, 5 of them conclude that further research is needed.<br />
They include the following titles;<br />
1. The endodontic management of traumatized permanent anterior<br />
teeth.<br />
2. Interim temporary restorations of teeth during endodontic<br />
treatment.<br />
3. Implant or the natural tooth – a contemporary treatment planning<br />
dilemma.<br />
4. The use of calcium hydroxide, antibiotics and biocides as<br />
antimicrobial medicaments in endodontics.<br />
continued with references on page 63...<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
34<br />
WELLNESS<br />
“The world is<br />
full of suffering,<br />
it is also full of<br />
overcoming it”<br />
Helen Keller<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
What is IP6?<br />
IP6, also known as inositol hexophosphate<br />
or phytic acid, is a sugar molecule with six<br />
phosphate groups attached. It is composed<br />
of inositol (one of the B vitamins) bound<br />
with six molecules of phosphorous. IP6<br />
was fi rst identifi ed in 1855, but has only<br />
recently been researched as a preventative<br />
and cure for cancer as well as heart and<br />
liver diseases, kidney stones, Parkinson’s<br />
disease, and more. It is also a powerful<br />
antioxidant, immune system enhancer,<br />
and booster of natural killer cells. Foods<br />
that are signifi cant sources of IP6 include<br />
dried beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds,<br />
rice, wheat germ, corn and sesame.<br />
Dr. Abulkalam Shamsuddin, a scientist<br />
at the University of Maryland School<br />
of medicine has been the pioneer<br />
researcher of IP6, beginning his work<br />
on the compound in the late 1980’s. He<br />
discovered the ability of IP6 to control<br />
the rate of abnormal cell division even<br />
when administered long after cancer<br />
was induced. He then proved that IP6<br />
normalised the sugar production of<br />
cancerous cells, thereby altering the gene<br />
expression toward a more healthful state.<br />
This proven ability to change cancer cell<br />
physiology had major implications, since<br />
cancer cells that are well behaved have far<br />
less negative impact on health.<br />
Although IP6 has been proven to boost<br />
Natural Killer (NK) cell activity, for<br />
Shamsuddin the value of IP6 lies not<br />
in its ability to augment the immune<br />
system, but rather its ability to directly<br />
aff ect the physiology of cancerous cells.<br />
Whereas most cancer research has focused<br />
on killing or destroying cancer cells,<br />
Shamsuddin’s research focused on taming<br />
or controlling the condition to the point<br />
where normality could be restored.<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
IP6 Shines Brightly<br />
as an Alternative <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
Treatment & Preventive<br />
The anticancer eff ects of IP6 are turning out to be nothing short<br />
of astounding. Research is showing that besides reducing cell<br />
proliferation and increasing the diff erentiation of malignant cells,<br />
IP6 can often restore cancerous cells to normality.<br />
By Barbara L. Minton<br />
How IP6 works to Protect Against <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
Here are several ways IP6 is known to prevent and fight against cancer. IP6 is a very common<br />
intracellular messenger, meaning that it controls and influences many cellular activities:<br />
NORMALIZES THE RATE OF CELL GROWTH – <strong>Cancer</strong> cells lose their control<br />
mechanisms and typically divide too rapidly, resulting in great numbers of cells that have a<br />
devastating impact on health. IP6 slows or normalizes the rate at which cancer cells divide.<br />
It reestablishes control in cells that by definition have lost their control mechanisms due to<br />
gene mutation.<br />
HELPS TO NORMALIZE CELL PHYSIOLOGY – How a cancer cell expresses itself largely<br />
determines how threatening it is. Experiments have shown that IP6 normalizes several aspects<br />
of cell physiology in spite of the fact that these cells have altered DNA. In many instances,<br />
DNA repair is achieved.<br />
ENHANCES NK CELLS – NK cells are white blood cells that help to protect against virally<br />
infected or cancerous cells. Researchers believe that the higher the NK activity, the lower the<br />
incidence of some cancers. The healthy human produces 500 to 1000 cancer cells daily. NK<br />
cells and programmed cell death (apoptosis) result in the vast majority of these cells being<br />
destroyed and removed. During time of stress, NK activity is compromised, and this is why<br />
there is a link between stress levels and cancer. IP6 is able to increase NK cells during these<br />
periods. Although many supplements claim to increase NK activity, for IP6 these claims<br />
have been documented and proven.<br />
INCREASES TUMOUR SUPPRESSOR P53 GENE ACTIVITY - DNA contains tumour<br />
suppressor genes that inhibit pathways or processes that allow cells to become cancerous.<br />
The p53 gene acts as a control to preventing genetically damaged or cancerous cells from<br />
growing and propagating. If the p53 gene becomes damaged or compromised, cancers can<br />
establish themselves more readily. IP6 has been shown to greatly increase the amount of<br />
p53 gene activity, up to 17 times. When augmented by IP6, “standard of care” treatments<br />
become more effective due to this increase in p53 gene activity.<br />
INHIBITS INFLAMMATION – The level of systemic inflammation is an important<br />
indicator in determining cancer survival prognosis. Inflammation results in the release of<br />
cytokines, chemical messengers that trigger reactions that enable normal cells to grow and<br />
repair themselves. Cytokines can also cause cancer cells to grow. IP6 has been shown to<br />
significantly inhibit inflammation.<br />
EXHIBITS POTENT ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY – Antioxidants are known to protect<br />
against various disease states and aging in general. Oxidative damage to DNA leaves cells<br />
susceptible to mutation that can result in cancerous cells being produced. IP6 has been shown<br />
to be a significantly more potent antioxidant than green tea.<br />
ENHANCES APOPTOSIS (PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH) – Programmed cell death is<br />
orderly and results in the removal of individual cells without affecting the surrounding cells.<br />
It is a normal part of growth and the maintenance of healthy tissues. It removes unwanted<br />
cells so that inflammation or immunological reactions do not result. <strong>Cancer</strong>ous cells are<br />
environment • wellness • healing
esistive to normal cell apoptosis. This is one mechanism of tumour<br />
formation. IP6 has been shown to enhance the natural apoptosis of<br />
cancer cells.<br />
AFFECTS ANGIOGENESIS – Angiogenesis is the process by<br />
which tumours set up their own blood supply, assuring the nutrients<br />
necessary to fuel their growth. Once this blood supply is set up,<br />
tumour growth spirals as more growth leads to more establishment<br />
of blood supply. IP6 inhibits this process, resulting in the starvation<br />
of cancer cells.<br />
INHIBITS METASTASIS – IP6 inhibits the adhesion of cancer cells<br />
to the extra-cellular matrix proteins, thereby leading to an inhibition<br />
of cell migration and invasion. Limiting adhesion is very important<br />
after surgeries and biopsies, as these procedures can cause cancer<br />
cells to become dislodged. One reason that so many breast cancer<br />
patients are found to have lymph nodes containing cancer cells is<br />
that mammography can dislodge cancer cells which then migrate to<br />
the lymph nodes.<br />
Pharmaceutical research is geared to the development of drugs to treat<br />
cancer utilizing these mechanisms. Many of the substances being<br />
developed and tested are newly created molecules, having never<br />
before appeared in nature. As a result, severe side effects are common<br />
place. IP6 already exists in human cells and is easily recognised by<br />
the body, so side effects, if any, are rare.<br />
Recent research findings<br />
document these mechanisms<br />
The frequency and depth of research into IP6 is expanding at a rapid<br />
rate. Here are some of the most recent findings.<br />
The Journal of Clinical <strong>Cancer</strong> Research, reports a study evaluation<br />
the in vivo cancer preventative efficacy of IP6 against prostate tumour<br />
growth and progression. Prostate cancer was induced in male mice<br />
that were then given either water containing IP6 or plain water.<br />
IP6 inhibited prostate cancer progression at the neoplasia state and<br />
strongly reduced the incidence of adenocarginoma. The incidence of<br />
well-differentiated and poorly differentiated adenocarcinomas in the<br />
IP6-fed group were reduced by 44% and 62% respectively. Analysis<br />
of the prostate tissue showed a 3.5-fold increase in apoptotic cells.<br />
The researchers concluded that these findings are highly significant in<br />
establishing for the first time that oral IP6, without toxicity, suppresses<br />
prostate tumour growth and progression at the neoplastic state, the<br />
state of abnormal or uncontrolled growth.<br />
A study conducted in China and reported in Wei Sheng Yan Jiu<br />
explored the effect and mechanism of IP6 on cell proliferation in<br />
human gastric carcinoma. They found that IP6 inhibited malignant<br />
cell growth in a dose and time dependent manner. The proliferation of<br />
gastric carcinoma cells inhibited by IP6 was associated with apoptosis<br />
through altered gene expression.<br />
The Brazilian journal, Acta Cirurgica Brasilerira reported a<br />
study to determine the modulation effect of IP6 in the biological<br />
immunohistochemistry expression of cellular signaling marker<br />
apoptosis in a model of induced colon cancer. They found that IP6<br />
was effective in promoting modulation of biological markers in<br />
colon cancer.<br />
Another study reported in Acta Cirurgica Brasilerira analyzed of<br />
the influence of IP6 on the transcription of genes coding for tumour<br />
necrosis factor-alpha and its receptors in a human colon cancer<br />
cell line. The results showed that IP6 modulated the expression of<br />
the listed genes at transcription level in a dose and time dependent<br />
manner.<br />
The journal Neurochemistry Research reported a study of the impact of<br />
IP6 as a therapeutic agent on glioblastoma, the deadliest brain tumour<br />
spotlight<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 35<br />
in humans and the one currently being battled by Senator Kennedy.<br />
Researchers found that the viability of glioblastoma cells decreased<br />
following treatment with increasing doses of IP6. The treated cells<br />
showed morphological and biochemical features of apoptosis.<br />
Laryngoscope reports a study that found IP6 effective at promoting<br />
nuclear factor-kappa B, an early response gene that is associated with<br />
head and neck squamous cell cancer. This increased gene expression<br />
resulted in reduced cell proliferation and increased cell death.<br />
IP6 is more than a cancer<br />
treatment<br />
In addition to the anti-cancer benefits of IP6, ongoing research<br />
is revealing its promise as a treatment for diabetes, depression,<br />
osteoporosis, heart disease, and kidney stones.<br />
A very recent study reported in the Journal of Toxicology considered<br />
the effect of IP6 on Parkinson’s Disease. Disrupted iron metabolism<br />
and excess iron accumulation has been reported in the brains of<br />
Parkinson’s patients. Because excessive iron can induce oxidative<br />
stress and result in neuronal degradation in Parkinson patients,<br />
researchers sought to determine the protective effect of IP6, a natural<br />
chelator of iron. They found a 45% reduction in DNA fragmentation<br />
with the use of IP6, and protection in the differentiated cells. They<br />
concluded that IP6 offered a significant neuro-protective effect.<br />
Supplementing with IP6<br />
IP6 has been shown to be quite safe to use. It is naturally present in<br />
mammalian cells, and it is obtainable from food. However, in food,<br />
IP6 is bound to protein. Before it can be absorbed it must be freed<br />
from this protein. An enzyme called phytase that is present in both<br />
food and the intestinal tract performs this function. The problem is<br />
that the power of the phytase enzyme is damaging to the IP6 and<br />
renders much of it inactive and therefore less effective. Pure IP6<br />
from a supplement is not protein-bound and is easily absorbed intact,<br />
and able to provide its complete medicinal properties. Research has<br />
shown that when fibre from All Bran was added to the diet of rats<br />
with mammary cancer it was much less effective than the equivalent<br />
amount of IP6 added to their drinking water.<br />
Many holistic healers and naturopaths recommend IP6 as both<br />
a preventative and treatment for cancer. It is becoming standard<br />
alternative treatment to recommend it for anyone with a high risk of<br />
cancer or who has had cancer and is looking to prevent a recurrence.<br />
Some traditional physicians are also becoming aware of the potential<br />
of this compound and although they are loath to abandon their<br />
traditional treatments, they are adding IP6 to their protocols.<br />
IP6 is available in capsules or powered form. The capsules provide<br />
what is considered to be a maintenance or preventive dose of 2<br />
capsules twice a day. The powered form allows for easy dosing at<br />
the therapeutic level which is one scoop mixed with water twice a<br />
day. IP6 should be taken on an empty stomach. IP6+Inositol from<br />
Cell Forte is the most economical and readily available brand. It is<br />
sold online at www.vitacost.com. ✦<br />
Sources:<br />
“Complementary Therapies”, University of Texas MD Anderson <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
Center.<br />
Dr. Kim Vanderlinden, Dr. Ivana Vucenik, Too Good to be True?<br />
From: www.naturalnews.com, February 2008. Barbara L. Minton is<br />
a school psychologist, a published author in the area of personal finance,<br />
a breast cancer survivor using “alternative” treatments, a born<br />
existentialist, and a student of nature and all things natural.<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
36<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
Beautiful artworks<br />
painted as painkiller<br />
Beauty is truth, John Keats once wrote, but according to the latest scientific<br />
research it is also a painkiller.<br />
Looking at a beautiful piece of art has long been said to have the power to heal<br />
emotional wounds, but the research also claims that it offers a distraction from<br />
physical pain.<br />
The research, carried out bu the University of Bari in Italy, could help vindicate<br />
hospitals that are accused of wasting money on art and decor as it suggests that<br />
a pleasant environment helps patients overcome discomfort and pain.<br />
A team at the university’s euro-physiopathology pain unit asked a group of me<br />
and women to pick the 20 paintings they considered the most ugl and most<br />
beautiful from 300 works by artists such as Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo<br />
da Vinci.<br />
They were then asked to contemplate the beautiful paintings, the ugly paintings<br />
or a blank panel while the team zapped a short laser pulse at their hand, creating<br />
a sensation as if they had been pricked by a pin.<br />
the subjects rated the pain as being a third less intense while they were reflecting<br />
on the beautiful paintings, compared with when viewing the ugly paintings<br />
or the blank panel.<br />
Electrodes measuring the brain’s electrical activity also confirmed a reduced<br />
response to the pain when the subject looked at beautiful paintings. While<br />
distractions, such as music, are known to reduce pain in hospital patients,<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
in the Sun Room at CSA<br />
A gentle, holistic, relaxing class with Sydel Weinstein<br />
Tuesdays 9.15 – 10.30am. Suitable for beginners.<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
research team leader Professor Marina de Tommaso said<br />
that this was the first result to show that fine art played a<br />
part.<br />
The findings reported in New Scientist also go a long way<br />
towards showing that beautiful surroundings could aid the<br />
healing process.<br />
“Hospitals have been designed to be functional, but<br />
we think that their aesthetic aspects dhould be taken<br />
into account too,” Professor de Tomasso said. “Beauty<br />
obviously offers a distraction that ugly painitings do not.<br />
But at least there is no suggestion that ugly surroundings<br />
make the pain worse.”<br />
Picutres deemed beautiful by the 12 volunteers included<br />
Stary Night by Vincent Van Gogh and Botticelli’s Birth of<br />
Venus. Pictures found ugly included works by Pablo Picasso<br />
and the Italian 20th century artist Antonio Bueno.<br />
One of the problems with the study for those wishing to<br />
reduce pain is the subjective nature of beauty. Evard Much’s<br />
The Scream was deemed by some people as beautiful.<br />
“These people were not art experts so some of the pictures<br />
they found ugly would be considered masgterpieces by the<br />
art world,” Professor de Tommaso said. ✦<br />
From: The West Australian, 20th September 2008
In my adult life as a radiation oncologist, I have witnessed some of the less beautiful aspects<br />
of nature’s realm. I have seen the power of destruction brought on by devastating illnesses. Not<br />
only does it manifest itself in the physical realm, but also in the psychological framework of the<br />
a patient, his loved ones and those who have close relationship with him. The anxiety and fear<br />
that illness can bring can create extremely painful periods of crisis. Doctor’s offices, hospitals and<br />
patient areas can even accentuate the starkness and loneliness patients feel. The illness itself is<br />
most often overwhelming. How can patients release this tension and obtain a sense of peace?<br />
Studies have shown that an ambiaece that embodies the strength of nature helps the healing<br />
process, relieving the powerful grasp of loneliness and fear. Moreover, meditation, whether<br />
it is in the form of prayer, day-dream fantasy, remembering the past or wishing for the future,<br />
can provide cancer patients a sense of empowerment that gives them strength and courage to<br />
continue with the battle at hand. Undergoing cancer therapy can, after all, be a very de-humanising<br />
experience. As a patient you are admitted to hospitals, kept waiting in examining rooms, subjected<br />
to endless tests, stuck with IVs, and made to take drugs that make you feel far sicker than you<br />
were to begin with.<br />
Visualisation is a form of psychotherapy that engages the mind, which, by virtue of meditation<br />
and thought, provides an image of the healing process. Data has been collected which shows<br />
that emotional stability and decreased anxiety levels stimulate the immune system and thereby<br />
may help combat disease. Studies have also shown that patients who are in some form of therapy<br />
actually obtain better clinical responses than those who are not in therapy. Though no randomised<br />
study of this effect has yet been performed to my knowledge, the sense of well-being and of<br />
good health has been shown to positively affect the outcome of response to medical treatment.<br />
Visualisation, art therapy and other mind-altering approaches have therefore been incorporated<br />
into the armamentarium of many cancer programs.<br />
Some radiation therapy departments (e.g., Stanford University) have experimented with<br />
illuminated photographs in which the lights were programmed to change according to the time<br />
of day. Those patients who were hospitalised were able to maintain the orientation with respect<br />
to changes in light and darkness from day to day. In this fashion, photography introduces an<br />
element of reality to the environment which very often is forgotten in the midst of turmoil.<br />
Over the years, I have become aware of the tremendous interest patients have had in the<br />
photographic pieces displayed in my offices. They have commented about the salutory effects<br />
of the photographs and the fact that they have been relaxed and distracted to the point that they<br />
have actually enjoyed returning for follow-up care in order to revisit the various photographs.<br />
Interestingly, they have also significantly helped me to bond with many patients, as well.<br />
Discussing the techniques of photography or the actual location of a particular image has, on<br />
occasion, taken up more of a patient’s time than the actual discussion regarding the tumour. (Again,<br />
the patients dictate what their psychological needs are at that time, provided the opportunity<br />
exists.) The sense of freedom and control the illness has seized from their lives is returned to<br />
them, however briefly, in these moments. Consequently, the photographs are not only for me,<br />
but for the patients; they are my personal gesture in easing the quality of their lives. ✦<br />
From San Fernando Valley Business Journal.<br />
vehicles<br />
By Bernard Lewinsky, M.D., F.A.C.R.,<br />
healing<br />
Sharing the<br />
to<br />
spiritual<br />
healing<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 37<br />
Stress for cancer<br />
specialists<br />
Australia’s cancer doctors are the bearers<br />
of bad news at a rate of more than one<br />
patient every day.<br />
But a survey of oncologists and palliative<br />
care specialists also shows the hardest<br />
thing to tell a patient is not necessarily the<br />
information that they have cancer.<br />
In the survey of more than 150 doctors, 13<br />
per cent said they had “a lot” of diffi culty<br />
raising the issue of non-PBS-subsidised<br />
medication they know a cancer suff erer<br />
cannot aff ord.<br />
“Communicating with patients has been<br />
identifi ed as a signifi cant source of stress<br />
for these doctors, particularly if they feel<br />
inadequately trained for the task,” says<br />
University of Sydney professor Martin<br />
Tattersall.<br />
“With cancer specialists conducting an<br />
average of 35 bad news discussions per<br />
month, the stress can have an impact on<br />
the doctor’s health and the quality of care<br />
provided to patients.”<br />
On the question of how diffi cult it was to<br />
tell someone they had cancer, 68 per cent<br />
of doctors said “not at all”.<br />
Prof Tattersall said this was because<br />
doctors placed high value on being open<br />
and honest about a patient’s prognosis.<br />
Just under half (46 per cent) of doctors said<br />
it was “somewhat” diffi cult to discuss a donot-resuscitate<br />
order with a patient.<br />
Other areas of diffi culty included telling<br />
someone their cancer had returned or a<br />
treatment had failed, and responding to a<br />
patient who had become emotional.<br />
Prof Tattersall said additional sources of<br />
stress for doctors were packed waiting<br />
rooms and having incomplete information<br />
when they saw patients.<br />
“Implementing small organisational<br />
changes, such as reducing interruptions<br />
during consultations and informing<br />
patients of the duration of the allocated<br />
consultation, may also help reduce<br />
stressful practice situations,” Prof Tattersall<br />
said. ✦<br />
The survey results are published in the<br />
Medical Journal of Australia.<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
38<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
“Healing the damage of<br />
industrial civilization is the<br />
task of our generation.”<br />
~ Leonardo DiCaprio<br />
“Our life on Earth is a<br />
fellowship of being, and<br />
there can be neither<br />
prosperity nor survival<br />
for those whose practices<br />
continually violate the laws<br />
of interdependent life.”<br />
~ Henry Geiger<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Restoring Our Earth<br />
to Vibrant Health<br />
By Don Weaver<br />
You may have already consciously embraced your part in healing and restoring<br />
the Earth to a much higher state of health and vibrance but, if not, please consider<br />
this your invitation!<br />
This has been my main focus for 30 years while replenishing soils, planting gardens<br />
and orchards and teaching about the health of the Biosphere.<br />
While many socio-ecological problems have worsened over these 30 years, it appears<br />
that an ever higher percentage of our 6.6 billion population is waking up to the need<br />
to transform our ways of living, to truly go “green,” to make peace with the Earth<br />
and ourselves, to end the “war on Terra.” This Terra, the beautiful living Earth of<br />
which we are an essential part, needs each of us to become conscious contributors<br />
to personal/planetary healing. You are needed and invited and welcomed!<br />
Here are some views from my perspective as a health-oriented ecologist and organic<br />
grower.<br />
Ecological Action<br />
We need to swiftly, consciously and wisely become the generous species on Earth.<br />
We’ve taken so much from the soils, plants, trees and animals; we have a huge<br />
debt that must be paid to restore our own vibrant health and that of the whole<br />
interdependent chain of life. Fortunately, we can do this by remineralizing the world’s<br />
soils with natural mixtures of rock dust, returning the increased amount of organic<br />
matter back to the soil. This will build its fertility and depth while enabling abundant<br />
production to meet our needs for pure natural foods, fiber, timber/bamboo, biomass<br />
energy (alcohol, bio-diesel, wood, hemp, etc.), as well as beautiful landscapes,<br />
parks, and wildlands. (Related note: On 2/08/08, Reuters gave the news of General<br />
Motors’ plan that half of their new cars will be fueled by ethanol by 2012; current<br />
cars can be converted to run on a bio-fuel, electricity, or both.)<br />
By our choosing healthy vegetarian/vegan/raw-food lifestyles, hundreds of millions<br />
of acres now used for animal-based agriculture and drug crops can be converted to<br />
organic-mineralized orchards, farms and new forestland. Also, fast-growing tree<br />
plantations on remineralized soils can simultaneously build soil fertility and convert<br />
CO2 to leaf and wood for alcohol fuel and wood energy. Leaves and residues can<br />
be returned to the soil. This can replace the practice of burning carbon stored in the<br />
ground as oil, coal, and natural gas, which is wrecking our interglacial climate.<br />
This conversion can eliminate what currently comprises 20% of total CO2 emissions<br />
from animal “husbandry,” enabling us to quickly plant the many billions of trees<br />
needed to bring CO2 down from about 385 ppm to a stable interglacial level of<br />
about 280 ppm. Remineralizing much of the current forestland will greatly reduce<br />
the widespread disease, insect and fire epidemics, enabling forests to again grow<br />
healthy and strong. This will pull in billions of tons of CO2 through renewed<br />
nourishment and vibrance from soil microbes up to treetops. It will reverse soil<br />
acidification, allow the soil life-system to hold much more moisture for year-round<br />
environment • wellness • healing
availability and ameliorate the increasing “tinderbox” conditions<br />
in many malnourished forests. Stabilizing CO2 levels and the<br />
planetary climate is the sensible approach if we want to save what<br />
is left of our forests and nurture the growth of new ones over much<br />
of the Earth.<br />
Whether you lean toward the widely accepted “global warming”<br />
theory and related evidence, or the “new glacial period” thesis<br />
and evidence as put forth by John Hamaker and others, including<br />
myself, I think we can all agree on the wisdom of remineralizing<br />
and regreening the Earth to reverse the current slide into “climate<br />
chaos.” For example, in our recent winter of 2007–2008, there<br />
were record cold and crop-destroying snowstorms all the way into<br />
southern China, Greece, the Middle East, Florida as well as north to<br />
Alaska, Canada and Greenland, with the highest level of Northern<br />
Hemisphere snow cover in at least 52 years.<br />
Along with the understanding that we’ve about reached “Peak Oil,”<br />
we need to realize our soil-devouring civilization has already passed<br />
“Peak Soil.” Earth is in urgent need of replenishment. Can the human<br />
mind and heart awaken and shift from egocentric to ecocentric,<br />
from the shortsighted habits of Earth-exploitative materialism to<br />
Earth-regenerative compassion, simple eco-living and co-creation<br />
of natural abundance and health for all?<br />
I have appreciated the inspiration for this awakening provided<br />
by many wise philosophers from Thoreau and Emerson to J.<br />
Krishnamurti and Eckhart Tolle, and am glad to see Oprah Winfrey’s<br />
new initiative. She has invited Tolle to appear on her TV show and<br />
is joining with him to teach an online class series based on his latest<br />
book, A New Earth. Over 750,000 have signed up at her website<br />
so far. As well, Oprah’s new show, “The Big Give,” is sowing the<br />
seeds of greater generosity in the human heart.<br />
Health-and-Ecology Education Are Key<br />
The signs are hopeful that in time, Oprah and all of us can realize<br />
that “A New Earth” is possible through our heartfelt understanding,<br />
vision and actions. The alternative–a dying Earth–is simply<br />
unacceptable. A working knowledge of the basics of health and<br />
ecology is the key to discernment when it comes to the teachings<br />
of our current educational system on these subjects, as well as in<br />
detaching from brainwashing about Earth-detrimental products<br />
and “lifestyles” touted by most media and the 36-billion-dollar<br />
advertising industry in the U.S. Ongoing self-education throughout<br />
life seems the wise course.<br />
John Robbins’ excellent new book, Healthy at 100, contains<br />
information on the wisdom of other cultures, including some of the<br />
healthiest and longest-lived. As John writes:<br />
Depending on what we choose to affirm and cultivate within<br />
ourselves and our children, we can collectively turn this planet<br />
into a hell or a heaven. Whether we like it or not, and whether<br />
we accept it or not, our choices make an enormous difference.<br />
How we treat ourselves and each other always matters.<br />
This is why I believe that the world’s healthiest and most long-lived<br />
peoples offer us a vision of hope for our time. In Okinawa, Abkhasia,<br />
Vilcabamba and Hunza, there is a deep sense of human connection<br />
and social integrity. People continually help one another and believe<br />
in one another. There are always ways for people to make amends<br />
for mistakes and be forgiven, so people are almost never discarded<br />
or rejected. Wealth is shared rather than hoarded. As one Abkhasian<br />
proverb puts it, ‘I am whole because you are whole.’<br />
environment<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 39<br />
John next quotes Dr. Allen Banik, author of Hunza Land:<br />
In Hunza, I seemed to be in another world, a world of friendliness<br />
and good nature. Covetousness, envy and jealousy were<br />
nonexistent; no police force was needed to keep order; unlocked<br />
doors were not a temptation.<br />
People of these cultures eat a mostly raw and mostly plant-food<br />
organic diet, as well as lead an outdoors active life close to the land<br />
for the young and long-time young alike. John describes the Hunza<br />
model of soil replenishment in depth, here quoting J.I. Rodale’s The<br />
Healthy Hunzas:<br />
The magnificent health of the Hunzans is due to…the way in<br />
which their food is raised…I am sure that the powdered rock dust<br />
which flows onto the Hunzan land is a significant factor in the<br />
outstanding results obtained by the Hunzans.<br />
Since people of all of the cultures studied in Healthy at 100 have<br />
eaten whole, mineralized, organic food throughout their lives, they’ve<br />
been virtually untouched by cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity,<br />
etc. In contrast, there are “12 million new cases of malignancy<br />
worldwide in 2007,” with almost 8 million dying from their cancer<br />
and/or their medical “treatments” (HealthDay.com, 12/17/07), while<br />
the incidence of obesity in the U.S. alone has increased from 13 to<br />
32 percent since the 1960s (Acres USA, Sept. 2007). Both junk food<br />
addiction and hidden hunger for nutrients lacking in soils and foods<br />
are primary causes of obesity, along with sedentary lifestyles, of<br />
course. We have less energy to exercise, to garden, or even to think<br />
rationally when we are malnourished, so look out for this “vicious<br />
cycle.” Let us also avoid seeking to fill our needs for emotional<br />
and spiritual nourishment with food. Consider how love for self<br />
and others can be the inspirational foundation to bring about a full<br />
restoration of human and planetary health.<br />
Organiculture Can Restore<br />
“Earth Health”<br />
Fruition, a farm on Maui, is another model of the health-oriented<br />
agriculture of the future, thriving on 11 acres of previously neglected<br />
pastureland. Owners Stephan Reeve and his mother Dorli have cocreated<br />
an Edenic garden and orchard a la the Hunzans with generous<br />
soil remineralization, mulching and composting. Fruition produces<br />
a growing abundance of mineralized avocados, mangos, papayas,<br />
lychees, jakfruit, sapotes, tangelos, rambutans and many others,<br />
probably exceeding the variety grown in Hunza. Continued generous<br />
remineralization and compost return should soon allow Fruition to<br />
match the quality of the Hunzan “Shangri-La.” Why don’t we all<br />
strive for such high standards of soil fertility, food quality, health<br />
and active longevity?<br />
While I’m fortunate to have some mineralized fruits and veggies<br />
year-round from my gardens, my two weeks working at Fruition<br />
this past January was extra-nourishing and rejuvenating to body<br />
and spirit. Along with eating a variety of fresh, ripe, mineralized<br />
produce, renewing great friendships and swimming often, my rock<br />
dusting of a new grove of rollinia trees was a highlight, as I love<br />
to help young trees grow to healthful fruition. Not only are rollinia<br />
trees very beautiful and fast-growing, the rollinia fruit has joined my<br />
favorite five fruits of the world, along with sapote, durian, atemoya,<br />
apricot…and perhaps tied with nectarines, cherries, peaches,<br />
persimmons, pineapple…<br />
continued on next page...<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
40<br />
WELLNESS<br />
Blessed the teachings of<br />
the truth,<br />
Blessed the harmony of<br />
the community,<br />
Blessed the union of<br />
those who live in peace.<br />
Buddhism, Dham. 194<br />
Valuable Websites<br />
Remineralize the Earth:<br />
www.remineralize.org<br />
Soil and Health Library:<br />
www.soilandhealth.org<br />
General Eco-Agriculture:<br />
www.acresusa.com<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
Trees for Life: www.treesforlife.org<br />
Fruit Tree Planting Foundation:<br />
www.ftpf.org<br />
Men of the Trees Australia:<br />
www.menofthetrees.com.au<br />
School gardens/ecology center:<br />
www.oaec.org<br />
Organic seeds: www.vegparadise.<br />
com/heirloom.html<br />
Living Nutrition/Vibrance:<br />
www.livingnutrition.com<br />
Natural Hygiene/raw food:<br />
www.rawfoodexplained.com<br />
Whole Systems Education:<br />
www.wholenessbook.com<br />
More “inconvenient” climate info:<br />
www.iceagenow.com<br />
John Robbins’ Healthy at 100:<br />
www.healthyat100.org<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
...from previous page<br />
The marvelous fact is that when we grow foods in remineralized and organic matter-enriched soils<br />
(animal manures and slaughterhouse by-products are not needed, thankfully), the development of<br />
the flavor and of all the health-promoting compounds can, if you are truly hungry, make each food<br />
a favorite at the time of eating! The more we intelligently give to Nature, the more Nature gives<br />
back, often a hundredfold or more!<br />
The fact that crime, war and ecological destruction are virtually unknown in cultures such as Hunza<br />
that Robbins writes of in Healthy at 100, tells us that these are extremely unnatural practices; their<br />
existence in our own culture is telling us we must heal ourselves at every level of being, in every<br />
inter-relationship and “from soil to psyche.”<br />
Wouldn’t it be great if, instead of spending 5 billion dollars or more per week on warfare, we would<br />
use it to fund all the crucially needed Earth Regeneration projects? Is anything more important? A<br />
new and vibrant Earth calls us forward. Now is the time to exercise our “response-abilities” and to<br />
express our love and thanks for the gift of life!<br />
I’ll conclude with a partial list of positive steps we can each consider taking, if right for us; then a<br />
few websites promoting soil remineralization, eco-agriculture, tree and orchard planting, healthful<br />
living and deeper understanding of our eco-climatic crisis and opportunity. It is my hope that you<br />
will joyfully discover your own vital role in restoring vibrance to your health and that of your larger<br />
body, the living Earth!<br />
Positive Steps to Consider<br />
1. Start a garden/orchard/farm/Earth Regeneration Center to provide food, beauty, and inspiration<br />
to yourself and others. Buy seeds and trees from independent and organic growers whenever<br />
possible as there is a major corporate push to take over, hybridize, chemicalize, and genetically<br />
modify agriculture and the food supply. Save seeds and propagate plants yourself, as well. Start<br />
a plant and tree nursery.<br />
2. Remineralize the soil, make compost, feed the microbes and earthworms to restore the foundation<br />
of health and life.<br />
3. Buy only organically grown foods and other natural products; try eating mostly or only plant<br />
foods and mostly or only fresh/raw/ripe foods; share the good news about soil mineralization<br />
and organic growing practices with farmers and as many people as you can.<br />
4. Simplify every aspect of life to promote health for people and planet; work together with those<br />
supporting global health; withdraw your support from those people and companies whose practices<br />
are harmful to the ecosystem and encourage them to go constructively green.<br />
5. Become knowledgeable about your own region as well as about the world in general so you may<br />
better influence local and global politics and consciousness through writing, speaking and leading<br />
new positive initiatives. Community gardens/orchards, tree nurseries and tree planting projects are<br />
needed almost everywhere, as are more Community <strong>Support</strong>ed Agriculture enterprises, natural<br />
food potlucks and healthy living education centers and events.<br />
6. Explore co-housing and cooperative community and eco-village options for you and loved ones,<br />
and/or retrofit your current residence for increased solar power, food growing and green living.<br />
Study Permaculture principles to see how they apply to your living and growing environment.<br />
7. Help schools start organic, mineralized gardens and orchards – the “Edible Schoolyards” founded<br />
by Alice Waters in Berkeley, California are an example to build upon. Share Nature’s beauty and<br />
miracles with children to prevent further spread of “Nature Deficit Disorder.”<br />
8. Add to this list according to your nature and inner inspiration, and try out the advice to “be the<br />
most positive person you know.” ✦<br />
Don Weaver is co-author with John Hamaker of The Survival of Civilization, author of To Love And<br />
Regenerate The Earth, and a regular contributor to Living Nutrition/Vibrance magazine. Both books<br />
are free to download in the Agriculture section of the Soil and Health Library: www.soilandhealth.org.<br />
Don celebrated his 31st year of health on a 100% raw vegan diet on April 2008. He welcomes feedback<br />
on his writings and ideas for cooperative projects to nourish personal-and-planetary health (email:<br />
earthdon@yahoo.com).<br />
environment • wellness • healing
By Sherry Baker<br />
Like to eat meat? Consider this unappetising truth: When you gulp down a nice juicy<br />
steak or hamburger, you are contributing to tumour-fueling inflammation in your<br />
body.<br />
In fact, eating a diet rich in red meat has long been linked to a host of ills including an<br />
increased risk of several types of cancer. But what is it about meat consumption that<br />
could impact cancer growth? Now scientists at the University of California, San Diego<br />
School of Medicine, have found a mechanism that explains how eating red meat, as well<br />
as milk, could spur the growth of malignancies. The new study, headed by Ajit Varki,<br />
M.D., suggests that inflammation resulting from a molecule introduced through eating<br />
these foods could make cancer grow. The research is set for upcoming publication in<br />
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).<br />
Dr.Varki, UC San Diego School of Medicine distinguished professor of medicine and<br />
cellular and molecular medicine and co-director of the UCSD Glycobiology Research and<br />
Training Center, and his research team studied a non-human glycan, or sugar molecule,<br />
known as N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc). Although this molecule is not produced<br />
naturally in the human body, it’s incorporated into human tissues if you eat red meat.<br />
The body then develops antibodies against Neu5Gc – and this immune response could<br />
potentially trigger a low-grade chronic inflammation, spurring the growth of cancer. In a<br />
statement prepared for the media, Dr. Varki explained it has been recognised by scientists<br />
for some time that chronic inflammation can stimulate cancer progression.<br />
“We’ve shown that tumour tissues contain much more Neu5Gc than is usually found<br />
in normal human tissues. We therefore surmised that Neu5Gc must somehow benefit<br />
tumours,” Dr. Varki said in the press statement. So the scientists came up with this<br />
hypothesis: The fact that Neu5Gc accumulates in human tumours despite circulating<br />
anti-Neu5Gc antibodies suggests a low-grade, chronic inflammation has developed, and<br />
caused the tumour to grow. To test this idea, the researchers worked with specially bred<br />
mice which lacked the Neu5Gc molecule. Anti-Neu5Gc antibodies were given to half<br />
of the mice. In those animals, the antibodies induced inflammation and their cancers<br />
started growing faster. In the control group comprised of mice that were not treated with<br />
antibodies, their tumour growth was far less aggressive.<br />
Building on previous research that has shown that humans who take non-steroidal antiinflammatory<br />
drugs (commonly known as NSAIDs) have a reduced risk of cancer, the<br />
researchers tried giving NSAIDs to the mice with cancerous tumours fueled by anti-<br />
Neu5Gc antibodies. The result? The anti-inflammatory treatment blocked the effect of<br />
the Neu5Gc antibodies and the tumours became smaller.<br />
“Taken together, our data indicate that chronic inflammation results from interaction<br />
of Neu5Gc accumulated in our bodies from eating red meat with the antibodies that<br />
circulate as an immune response to this non-human molecule – and this may contribute<br />
to cancer risk,” Varki said in the media statement. ✦<br />
From www.naturalnews.com December 2008. Sherry Baker is a widely published writer<br />
whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga<br />
Journal, Optometry, Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter and many others.<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 41<br />
For anyone interested in reducing<br />
infl ammation through natural, non-drug<br />
methods, here are seven top strategies:<br />
1. Stop eating meat and dairy products.<br />
2. Concentrate on a Mediterranean<br />
fl avored style of eating with lots of fruits,<br />
vegetables, whole grains, olive oil and<br />
nuts. Research has shown these foods<br />
lower infl ammation levels.<br />
3. Don’t smoke and avoid those who do<br />
– second hand smoke can contribute to<br />
infl ammation.<br />
4. Know your oils. Avoid all infl ammationcausing<br />
trans-fats, hydrogenated and<br />
partially hydrogenated oils as well as<br />
saturated animal fats. Instead, add<br />
infl ammation-fi ghting omega-3 oils like<br />
fl axseed, canola and walnut oil to your<br />
diet.<br />
5. Lose weight if you need to. Research<br />
has shown that a waist that measures<br />
over 40 inches in a man or over 35 inches<br />
in a woman is a sign of probable high<br />
infl ammation.<br />
6. Don’t skimp on sleep. Previous studies<br />
have concluded less than six hours of<br />
sleep can result in infl ammation .<br />
7. De-stress. Try yoga, meditation, walking<br />
and other forms of exercise. Staying<br />
continually stressed out means your<br />
body is releasing excess, infl ammationpromoting<br />
stress hormones . Schedule a<br />
minimum of 20 minutes a day to let your<br />
worries go.<br />
References:<br />
1. Bragg, Paul & Bragg, P.: The Miracle of Fasting,<br />
49th Edition. Santa Barbara, CA: Health Science,<br />
68-74<br />
2. Colbert, MD, D.: Toxic Relief. Restore Health and<br />
Energy Through Fasting and Detoxifi cation. Lake<br />
Mary, FL: Siloam Publishing, 85-6; 164-6, 2001<br />
3. Burroughs, S.: The Master Cleanser. Revised<br />
Edition, copyright 1993 by A. Burroughs, pgs.<br />
11-21<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
42<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
Tired of paying high prices for free range or<br />
cage eggs? Getting uncomfortable about<br />
all the reports on factory farming? Want<br />
an organic source of protein right in your<br />
own backyard? Well, a lot of people feel the<br />
same way and their answer’s unanimous<br />
– a backyard flock of chickens. More and<br />
more people are putting up hen houses<br />
where doghouses used to be.<br />
And why not? Chickens are livestock<br />
anyone can raise. Hens are unobtrusive<br />
city dwellers, happy to peck around a small<br />
backyard. They require little time, money,<br />
or space and in return for some humble<br />
room and board – you get a free lunch.<br />
Recently Mother Earth News did a farm<br />
egg vs. grocery store egg comparison and<br />
found the free-range birds’ bounty lower in<br />
cholesterol and twice as high in omega-3<br />
fatty acids compared to the ones in the<br />
checkout line. So not only are homegrown<br />
eggs organic and local – they’re better for<br />
you.<br />
Most cities allow small flocks (without<br />
roosters). After all, they cause less damage<br />
than dogs and are quieter than cats. When<br />
you live in a world of failing banks, soaring<br />
gas prices, and E. coli in the produce aisle ,<br />
it’s reassuring knowing you can always opt<br />
for a healthy homemade omelette at the<br />
end of the day. To get you started, here are<br />
the firsts steps towards bringing some hens<br />
into your life.<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
city<br />
chickens<br />
1. Check With Your City’s Livestock Ordinances<br />
(And Your Neighbours)<br />
Before you order your first pullets, make sure your town allows chickens. Some don’t,<br />
but you’d be surprised how many do. Once you get the okay from your local officials,<br />
knock on your closest neighbor’s doors. Check with them on how they’d feel about a<br />
few hens in your backyard. Explain that chickens are clean, quiet, and won’t cause any<br />
problems (all true as long as they live in a stress free and well maintained home). While<br />
I don’t think there is any legal reason you need a neighbour’s permission, it does show a<br />
certain amount of respect and responsibility on your part. It also might stop any possible<br />
future complaints when you offer them half a dozen fresh eggs every two weeks for their<br />
cooperation. I’m telling you, these birds can build bridges.<br />
2. Do Your Homework<br />
There are a few great books written with the city flock in mind. Barbara Kilarski’s Keep<br />
Chickens! is a perfect introduction, written about her trio of hens. Another good one to pick<br />
up is Living with Chickens by Jay Rossier. Besides books, there are also great resources<br />
online such as Backyard Chickens and My Pet Chicken. Get to know them, they’re well<br />
worth it. Reading up on these animals will prepare you for all the fun and interesting times<br />
ahead. It’ll explain to you why your hen’s first eggs are the size of walnuts and what to do<br />
when you see your birds sneezing a lot. At the very least, keep some books on the shelf<br />
at home for reference.<br />
3. Set Up A Living Space This can be as simple as a medium sized wooden<br />
doghouse from the hardware store propped up on<br />
two layers of cinder blocks. The doghouses with the<br />
removable roofs work best, since it’s the easiest way<br />
to collect eggs and hose it down every few weeks<br />
to clean it out. All you need to do to these houses to<br />
modify them for poultry is add a roost about a foot off<br />
the doghouse floor and layer the bottom with some<br />
straw for nests. Around the coop pound in some inexpensive t-posts and roll out some<br />
wire garden fencing to keep them in (and neighbours cats and dogs out). This hour in<br />
your backyard will be the most labor intensive part of the entire process. And hey, if you<br />
don’t want to build anything you can always order a small pre-built coop. The Eglu and<br />
Chik-N-Hutch are both great small flock homes.<br />
4. Order Your Birds<br />
You have a few choices on where to actually procure your birds. Short of knowing any<br />
sustainable farmers in your area that are willing to sell you some, I suggest ordering them<br />
online. Yes dear readers, there are plenty of online poultry suppliers and hatcheries that can<br />
ship chickens right to your downtown post office. If you want eggs soon, order 18-week<br />
old started pullets. These young adults will begin laying within a few weeks of arriving at<br />
your home. [In WA you can buy chickens through trading magazines such as the Quokka<br />
and classifi ed ads, or you could take a trip to the Mundijong Livestock Auction and bid<br />
for them – which is quite an experience! – Ed].<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
By Jenna Woginrich
5. Introduce Them To Their New Coop<br />
When Chicken Day does occur, make sure your coop is<br />
set up in advance. Have a poultry feeder and water font<br />
set up with fresh water and organic layer feed. Make<br />
sure they have a proper pen and are safe from brave stray<br />
cats and four-year-olds. Line their coop with straw for<br />
bedding and let your neighbours know they’re on their<br />
way. When everything is ready in paradise, try to hold<br />
off till dark to set your adult hens in their new coop.<br />
The birds will just be calmer in general if they can go<br />
right to sleep in a safe place and wake up in the morning<br />
in their new digs. It’ll imprint on their tiny brains that<br />
they’re home.<br />
6. Care And<br />
Feeding<br />
Invest the extra money<br />
in organic chicken<br />
feed. The average fifty<br />
pound bag of feed is<br />
thirteen dollars. The<br />
organic version might<br />
cost up to eight dollars<br />
more, but it’s well worth it. Because even if you are<br />
raising hens right in your own backyard, the eggs they<br />
lay aren’t organic if the food they eat isn’t. Store the<br />
food in a metal trash can with a good lid so rodents and<br />
bad weather can’t break in. You can store right outside<br />
the backdoor or in the gargae, or even right next to the<br />
coop itself.<br />
7. What To Do When You Leave Town<br />
Chickens are easy keepers. If you’re just leaving for a day<br />
or two, they don’t require any oversight at all. A filled<br />
water font and feeder is all they need. If you leave for<br />
a few days or an extended vacation, ask a neighbour or<br />
friend to stop by after work to collect eggs (offer to let<br />
them keep what they collect as a payment for their time)<br />
and throw some feed on the ground and offer fresh water.<br />
None of these chores are backbreaking, time-consuming<br />
burdens. Far as livestock goes, this is easy street. ✦<br />
From: The Huffington Post, 24th September 2008<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 43<br />
1. Eggs are great for the eyes. According to one study, an egg a day<br />
may prevent macular degeneraton due to the carotenoid content,<br />
specifi cally lutein and zeaxanthin. Both nutrients are more readily<br />
available to our bodies from eggs than from other sources.<br />
2. In another study, researchers found that people who eat eggs every<br />
day lower their risk of developing cataracts, also because of the lutein<br />
and zeaxanthin in eggs.<br />
3. One egg contains 6 grams of high-quality protein and all 9 essential<br />
amino acids.<br />
4. According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, there<br />
is no signifi cant link between egg consumption and heart disease. In<br />
fact, according to one study, regular consumption of eggs may help<br />
prevent blood clots, stroke, and heart attacks.<br />
5. They are a good source of choline. One egg yolk has about 300<br />
micrograms of choline. Choline is an important nutrient that helps<br />
regulate the brain, nervous system, and cardiovascular system.<br />
6. They contain the right kind of fat. One egg contains just 5 grams<br />
of fat and only 1.5 grams of that is saturated fat.<br />
7. New research shows that, contrary to previous belief, moderate<br />
consumption of eggs does not have a negative impact on cholesterol.<br />
In fact, recent studies have shown that regular consumption of two<br />
eggs per day does not aff ect a person’s lipid profi le and may, in<br />
fact, improve it. Research suggests that it is saturated fat that raises<br />
cholesterol rather than dietary cholesterol.<br />
8. Eggs are one of the only foods that contain naturally occurring<br />
vitamin D.<br />
9. Eggs may prevent breast cancer. In one study, women who consumed<br />
6 eggs a week lowered their risk of breast cancer by 44%.<br />
10. Eggs promote healthy hair and nails because of their high sulphur<br />
content and wide array of vitamins and minerals. Many people fi nd<br />
their hair growing faster after adding eggs to their diet, especially if<br />
they were previously defi cient in foods containing sulphur or B12.<br />
From: www.healthdiaries.com<br />
• world class library facility with thousands of titles.<br />
10 Health Benefits of Eggs<br />
• books & resources on cancer wellness, nutrition, healing, mainstream & complementary<br />
treatments, personal accounts, meditation and relaxation aids and much more.<br />
• we can order titles on request<br />
environment<br />
CSA Library & Online Borrowing<br />
• extensive catalogue of publications and audio visual resources<br />
• access to the entire Moss Reports (important cancer resource)<br />
• Online Library Resource Centre – borrow any title from our catalogue online.<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
44<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
Nature<br />
has provided us<br />
with all the tools<br />
we need to stay<br />
healthy.<br />
~ Hippocrates<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
regulate the cell cycle<br />
to prevent cancer<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
By Barbara Minton<br />
It’s amazing that more than 2000 years ago we realised many universal truths, and we did it<br />
without the scientific method. One person who really knew what he was talking about was<br />
Hippocrates, who said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”.<br />
We lost our common sense for awhile and fell in love with a disease establishment that claimed<br />
science was on its side. Apparently we are now coming to earth again in a new age where science<br />
and sense meet. Scientists are now explaining the finer points of the truth Hippocrates was trying<br />
to tell us – nature has provided us with all the tools we need to stay healthy. An example of this<br />
type of research is a study published in the January, 2008 edition of Frontiers in Bioscience that<br />
deals with the importance of regulation of the cell cycle in prevention of cancer.<br />
What is the cell cycle?<br />
The growth and maintenance of plants, animals and humans is the result of an ordered series<br />
of events which constitute the cell cycle. During this cycle, chromosomes are duplicated and<br />
one copy of each duplicated chromosome is transferred from the mother cell to the daughter<br />
cell. Proper regulation of this cycle is essential for the normal development of multi-cellular<br />
organisms. If control of this cycle is lost for any reason, cancer or other degenerative diseases<br />
may be the result.<br />
Successful cell replication depends on two critical processes: the replication of DNA, and mitosis<br />
– the nuclear division of the daughter cell from the mother cell. The master controllers of these<br />
processes are protein kinases that regulate the proteins involved in this DNA replication and<br />
mitosis.<br />
The research<br />
For this study, scientists reviewed the sequence of events that regulate cell cycle progression<br />
with an eye towards the check points and mechanisms that cells employ to insure DNA stability<br />
during this cell cycle even in the face of genotoxic stress.<br />
They noted that key transitions in the cell cycle are regulated by the activities of the various<br />
protein kinase complexes composed of cyclin and cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) molecules.<br />
These cyclins are CDK binding partners which are required for kinase activity and are intimately<br />
linked to the cell cycle stage. CDK activity can be controlled by other mechanisms, such as the<br />
addition of a phosphate group, resulting in deregulation of the cell cycle. This is the process<br />
that leads to cancer.<br />
Although diets rich in fruits and vegetables are increasingly being recommended for the prevention<br />
of cancer, their active ingredients and mechanisms of action have not been well understood.<br />
This research presents evidence that dietary agents identified from fruits and vegetables can act<br />
to modulate the effects of deregulated cell cycle checkpoints. It is through this mechanism that<br />
cancer may be prevented by dietary choice.<br />
Compounds from fruits and vegetables that appeared particularly noteworthy were apigenin<br />
(celery, parsley), curcumin (turmeric), epigallocatechin-3-gallate (green tea), resveratrol (red<br />
grapes, peanuts and berries), genistein (soybeans), and silymarin (milk thistle ✦<br />
From: www.naturalnews.com, November 30th, 2008. Barbara is a school psychologist, a published<br />
author in the area of personal finance, a breast cancer survivor using “alternative” treatments, a<br />
born existentialist, and a student of nature and all things natural.
Eating for Peace<br />
A talk by the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh<br />
on Mindful Consumption<br />
All things need food to be alive and to grow, including our love<br />
or our hate. Love is a living thing, hate is a living thing. If you do<br />
not nourish your love, it will die. If you cut the source of nutriment<br />
for your violence, your violence will also die. That is why the path<br />
shown by the Buddha is the path of mindful consumption.<br />
The Buddha told the following story. There was a couple who<br />
wanted to cross the desert to go to another country in order to seek<br />
freedom. They brought with them their little boy and a quantity of<br />
food and water. But they did not calculate well, and that is why<br />
halfway through the desert they ran out of food, and they knew that<br />
they were going to die. So after a lot of anguish, they decided to eat<br />
the little boy so that they could survive and go to the other country,<br />
and that’s what they did. And every time they ate a piece of flesh<br />
from their son, they cried.<br />
The Buddha asked his monks, “My dear friends: Do you think that<br />
the couple enjoyed eating the flesh of their son?” The Buddha said,<br />
“It is impossible to enjoy eating the flesh of your son. If you do not<br />
eat mindfully, you are eating the flesh of your son and daughter,<br />
you are eating the flesh of your parent.”<br />
If we look deeply, we will see that eating can be extremely violent.<br />
UNESCO tells us that every day, forty thousand children in the<br />
world die because of a lack of nutrition, of food. Every day, forty<br />
thousand children. And the amount of grain that we grow in the West<br />
is mostly used to feed our cattle. Eighty percent of corn grown is to<br />
feed the cattle to make meat. Ninety-five percent of oats produced<br />
is not for us to eat, but for the animals raised for food. According<br />
to this recent report, eighty-seven percent of agricultural land in the<br />
US is used to raise animals for food. That is forty-five percent of<br />
the total land mass in the US.<br />
More than half of all the water consumed in the US is goes to raise<br />
animals for food. It takes 2500 gallons of water to produce a pound<br />
of meat, but only 25 gallons to produce a pound of wheat. A totally<br />
vegetarian diet requires 300 gallons of water per day, while a meateating<br />
diet requires more than 4000 gallons of water per day.<br />
Raising animals for food causes more water pollution than any<br />
other industry because animals raised for food produce one hundred<br />
and thirty times the excrement of the entire human population. It<br />
means 87,000 pounds per second. Much of the waste from factory<br />
farms and abattoirs flows into streams and rivers, contaminating<br />
water sources.<br />
Each vegetarian can save one acre of trees per year. More than 260<br />
million acres of forests in the US alone have been cleared to grow<br />
crops to feed animals raised for meat. And another acre of trees<br />
disappears every eight seconds. Tropical rain forests are also being<br />
destroyed to create grazing land for cattle. In the US, animals raised<br />
nutrition<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 45<br />
for food are fed more than eighty percent of the corn we grow and<br />
more than ninety-five percent of the oats.<br />
The Buddha spoke about the second kind of food that we consume<br />
every day – sense impressions – the kind of food that we take in by<br />
the way of the eyes, the ears, the tongue, the body, and the mind.<br />
When we read a magazine, we consume. When you watch television,<br />
you consume. When you listen to a conversation, you consume. And<br />
these items can be highly toxic. There may be a lot of poisons, like<br />
craving, like violence, like anger, and despair. We allow ourselves to<br />
be intoxicated by what we consume in terms of sense impressions.<br />
We allow our children to intoxicate themselves by these products.<br />
That is why it is very important to look deeply into our ill-being,<br />
into the nature of our ill-being, in order to recognise the sources of<br />
nutriment we have used to bring it into us and into our society.<br />
The Buddha had this to say: “What has come to be - if you know how<br />
to look deeply into its nature and identify its source of nutriment,<br />
you are already on the path of emancipation.” What has come to be<br />
is our illness, our ill-being, our suffering, our violence, our despair.<br />
And if you practice looking deeply, as in meditation, you’ll be able<br />
to identify the sources of nutriments, of food, that has brought it<br />
into us.<br />
Each of us needs to look deeply into the nature of what we consume<br />
every day. And consuming mindfully is the only way to protect<br />
ourselves, and our society. We have to learn what to produce and<br />
what not to produce in order to provide our people with items that<br />
are nourishing and healing. We have to refrain from producing the<br />
kinds of items that bring war and despair into our body, into our<br />
consciousness, and into the collective body and consciousness of<br />
the world.<br />
Many people are becoming aware of the food they eat. They want<br />
every package of food to be labelled so they can know what is in it.<br />
They don’t want to eat the kind of food that will bring toxins and<br />
poisons into their bodies. This is the practice of mindful eating.<br />
But we can go further. We can do better, as parents, as teachers, as<br />
artists and as politicians. If you are a teacher, you can contribute<br />
a lot in awakening people of the need for mindful consumption,<br />
because that is the way to real emancipation. If you are a journalist,<br />
you have the means to educate people, to wake people up to the<br />
nature of our situation. Every one of us can transform himself or<br />
herself into a bodhisattva (enlightened teacher) doing the work of<br />
awakening. Because only awakening can help us to stop the course<br />
we are taking, the course of destruction. Then we will know in which<br />
direction we should go to make the earth a safe place for us, for our<br />
children, and for their children. ✦<br />
From: www.healthyat100.org<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
46<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
HERBS: plant with<br />
leaves, seeds or<br />
flowers used for<br />
flavouring, food,<br />
medicine, scent, etc.<br />
SPICES: aromatic<br />
or pungent<br />
vegetable<br />
substance used to<br />
enhance foods.<br />
NUTRITION:<br />
food efficient as<br />
nourishment or<br />
sustenance.<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Herbs,<br />
& Nutrition<br />
By Vivienne Bradshaw-Black Cert Ed<br />
Using the definition of herbs at left, any familiar vegetable, fruit or flower, such as broccoli,<br />
tomatoes or salad flowers like nasturtiums would come into this category. However, in the collective<br />
mind of the Western general public, medicinal herbs (traditionally packaged as teas, tinctures,<br />
capsules, tablets, creams and ointments, etc.) have been separated from fresh, frozen, canned and<br />
dried herbs generally thought of as foods (e.g. fresh sweetcorn, frozen peas, canned strawberries,<br />
dried beans). Culinary herbs and spices, used according to cultural exposure and taste, are commonly<br />
considered a separate category to ‘vegetables’ and ‘medicinal’ herbs.<br />
Hippocrates, 1 the ‘Father of medicine’ believed that the human body had the ability to restore itself<br />
to health when given the materials needed. He famously quoted, “Let food be thy medicine and<br />
medicine be thy food,” but he did not have today’s Western diet and artificial food categories as his<br />
definition of ‘food.’ However, on the upside, there is a natural demarcation of usage in choosing<br />
foods for nutrition, in that the function of an unpolluted healthy appetite determines what is eaten<br />
and in which amounts. Conversely, on the downside, appetite is both nurtured and restricted by<br />
cultural and familial heritage.<br />
Unless appetite is grossly perverted (out of balance), food proportion comes naturally in that foods<br />
like potatoes, rice and bread would constitute the major meal portion, and the butter, seasoning<br />
and honey on each would constitute the minor portion, e.g. jacket potato, savoury rice, breakfast<br />
toast. It would be abnormal in any culture to have a pack of butter with a spoon of potato on it,<br />
a bowl of seasoning and spices topped with a little rice, or a cup of honey with some pieces of<br />
bread sprinkled on it. Therefore, normal appetite naturally discerns proportions. However, taking<br />
the example above, rice without the seasonings and spices is not savoury rice, and both aspects of<br />
food provision are essential. What the modern Western diet mostly overlooks, in addition to the<br />
quality and wholeness of foods, is the importance of herbs and spices as essential nutrition rather<br />
than ‘optional extras.’<br />
Abnormal eating conditions (such as pica, 2 anorexia, bulimia, and gluttony from any individuallydetermined<br />
combination of nutritional deficiency, toxicity, low self-esteem, isolation, comfort<br />
eating, wrong food choices and/or depression/ anxiety, childhood baggage, post traumatic stress,<br />
etc.) are ‘relatively’ easily detected, whereas ‘unidentified inadequate eating patterns’ are often<br />
the consequence of cultural and societal ‘norms’ and, therefore, not seen as a causal factor worth<br />
consideration in therapeutic terms. Today’s therapist, regardless of modality of treatment, is faced<br />
with a challenge because there is no longer a single cause of any effect (if indeed that ever was<br />
the case).<br />
A symptom is merely a biological signpost pointing to anatomical, physiological or psychological<br />
imbalance.<br />
Symptoms are rarely singular or simple. The condition of the average person is vaccinated,<br />
chronically drugged (lifetime of antibiotics, steroids, anti-inflammatories, cough remedies,<br />
pain-killers, ‘recreational’ drugs, etc.), fluoride treated, 3 chlorinated, heavy metal contaminated,<br />
chemicalized and subjected to microwaved/irradiated foods, genetically modified foods and<br />
foods unfit for human consumption, marketed in haste to prevent the real condition ‘coming to<br />
light’, such as in young battery fowl (excuse the unintended pun). Removing heavy metals (e.g.<br />
mercury amalgam fillings, cooking in aluminum, etc.) and existing toxic loads via detoxification<br />
protocols is an important step to health, as is stopping intake of toxic water, fluoride products,<br />
processed/depleted foods and non-organic meats/foods, but what is so important about the foods<br />
which constitute the minor portions in balanced nutritional meals?<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
Spices
To look at just a few qualities of minor ingredients, herbs and spices such as<br />
garlic, tarragon, turmeric, parsley, coriander, cayenne pepper, basil, ginger,<br />
unrefined sea salt, 4 pepper, mustard, olive oil, hemp oil and cider vinegar,<br />
have qualities of being anti-parasitic, anti-fungal, oxygenating, metabolizing,<br />
alkalizing, nutritive, immune enhancing, detoxifying, protective against<br />
cell aberrations, calming and cheering (helping with mood and digestion),<br />
chelating (helping to avoid damage to blood vessels), vaso-dilating<br />
(helping with high blood-pressure) to state a few! Ginger alone contains<br />
hundreds of chemically active ingredients and, amongst its many properties,<br />
greatly benefits digestion, cardio-vascular health, immune function and is<br />
traditionally eaten with raw fish (very unwise) to destroy parasites.<br />
When used regularly as part of a normal diet, these qualities in herbs and<br />
spices help counter toxins in water and food, food sensitivities, effects of<br />
stress on digestion, unseen bacteria, fungi and parasites, overly acid foods,<br />
anaerobic metabolism leading to fungal problems and structural damage to<br />
DNA, etc. The chemical pie ‘look-alike/taste-alike’ substitutes of the food<br />
processing industry do not have the qualities of real herbs and spices, and add<br />
a burden of un-utilizable chemicals to a diminished nutritional status. The<br />
qualities of even one herb or spice deserve book-sized space, but thinking<br />
‘outside-the-box’ about this aspect of nutrition will open up avenues for<br />
exciting culinary experience and untold health benefits. Nutrition is complex<br />
food chemistry, and foods eaten together equal far more than the sum of the<br />
parts individually.<br />
Looking to herbs and spices as a medicinal arsenal is good but putting<br />
them back where they belong is better, combining everyday nutrition with<br />
preventive medicine. ✦<br />
References<br />
1. Hippocrates (c460-c377 BC) the famous Greek physician brought a mindchange<br />
to medicine in that he looked for the causes of sickness and sought<br />
restoration to health by natural and environmental means.<br />
2. Pica is an appetite/eating disorder where inappropriate items (such as dirt<br />
or kitchen roll) are eaten, or foods themselves eaten inappropriately (such as<br />
raw sausage).<br />
3. Fluoride is a binary compound of fl uorine (i.e. fl uorine and something<br />
else, such as calcium fl uoride, sodium fl uoride, aluminum fl uoride). Fluorine<br />
is a poisonous pale yellow gaseous element and the most reactive element<br />
known. Anything fl uorinated has fl uorine introduced to it to form a compound.<br />
Anything fl uoridated has a fl uoride added to it (e.g. drinking water). Fluoridation<br />
is an unethical, unsubstantiated politico-economic programme for the adding<br />
of fl uorides to such things as water, baby milk, salt, foods, toothpaste, dental<br />
materials, etc. The fluoride(s) used for fluoridation are industrial waste<br />
produced by several major international industries and have long-standing<br />
use as rat poison and pesticide. (extract from ICHC article: Fluoride)<br />
4. Unrefi ned sea salt is not the same as toxic white table salt. (ICHC article:<br />
Unrefi ned Salt v Industrial Grade Sodium Chloride – Does It Matter Which?).<br />
nutrition<br />
Traditional Chinese Medicine<br />
& Acupuncture<br />
Dr. Lu off ers Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture at his clinic in Swanbourne.<br />
He has many years experience in this fi eld and also in neuroscience. Dr. Lu has<br />
helped many CSA members regain health and energy.<br />
Phone: 9286 1968. Email: yunfeilu@westnet.com.au<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 47<br />
Curcumin vs. Turmeric:<br />
Can you eat enough?<br />
People are taking curcumin as a nutritional supplement more<br />
and more often. The published research is showing it useful in<br />
many conditions., with the suggested doses doubling and then<br />
quadrupling in the past few years.<br />
A paper published on the 15th July shows that curcumin has an<br />
eff ect on patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who used<br />
doses of 8 grams a day.<br />
As curcumin is an extract of the spice root turmeric, people often<br />
ask me whether they can just eat the spice turmeric instead of<br />
the extract. I took some time to fi gure this out. Back in 2006<br />
Tayyem et al, reported on the curcumin content of 28 curry<br />
blends and turmeric powders they had tested. “Pure turmeric<br />
powder had the highest curcumin concentration, averaging<br />
3.14% by weight.”<br />
Commercial extracts are usually somewhere between 80-95%<br />
curcumin by weight. So if you want to eat an equivalent of<br />
3,000 mg per day of curcumin extract, say 4 750 mg capsules,<br />
how much turmeric does that equal? At 90% concentration<br />
that equals 2,700 mg of pure curcumin. Assuming you have<br />
bought the strongest turmeric available and it is 3% curcumin,<br />
an equivalent dose would be about 90,000 mg or 90 grams.<br />
There are 28 something grams per ounce so that equals about<br />
3 ounces. A little less than a quarter of a pound.<br />
So to the question of whether someone can take amounts of<br />
turmeric to equal the suggested doses of curcumin, the answer<br />
is, “probably not.” ✦<br />
By Jacob Schor ND FABNO. Posted on derreiler.com newsgroup,<br />
22nd August 2008.<br />
‘Herbs, Spices & Nutrition’ article was originally published in<br />
Positive Health PH Online Issue 150 Aug/Sept 2008 – http://<br />
www.positivehealth.com/article-view.php?articleid=2465.<br />
Positive Health magazine is a leading complementary health<br />
online magazine. It can be found at www.positivehealth.com.<br />
Vivienne Bradshaw-Black has produced a health information<br />
course, and believes that by understanding the causes of health<br />
and sickness we can cut through the maze of confusion which<br />
dominates the sickness industries. She teaches this principle to<br />
those who choose health and supports individuals and groups be<br />
helping them become responsible for their own health choices.<br />
She can be contacted by email at VivshawUK@aol.com.<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
48<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
superb summer<br />
salads<br />
antioxidant salad Ingredients<br />
This healthy and delicious recipe will provide<br />
you with a boost of antioxidants for glowing<br />
skin and extra energy.<br />
Ingredients<br />
1 head romaine lettuce, trimmed and torn into<br />
pieces<br />
Small bunch rocket, torn into pieces<br />
1/2 cup fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley<br />
6 freshly chopped basil leaves<br />
1 carrot, thinly sliced crosswise<br />
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced crosswise<br />
1/4 cup radish sprouts<br />
1 bulb fennel, trimmed and thinly sliced crosswise<br />
1 teaspoon ground flaxseeds<br />
Lemon-Lime Olive Oil Dressing *<br />
OPTIONAL<br />
Lemon-Rosemary Grilled Shrimp *<br />
Method<br />
Combine lettuce, rocket, parsley, basil, carrot, celery,<br />
radish sprouts, fennel, and flaxseeds in a large bowl.<br />
Drizzle with enough dressing to lightly coat. Toss to<br />
combine.<br />
Recipe from ‘The Ciminelli Solution’<br />
by Susan Ciminelli<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Tuesday is Sprout<br />
& Kefir Day at CSA<br />
3 day old Broccoli sprouts and a range of healthy sprouts are picked fresh on<br />
Tuesdays and available the same day at CSA from Paul Boroughs.<br />
John Hopkins research shows that 3 day Broccoli Sprouts have powerful anticancer<br />
properties.<br />
Kefi r culture with information sheet & easy instructions available on Tuesdays for<br />
$20 (includes 50% donation to CSA). Great for making a healthy probiotic drink<br />
and cottage cheese.<br />
Place your order a week in advance using the online order form at www.sproutsas-medicine.com.<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
Lemon-Lime Olive Oil Dressing*<br />
Juice and zest from 1 lemon<br />
Juice and zest from 1 lime<br />
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil<br />
1/4 teaspoon sea salt<br />
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper<br />
Method<br />
Whisk all ingredients together in a large bowl; let stand 10 minutes<br />
before using. Makes 3/4 cup<br />
Lemon-Rosemary Grilled Prawns*<br />
Ingredients<br />
1 pound large prawns, peeled and deveined<br />
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil<br />
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced<br />
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary<br />
Juice and zest from 1 lemon<br />
Coarse sea salt<br />
Freshly ground white pepper<br />
Method<br />
salad tip: look for a local grocer<br />
and choose fresh, organic fruit,<br />
herbs and vegetables whenever<br />
possible. This ensures your<br />
ingredients are as tasty, crisp and<br />
nutritious as possible.<br />
In a large bowl, combine prawns, 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic, 1<br />
tablespoon rosemary, and half of the lemon zest; season with salt and<br />
pepper. Toss to coat. Preheat grill pan over medium-high heat. Place<br />
prawns on pan and cook, turning once, until cooked through, about 1<br />
minute per side. Transfer shrimp to a serving platter and drizzle with<br />
remaining olive oil and lemon juice. Sprinkle with remaining teaspoon<br />
rosemary and lemon zest; serve immediately.
ADVERTiSING FEATURE<br />
brown and wild rice salad<br />
berry fennel<br />
salad<br />
Method<br />
This is the perfect late summer salad.<br />
Good for when you want something<br />
light and delicious, but you really don’t<br />
want to spend the whole day slaving<br />
over a hot stove (honestly, who ever<br />
wants to do that?).<br />
Ingredients<br />
Salad<br />
50g walnuts<br />
¼ cucumber<br />
½ fennel, very thinly sliced /<br />
shredded<br />
85g watercress, thick stalks removed<br />
1 round green lettuce, washed and<br />
dried<br />
150g blackberries, washed and dried<br />
150g raspberries, washed and dried<br />
Dressing<br />
150g silken tofu<br />
5½ tablespoon good quality French<br />
dressing<br />
1 tablespoon caster sugar (or<br />
alternative such as xylitol)<br />
Recipe by the Vegetarian<br />
Society: www.vegsoc.org<br />
This side dish is twice as nice since it stars both brown<br />
and wild rice! Tangy raspberry vinegar complements the<br />
nutty flavor of the rice, while dried cranberries provide<br />
unexpected bursts of sweetness.”<br />
Ingredients<br />
195 g brown rice, cooked<br />
235 ml wild rice, cooked<br />
6 green onions, chopped<br />
90 g dried cranberries<br />
40 g chopped pecans, toasted<br />
8 g chopped fresh parsley<br />
60 ml olive oil<br />
90 ml raspberry vinegar<br />
30 ml honey<br />
9 g salt<br />
1 g pepper<br />
In a large bowl, combine the rice, onion, cranberries,<br />
pecans and parsley. In a small bowl, whisk together the<br />
oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Pour over salad and<br />
toss to coat. .<br />
Recipe developed by Taste of Home Test Kitchen .<br />
Taste of Home magazine can be found online at<br />
www.tasteofhome.com.<br />
Method<br />
1. Preheat oven to 200C / 400F / Gas mark 6.<br />
Spread walnuts out on a baking tray and put<br />
in hot oven for about 4 minutes until lightly<br />
roasted. Remove from oven and cool.<br />
2. To make the dressing: Drain the silken tofu by<br />
putting it in a bowl lined with kitchen paper and<br />
patting dry. Transfer French dressing to a small<br />
liquidizer together with the silken tofu and the<br />
caster sugar. Blend for about 30 seconds until<br />
creamy. Put into a bowl ready to serve.<br />
3. Continue with the salad: Cut the cucumber in<br />
half lengthways, and then thinly slice to make<br />
half-moon slices. Mix these with the fennel and<br />
watercress.<br />
4. Arrange whole green lettuce leaves on four<br />
plates, and pile the cucumber mixture on top.<br />
Scatter with the blackberries, raspberries and<br />
roasted walnuts and serve, passing the dressing<br />
round separately.<br />
recipes<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 49<br />
f od shorts<br />
Eating yoghurt<br />
every day reduces risk of<br />
bladder cancer<br />
Scientists from Karolinska Institute in<br />
Stockholm, Sweden, found that those<br />
who ate two servings a day of yogurt<br />
were significantly less likely to go on<br />
to have the disease than those who ate<br />
yoghurt only occassionally or not at all.<br />
The research followed 80,000 patients<br />
over nine years and findings were<br />
published in the American Journal of<br />
Clinical Nutrition.<br />
Nutrition Review, 17 Oct 2008<br />
Protective effects of<br />
fibre and grains<br />
It appears that fibre and whole grains<br />
protect against not only colon cancer,<br />
but also against cancer in the small<br />
intestine. Dr Arthur Schatzkin and<br />
colleagues at the [US] National <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
Institute, Bethesda, Maryland assessed<br />
the effects by an analysis of data on<br />
nearly 300,000 men and 200,000<br />
women. Their results are published in<br />
Gastroenterology.<br />
Nutrition Review, 29 Oct 2008<br />
Email your healing<br />
recipes and food news<br />
to the editor:<br />
csa_wellnessnews@<br />
yahoo.com.au<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
50<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
Cabbage and<br />
brussels sprouts<br />
kill cancer cells<br />
By Jessica Fraser<br />
Eating brussels sprouts and cabbage could help<br />
kill cancer cells when combined with traditional<br />
chemotherapy, according to new research by British<br />
scientists.<br />
A study conducted by University of Leicester<br />
researchers and recently presented at the National<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> Research Conference in Britain found that<br />
a naturally occurring compound in green leafy<br />
vegetables such as brussels sprouts and cabbage<br />
– indole-3-carbinol (I3C) – could be a powerful<br />
cancer fighter when used in combination with<br />
chemotherapy drugs.<br />
I3C – which can be found in cruciferous vegetables<br />
that belong to the mustard family, including<br />
caulifl ower and broccoli – were found to make breast<br />
cancer tumours more vulnerable to chemotherapy<br />
drugs.<br />
The researchers fed breast cancer cells 300 to 400 mg<br />
of I3C – which equals roughly a shopping cart full of<br />
cabbages – and found that after supplementation,<br />
the cells were then more easily killed when exposed<br />
to chemotherapy drugs.<br />
Margaret Manson, the study’s lead author, told the<br />
conference that although the trials were still in the<br />
early stages, she hoped one day the I3C treatments<br />
could be used to help improve conventional cancer<br />
treatments. Manson said supplementing with I3C<br />
could eventually result in breast cancer patients being<br />
eff ectively treated with lower doses of chemotherapy<br />
drugs. I3C could similarly aff ect colon cancer cells, the<br />
researchers said.<br />
Holistic nutritionist Mike Adams, author of “The<br />
Seven Laws of Nutrition,” says simple foods frequently<br />
off er the most powerful anti-cancer medicine in the<br />
world.<br />
“Breast cancer is easily prevented with the help of<br />
the right foods: cruciferous vegetables, garlic and<br />
onions, ginger, raw almonds and herbs like green<br />
tea, licorice or rosemary,” said Adams, creator of<br />
HealingFoodReference.com, a free online database<br />
that allows users to search for natural foods that can<br />
help treat specifi c health conditions.<br />
“Women can also help prevent breast cancer by<br />
avoiding all the foods that promote it: processed meat<br />
products, dairy products from hormone-injected<br />
cows, fried foods and anything with hydrogenated<br />
oils,” Adams said. ✦<br />
From: www.naturalnews.com<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
super summer<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
juices<br />
Apple Pie Juice<br />
You can have your apple pie and drink it, too! This juice is good for eyes, skin, hair,<br />
ulcers, regularity, detoxification, colds and flu.<br />
* First sprinkle ½ tsp of cinnamon and ½ tsp of nutmeg into your home juicing<br />
machine.<br />
* Then make apple juice with 4 large sweet apples and carrot juice with 1 large<br />
carrot (saving the pulp for sauce).<br />
* You’ll end up with 2 cups of delicious apple pie juice that you can serve over ice.<br />
* Drink immediately.<br />
Stomach Soothing Juice<br />
Need a vegetable juicing recipe to ease a stomach ache? Try this:<br />
* Juice ½ head of cabbage (save the pulp for cole slaw).<br />
* Juice 1 beet with the greens and save the pulp for later use.<br />
* Juice 2 large kiwis.<br />
* Mix all juices together in your fruit and vegetable juicer and you’ll have 2 ½ cups<br />
of delicious juice good for your heart, circulation, blood pressure, cancer prevention<br />
and digestion.<br />
Cabbage & Cherry Juice<br />
This drink is good for your tummy and also general diet and nutrition. This fruit<br />
and vegetable juicing yields 1/14 cups of soothing juice good for ulcers and cancer<br />
prevention.<br />
* Make carrot juice from 3 medium carrots.<br />
* Combine ¼ head of cabbage (slice it to fit your home juicer) and 1 stalk of celery<br />
(save the pulp for coleslaw).<br />
* Juice 5 pitted cherries.<br />
Green Juice<br />
Great for diet and nutrition, this juice drink helps your hair, skin, bad breath, colds, flu,<br />
digestion and gout. It´s great for weight loss, cancer prevention and general cleansing.<br />
* Make apple juice from 2 green apples.<br />
* Make fresh vegetable juices from 4 stalks of celery, 8 stalks of bok choy (Chinese<br />
cabbage), ¼ pound of spinach and 1 bunch of parsley.<br />
* You’ll have 2 cups of green juice in your fruit and vegetable juicer.<br />
* Stir and enjoy.<br />
Juice recipes from: www.lifetips.com – a website to make life better, easier and<br />
more fun!
Vegetable Juice Detox:<br />
Tips and Recipe Ideas<br />
For juice fasting, it is not just fruits that you can juice. You can also consider juicing<br />
vegetables. A vegetable juice detox can help your body remove its toxic waste and<br />
its cleansing process.<br />
Vegetables also contain an abundant sources of vitamins and minerals not found<br />
in other foods. In fact, if you find that you are not eating enough vegetables on a<br />
daily basis, you can also think about consuming vegetable drinks. In this manner,<br />
you will ensure that you do not give up on including phytochemicals for a balanced<br />
nutrition.<br />
A vegetable juice detox allows your body to absorb quickly what you consume<br />
without activating your digestive system as it would if you eat the more fibrous<br />
vegetables. Your digestive system can then get to work on all the toxic waste that<br />
has been accumulating in your body.<br />
Do bear in mind that a vegetable juice detox should not be carried out as an ongoing<br />
exercise. At best, you can only fast for up to a week. Surviving on a vegetable juice<br />
diet would not be able to give you all the nutrients you need for energy and health<br />
if you extend such a diet for more than it should.<br />
Contrary to what you may assume, vegetable drinks can also taste delicious and<br />
are therefore very drinkable. Here are some vegetable juice detox recipes that are<br />
easy to prepare:<br />
1. You can mix carrots, kale and wheat grass. Carrots are wonderful sources of<br />
beta-carotene and vitamin C.<br />
2. Wheatgrass is an excellent vegetable drink. Another variety of a vegetable drink<br />
is to add spinach instead of wheat grass. Spinach is very good for your juicing diet<br />
because it is rich in folate, iron and Vitamin B.<br />
3. Blend tomato, celery, parsley, broccoli and cucumber. Be sure that you get only<br />
the freshest tomato that is ripe by the time they are picked from the plant. If they<br />
are taken at this state, they contain twice the amount of Vitamin C.<br />
4. You can also choose to season your carrot vegetable juice with some garlic, ginger<br />
and onion. This combination is something different for your taste buds but is still<br />
healthy and nutritious.<br />
5. Add cucumber and celery in your carrot vegetable mix. Cucumber is another good<br />
source of Vitamin C that aids in the detoxification process of your body.<br />
6. You can also consider mixing vegetables and fruits together to make delicious<br />
juice combinations. Simply add in an apple or a pear to any of the above recipes.<br />
For juicing purposes, it is best to choose vegetables that are organic and free of<br />
pesticides. Also, discard all vegetables that do not look their best. Before juicing,<br />
wash and rinse the vegetables in filtered water.<br />
You should drink your vegetable juices fresh every time. This means it is best<br />
that you juice just before consuming your drink. Alternatively, you can consider<br />
buying canning jars with perfect sealing lids for keeping in your refrigerator. Still,<br />
you must not keep your juices beyond three days. Do not forget to keep your lid<br />
jars tightly closed because air exposure can kill the beneficial enzymes in your<br />
vegetable drink.<br />
Preparing vegetable drinks is one of the best ways that you can take them in their<br />
raw state. A vegetable juice detox need not be a bland affair. You can come up with<br />
some creative recipe ideas for juicing vegetables. ✦<br />
Source: www.content4reprint.com. Author’s website: www.detox-cleansing.com.<br />
recipes<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 51<br />
f od shorts<br />
Pectin - does it make the<br />
difference in cancer?<br />
The low cancer incidence seen in<br />
people who eat a lot of fruit and<br />
vegetables may be explained by<br />
pectin, say scientists at the Institute<br />
of Food Research. They report in the<br />
journal of the Federation of American<br />
Societies for Experimental Biology<br />
that particular components of pectin<br />
bind to, and possibly inhibit, galectin-<br />
3 – a protein believed to facilitate the<br />
spread of cancer.<br />
Nutrition Review, 30th Oct 2008<br />
Metals in wine<br />
An analysis by scientists at Kingston<br />
University shows that wines from<br />
13 countries contain potentially<br />
hazardous levels of metals high<br />
enough to exceed the benefits of<br />
drinking red wine at least. Professor<br />
Declan Naughton and Andrea<br />
Petróczi, used target hazard quotients,<br />
developed by the US Environmental<br />
Protection Agency, to examine the<br />
risks from metal ions.<br />
Nutrition Review, 30 Oct 2008<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
52<br />
WELLNESS<br />
Consciousness and<br />
Healing: Integral<br />
Approaches to Mind-<br />
Body Medicine<br />
Edited by Marilyn<br />
Schlitz, PhD, Tina<br />
Amorok, Psy.D<br />
Marc S. Micozzi,<br />
MD, PhD. ISBN-10:<br />
0443068003 ISBN-13:<br />
978-0443 068003<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
b oks & media<br />
review<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
There is no other book on the market that pulls together so many leaders in this field and presents material<br />
on healing and integral medicine from such an interdisciplinary and scientific perspective.<br />
While there are other books available that cover healing, Complementary and Alternative Medicine,<br />
and integral medicine to some extent, Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body<br />
Medicine will be the most comprehensive and authoritative collection of work on the subject. The editors<br />
and contributors see this book as a call to action for health professionals and patients alike. They feel that<br />
physicians and patients carry the responsibility to help craft a new, more fitting way of practicing medicine<br />
in light of the major crisis in the practice and delivery of healthcare in the United States. The purpose of this<br />
book is to ask those health professionals and patients to take the time to consider the integral perspective,<br />
the view that the scientific quest is incomplete without data from many domains of inquiry, and that human<br />
transcendence can occur in the face of illness and disease.<br />
Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine is a collection of 47 essays on<br />
integral medicine, consciousness, and healing that integrates mainstream medical knowledge with recent<br />
developments in the emerging areas of frontier sciences and insights from alternative healing perspectives.<br />
It promotes a model of healing in which personal relationships, emotions, meaning, and belief systems<br />
are viewed as fundamental points of connection between body, mind, spirit, society, and nature. Integral<br />
medicine embraces the recognition that human beings possess emotional, spiritual, and relational dimensions<br />
that are essential in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the cultivation of wellness.<br />
The alternative healing perspectives in this book include: multicultural healing systems, relational medicine,<br />
subtle energies and energy medicine, contemplative mind, meditation, distant healing through intercessory<br />
prayer and intentionality, and ecologically based healing systems. Readers learn from the leaders in the<br />
emerging field of integral medicine and consciousness research, from the most well known (Deepak<br />
Chopra), to the frontline policy makers (James Gordon – one of the heads of the White House Commission<br />
on Conventional and Complementary and Alternative Medicine). Readers also gain insights from physicians<br />
who have experienced healing within themselves and witnessed remarkable healing in their clients. They<br />
hear from other medical professionals (through the essays and the interviews on the accompanying DVD)<br />
who approach medicine from an array of cultural perspectives, as well as hear from patients who have<br />
experienced this multicultural, interdisciplinary, and participatory healing system in action. ✦<br />
Review from: www.noetics.org. Consciousness & Healing is available from bookstores, Amazon and from IONS.<br />
Please see their website for more details: www.noetics.org.<br />
Use your CSA VILLAGE CARD<br />
online for great rewards<br />
Log on to the CSA Village at<br />
www.csavillage.nml.com.au<br />
Remember every time you use your Village Card a<br />
donation is made directly to CSA<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
most of the books reviewed on these pages<br />
are available for loan from the CSA Library.<br />
If you are a CSA member you can borrow all<br />
titles from our library catalogue online:<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Consciousness & Healing: Integral<br />
Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine
Life, Happiness...& <strong>Cancer</strong>: Survive with<br />
Action and Attitude!<br />
In 1979, Phil Kerslake was 19 years old when diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Almost 30 years and<br />
many treatments, relapses and recoveries later, leading to personal enquiry, experience and experimentation, he is<br />
able to provide guidance to other people with cancer on the strategies and life changes that he believes were key<br />
contributors to his ability to tolerate and survive these challenges.<br />
Nowadays, when there are hundreds of self-help books on the market for cancer patients, it is enlightening to find<br />
one that provides no-nonsense, easy-to-comprehend and achievable strategies and approaches that are flexible and<br />
able to be individualised. This book can encourage and facilitate the drive that individuals require to take back<br />
some control at all stages of the cancer trajectory.<br />
This is not a book to be read once and then placed on the shelf. Rather, it should be used as a guide book that is<br />
referred to on a daily basis with the intended outcomes of:<br />
• Enhancing a person’s ability to cope physically, mentally and emotionally.<br />
• Achieving optimum effects from primary treatment regimes.<br />
• Stimulating the body’s natural healing mechanisms and resistance to cancer.<br />
• Development of a positive point of view to enhance quality of life during and after cancer.<br />
The book is divided into four parts:<br />
review<br />
Part 1 – Put your diagnosis into perspective is an excellent overview of what cancer is, the impact of our immune<br />
system, the reactions of others to your cancer diagnosis, how your individual point of view can affect your recovery<br />
and how your emotional expression can affect your ability to cope.<br />
Part 2 – Taking action to support healing discusses: the pros and cons of the four cancer treatment models, involving<br />
various combinations of conventional and complementary/alternative medicine; lifestyle habits such as sleep, diet<br />
and nutrition, weight management, exercise and activity; smoking, alcohol, caffeine and sun intake; sexuality;<br />
relaxation and meditation; cancer support groups; your healing team network; active hope and faith; the impact of<br />
language; and techniques such as visualisation and affirmation.<br />
Part 3 – Explore and express yourself provides the tools to create your future, involving aspects such as developing<br />
a “life vision statement”, subsequent goals and a plan as to how you will achieve them. The enthusiasm and vitality<br />
demonstrated by Kerslake through the relaying of his personal experiences, provides the encouragement to really<br />
give this a go. This section of the book then leads into other actions you can incorporate to complement your life<br />
plan, such as humour, writing and music.<br />
Part 4 – Life after cancer discusses post treatment challenges and how the tools in the book can still have a positive<br />
impact after treatment has finished. Kerslake provides a concise summary of all the recommendations made<br />
throughout the book and reinforces the power of action in overcoming fears and procrastination.<br />
This is a book that I believe can make a real difference in the lives of cancer patients, and one that I would certainly<br />
recommend to patients to incorporate as part of their recovery process. The tools used in this book are also ones that<br />
can assist us all in achieving a greater mind, body and spirit balance, both in illness and wellness. ✦<br />
Review by Susan Adams. Excerpts are from the review first published in <strong>Cancer</strong>Forum, <strong>Cancer</strong> Council Australia,<br />
Volume 31 No. 3, November 2007, pp. 181–182. Susan Adams is an Oncology Educator from the Greenslopes Private<br />
Hospital, Brisbane, Australia. ‘Life, Happiness...& <strong>Cancer</strong>: Survive with Action & Attitude!’ is available for loan from<br />
the CSA Library. You can purchase this book from bookstores around the county or online from Amazon or direct from<br />
the publisher’s website: www.fontainepress.com.<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 53<br />
Life, Happiness...&<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong>: Survive with<br />
Action and Attitude!<br />
By Phil Kerslake, 2008<br />
RRP Australia $24.95<br />
ISBN: 9780980417067<br />
Financial Assistance to attend Gawler Foundation<br />
This book resonates<br />
with honesty, learnt<br />
wisdom and real<br />
life experience.<br />
It is consiely and<br />
clearly written in a<br />
format which makes<br />
the information<br />
instantly accessible<br />
and applicable to<br />
people with cancer<br />
and their families. A<br />
great resource.<br />
A bursary has been established to assist West Australians with cancer participate in a life-changing integrative program with The Gawler Foundation.<br />
People affected by cancer in WA, particularly those in rural areas, can apply for a grant to participate in the ten day residential Life and Living Program<br />
at The Gawler Foundation in Victoria which helps people overcome the challenges of cancer. The program is complementary to any mainstream<br />
medical treatment. The bursaries will cover up to 95% of the full cost of the program for the participant utilising shared accommodation. Full price of<br />
the Life and Living Program is $2900 so the value of the bursary for an individual is up to $2755, with them paying $145 only. It does not cover<br />
travel but the program is all inclusive of meals and accommodation. The bursary is allocated according to need recognising that there are significant<br />
costs associated with coming from WA and rural WA. Applications should be made on the application form available from The Gawler Foundation.<br />
To make an application or for more information, call The Gawler Foundation on<br />
(03)59671730 or visit the website, www.gawler.org<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
54<br />
WELLNESS<br />
Ian Gawler: The<br />
Dragon’s Blessing<br />
By Guy Allenby<br />
ISBN: 9781741756081<br />
ISBN-10: 1741756081<br />
Ian Gawler has been<br />
approached by a<br />
number of people over<br />
the years, offering to<br />
write his biography,<br />
but he’s never agreed<br />
– until now. During<br />
hours of interviews,<br />
and in extracts from<br />
his diaries, Ian reveals,<br />
for the first time, many<br />
aspects of his amazing<br />
story. The Dragon’s<br />
Blessing is an honest,<br />
unflinching and<br />
illuminating portrait<br />
of an unorthodox,<br />
compassionate and<br />
courageous Australian,<br />
whose own journey<br />
has been an inspiration<br />
to the lives of so many<br />
others.<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
The Dragon’s Blessing – the remarkable<br />
survival story of Dr Ian Gawler<br />
Back in 1975 a young Vet and decathlon athlete by the name of Ian Gawler was diagnosed with cancer.<br />
The dramatic way the disease manifested in Ian Gawler’s chest was something like a scene from Alien; a<br />
foreign object striving to burst out of his body; a malignant, angry mass of cancer that seemed determined<br />
to take his life.<br />
Visible bony lumps grew from the ribs, sternum and the crest of the ilium. He was coughing up blood and<br />
small pieces of bone, while lung X-rays showed up gross opacities. His specialist told him he had only two<br />
or three weeks to live.<br />
Eleven months earlier he had his leg amputated to arrest the spread of osteogenic sarcoma. The old Australian<br />
expression, ‘If he was a horse you would have shot him’ springs to mind.<br />
Eighteen months later the cancer was completely gone. His recovery was so dramatic that some call it a<br />
miracle. Ian describes it as hard work. Meaningful. Actually interesting. Even fun. But also hard work. He<br />
also claims that what he did is repeatable.<br />
Now, this remarkable medical story has been told by author Guy Allenby in Ian Gawler’s Biography,<br />
The Dragon’s Blessing. Ian says he was fortunate to be around in the pioneering days of Holistic and<br />
Mind-Body Medicine when the mind, and meditation as well as nutrition were just beginning to be used<br />
therapeutically.<br />
And for Ian, the changes that cancer brought into his life sparked an intense spiritual journey and the search<br />
for meaning and purpose in his life. The Dragon’s Blessing unfolds as Ian goes on to recover and then found<br />
the first cancer self help group in Australia – one of the very first such programs in the world.<br />
The Dragon’s Blessing stands out as a cancer related book for many reasons. It offers a profound insight into the<br />
life, recovery and work of someone whose story epitomizes hope for so many people touched by cancer.<br />
But more than just recovering, Ian Gawler then dedicated his life to helping others – both with cancer, equally<br />
groundbreaking work with developing MS self help programs and with those who are well – athletes, business<br />
people and those interested in preventing illness and achieving real wellbeing in their lives.<br />
Why the Dragon’s Blessing?<br />
The title of the book is related to a drawing by Quentin, an 11 year old boy who was diagnosed with a brain<br />
tumour. Quentin was paralysed down his natural right side and he completed the drawing left handed, six<br />
weeks after surgery for a brain tumour. He explained that the dragon had lived in the lake for a long time.<br />
However, recently the villagers had grown in number – they had been throwing a lot of rubbish in the lake<br />
and they were lowering their fishing nets deeper into the lake and tangling in his scales. So the dragon had<br />
arisen out of the lake to warn the Emperor. If he did not tell the villagers to put these things right, then he,<br />
the dragon, would kill them all.<br />
This amazing metaphor for cancer began a remarkable series of pictures that Quentin drew with Ian and<br />
coincided with Quentin himself experiencing a remarkable recovery.<br />
The Dragon’s Blessing provides a real opportunity to understand what it takes to recover from an almost<br />
hopelessly difficult cancer and provides a profound insight into the life of a person who epitomises hope,<br />
self empowerment and positive thinking for many people.<br />
The Dragon’s Blessing also provides intimate insight into the personal, and particularly the inner life of a<br />
man who is deeply spiritual and who has studied and combined ancient wisdom into a modern context. Ian<br />
Gawler has studied with Christian, Hindu and Buddhist teachers including His Holiness The Dalai Lama and<br />
his main, long term teacher, the world renowned Tibetan master, Sogyal Rinpoche.<br />
Ian has been at the forefront of bringing meditation into popular usage and establishing meditation’s therapeutic<br />
value.<br />
The Dragon’s Blessing, Ian Gawler’s life story, is not only a great story; it will inspire and inform people<br />
from all walks of life. ✦<br />
Source: Gawler Foundation Media, 24th September 2008: gawlerfoundationmedia.wordpress.com<br />
environment • wellness • healing
<strong>Cancer</strong>: A threat to your life? OR a<br />
chance to take control of your future?<br />
review<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> by doctors Monica and Gerald Lewis is written for people with cancer to empower them to<br />
take control of their future. It is also for those at risk or with a family history of cancer so they have the<br />
information and tools to ensure they live cancer free.<br />
While a cancer diagnosis can create fear and confusion, this book offers clarity and order. Few books<br />
have been written which give such a clear and concise overview of both traditional and complementary<br />
medicine enabling readers to explore their options in a single book.<br />
The book is easy to follow, comprehensively referenced for those who wish to have more information<br />
and most importantly, it gives a positive viewpoint to people who previously may have felt their options<br />
were limited and the outlook bleak.<br />
The authors Drs Gerald and Monica Lewis have a special interest in helping people with cancer. They<br />
both graduated from Otago Medical School, New Zealand in 1968. After some years of practice, both<br />
came to realise the limitations of conventional medical therapies and have subsequently introduced many<br />
alternative and complimentary treatments into their practice.<br />
This book is part of the series Fad, Fact or Fable. ✦<br />
To Health By Choice Pty Ltd and Healthstart Life Products are Australian owned and based Companies<br />
dedicated to the provision of high quality products which have a positive impact on consumers. They wish to<br />
donate copies of this book ‘<strong>Cancer</strong>: A Threat to Your Life? OR A Chance to Take Control of Your Future?’ to cancer<br />
support groups in Western Australia. Any interested individuals or groups should email info@tohealth.com<br />
or freecall 1800 021 069. Their website is at: www.tohealth.com.au. This book is available for loan from the<br />
Food Matters: the secrets to good<br />
health revealed<br />
Food Matters is an Australian made documentary which takes a look at our current state of health and<br />
exposes a growing body of scientific evidence proving that nutritional therapy can be more effective, more<br />
economical, less harmful and less invasive than most conventional medical treatments.<br />
The filmmakers are themselves nutritionists and present the startling message that with the right kinds<br />
of foods, supplements, and detoxification processes, we can prevent, arrest, and even reverse chronic<br />
disease.<br />
Food Matters brings together the world’s leaders in nutrition and natural healing to present ways to treat<br />
depression, obesity, alcoholism, heart disease, cancer, dementia, and a host of other debilitating conditions<br />
without the need for drugs or surgery.<br />
For example, one of the film’s contributors, Andrew W. Saul an author and therapeutic nutrition specialist,<br />
supports claims that high doses of Vitamin C can cure cancer and that two handfuls of cashews provides<br />
the therapeutic equivalent of a prescription dose of Prozac.<br />
Saul says that our health care systems are in fact disease care systems, and that there is no money to made<br />
in reducing levels of sickness and disease. “Good health makes a lost of sense, but it doesn’t make a lot<br />
of dollars.”<br />
Food Matters provides the information needed to help people prevent sickness, rather than rely on a<br />
system already in crisis. ✦<br />
Food Matters is distributed in Australia by Brumby Books & Music www.brumbybooks-music.com<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 55<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong>: A Threat to<br />
Your Life? OR A Chance<br />
To Take Control Of<br />
Your Future? By Dr<br />
Monica Lewis & Dr<br />
Gerald Lewis ISBN<br />
9780473113278<br />
An ideal first book<br />
to read on a cancer<br />
journey – with its<br />
overview of therapies,<br />
references and detailed<br />
appendices.<br />
DVD: Food Matters: the<br />
secrets to good health<br />
revealed By James<br />
Colquhoun<br />
ISBN 094922971029<br />
Become aware of<br />
your nutrition and<br />
health care choices<br />
to improve your<br />
health, and maybe<br />
save your life.<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
56<br />
WELLNESS<br />
You may<br />
choose to<br />
record this<br />
meditation<br />
for your<br />
personal<br />
use, or have<br />
someone<br />
read it to you<br />
every day for<br />
at least thirty<br />
days in a row<br />
for powerful,<br />
positive<br />
change...<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Meditation<br />
for <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
Allow yourself to be in a comfortable position where you will not be disturbed...Take a long,<br />
slow deep breathe and close your eyes. As you take another long, slow deep breathe, tell your<br />
body to relax. See, sense and feel that you are walking along a sandy beach. Feel the warmth of<br />
the sand beneath your feet and smell the fresh salt breeze as it blows against your cheek. You<br />
find a place up from the beach to relax and stretch out on the warm, healing sand. Cradle your<br />
body into the sand, moving so that you are more comfortable, nurtured and supported by the<br />
healing sand. The warm, healing sun is just above your head. Guide that warm, healing light<br />
down into the top of your head. Feel the warm sweet healing energy of the sun as it flows down<br />
into your forehead, into your brain. As your brain receives this powerful healing message, it<br />
activates all healing processes within the body, from the DNA level of each and every cell, the<br />
healing occurs. Speaking to each cell, we now ordain that all negative or dis-eased patterns now<br />
be released, and that these patterns now be replaced with new healing patterns. The process of<br />
angiogenesis and cellular destruction ceases, and is now blocked, and all cancer systems are<br />
reversed and are processed easily and effortlessly out of the body in a natural fashion. They are<br />
flushed out and cleared. Your brain sends out the message to every cell and every system within<br />
the body, “I am healed, I am whole, I am well, and I now ordain it to be so, and I accept the<br />
healing. If there has ever been a time when I had a death wish, I now recognise and release it, I<br />
forgive all, including myself. I forgive, I release all anger, all fear, all need for grief or sabotage<br />
within the self. I now ask for help from Highest Light in all that needs to be done for this healing<br />
process to occur as it should, in Divine Order, for the Highest Good. I am healed, I am whole,<br />
I am well, and it is so.”<br />
Allow the warm healing light of the sun to flow down around your eyes. Feel the gentle warmth<br />
as your eyes are bathed in this healing light. Feel yourself going deeper and deeper into the golden<br />
healing light, becoming one with it. (Pause) Draw it down to your cheeks and jaw. Feel your jaw<br />
relax and release any tension it may be holding. (Pause) This golden healing light flows down<br />
into your throat. Each and every time that you swallow, you are swallowing that healing light,<br />
like medicine, and it flows down into your stomach and flows into all digestive processes. Feel<br />
that golden light as it flows through your stomach, your pancreas, and to your liver. Your liver is<br />
now responding to the golden healing light, releasing toxins now as it should, absorbing healing<br />
light into each of its cells. Allow the golden healing light to flow into the kidneys, the spleen,<br />
the bladder and the intestines. (Pause)<br />
Feel the comfort of the golden healing light as it flows through the chest area, into the heart. With<br />
every beat of your heart, you feel your body bathed in this light. Follow the light now into the<br />
center; the sanctuary of your heart. See there a child. Look at the child and know that it is you<br />
at an age when the child most needs nurturing and healing. There is no such thing as time but a<br />
time to heal. Ask the child, “Why are you hurt? (Pause...) How can I help you? (Pause...)”<br />
Listen to the child and know that you can help this child to express their emotions, to feel nurtured,<br />
and to heal. Hold this child and tell them how much you love them. Ask them if they are angry.<br />
Take them to the Blue River of Life and allow them to throw all of those stones of anger, of hurt,<br />
or pain away from them. (Pause)<br />
Now that all of those stones are gone, notice that your child is holding a seed in the palm of<br />
their hand. Plant this seed of new life together and water it from the Blue Healing River of<br />
Life. Affirm this: “As I plant this seed of new life, I accept responsibility for my healing, past<br />
(including all karma or judgment against the self), present and future.” Now watch as the seed<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
By Dr Karyn K. Mitchell
grows into a beautiful flower. See the colour and know that the<br />
essence of this flower can heal you. (The herb, the essential oil, or<br />
the flower essence can assist you in the healing process.) Notice<br />
how your child is smiling now. The child will teach you about joy<br />
and fun, and you will help the child to heal old wounds, and to learn<br />
of unconditional love.<br />
Every day as you do this meditation, the healing power increases<br />
ten times ten. Hold the child in the healing power of the sanctuary<br />
of your heart, and return there often to share love. As you feel the<br />
golden healing light flowing through the rest of your body, guide<br />
it to the place(s) it needs to go. Intensify it there, hold it there as<br />
long as you need to. Then let it continue to flow down your body,<br />
down your legs to your feet.<br />
The energy is flowing throughout your body and pouring out onto<br />
the sand that cradles your body. It is as if you are bathed in warm<br />
healing light inside and out. Every cell is nurtured and healed. Every<br />
nerve is nurtured and healed. Every muscle and bone is healed.<br />
Each organ and organ system is healed. And now your whole body<br />
is responding to the healing, feeling better and better. The light<br />
intensifies and flows now into the Mental Body. The Mental Body<br />
is healed and balanced. The Emotional Body is healed and balanced.<br />
The Spiritual Body is healed and balanced. The Interdimensional<br />
Body is healed and balanced. Harmony, health, and happiness are<br />
restored because you are worthy of healing and you accept this<br />
healing as you accept love from yourself and all others. Every time<br />
you look into the mirror, you say to yourself, “I love and accept<br />
myself, and all that I am. I forgive and I release myself and others<br />
from judgment. I am free to heal.”<br />
• Natural Foods<br />
• Gluten Free Foods<br />
• Organic Foods<br />
• Vitamins &<br />
Supplements<br />
• Clean green<br />
household<br />
products<br />
• Naturopathic<br />
consultations<br />
and advice<br />
healing<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 57<br />
Good Life<br />
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Feel all negative energy now flowing out of your body. You no longer<br />
accept negative energy from any source. You accept only positive<br />
healing energy and ideas. Negative thoughts and words no longer<br />
affect you in any way, as you are focused entirely upon positive<br />
thoughts and healing energy. All other energy flows away from you<br />
and is absorbed by the warm, nurturing sand that leads gently down<br />
into the ocean.<br />
You look up and as you do so, you see white fluffy clouds drifting in<br />
the blue sky. You always remember to look up at the dawn of each<br />
new day. Look up and see the sun, the radiant, warm, healing sun<br />
whose energy creates new life each and every day. Affirm to yourself,<br />
“I accept new life for myself, and I see the world through new eyes.<br />
I call back all aspects of my original natal soul that belongs to me<br />
from wherever it may be... from any time, any place, any dimension,<br />
and from anyone who may be holding it. I am changing old habits<br />
and patterns to create new healing ways of life. I know that I am<br />
a powerful force in this world, and I am now using this power for<br />
healing. I am healed, I am whole, I am well.” (Repeat affirmation<br />
in this paragraph two more times.) ✦<br />
Reprinted from ‘Reiki: Beyond the Usui System’ by Dr Karyn K.<br />
Mitchell. Dr. Mitchell believes that wellness depends upon wholeness<br />
of body, mind, spirit, and emotions. Dr. Mitchell is dedicated to<br />
the art and science of assisting and maintaining balance of the<br />
body, mind, and spirit. This book can be purchased at metaphysical<br />
bookstores, from www.amazon.com or the author’s website which is at<br />
www.drmitchellnd.com<br />
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We care about your health!<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
58<br />
WELLNESS<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
Challenge Week 2008 was a great success for our first year. The Nanna Challenge was fantastic and we even<br />
managed to get long-term CSA member Roberta White involved. She went flying with our Nannas Polly Hill and<br />
Shirl Lincoln to prove that cancer is not the only challenge left in her life! There are many more exciting things to<br />
face each and every day. And she wants to do them all. Look out Race Car Driving next year…<br />
Approximately $43,000 was raised by the participants with a special thanks to Mark Richards who raised an<br />
incredible $4700! We gained Nova 93.7fm, Muzz Buzz and the Quokka as our major sponsors and they have said<br />
they will all return next year. Our participants had a fantastic time in all of the challenges and promise to return<br />
in <strong>2009</strong>, hopefully with lots more friends. I believe this has been a brilliant way to raise awareness of the <strong>Cancer</strong><br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association and I look forward to Challenge Week <strong>2009</strong>.<br />
Kylie Dalton<br />
General Manager CSA<br />
Challenge Week<br />
events provided by<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
November 2008<br />
Cost: $10 / $5 (members). No bookings required.<br />
environment • wellness • healing
Dear friends,<br />
When my grand daughter Nikkita asked me if I<br />
would be interested in helping raise funds for CSA<br />
as the Muzz Buzz Nanna in Challenge Week<br />
I thought what a great experience.<br />
Raising funds plus throwing myself out of an<br />
Aeroplane, Scuba Diving...maybe with sharks? And<br />
being a Fighter Pilot doing some amazing aerobatics<br />
seeing what the earth looks like upside down!<br />
I had a fantastic time doing the Challenges and<br />
helping with the fund raising, It was an experience<br />
I will have with me forever....<br />
Shirl x<br />
P.S. I forgot to mention Sky Diving either before or<br />
after throwing myself out of the plane, don’t want<br />
to scare anyone!<br />
Challenge Week Major Sponsors<br />
happenings<br />
Hi all,<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 59<br />
Participating<br />
in Challenge<br />
Week for me<br />
meant several<br />
things on a<br />
personal level<br />
and most<br />
importantly to<br />
help raise as<br />
much money<br />
as I could for<br />
CSA.<br />
I was pretty passionate about<br />
what I wanted to achieve in my<br />
fundraising as I’ve been affected<br />
personally from what cancer<br />
does to people and their family<br />
and friends. My brother went<br />
through it 5 years ago and my<br />
father is currently going through<br />
treatment. This just made me<br />
more determined to do the best<br />
I could. The treat at the end of<br />
it all for me too was going up<br />
with Fighter Combat and doing<br />
something that I’ve always<br />
dreamed of doing – aerobatics and<br />
aerial dog fighting.<br />
The response I had from<br />
the people and companies I<br />
approached for sponsorship<br />
was amazing. It made me feel<br />
so great that I could do so well<br />
and achieve what I set out to do.<br />
People were wrapped with what I<br />
was doing and gave no hesitation<br />
in helping me out in whatever<br />
way they could. I was over the<br />
moon with what I achieved in<br />
the end.<br />
The challenge itself was an<br />
awesome experience, something<br />
I’ll never forget, and in actual<br />
fact got me so seriously hooked<br />
on aerobatics that I’m looking<br />
forward to going and doing more.<br />
I’m looking forward to helping<br />
out during Challenge Week again<br />
or in any other ways I can.<br />
Mark Richards<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
CSA <strong>Wellness</strong> Shop<br />
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Books<br />
cancer specifi c, general health<br />
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<strong>Cancer</strong> Specifi c MEMBERS RRP<br />
You Can Conquer <strong>Cancer</strong> – Ian Gawler 23.80 28.00<br />
D.I.Y. <strong>Cancer</strong> Treatment – Jill Royce 17.00 20.00<br />
Quest For Life – Petrea King 21.30 25.00<br />
Living Simply with <strong>Cancer</strong> – Ross Taylor 12.50 14.75<br />
Your Life in Your Hands – Jane Plant 23.80 28.00<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> – A biochemical-nutritional approach – Osiecki 45.95 54.05<br />
Meditation<br />
The 5 Minute Meditation – Eric Harrison 12.75 15.00<br />
General Health<br />
Sick Homes – Part 1 Volatile Chemicals Cosmetics and<br />
Sick Homes – Part 2 Dust and the Science of Cleaning 7.00 8.20<br />
Dangerous Beauty – Peter Dingle and Toni Brown 7.00 8.20<br />
Gardening and Eating for Living – Caralyn Lagrange 32.75 38.95<br />
NUTRITION<br />
The Untold Truth about Virgin Coconut oil<br />
by Ian Blair Hamilton and Cassandra Bond 8.00 10.00<br />
A Recipe for Life by Dorothy Edgelow 25.50 30.00<br />
A Recipe for Life 2 by Dorothy Edgelow 31.50 34.95<br />
Nutrition : The Good, the Bad and the Politics 21.00 25.00<br />
Food for Life by Petrea King 25.00 29.50<br />
Personal stories and verse<br />
Earthman’s Gratitude by Ian Robbins 9.90 9.90<br />
Gift Items<br />
leadlight angels, inspiring cards,<br />
natural soaps & candles<br />
MEMBERS RRP<br />
Leadlight Angel small 19.00 22.50<br />
Leadlight Angel large 35.00 40.00<br />
Leadlight tealight Angel (candleholder) 20.00 25.00<br />
Leadlight Angel (hanging with crystal) 25.00 30.00<br />
Corynne’s Natural Soaps 3.50 4.50<br />
Corrynne’s candles 3.40 4.00<br />
Jewellery – large selection Enquire for prices -<br />
Greeting Cards – inspirational Enquire for prices -<br />
Health products<br />
products to support health<br />
and wellness<br />
MEMBERS RRP<br />
Footsies Detox Patches (20’s) 40.00 46.00<br />
Biological Micro Mineral Solution 18.70 22.00<br />
Maxi-Phyte – Soya Phytosterols 25.50 30.00<br />
Perfect Sweet – natural Sugar Substitute 15.30 18.00<br />
BalanceZyme Plus (Transformation) 49.50 55.00<br />
DigestZyme powder (Transformation) 31.50 35.00<br />
Plantadophilus (Transformation) 45.00 50.00<br />
SuperCellZyme (Transformation) 49.50 55.00<br />
Acid/Alkaline Food Chart 8.50 10.00<br />
Chewing Gum (perfect sweet) 2.55 3.00<br />
Chlorella (vitamin and mineral powder blend) 120g 20.35 23.95<br />
Alkalizer (Becoming Younger) 35.00 30.00<br />
Testing Kits (Global harmony) 37.40 41.20<br />
CH77 (Global harmony) 33.00 36.30<br />
Coconut oil (1 litre) Tropical Traditions 35.00 38.50<br />
Selenokehl (Sanum) 25.40 28.20<br />
Rainshow’r – dechlorinating shower fi lter 95.00 110.00<br />
Denta-Med Dental Care Product 15.00 16.50<br />
Supplements<br />
for optimum nutrition when<br />
diet alone is not enough<br />
MEMBERS RRP<br />
DEF – digestive enzyme formula (Orthoplex) 60’s 22.50 26.50<br />
Omega 3 (By Nature) 30.15 35.50<br />
Vital Greens 120g 25.10 29.50<br />
Vital Greens 400g 86.40 73.45<br />
Barley Green ikg 101.15 119.00<br />
Barley Green 200g 36.00 41.00<br />
B Vital (Orthoplex) 150g 20.30 23.90<br />
Alkala N (Sanum) 22.50 26.50<br />
Sanuvis (Sanum) 29.90 35.20<br />
Sanumgerman (Sanum) 35.90 42.25<br />
Vit C (200g with hesperidin) (Millenium) 16.35 19.25<br />
Vit C (500g with hesperidin) 35.45 41.70<br />
Hepatic Detox (Advanced Medicine) 30.50 35.90<br />
Glutamine (Advanced Medicine) 30.75 36.20<br />
Chelatox 120’s (Orthoplex) 45.60 53.60<br />
Multifl ora 30 caps (Orthoplex) 24.95 21.20<br />
Zymin 200ml (Orthoplex) 17.75 15.10<br />
Vit E 500IU100 caps (Vital) 20.85 17.70<br />
Arctic D Cod Liver Oil 237ml (Nordic) 39.95 33.95
HOW TO ORDER OUR PRODUCTS<br />
• All these items are available by personal collection or by mail order.<br />
• Payment can be made by cheque or credit card.<br />
• Postage is $5.00 for the fi rst item, then $2.50 per subsequent item in the order.<br />
• Please phone CSA on 9384 3544 to order, OR POST OR FAX THE ORDER FORM BELOW.<br />
• OR log on to the secure <strong>Wellness</strong> Shop website: www.wellnessshop.com.au.<br />
The online shop stocks the entire catalogue listed here and you can pay easily and securely<br />
with your credit card.<br />
MEMBERS RRP<br />
Balancing Cleanser 34.00 40.00<br />
Gentle Exfoliant (Sensitive) 25.50 30.00<br />
Balancing Moisturiser 42.50 50.00<br />
Rejuvenating Moisturiser 42.50 50.00<br />
Desert Flower Shampoo (Norn-Dry) 14.50 17.00<br />
Lemon Myrtle Shampoo (Norm-Oily) 14.50 17.00<br />
Shine Herbal Conditioner 14.50 17.00<br />
Anise Toothpaste 6.80 8.00<br />
Spearmint Toothpaste 6.80 8.00<br />
Lemon Toothpaste 6.80 8.00<br />
Sunshower Body Wash 10.20 12.00<br />
Ancient Spice Roll-on Deodorant 6.80 8.00<br />
Tahitian Breeze Roll-on Deodrant 6.80 8.00<br />
Aroma Free Deodorant 6.80 8.00<br />
Rainforest Air Freshener 8.40 9.90<br />
Buzz Free Personal Spray Insect Repellant 8.40 9.90<br />
Lip Balm 6.50 7.60<br />
Mascara (black) 17.25 20.25<br />
Styling Gel (hair) 14.50 17.00<br />
Blemish Gel 24.50 28.80<br />
WELLNESS SHOP ORDER FORM<br />
Your Name:<br />
Postal Address:<br />
MEMBERS RRP<br />
Body and Hair Cleanser (1 Litre) 12.75 15.00<br />
Sensitive Body and Hair Cleanser (1 Litre) 11.70 13.80<br />
Hair Conditioner (375ml) 14.20 16.70<br />
Moisturiser Lavender (250 ml) 15.70 18.50<br />
Disinfectant (1 Litre) 9.80 11.50<br />
Dishwashing Liquid (1 Litre) 8.90 10.40<br />
Dishwasher Powder (1 Kg) 13.90 16.30<br />
Fabric Conditioner (1 Litre) 8.60 10.10<br />
Laundry Liquid(1 Litre) 10.10 11.90<br />
Laundry Powder (1 Kg) 13.60 16.00<br />
Laundry Powder (5 Kg) 50.10 58.90<br />
Fruit and Vegetable Wash 8.20 9.60<br />
Oven and Barbeque Cleaner (1 Litre) 12.70 14.90<br />
Vigor All Purpose Cleaner (1 Litre) 9.00 10.50<br />
Delicate Wash (1 litre) 8.50 9.90<br />
Cloth Moth Trap 10.20 12.00<br />
Pantry Moth trap 11.10 13.00<br />
insect and Roach Trap 6.50 7.60<br />
Pet Sensitive (1 Litre) 19.50 23.00<br />
FORWARD PAYMENT TO:<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association<br />
PO Box 325 COTTESLOE, WA, 6911.<br />
FAX: (08) 9384 6196<br />
Postcode<br />
Enquiries: Tel (08) 9384 3544<br />
E: csa@cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Please include membership number for member prices:<br />
Web: www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
Please post my order & payment to the address below (must include postage).<br />
OR<br />
I will collect my order from the CSA, 80 Railway St. Cottesloe. Please phone me when ready on<br />
Product Name Unit Price Quantity Total Price<br />
NB: Please add $5.00 Postage and handling for fi rst item<br />
and $2.50 for each subsequent item. (Unless specifi ed)<br />
Payment Details:<br />
Miessence<br />
organic personal care products<br />
and cosmetics<br />
Sub Total<br />
Postage<br />
Total Cost<br />
I enclose my cheque/money order (to be made payable to the <strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association of WA Inc)<br />
OR<br />
Please debit my Bankcard M/card Visa Card Amex Diners<br />
Card Number Expiry Date<br />
Name on Card Signature<br />
Envirocare<br />
chemical free household and<br />
personal care products<br />
Mail this order form to: <strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association, PO Box 325 Cottesloe WA
62<br />
WELLNESS<br />
CSA<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong><br />
community<br />
notices<br />
If you would like to post<br />
something on the Bulletin Board<br />
email your notice to the Editor:<br />
csa_wellnessnews@yahoo.com.au<br />
COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH<br />
ASSESSMENT SCREENINGS.<br />
REDUCED PRICE FOR MEMBERS<br />
Paul Alexander, one of Australia’s leading natural<br />
health practitioners, is offering a very comprehensive<br />
Health Assessment Screening at a reduced price for<br />
CSA members. Contact Paul at the Tara Centre, or<br />
discuss this option with Dr. Peter Daale at CSA.<br />
CSA is looking for a<br />
REFLEXOLOGIST<br />
We are looking for a fully qualifi ed refl exology<br />
practitioner interested in off ering refl exology<br />
to our clients, on a semi-volunteer basis. Please<br />
contact Christine Robbins on 9384 3544 or<br />
email: crobbins@westnet.com.au<br />
Enjoy learning REIKI<br />
Roger Weston is off ering CSA members the<br />
opportunity to learn Reiki for $100 which is<br />
half price. Contact Roger for more information<br />
on 9384 2344. Put Healing in Your Hands!<br />
valet parking<br />
If you are attending CSA and would like assistance<br />
parking your car, please stop in the drive at the<br />
front of the building and ask reception.<br />
www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
environment • wellness • healing<br />
knowing what your<br />
needs are and how to<br />
get them met;<br />
expressing emotions<br />
in ways that<br />
communicate what<br />
you are experiencing to<br />
other people;<br />
acting assertively, and not<br />
passively or aggressively;<br />
enjoying your body by means of<br />
adequate nutrition, exercise and physical<br />
awareness;<br />
being engaged in projects that are<br />
meaningful to you;<br />
knowing how to create friendships with<br />
others;<br />
responding to challenges in life as<br />
opportunities to grow in strength and<br />
maturity; rather than feeling beset by<br />
“problems”;<br />
creating the life you really want, rather than<br />
just reacting to what “seems to happen;”<br />
relating to troublesome physical symptoms in<br />
ways that bring improvement in conditions as<br />
well as increased knowledge about yourself;<br />
enjoying a basic sense of well-being, even<br />
through times of adversity;<br />
knowing your own inner patterns...emotional<br />
and physical... and understanding “signals”<br />
your body gives you;<br />
trusting that your own personal resources are<br />
your greatest strength for living and growing;<br />
and experiencing yourself as a totally<br />
Wonderful Person!<br />
By Scott & Elizabeth McGlinn. From www.positivelyyoursinc.com.<br />
Positively Yours, Inc., is a Nonprofit Holistic Health Centre, founded in<br />
1991, whose purpose is to promote spiritual and emotional growth
...continued from page 33<br />
5. The principles of techniques for cleaning root canals.<br />
Of the remainder the titles are;<br />
6. An overview of the dental pulp: its functions and response to injury<br />
7. A clinical classification of the status of the pulp and the root canal system<br />
8. Treatment planning the endodontic case<br />
9. A big role for the very small – understanding the endodontic microbial flora<br />
10.The differential diagnosis of toothache from other orofacial pains in clinical<br />
practice.<br />
11.Management of tooth resorption<br />
Note that No’s 6 – 10 are little more than basic undergraduate teaching about<br />
endodontics. Nothing too controversial!<br />
Further research is always needed. How many people must suffer until the<br />
research is done? How many times do we need to reinvent the wheel before<br />
accepting that the research has been done nearly 100 years ago? How many<br />
people are the unwitting guinea pigs in the gigantic experiment called<br />
‘Further Research Is Needed’? ✦<br />
References<br />
An overview of the dental pulp: its functions and responses to injury C Yu, PV Abbott<br />
A clinical classifi cation of the status of the pulp and the root canal system PV Abbot,<br />
C Yu.<br />
The principles of techniques for cleaning root canals GR Young, P Parashos, HH<br />
Messer<br />
Dalton et al Bacterial reduction with nickel-titanium rotary instruments J. Endod 1985<br />
:18:35-40<br />
A big role for the very small – understanding the endodontic microbial fl ora D Figdor,<br />
G Sundqvist<br />
The use of calcium hydroxide, antibiotics and biocides as antimicrobial medicaments<br />
in endodontics<br />
B Athenassiadis, PV Abbot, LJ Walsh<br />
Curtis: Mechanism of Focal Infection J Am Dent Assoc Vol 42 June 1951(619-633)<br />
Thoden Van Velzen, et al 1984, Plaque and systemic disease; a reappraisal of the focal<br />
infection concept. J. Clin. Periodontol. 11: 209-220<br />
Treatment Planing the endodontic case’ by T. Yeng, HH Messer, p. Parashos<br />
Rosenberg P Case selection and treatment planning. Cohens S Burns R, eds. Pathways<br />
to the Pulp 8th edition St Louis, Mosby Inc 2002:91-102<br />
Love MR Enterococous Faecalsi a mechanism for its role in endodontic failure Int Endod<br />
J 2001;34:399-405<br />
Peters OA Current challenges and concepts in the preparation of root canal systems: a<br />
review J Endod 2004;30:559-567<br />
Wu MK et al., Consequences of and stratagies to deal with residual post-treatment root<br />
canal infections. Int Endod J 2006;39:343-356<br />
Nair PNR et al., Miacrobial status of apical root canal system of human mandibular fi rst<br />
molars with primary apical periodontitis after ‘one-visit’ endodontic treatment. Oral<br />
Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2005;99:231-252<br />
Implant or the natural tooth - a contemporary treatment planning dilemma? V John,*<br />
S Chen,* P Parashos*<br />
White SN, Miklus VG, Potter Ks, Cho J, Ngan AYW,. Endodontics and implants, a catalogue<br />
of therapeutic contrasts. J Evid Based Dent Pract. 2006;6:101-109<br />
Dr Robert Gammal is an Australian dentist based in NSW, Australia dedicated to imparting<br />
information about the negative effects of dentistry. With 24 others he formed the<br />
Australian Society of Oral Medicine and Toxicology and has released documentaries on<br />
related subjects. A series of courses for dentists and their staff and also for allied health<br />
care professionals are currently being organised. Please go to Dr Gammal’s website for<br />
further information: www.robertgammal.com. This site brings together a vast quantity of<br />
information about a variety of dental treatments and conditions, to allow everyone to be<br />
able to make real informed decisions.<br />
January/February <strong>2009</strong> WELLNESS 63<br />
In fond memory of those who have<br />
shared part of their journey with us...<br />
Connie Brown<br />
Vita Castiglione<br />
Sonia Bunic<br />
Carl Swanson<br />
Peter Shearer<br />
Simone Evertsen<br />
Robert Cribb<br />
Alexander Buchan<br />
Elizabeth Hanson<br />
Kim Taylor<br />
Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not<br />
there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds<br />
that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow.<br />
I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the<br />
gentle autumn rain...<br />
Free Stress Relief<br />
Treatment with<br />
Australian<br />
Flower Essences<br />
For CSA members with cancer, their<br />
families and carers. Appointments: Monday<br />
afternoons between 2.30-5.00pm<br />
Naturopath and massage therapist Nischa Blair is offering<br />
free stress relief treatments to CSA members at her clinic<br />
in Karrinyup on Monday afternoons to help cope with<br />
treatment. Family members or carers of people with<br />
cancer also require nurturing, and Nischa has extended<br />
her offer to them too.<br />
Nischa’s mother was a CSA member while she was going<br />
through her breast cancer journey, and she passed away 5<br />
years ago. We are very grateful to Nischa for her generous<br />
offer to our members.<br />
Nischa Blair is a Registered Naturopath specializing in<br />
natural pain and stress management, with experience in<br />
mind/body medicine and emotional wellness.<br />
The Clinic is located at 3 Jeanes Road,<br />
Karrinyup. Please phone 0422 476 501 to<br />
make a booking.<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Magazine Association of the <strong>Cancer</strong> www.cancersupportwa.org.au<br />
<strong>Support</strong> Association of WA September 2008
Print Post Approved<br />
633123/00019<br />
If undelivered return to:<br />
PO BOX 325,<br />
COTTESLOE WA 6911<br />
CM 147 00058<br />
WELLNESS<br />
The offi cial magazine of the<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association<br />
SURFACE<br />
MAIL<br />
Return this form to make a donation or become a CSA member...<br />
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Become a CSA member to receive a FREE SUBSCRIPTION TO WELLNESS magazine; two life-changing books ‘THE CHINA STUDY’<br />
and ‘MY DOG EATS BETTER THAN YOUR KIDS’; a FREE PLACE on CSA’s Meeting the Challenge 1 Day <strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Wellness</strong> Seminar;<br />
a FREE cancer information counselling session; 20% DISCOUNT in the <strong>Wellness</strong> Shop; a CSA Village Card; and more...<br />
Please post to<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong><br />
Association of WA<br />
PO Box 325,<br />
Cottesloe,<br />
WA, 6911<br />
ABN 16 776 691 650<br />
The <strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association of WA Inc is a registered charity and non-profi t organisation, formed to help people<br />
aff ected by cancer. The Association relies on donations, bequests and member subscriptions to continue its services.<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association<br />
<strong>Cancer</strong> <strong>Support</strong> Association cares for the environment. This magazine is printed on 100% genuine recycled<br />
oxygen-bleached paper using environmentally friendly vegetable based inks, and is fully recyclable. If you<br />
received this magazine in a bag, rest assured the bag too is 100% plant based and compostible!