Magnesium,Selenium and Zinc in Cancer Prevention - March 10, 2006

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- Mark Sircus Ac., OMD medicalnewscommentaries Friday, March 10, 2006 3:36 PMMedical News - IMVA - Magnesium,Selenium and Zinc in Cancer Prevention - March 10, 2006Magnesium, Selenium and Zinc in Cancer PreventionInternational Medical Veritas Association Since ending one’s life with cancer is not pleasant it behooves all of us to be concerned with its prevention. It certainly is time to get serious about cancer prevention, with the disease predicted to surge in the next 15 years. The Association for International Cancer Research (AICR) said that if current trends continue, the number of people developing cancer was set to rise at an "alarming" rate. The World Health Organization predicts that cases of cancer will increase by up to 50% worldwide by 2020. The weight of evidence based on the findings of wildlife biologists, toxicologists, and epidemiologists clearly indicates that the world’s populations are being exposed to a host of chemical contaminants that have recently passed over an invisible barrier and is now more dangerous and threatening than any combination of viruses. Chronic disease is the number one killer in the United States, accounting for about four out of five deaths in America each year. According to the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) about 100 million Americans, more than one-third of the population, suffer from some form of chronic disease like asthma, diabetes, cancer, heart and kidney disease or arthritis. Cancer is the second leading cause of death, exceeded only by heart disease. Among children ages 1 to 14, cancer is now the leading cause of death by disease. At current rates, invasive cancer will be diagnosed in half of all men and in one in three women in their lifetime. More than 1.3 million new cases of invasive cancer will be diagnosed in 2006 meaning that approximately 1,500 Americans will die of the disease everyday. “Whether it is cancer or autism that is affecting our families and showing up in our examination rooms, the growing rates of chronic disease compel us to search for clues and answers to determine the true causes of these increasingly prevalent illnesses,” says the PSR. Almost 100 percent of these people are suffering from chemical poisoning. “With rates of cancer incidence rising, mortality rates not falling, and an ever increasing armamentarium of high-tech scanners, radiotherapy equipment, and chemotherapeutic drugs being directed in what sometimes appears as a losing battle, there is no more emotive nor scientifically charged issue than cancer,” writes Dr. Sandra Goodman. Along with the rest of the allopathic medical establishment the last thing oncologists want to admit is that the population is suffering from poisoning from hundreds of carcogenic compounds and that this, in large part, is a great part of what is driving the escalating epidemic in cancer. In March of 2004, the federal government issued an unusually detailed alert to the nation’s 5.5 million health care workers: The powerful drugs used in chemotherapy can themselves cause cancer and pose a risk to nurses, pharmacists and others who handle them. Four years in the making, the alert was issued by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).Chemotherapy — the use of potent drugs to kill cancerous cells — is more than 60 years old. The first such drugs were nitrogen mustards, originally developed as chemical warfare agents. Modern chemotherapy drugs are so strong that they can cause secondary cancers in patients; to a healthy person, they’re poison. Most health care workers are clueless about how toxic these agents really are. Oncologists use treatments that cause cancer to treat cancer when they use radiation and chemotherapy treatments. (See upcoming IMVA essay for more information) A Harvard thesis has shown a connection between water fluoridationand a 700% increase in osteosarcoma in young men if they areexposed to fluoridated water during their 6th to 8th years. Dr. Paul Connett The prevailing medical paradigm surrounding cancer today is in total disavowal of nutrition as crucial in cancer prevention and treatment and this clearly puts the cancer industry and health officials in opposition to many distinguished research scientists. Though the data speaks for itself, in thousands of studies, the majority of cancer specialists are patronizing to patients who wish to use nutritional methods in their cancer treatment protocol. Oncologist’s vociferous and over-zealous protestations of the inherent worthlessness and supposed quackery of nutrition in cancer treatment is embarrassing to the institution of medicine. It exposes many of these doctors as little more than human leaches, extracting money and profits on the backs of cancer patients.[ii] Most main stream physicians are unaware of the extensive depth of evidence about nutrients preventing and alleviating many deadly diseases. This is a disgrace since we can save countless lives and reduce needless suffering if we apply the power of minerals and vitamins in the prevention and treatment of cancer. According to the National Foundation for Cancer Research the value of minerals as part of an anticancer diet is frequently overlooked. However, minerals can play a vital role in fighting cancer. A prime example is the mineral selenium, which has powerful antioxidant properties. Selenium (Se) is an essential micronutrient with important biological and biochemical functions in organisms because of its unique antioxidant properties and its ability to regulate thyroid gland metabolism. It is well known that Se is an antagonist that moderates the toxic effects of many heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead in organisms. Data suggests that a diet rich in selenium protects against cancers of the stomach, breast, esophagus, lung, prostate, colon, and rectum. According to Dr. Harold Foster death rates in the USA for cancer are lower when blood selenium levels are high. One important study found that high blood levels of selenium is associated with a four- to fivefold decrease in the risk of prostate cancer. Scientists at Stanford University studied 52 men who had prostate cancer and compared them to 96 men who didn’t.[iii] One surprising finding was that blood levels of selenium generally decreased with age. It is well known that the risk of prostate cancer increases dramatically as one ages. Those who have studied geographical differences have seen that in low-selenium regions, higher death rates occurred from malignant lymphomas and cancers of the tongue, esophagus, stomach, colon, rectum, liver, pancreas, larynx, lung, kidneys and bladder. In addition, cancer patients with low selenium levels tend to have a wider spread of the disease, more recurrences and die sooner.[iv] In China, where the selenium levels in the soils varies much more dramatically than in the United States and the population is less mobile, an ecological study in 1985 showed dramatic results in linking cancer with selenium deficiencies. Dr. Shu-Yu Yu measured the selenium content of blood stored in blood banks in 30 different regions in China, and classified the regions as high selenium, medium selenium, and low selenium. They then compared death rates from cancer to the selenium rates and found there was an exact correlation. In the low selenium classification, three times as many people died from cancer as in the high selenium classification. The West African country of Senegal is dominated by high concentrations of selenium in the soil and thus in their foods, and as expected, we find that Senegalese males had the world’s lowest rates for cancer of the trachea, bronchus and lung; stomach and colon; the fourth lowest for prostate cancer and sixth lowest for esophageal cancer. Senegalese women had the lowest incidence of cancers of the trachea, bronchus, lung, esophagus, stomach and colon and second lowest for breast cancer and fifth lowest for cancer of the uterus. There is no doubt that selenium is essential for human health and that these elements may protect against cancer and other diseases. For this reason people in regions which are naturally rich in selenium tend to live longer. Selenium, especially when used in conjunction with vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene, works to block chemical reactions that create free radicals in the body (which can damage DNA and cause degenerative change in cells, leading to cancer). Selenium also binds strongly with mercury protecting us from its damaging effects. Selenium helps stop damaged DNA molecules from reproducing, meaning it acts to prevent tumors from developing. “It contributes towards the death of cancerous and pre-cancer cells. Their death appears to occur before they replicate, thus helping stop cancer before it gets started,” says Dr. James Howenstine in A Physician’s Guide to Natural Health Products That Work. A 1996 study by Dr. Larry Clark of the University of Arizona showed just how effective selenium can be in protecting against cancer. In the study of 1,300 older people, the occurrence of cancer among those who took 200 micrograms of selenium daily for about seven years was reduced by 42 percent compared to those given a placebo. Cancer deaths for those taking the selenium were cut almost in half, according to the study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on December 25, 1996. In addition, the people who had taken selenium had 63 percent fewer prostate cancers, 58 percent fewer colorectal cancers, 46 percent fewer lung cancers and overall 37% fewer cancers. Selenium was found to reduce the risk of lung cancer to a greater degree than stopping smoking.[v] Magnesium It is generally accepted that a higher magnesium intake in the drinking water is associated with reduced cancer incidence and reduced frequency of cardiac infarction. Information is scarce about the relationship between cancer and magnesium but researchers from the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota have just concluded that diets rich in magnesium reduced the occurrence of colon cancer.[vi] A previous study from Sweden[vii] reported that women with the highest magnesium intake had a 40 per cent lower risk of developing the cancer than those with the lowest intake of the mineral. Preliminary data also suggests a relationship between low intake of magnesium and kidney cancer. Several studies have shown an increased cancer rate in regions with low magnesium levels in soil and drinking water as well. In Egypt the cancer rate was only about 10% of that in Europe and America. In the rural fellah it was practically non-existent. The main difference was an extremely high magnesium intake of 2.5 to 3 g in these cancer-free populations, ten times more than in most western countries.[viii] Dr Seeger and Dr Budwig in Germany have shown that cancer is mainly the result of a faulty energy metabolism in the powerhouses of the cells, the mitochondria. ATP and most of the enzymes involved in the production of energy require magnesium. A healthy cell has high magnesium and low calcium levels. The problem that comes with low magnesium (Mg) levels is the calcium builds up inside the cells while energy production decreases as the mitochondria gradually calcify. “Mg2+ is critical for all of the energetics of the cells because it is absolutely required that Mg2+ be bound (chelated) by ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the central high energy compound of the body. ATP without Mg2+ bound cannot create the energy normally used by specific enzymes of the body to make protein, DNA, RNA, transport sodium or potassium or calcium in and out of cells, nor to phosphorylate proteins in response to hormone signals, etc. In fact, ATP without enough Mg2+ is non-functional and leads to cell death. Bound Mg2+ holds the triphosphate in the correct stereochemical position so that it can interact with ATP using enzymes and the Mg2+ also polarizes the phosphate backbone so that the 'backside of the phosphorous' is more positive and susceptible to attack by nucleophilic agents such as hydroxide ion or other negatively charged compounds. Bottom line, Mg2+ at critical concentrations is essential to life,” says Dr. Boyd Haley who asserts strongly that, “All detoxification mechanisms have as the bases of the energy required to remove a toxicant the need for Mg-ATP to drive the process. There is nothing done in the body that does not use energy and without Mg2+ this energy can neither be made nor used.” Detoxification of carcinogenic chemical poisons is essential for people want to avoid the ravages of cancer. The importance of magnesium in cancer prevention should not be underestimated. The School of Public Health at the Kaohsiung Medical College in,Taiwan, found that magnesium also exerts a protective effect against gastric cancer, but only for the group with the highest levels.[ix] Among other effects, magnesium improves the internal production of defensive substances, such as antibodies and considerably improves the operational activity of white, granulozytic blood cells (shown by Delbet with magnesium chloride), and contributes to many other functions that insure the integrity of cellular metabolism. A Dr. Hans A. Nieper, back in 1961, introduced cardiac therapy based on magnesium aspartate. He was surprised to observe that hardly any new cancer occurrences appear in the group of patients so treated. The rate of new cancerous diseases with long-term magnesium therapy was reported to be less than 20% of the frequency otherwise expected. In an uncontrolled trial, researchers in the UK found that intravenous magnesium relieves neuropathy pain in patients with cancer.[x] Magnesium acts as a noncompetitive antagonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, which has been implicated in the transmission of pain, according to Dr. Vincent Crosby and colleagues at Nottingham City Hospital. It is known that carcinogenesis induces magnesium distribution disturbances, which cause magnesium mobilization through blood cells and magnesium depletion in non-neoplastic tissues. Magnesium deficiency seems to be carcinogenic, and in cases of solid tumors, high levels of magnesium inhibits carcinogenesis.[xi] Both carcinogenesis and magnesium deficiency increase the plasma membrane permeability and fluidity. Zinc No modern chemotherapy includes zinc adjuvant even though zinc serum levels are usually low in leukemic children. Epidemiologic studies suggest that zinc deficiency may be associated with increased risk of cancer.[xii] Zinc supplementation is associated with decreased oxidative stress and improved immune function, which may be among the possible mechanisms for its cancer preventive activity. Zinc is essential for health. It’s needed for the enzymes that regulate cell division, growth, wound healing, and proper functioning of the immune system. Zinc is an essential co-factor in a variety of cellular processes including DNA synthesis, behavioral responses, reproduction, bone formation, growth and wound healing. Zinc is a component of insulin and it plays a major role in the efficiency of most of the functions of the body. Zinc is necessary for the free-radical quenching activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), a powerful antioxidant enzyme which breaks down the free-radical superoxide to form hydrogen peroxide. Zinc is required for the proper function of T-lymphocytes. The mineral also plays a role in acuity of taste and smell. And zinc is required for proper functioning of genetics, immunity, formation of red blood cells, organ, muscle and bone function, cell membrane stability, cell growth, division, differentiation and genetics. Importantly, zinc is vital for the metabolism of Vitamin A. A paper by Dr. Mei and colleagues at the Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China, suggests that some aspects of immune function can be enhanced by treatment with zinc. The authors state that it would be “reasonable to expect that zinc is instrumental in restoring failing immunocompetence of cancer patients. Mei studied the influence of zinc and selenium-zinc upon the immune function (T-cells, granulocytes and NK cells) of cancer patients. The results showed that immune response was strengthened.[xiii] Leukemic cells contain much less zinc than normal lymphocytes, suggesting an error in zinc metabolism, which appears correctable with zinc treatment. Zinc also is known to have some beneficial interactions with chemotherapy drugs. In one recent case, upon noting low blood levels of zinc in a 3-year-old 11.3 kg girl, zinc at the rate of 3.18 mg/kg body weight/day was administered from the start of chemotherapy through the full 3 years of maintenance therapy. Dosage was split with 18 mg given at breakfast and 18 mg zinc with supper. The result was a bone marrow remission from 95+% blast cells to an observed zero blast cell count in both hips within the first 14 days of treatment which never relapsed.[xiv] Dr. Mathais Rath wrote that “500 years ago, the Roman church was making billions of Thaler (early dollars) by selling indulgences, an imaginary “key to heaven” for its believers. Then the fraud scheme collapsed and with it much of the power of the church. Today, the pharma business uses the same fraud scheme. It tries to sell the “key to health” to millions of people and takes away billions of dollars in return for an illusion: the deception that the pharmaceutical industry is interested in your health.”[xv] The cancer industry is among the most aggressive areas in the medical arena and the FDA will swoop in with automatic weapons into doctors’ offices if they step out of line with acknowledged oncology protocols. Medical fascism is perhaps at its worst in the cancer area with oncologists insisting that poisoning patients with chemicals and radiation is the only and best way to go. Minerals are essential for life and health and provide the keys for the prevention of cancer. Minerals (in the form of cesium chloride)[xvi] also provide a reasonably safe way to treat advanced stage four cancer without resorting to the slash and burn tactics of radiation and chemotherapy. It’s a frightening world when it comes to cancer and that fright is made much worse by the medical authorities who insist their way is the only way. Not only do they let the ball drop by not informing us about how to avoid cancer, but if we get it, they will use therapies that are as dangerous to live healthy cells as they are to the cancer cells. Cesium chloride on the other hand aggressively kills cancer cells by turning their internal chemistry alkaline. Mark Sircus Ac., OMDDirector International Medical Veritas Association http://www.MagnesiumForLife.comhttp://www.imva.infohttp://www.detoxchelationclinic.comhttp://www.worldpsychology.net+55-83-3252-2195www.skype.com ID: marksircus International Medical Veritas Association Copyright 2006 All rights reserved. IMPORTANT