leading edge
FIGHT CANCER with a Healthy Immune System by Allan Tomson
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n an article in last month’s Natural Awakenings, the basic components of the immune system, namely the innate and adaptive parts, were discussed—including a discussion on how they work together to keep us safe from microbes. Just as a reminder, the innate “arms” include barriers like the skin and membranes, as well as macrophages and neutrophils that can engulf the microbes and kill them. The innate system also has the natural-killer cells that attack anything that doesn’t register as one’s own body’s cells and uses fever and inflammation to kill invaders. Alternatively, the adaptive system relies on specific microbes and antibodies that create an exact copy of the viral membrane identity so that it can be tagged for destruction. To carry on with this topic, this article will focus on how some microbes and disease processes have mechanisms that block or fool the immune system.
Just as all living things have done over time to ensure survival, they have adapted over time. Specifically, cancer is a master at hiding out and self-preservation. At any given time, every human has cancer cells floating around in his or her body. Luckily, the job of the immune system is to seek them out and destroy them. Certain white blood cells tell the T-cells to attack. These same proteins can also tell the T-cells to remain idle and not attack. Over time, cancer cells “learn” this and have developed a way to tell the T-cells to stand down—thus protecting itself from attack. Not only does cancer fool the immune system, but it is also very good at two other things. First, it can take over gene expression in processes like cell division and make them run nonstop without interference from the normal mechanisms that cause it to stop. Therefore, cancer
cells don’t die. They just keep dividing, growing and proliferating. (Indeed, proteins that can make genes code for cell growth are much higher in cancer cells.) The second thing is that when cancerous cells number about 1 million, these cells can’t get enough nutrition from the surrounding tissues so it has to get it from the blood and has developed the ability to take over the genes that code for angiogenesis (blood vessel production). Cancer causes one’s body to produce new blood vessels that go right to it, ensuring endless nutrients for endless growth. To protect oneself, it is important to keep one’s body in a high-functioning state with a strong immune system. However, we tend to do things that are detrimental to its maintenance, like eating a high-fat, high-sugar diet and drinking alcohol or smoking. We might skip exercising, or we do too much of it. Also, we push ourselves to make deadlines or to achieve higher performance that uses up our energy reserves. Maybe we don’t give ourselves time to rejuvenate fully, giving ourselves enough sleep, which is to recharge one’s nervous system. There are some things that we can do, like eating a live-food diet full of antioxidants (lots of berries), getting regular exercise and including vitamin supplements into one’s daily regime, such as green tea extract, quercetin, resveratrol and curcumin. Some form of relaxation, like meditation, is very useful to stay in balance as is regular bodywork like chiropractic, acupuncture, massage or other therapies. These techniques help clear blockage in the nervous system, meridians and soft tissue that occur in the activities in our busy lives. Allan Tomson, DC, is the executive director of Neck Back & Beyond Healing Arts, an integrative wellness center in Fairfax, with a satellite office in Manassas. Tomson is a chiropractor and has skills and experience in functional medicine, visceral manipulation, CranioSacral Therapy and Cayce protocols. To learn more on this topic, contact Dr. Tomson at 703-865-5690 or visit NeckBackAndBeyond.com. See ad, page 9. February 2020
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