May 2010 Wellness News

Vol. 25 No.5. MAY 2010

online magazine of the Cancer Support Association

wellness news

Patron – His Excellency Dr. Ken Michael AC, Governor of Western Australia

environment, wellness and healing

TOP 10 CANCER FIGHTING FOODS COENZYME Q10 AND CANCER

ASHES & SNOW

THE HEALING IMAGES OF GEOFFREY COLBERT

SPIRITUAL MEDICINE? PERSONAL WHOLENESS IN THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE

WINTER’S HEALING GIFTS

LOOK INWARDS TO DISOCVER THE HEALER WITHIN

FREEZE AWAY BREAST CANCER

PROMISING NEW TREATMENT

WE LOVE SOUP

HEALING RECIPES FOR WINTER

Cancer Support Association of WA Inc.

editorial...

wellness news monthly online magazine of the Cancer Support Association of Western Australia Inc.

Wellness News e-magazine is published online and distributed free to members of the Cancer Support Association.

Wellness News magazine is dedicated entirely to environment, wellness and healing. The magazine is for people with cancer or serious health issues; for people who are well and want to maintain their good health naturally; and for complementary, alternative and integrative health professionals.

Please enjoy your Wellness experience!

news team...

Editor Mandy BeckerKnox editor.wellness@yahoo.com.au Editorial Consultant Dr. Peter Daale

online at...

www.cancersupportwa.org.au

turn your attention inwards and find the light and warmth within Dear Readers,

As the days shorten and the mornings become crisp I rejoice

that winter is almost here! The calm, still beauty of cold winter mornings and the wild storms which keep us indoors offer quiet downtime for personal reflection and healing meditation – time to reassess and count the blessings in our lives. The winter season is the perfect time to turn our attention inwards and take a closer look at our personal choices. From inside the warm cocoon of our homes we have an opportunity to appreciate the good things in our lives and to think about the future.

To stay balanced during winter, our lifestyle, diet and habits need to change from the carefree, sociable and busy pace of the warmer months. Eating warming foods such as nurturing soups, slowsimmered stews, beans, roasted root vegetables, and warm drinks provides a good way to replenish energy. More time at home means more time with your family and close friends, more time rugging up in coats and scarves taking winter walks with beloved pets, more time to read, reflect, write, create – activities all conducive to deep healing. Winter is the time for a gentle approach to exercise and self-care. Activities such as yoga and saunas maintain health and provide the perfect counterbalance to time spent in stressful workplaces, shopping centres and overspending. After a gentle winter of self-love and healing you will be ready to emerge from your cocoon of quiet and warmth with renewed vitality and a fresh, powerful, positive outlook. ✦

Healing takes time.

Despite great advances in medicine, the biggest part of your recovery is attributable to the enormous healing power inside you. The body heals itself according to its own timetable – anxious thoughts never hasten recuperation.

Criswell Freeman

Cover Image by Geoffrey Colbert from the Ashes and Snow series. See our special feature on page 16 for more amazing images.

MEETING THE CHALLENGE!

one day cancer wellness workshop

NEW CSA members can attend free!

Life Changing Information for people with cancer presented by Dr. Peter Daale, Paul Alexander & Michael Sandford One day seminars for people living with cancer and their carers with a special focus on accessing key cancer information online, nutrition, and meditation. Held on the first Friday of every month. Upcoming 2010 dates: 4th June, 2nd July, 2nd August from 9.30am-4.30pm.

To book phone CSA 9384 3544

in this edition... features 7 WINTER’S HEALING GIFTS 8 14 16 22

THE SPIRITUAL DIMENSION OF PERSONAL WHOLENESS IN THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE COENZYME Q10 AND CANCER ASHES AND SNOW The healing art of Geoffrey Colbert

CANCER’S SILVER LINING

regular 2 EDITORIAL Winter 5

18 20

IN THE NEWS New Study Finds Multivitamins and Calcium Slash Breast Cancer; New Method to Freeze Away Breast Cancer [6]; Genetic breakthrough findings often bogus, even when in medical journals [19]

FOOD NEWS Top 10 Cancer Fighting Foods RECIPES Warming winter soups: nurturing and healing

W inter’s Res urg enc

e

Winter has come upon us with her majestic stillness and fierce storms Blanketing us in her winter’s lair Beckoning us to breath in rhythm And it is here that I speak my prayer: ‘Take a part of me deep into your forested womb Keep me there, giving me rest, away from worldly desires and despairs Cover me with your insight and love Hold me like there is no where else to go, nothing more to become Heal me of my tired and disenchanted ways Let me be still inside, my belly connected with yours like the dormant snake of winter lying securely in you’ And when your mists begin to lift, may your nurturing womb flow me out and birth me new

By K. McCauley dedicated to Sarah Dole, teacher and friend

Michael Leunig

Meditation Made Easy weekly meditation classes with Bavali Hill Every Monday at CSA from 10am to 11.30am. Newcomers welcome.

Cost: Free for CSA Members, $5 for non-members. No booking necessary.

CSA weekly program...

May/June 2010 MONDAY Meditation Made Easy .................................................................................10.00 – 11.30am Ongoing Lessons with Bavali Hill. FREE FOR MEMBERS (non-members $5) No bookings necessary.

About the Cancer Support Association of WA Inc The Cancer Support Association of Western Australia Inc is a nonprofit charitable organisation which was established in 1984.

CSA’s key intention is to help people become informed, empowered and supported on their cancer and wellness journeys. CSA encourages an integrative, well-informed understanding of health and treatment options and strategies, and is committed to supporting all people, regardless of their treatment choices.

CSA supports individuals who are living with cancer, their families, carers and the wider community through the services we provide, as well as through our widely distributed publications and unique cancer information website.

TUESDAY Yoga with Sydel Weinstein ($10 / $5 members) ...................................... 9.30 – 10.30am Wellness and Healing Open Support Group ............................... 10.00 – 12.00noon with Dr. Angela Ebert Carer’s Wellness and Healing .............................................................. 10.00 – 12.00noon Open Support Group (when required) Reiki Clinic .....................................................................................................12.15pm – 1.30pm

WEDNESDAY Laughter Yoga with Kimmie O’Meara ($3.00) ...................................11.00am – 12.00pm Grief and Loss Open Support Group ................................................... 1.00pm – 3.00pm last Wednesday of each month Chinese Medical Healthcare Qigong ($10/$5 members) ........... 1.30pm – 3.00pm with Master Andrew Tem-Foo Lim

FRIDAY Meeting the Challenge 1 Day Seminar ................................................9.30am – 4.30pm 1ST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH with Dr. Peter Daale (and others).

DAILY Wellness Counselling and Information Sessions with Dr. Peter Daale ........................................................................................... by appointment General Counselling with Dr. Angela Ebert .................................................. by appointment Phone direct on 0414 916 724 or 9450 6724 or email a.ebert@murdoch.edu.au

Please phone CSA on 9384 3544 or check our website for further information. We can help you with information packs, course prices, confirm course times and make bookings.

CSA’s workshops, courses, groups, and complementary therapies are advertised throughout this publication and are held at CSA’s premises in Cottesloe unless otherwise stated.

at CSA with Master Andrew Lim Every Wednesday from 1:30pm to 3pm in the Sun Room at CSA. Cost $5.00 (CSA members) or $10.00 per class Phone CSA reception for more details on 9384 3544. Bookings not necessary.

May 2010

WELLNESS NEWS 5

in the news...

New Study Finds Multivitamins and Calcium Slash Breast Cancer A new study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting has found

that women who take multivitamins and calcium drastically reduce their odds of getting breast cancer.

The study, conducted at the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico, found that women who routinely took multivitamins reduced their risk of developing breast cancer by almost 30 percent. Women who took nutritional supplements and calcium fared even better – reducing their risk by 40 plus percent.

Lead author PhD Jaime Matta and his colleagues from the Ponce School of Medicine in Puerto Rico found nutrient supplementation was linked to positive results when taken over an extended period.

“It is not an immediate effect” said Matta. “However, we did see a long-term effect in terms of breast cancer reduction”.

The study compared the lifestyle habits of 268 breast cancer sufferers to those of 457 healthy women.

Matta concluded that vitamin supplements may help subjugate cancer risk by enhancing DNA repair capacity.

Ironically, the study coincides with another study that is receiving widespread attention. That study conducted by Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that women who take multivitamins have a 20% increase in the risks of getting breast cancer.

Many find that the idea that adequate amounts of vitamins and minerals could somehow be unhealthy is absurd. Not surprisingly, criticism of the study has been immediate. However, one may have to go far down the mainstream reports to find any criticisms or doubts, if at all.

Professor John Boyages, director of the Westmead Breast Cancer Institute and spokesman for the National Breast Cancer Foundation, said he “wouldn’t put any weight” on the study, as there were “many complicated risk factors involved in breast cancer.”

Likewise, the Australia Complementary Healthcare Council cautioned consumers to “not panic” at the findings. It also cited “concerns over limitations to the study”, such as its reliance on self-administered questionnaires and failure to look at the bioactivity of multivitamin ingredients.

No mention was made in the study of whether the health habits of the women who took the vitamins were compared to those who didn’t take vitamins. Neither was there any mention of what kind of multivitamins the women took. Too many people think that they can offset unhealthy diets and lifestyles by popping a daily vitamin pill. In addition, over 95% of such supplements consist of ground up rocks, petroleum by-products and coal-tar derivatives.

Virtually every study which has returned negative results about vitamins or minerals has used the inferior and unnatural forms, instead of the forms found in nature. In addition, virtually all such studies fail to take into account the fact that nature works synergistically.

Isolating individual vitamins and minerals or other nutrients and adding them to an overall unhealthy diet might be compared to putting a hasty patch on a leaky roof on a building with a crumbling foundation. You might get some relief, but when a bad storm (disease) comes along, you may be ill prepared to keep the storm at bay.

A recent study found that women who take multivitamins have a 20% higher chance of getting breast cancer.

Australian experts disagree with the findings and cite many flaws in the study including the type of synthetic and unnatural vitamins used. Another recent study found that vitamins and calcium actually reduce the chance of breast cancer.

Mainstream medical science makes the same mistakes when it tries to synthesize vitamins and compounds found in nature, or else uniquely isolate them. Doing so does not produce the natural molecule with supporting compounds or the whole vitamin profile found in nature. It does, however, produce something that can be patented and profited from. It also produces something that the body does not recognise as natural and which is liable to have side effects over 95% of the time.

It isn’t rocket science. Sadly, it is medical science. ✦ From: www.naturalnews.com, 10th May 2010 by Tony Isaacs.

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6 WELLNESS NEWS

May 2010

in the news...

New Method to Freeze Away Breast Cancer A small but promising study suggests that cryotherapy, a procedure typically used to treat

prostate cancer, could be applied as an effective treatment for breast cancer. If further studies confirm these early findings, breast cancer patients could one day be able to opt for a simple outpatient’s procedure to freeze the tumour, as an alternative to surgery.

In the clinical trials, researchers were able to kill breast cancer cells by freezing them using a technique known as image-guided, multiprobe cryotherapy.

Breast-cancer sufferers could avoid the need for surgery in the future after doctors discovered a way of destroying tumours by freezing them.

All of the 13 women who participated in the trail were still alive and showed no clinical evidence of cancer recurrence at an average of 18 months, up to five years after having the procedure.

They also reported minimal pain and a high satisfaction with the cosmetic results following the treatment. The 13 patients had a total of 25 tumours, ranging in size from 0.5 centimetres to 5.8 centimetres. The average tumour size was 1.7 centimetres.

Pioneer of cryotherapy, Peter J. Littrup, MD, says the findings show that even large breast tumours can be successfully treated with the nonsurgical freezing technique. Cryotherapy works by delivering a very low temperature gas to the tumour using needle-like probes. Littrup explained that a single-probe freezing approach has been used for several years to treat breast cancer, but it is widely considered to be unsuitable for tumours larger than 1.5 centimetres.

He added that recent technological advances resulting in smaller and easier-to-manage probes and better ways to guide them to the tumour have made nonsurgical cryotherapy an attractive option for breast cancer.

Using local anesthesia with mild sedation, an average of three probes per tumour were guided to the tumour site using either ultrasound alone or ultrasound with computed tomography (CT) imaging. The probes produced “ice balls” ranging in size from 2 centimetres to 10 centimetres, depending on the size of the targeted tumour.

Littrup says most patients had complete healing of the frozen area with very little or no scaring within six months. He hopes to conduct larger studies in breast cancer patients using a cryotechnology procedure that uses magnetic resonance (MR) to guide the probes. Littrup developed and has patented this technology, and he says it is potentially useful in the treatment of many types of cancer. ✦ From: Bigpond News, March 18, 2010

Breast cancer: do you know what to look for? Consult your doctor if you notice any of these changes...

CSA Laughter Club with Kimmy O’Meara

HE WHO LAUGHS LASTS!

At the CSA every Wednesday morning 11.00am to 12.00pm (note: new time for 2010) Cost: CSA Members $3; Others $5. For enquiries phone CSA on 9384 3544.

www.cancersupportwa.org.au environment • wellness • healing

May 2010

WELLNESS NEWS 7

By Puja Thomson

Last week’s winter storm brought me back into balance. It helped me to cease and desist.

NO argument. Everything cancelled. What relief. No cars to be heard to distract from the silence. Luckily, I was not missing out on some long-anticipated treat. In fact, I had scheduled a two-day liquid-only cleanse. Perfect!

Winter’s gifts – hibernation and dormancy, both easy to ignore during the recent mild months of this winter, when the seasons have seemed topsy-turvy, came into their own. Yielding into rest, or retreating into the cave when all around is quiet, has long been part of nature’s cycle of healing and growth. Such downtime to recover from wear and tear is part of our cellular memory. Thank you, storm, for the reminder; and, after the lull, the busyness of life comes soon enough.

Rest and relaxation support healing at every level – body, mind, emotions and spirit. The body needs to rest in order to amplify its own healing energies. It is always good to respect that need – especially in our speed-driven culture. When you feel physically depleted, mentally exhausted, emotionally drained, or spiritual dry, your body is giving you a message to slow down, hibernate for a while and find, whenever possible, quiet space and quality time just to be. I’d rather be a “human being” than a “human doing,” wouldn’t you?

It may seem difficult to make room for rest and relaxation when you are caught up in an active life or if you are worried about a health challenge, but in either case doing so is a lifeline to good health. By slowing down into an acceptance of rest, you’ll regenerate your cells, replenish your energy, and renew your spirit. It’s always beneficial to get enough sleep and plenty of fresh air. And learning to let go of tensions and stress is another important key to health.

Here’s what you can do: • Create an environment of peace and quiet with as few distractions as possible for times of rest and relaxation, so turn off the telephone, cell phone, TV, and computer.

• Stop what you are doing and notice how you are breathing. Put your hand on your chest or abdomen; feel the rise and fall; deepen and slow your breath to sink into a rhythm of greater calm.

Born and brought up in Scotland, Puja Thomson is a health care professional, educator, workshop leader, and minister of healing. Recently, she drew from her personal experiences with cancer and her holistic perspectives to write AFTER SHOCK: From Cancer Diagnosis to Healing – A Step-by-Step Guide to Help You Navigate Your Way. From Cancer Diagnosis to Healing is a user-friendly step-by-step guide, providing encouragement and practical advice to help patients and their families organize all aspects of their cancer experience-specifically: Medical choices: How to enlist support; get the most out of doctor appointments; make informed treatment decisions based on both established Western practices and complementary and alternative therapies. The overwhelming mountain of paperwork: How to track medical reports, test results, billing, insurance, personal notes and information about cancer. A personal “wellness program”: How to select healthful practices such as relaxation, guided imagery, exercise and diet to support lifestyle changes; using the mind, emotions and spirit to contribute to physical healing.

Available now from www.amazon.com

• Put your feet up; simply rest.

• Have a nap.

• Listen to a calming CD. • Think about the rhythm of your week. Are there natural breaks in your schedule when you can put aside routine tasks – daily? Weekly? There’s great wisdom in the ancient practice of taking a complete day of rest every seventh day.

• Think about the rhythm of your year…and take the opportunity to cozy in before spring awakens us up again.

And now…. as you slow down, take another deep breath, or two, or three. Breathe in the miracle of life and release any tension on the exhalation. You really can be your own best friend. ✦ From: Chronogram magazine, 18th February

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May 2010

By Evarts G. Loomis, MD

It was well pointed out twenty-five hundred years ago in the words ascribed by Plato to Socrates: “So neither ought you to attempt to cure the body without the soul; and this is the reason why the cure of many diseases is unknown to the physicians of Hellas, because they are ignorant of the whole.” Thus, medical practice of today gives comparatively little consideration to this total view of the patient. The medical office

functions much as the factory service department for most electric repairs. While that role is important, it is not until someone turns on the power that the motor becomes functional. The following discussion is an attempt to observe the role of medicine yesterday, today, and as it might become tomorrow. Included are some contingent experiences of healing in which the role of Spirit seems to have played a dominant role.

www.cancersupportwa.org.au environment • wellness • healing

May 2010

WELLNESS NEWS 9

THE HISTORICAL PLACE OF SPIRIT IN MEDICAL PRACTICE

The prevalent model of ancient times saw the human being as an integral part of the

universe. Chinese medicine, the Ayurvedic system of India and the medicine of our Native Americans viewed the phenomena that make up health and disease as related to the universe as a whole. They considered the life of human beings to be inseparably linked to every other form of life, whether animals, birds, trees, plants or even the less perceptible forms of material things. In these civilizations, physician and priest were one and the same. In the centuries that followed there was an increasing separation between the two, and the cosmic tie between human beings and the universe they inhabit was gradually lost to sight. Evidences of the dichotomy were to be seen as far back as the second century AD when the master physician, Galen, through his animal dissections, drew many incorrect conclusions concerning the nature of his patients’ problems.

By the sixteenth century, Copernicus had begun to unravel the mysteries of the solar system and Vesalius had made accurate dissections of the human body. Thus, the focus of scientific study became more and more intent on the parts, while the dynamics that controlled and operated these parts, whether in the human or universal form, were relatively lost to sight.

Morgagni and Vircho carried the study of the human body in health and disease still further with the birth of the science of pathology. From that time, some one hundred and thirty years ago, till the present, the search for pathological changes in human tissues has been the basic pursuit of the modern physician. Further studies by Pasteur and Flexner brought to light the role of bacteria and viruses in disease states, and formulated the questionable concept that these agents attacking from outside were largely responsible for much of present-day illness. The patient was seen as having little responsibility for these attacks. The role of the physician was to mount a counterattack upon the invading agents. Thus, antibiotics and antitoxins came upon the scene, along with various forms of chemotherapy. However, there is little doubt that the former have been of inestimable benefit to mankind.

The late Welsh surgeon, Griffith Evans, postulated that “the human protein molecule is sensitive to waves of thought and that there is nothing to mar the rhythm of resonance that was meant to be.” Whole molecules, he claimed, are both saturated and healthy.

Breaches in the orbits of molecules spell disorder and disease.

In the early nineteen hundreds, with the advent of the Flexner report, it was claimed that the empirical (experimental) approach to medical studies was unscientific and should be banned from medical school curricula. In its place a rational analytical approach was instituted, while any acknowledgement that the patient had a part in the illness was flatly denied, as was the use of natural remedies or modalities that had been felt to support the person’s own healing tendencies. Such forms of therapy were automatically (usually without any investigation) branded as quackery, and might even be grounds for the loss of a physician’s license.

In this setting, the role of the patient in illness was relatively lost and the disease became the entire focus of attention. From the above statements, it should not be assumed that this was a death knoll for such types of practice, though it definitely set research in the natural field of healing back for more than half a century.

CRIES IN THE WILDERNESS The prevalent direction of medicine leading up to its current practice has been briefly outlined. It must not, however, be assumed that while the light of Spirit flickered, it went out. In the sixteenth century a remarkable Swiss physician-philosopher, Paracelsus, had much to say about an “Ens Natural” or healing force and its relation to health. Two hundred years later Samuel Hahemann appeared on the German scene and founded the science of homeopathic medicine, now a worldwide practice. He believed that a “vital source” could strengthen his patients. This was brought about by the use of attenuated remedies derived from the mineral, plant and animal kingdom. In that state, they appeared to him to return to their life-giving essences.

Each of us is here to discover our true Self…that essentially we are spiritual beings who have taken manifestation in physical form… that we‘re not human beings that have occasional spiritual experiences…that we’re spiritual beings that have occasional human experiences. ~ Deepak Chopra

In the early part of this century there has been outstanding research into the role of consciousness in healing, stemming from the earlier studies of Mesmer and his continued on next page...

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...from previous page

awareness of the power of suggestion. This was followed by Freud’s research into the relation of subconscious activities to the state of health. Further probing of the recesses of the human mind by Jung revealed once again the significance of dreams and through the understanding of archetypal symbols, brought a realisation of the oneness of all life.

Seeing as he did the evolution of the human spirit as essential to true health, psychiatrist Roberto Assagioli pioneered new field of psychosynthesis. In his own words: “Psychosynthesis should not be looked upon as a single psychological doctrine or procedure. It is a dramatic conception of the psychic life which portrays as a constant interplay and conflict between the many different and contrasting forces and a unifying center which tends to control, harmonize and use them creatively. Psychosynthesis is a combination of several methods of inner action, aiming first at development of personality, then at the harmonious coordination and unification with the self.

These processes may be called respectively personal and spiritual psychosynthesis. The isolated individual doesn’t exist. Every person has intimate relation with other persons, which make all interdependent. Moreover each and all are included in and are part of the super-individual reality.”

THE LOSS OF THE PERSON In the century past, the image of the country doctor always on call and ready to venture out in his horse-drawn buggy for many a mile was a familiar one. The patient was usually greeted by name and there would be time to share in a very personal way the events that might relate to the onset of the illness. This personal touch is by no means prevalent in the medical practice of today, where the sick one must be brought to a busy emergency room (usually entailing a long wait) or to the doctor’s office to be seen by a nurse or a physician’s assistant, with only a very brief exchange with the doctor. Today, X-rays, sonograms, electrocardiograms and CAT scans, important as they are, have largely taken the place of the inquiring look of the physician: the palpating touch of sensitive fingers, the attentive ears in search of adventitious sounds through the stethoscope, followed by an informative evaluation of the problem at hand.

Is it not a real question whether the advantages of the institutional approach can ever offset the sacrifice of the relationship between a really caring and concerned physician and the patient? All too often the methodical, instrumental search ends with the conclusion that there is nothing that can be done for the patient, or a suggestion that some new chemotherapy of no really proven worth be tried out. The toxic side effects of the medication may even increase the person’s suffering.

It is not unusual today to hear in the hospital halls such remarks as: “What was the serum potassium on that cardiac case in room 25?” or “Say Bill, was that Henry I saw out with that appendectomy we operated on two weeks ago?” This is indeed the era of the specialist, frequently with keyhole vision, functioning purely as a technician.

Body parts are neatly stored for appropriate replacement, and lives are being saved that formerly would have been lost. For this we are indeed thankful. The physician as technician is triumphant, but where is his person?

LIFE AS A BATTLEFIELD The divisions within the human heart are great. The apostle Paul aptly described the struggle between human sense desires and

the higher self: “For I do not know what I do; and I do not do the thing which I want, but I do the thing I hate. That is exactly what I do.”

The Baghavad Gita pictures a literal battlefield where the warrior Arjuna finds himself between two armies and is counseled by his Higher Self, Krishna. All cultures seem to have had such hidden battle sagas. The ancient Greeks produced the Ilia; out of the Near East came the Bible, its Old Testament filled with such struggles that should not be interpreted merely in the literal sense. Laurens Van der Post in his “Venture Into The Interior” describes the human dilemma. One evening on safari in Africa, as the coolies danced all night around the fire, Van der Post noted: “The coolie lights his fire, is happy at once and dances all night. We could, but will not, as we are split. We have too much light and as we are split. We have too much light and not enough understanding of our darkness and fear. He would go anywhere for half our love.

There is no problem. The problem is ours, our divided hearts.”

The study of dreams is a continuing commentary on this personal struggle, a symbolic battle between the forces of god and evil as experienced in daily life. The latter is frequently represented by threatening animals or persons and the former by a guarding angelic force in the form of a wise old man, a matriarchal mother figure or some angelic being. Is not the success or failure in this struggle an all-important factor in determining health?

THE NATURE OF ILLNESS Obviously, for any degree of comprehension of illness, there must be a reasonable understanding of the nature of health. Much as a source of electricity is needed to operate a motor, there must be a source of radiant energy to spark a human being. This has already been referred to as a “vital force.” Up to the present time this is still not recognized in the conventional disease-oriented medical practice. The degree of “charge” in a human being is as apparent in his actions and the atmosphere surrounding him as is the spark given off by a well-charged battery. The relative presence or absence of this force could be considered as a criterion of the state of health.

The major religions have in many instances seen this vital force as light and related it to God, the Creator: Genesis: “And God said: ‘Let there be Light’ and there was Light.”

St. John: “The life was in him, and life is the Light of man.”

Emerald Tablets of Thoth (American Indian): “From chaos and angels of night, saw I Light spring from order, and heard the voice of Light…saw Light give forth life.”

Out of this light energy come the tiny particles or wave forms that give a sense of reality to the physical world; the mesons, photons, etc., the precursors of the more stable atoms constituting the physical body and its recorder of consciousness, the brain. The late Yale chemist and author, Donald Andrews, describes Light as having an eternal verity and as operative within the human spirit.

He further asks, “Is not true healing the rediscovery of this Light, and the taking it into our being?”

The following questions naturally arise: How does one promote the flow of this life-giving force? How does the human find resonance with the Divine? And lastly, how does one turn away from the resistance factors of illness? Much of the rest of this discussion will relate to these three vital points.

Most significant in the new Holistic Health movement is the

www.cancersupportwa.org.au environment • wellness • healing

May 2010

WELLNESS NEWS 11

emphasis on the physician’s turning over the responsibility of the healing to the patient and merely acting as a guide during the process. History tends to show that the healer is within the person, and if there is no interference and a true dedication, the body and mind tend to heal themselves. Possibly, the centuries-old method of fasting may be the best initial procedure for many illnesses, its purpose being a clearing of the resistances to the natural healing process. In the Meadowlark experience, where several thousand fasts have been conducted, personal symptoms of illness seem to fade into the background and disappear. These then tend to be replaced by a feeling of a new freshness in the body, a clarity of mind and spiritual insights.

To further improve the environment of the individual, the field of medical ecology has recently come into focus. The need of this approach was well stated one hundred and thirty years ago by chief Seattle of Dunwanish Tribe in a letter to President Franklin Pierce: “Continue to contaminate your bed and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with sweat of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted out by talking wires, where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone…” Today the truth of this prediction is all too evident in the multiple sources of contamination of our environment which has remained in its natural state. There is still time to effect the change, but unless there is an escalation of attention to the problems of contamination through radiation, the chemical pollution of air, water, soil, food, and mind (the latter through the negativity of the media), the future of the human race is by no means promising.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE PERSON As recounted by Assagioli, there are two significant steps in any depth healing; first, the discovery of the personal self, and second, an awareness of the spiritual self. The earth is covered with myriad forms of life, each species (with one exception, the human being), having a distinctive behavior pattern.

It is hardly likely that anyone would mistake the reactions of a lion with those of a lamb. Each human being exhibits characteristics and abilities, either latent or expressed, that are entirely unique. Jesus pictured this in his parable of the talents. The great human problem is that for the most part, these talents lie buried. In the words of Emerson:

...there are two significant steps in any depth healing; first, the discovery of the personal self, and second, an awareness of the spiritual self.

“The common experience is that man fits himself as well as he can to the customary details of that work or trade he falls into…Then he is a part of the machine, the man is lost.”

Self-discovery means coming to terms with one’s own reality and no longer having the need of being an actor on the stage playing many parts, donning continued on next page...

A weekly group held every Tuesday at CSA 10am – 12noon.

Anyone who’s life has been affected by cancer or other life threatening illnesses is welcome to attend. A Carer’s Support Group is held at the same time when required.

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many costumes, but seldom speaking one’s own words. Life needs to turn from the all-too-prevalent concept of anti-death to PRO-LIFE. As one Peace Corps worker put it, “I can no longer work effectively in the barriada ‘helping people’ until I work with myself to reach a higher level of awareness and selfconciousness”. Changing anxiety into faith and fear into trust is part of the process. If love of one’s own person does not include love of the body, the message is not likely to get very far. Many today are virtually at war with their bodies because they are too fat, hips are too prominent, skin too rough or muscles not sufficiently developed. Then there are many suppressed emotions from unsuccessful marriages, poor grades in school, unpublished papers, loss of jobs and buried feelings of anger, rejection and grief.

“I have walked the sky alone, and marvelled at the beauty. The ecstasy I saw and heard and felt.”

Recognising and dealing with these heavy emotions is an essential part of the healing process. If not coped with adequately, they are likely to become the seeds of future illness. Florence C. had to develop cancer before she discovered her lack of love for those whose beliefs differed from her own. It was because of the experience of cancer surgery and the unconditional love from the nurses who cared for her that she left the hospital eagerly anticipating the opportunity of turning her life around. Frank D., a car salesman, was fighting deep depression and disappointment. While spending a few moments in the chapel, a verse came to him about his inner war that, as he said, was consuming his whole being. In the midst of this state, the words, accompanied by a great experience of light, revealed to him that his unseen enemy was the non-loving part of his own self. He further came to the realisation that a deep sense of harmony was in the air and all about him; he had only to recognize it.

Thus, as a newborn’s sense of confidence begins to replace the fears of yesterday, the salesman discovers buried sources of creativity, the depressed menopausal woman once again finds her place at the piano, the retired banker discovers the joy of raising funds for crippled children. So it goes. Always, the inner Self, the true person, has to be recognised before real healing can be initiated.

FROM ILLNESS TO SELF REALISATION The well-known psychiatrist and Bible student, Paul Tournier, talks of the self and the loss of the self.

He points out that the psychologist bids the client to express anger, while Jesus suggests turning the other cheek. Tournier then goes on to point out the compatibility of these two seemingly irreconcilable statements. To those who had not made the discovery of their own uniqueness, Jesus became the servant who washed their feet. To others, such as the rich man, he became the master who bid him leave all and follow Him. Only as we discover personal significance to life and experience the great power of love can we give meaningfully to others. At first, the giving up of self may seem too great a sacrifice. However, the rewards are far greater than anticipated. It is like the river running out into the sea. Who can say where they meet? As the river loses its particular identity, it takes on a far greater one that makes the loss seem naught. Here are a few examples of the new awareness that can take place during a fast: Dollie: after a painful period of hospitalization, went through a group fast. She noted her pain had subsided, and that she was eating things she previously would not have dared touch. One day as she was sitting under the spreading arms of a pepper tree, the following words came to her: “I have the armour of my dreams. Though hot and dusty be the way. Dear body, I hear the splash of cooling streams I can feel the salty kiss of spray. All pitiless the sun may beat. Yet coolest shade by spirit knows. My mind escapes the scorching heat. Where many a monarch forest grows.”

John: emerging from a long-standing depression, one sleepless night heard the following words: “In many glorious nights, I have walked the sky alone, And marvelled at the beauty, The ecstasy I saw and Heard and felt.”

Charlotte: during the healing of her colitis, wrote of her chapel experience: “The words came to me,

Make Tuesday yoga day...come along to CSA and experience the cancer healing benefits of yoga classes with Sydel Weinstein on Tuesdays...

in the Sun Room at CSA A gentle, holistic, relaxing class with Sydel Weinstein Tuesdays 9.30 – 10.30am. Suitable for beginners. www.cancersupportwa.org.au environment • wellness • healing

May 2010

WELLNESS NEWS 13

‘I AM HE and I AM PRAYER’. Time was when I would have thought these words blasphemous, but not now. God uniting with me, creates the Inner Christ, an embodiment of prayer or a sustained man-God relationship.”

Geri: had been in six accidents in a span of six years and was in a suicidal state of mind. She went through a therapeutic fast to cleanse her body and mind of the effects of the many medications she had been given during her hospitalisations. As a part of the experience she kept a personal journal, and asked nightly for guidance through dreams. One night she dreamed she saw herself looking down on her body as it was stretched out on a bed. She was surrounded by four monks, and their words of a poem came to her, the last lines of which read: “The room burst with radiant light, My heart filled with joy, My body arose as a child so bright, Like a mystical toy.’ Your awareness has come from a night filled with storm, You don’t have to die to be reborn.”

In such moments that which was unclear takes on clarity; the troubled mind discovers a sense of peace; the scientist finds his answer; the composer hears the new composition; and life begins to have a new sense of meaning. These experiences may be heralded by a great inrush of light, or an indescribable sense of peace. While this may be of brief duration at first, it can come to be an under girding of the very fabric of daily life. In the words of Thomas Kelley, “There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. At one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes at a more profound level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings.”

SUMMARY AND OVERVIEW From the above discussion, it can be seen that the art of medicine has been largely replaced by a laboratory science. The personal touch has been lost for the most part. Any idea that human beings are part of a vast network of Life itself have faded far into the background. The current role of the physician has been relegated to the diagnosis and treatment of independent disease states. Having attached the appropriate labels, it is then his responsibility to prescribe the indicated drugs or to perform the needed surgery. In the case of the psychiatrist, the emotional problems of the patient are to be audited in a detached manner. Any relationship of physician to patient is generally considered of little importance as far as the outcome of treatment is concerned.

Finally, in order to be truly effective, the primary thrust of medicine in the days ahead must be directed less toward the static concepts of present-day physical orientation, and more toward a dynamic view of a living human being. True health implies a goal for one’s life, and a driving ambition to reach it. ✦ Regarded as “the Father of Holistic Medicine,” Evarts G. Loomis, MD, was an internationally known homeopathic physician, surgeon, author, lecturer, and visionary. After serving as a dog-sled doctor with the Grenfell Mission in Newfoundland, UNRR in Algeria and the Friends Ambulance Unit in China, he founded Meadowlark, America’s first holistic medical retreat. Evarts died in 2003 not long after being honoured at the AHMA’s 25th anniversary conference as a Holistic Medicine Pioneer.

Evarts wisdom and knowledge is timeless and continues to influence holistic practitioners around the globe. Holistic practitioners, authors of books on holistic modalities, and those who have benefited from holistic treatment are all indebted to Evarts’ unwavering pioneering spirit, his vision of holism, and his ability to synthesize it into a working model. For several years he struggled alone, in spite of criticism from traditional medicine – and even attempted arrests – to provide a template which is now rivaling mainstream medicine. Perhaps most important of all, he has lived the model that he created.

Laughter Club 1 Day Workshop 28th May in the Sun Room at CSA Come along for the whole day and bring lunch to share OR just come along to the Laughter sessions at 9.30am and 3.00pm No Charge for CSA members

See you there!

of the Cancer Support Association of WA September 2008 Cancer SupportMagazine Association www.cancersupportwa.org.au

14 WELLNESS NEWS

May 2010

CoEnzyme Q10 and Cancer CoQ10 appears to help ignite the cellular power stations that are necessary to maintain healthy cells. In other words, CoQ10 works by enhancing energy at the cellular level.

CoQ10 is a natural substance that is produced by your body.

It’s highly concentrated in heart muscle cells, which need all the energy they can get to keep your heart pumping over one hundred thousand times per day. CoQ10 is an immune system booster and antioxidant that helps you to avoid getting cancer, and may be helpful in treating it.

CoEnzyme Q10 – The Other Vitamin The startling fact is that CoEnzyme Q10 is a vitamin essential to our very lives, yet very few of us have ever heard about it until recently. Discovered in 1957 by Dr. Fred Crane at the University of Wisconsin, CoEnzyme Q10 is a nutrient necessary to the functioning of every cell in our bodies. Our bodies could not survive without CoEnzyme Q10. If body levels start dropping, so does our general health. Scientists have estimated that once body levels of CoQ10 drop below the 25% deficiency levels, many health problems begin to flourish, including high blood pressure, heart attacks, angina, immune system depression, periodontal problems, lack of energy, weight gain, and even early death!

A 75% drop in CoQ10 levels is fatal.

Benefits Coenzyme Q10 is found in every cell in the human body and is key to the process that produces 95% of the energy consumed at the cellular level.

It participates in this important role by acting as part of another class of substances, known as enzymes.

These important compounds are proteins found in plants, animals, humans – ALL living things. Their role is to facilitate, to act as a catalysts, in countless chemical reactions that take place in the human body. In essence, they make reactions happen without themselves being consumed in the reaction.

When calcium is turned into bone, and enzyme makes the reaction possible, but the enzyme itself does not end up becoming part of the bone. When we digest our food, when we flex a muscle, when our heart beats, in some way an enzyme is playing a key role.

Enzymes consist of two parts, a protein portion made up of one of a variety of amino acids, and a cofactor portion that is either a mineral (like calcium, magnesium, or zinc) or a vitamin, the vitamin is called a coenzyme.

Coenzyme Q10 is a naturally occurring molecule that has a structure similar to vitamin K. As part of an enzyme, it acts as a catalyst in the vital biochemical pathway that leads to cellular energy production.

Specifically, every cell must have a special substance known as ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which provides all the cell’s energy. The energy obtained from the food we eat is used to make this fuel for the cells, and when a cell needs energy, it breaks the bonds that hold the ATP molecule together. When this chemical bond is broken, it releases energy equivalent to approx. 7,000 calories, more than twice the energy a person consumes in an entire day. However, the body, at any given time, only stores enough ATP to sustain vigorous activity for 5 – 8 minutes. Thus, ATP must be produced constantly, and for this ATP to be produced, there must be a ready supply of CoQ10.

This explains why, in particular, COQ10 is found in high concentrations in muscle cells and especially in the muscles that form the heart – because the heart is constantly in motion, it creates a great demand for energy, and at the same time, a need for the CoQ10 to create it.

Preventative Value of CoEnzyme Q10 (CoQ10) Numerous studies have shown that pre-treatment with CoQ10 helps heart patients come through open heart surgeries in better health and with shorter recovery times than those who have not been so treated. This is because CoQ10 possesses the ability to protect the heart during periods of aschemia, or oxygen deprivation. Miraculously, CoQ10 has helped cardiomyopathy patients to live well beyond their usual life expectancies! Perhaps more importantly, supplementation with CoQ10 has a preventative effect – preventative against lack of oxygen, poor Vitamin and mineral supplementation, and against certain heart medications. Yes, heart medications. Strange as it may seem, certain heart medications

www.cancersupportwa.org.au environment • wellness • healing

May 2010 that are prescribed to reduce cholesterol levels actually block the production of CoQ10!

How Does CoQ10 Work?

CoEnzyme Q10 is also known as ubiquinone, a member of the quinone cyclic compounds such as Vitamins E and K. CoQ10 can supply or remove oxygen from biologically active molecules. Every cell in your body contains many intercellular components called mitochondria, which produce 95% of the total energy of the body.

CoQ10 is an integral part of the membranes of the mitochondria where it is involved in the production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the basic energy molecules of the cell. Supplementing CoQ10 aids in the body’s cellular respiration and energy production; it’s that simple.

WELLNESS NEWS 15

Reflexology

Why Haven’t I Heard Of CoQ10?

The answer is there’s no money to be made from unpatentable substances. No money, no promotion. ✦ From: www.curezone.com. Curezone is a health information website dedicated to education in place of medication.

Cancer Support Association has Dr Vera’s Pure Innovation CoEnzyme Q10 available for sale in the CSA Wellness Shop. The price for CSA members is $61.35 for 40 capsules.

Come in to our Cottesloe premises or order by phone on (08) 9384 3544.

Evidence for CoEnzyme Q10 as a cancer therapy The institute for Biomedical Research, University of Texas at Austin gave mice pretreatment of Coenzyme Q10 before Adriamycin. The control groups had only a 36 and 42 percent survival rate. The Coenzyme Q10 groups had an 80 and 86 percent survival rate.

Dr. Carl Folkers is quoted as discussing a 49-year old lung cancer patient who at that time had been taking CoQ10 supplements for five years and was able to avoid the heart problems associated with long-term Adriamycin use. After careful manipulation, it was discovered that maximum efficiency in heart output came with 60 mg of CoQ10, so he was given 100 mg to be on the safe side. At the time of the report the man was well and still in remission.

Thirty-two women with metastatic breast cancer received 90 mg of CoQ10, along with Vitamin C, E, betacarotene, and essential fatty acids, daily. In six cases the tumour became smaller. During the 18 month treatment period, none of the patients died (the expected number of deaths was four), and none showed signs of further distant metastases.

In another report, two women with metastatic breast cancer received 390 mg per day of CoQ10. One of the patients was a 44-year-old woman with numerous liver metastases. After treatment for 11 months with CoQ10, all of the liver metastases had disappeared and the patient was reported to be in good health. ✦

Reference: Bliznakow, Emile, and Hunt, Gerald, “The Miracle Nutrient Coenzyme Q10, pages 132-139, Banam Books, New York.

The benefits of reflexology include the release of toxins, chemicals and hormones that, in effect, promote relaxation and overall well-being Udo Kannapin will soon be back at CSA. Reflexology appointments with Udo are available from July 21st on Wednesdays between 10am and 2pm.

Please book in advance on 9384 3544

of the Cancer Support Association of WA September 2008 Cancer SupportMagazine Association www.cancersupportwa.org.au

16 WELLNESS NEWS

May 2010

“I hope to see the world through the eyes of a whale, an elephant, a manatee, a meerkat, a cheetah. I have tried to leave the windows and doors open so that others can enter and feel that same amazement that I felt during each work’s creation.

“I believe the Australian Aboriginals were exploring the same enchantments when they painted animals; they were not interested in merely painting the contours of their bodies. They focused equally on the animal’s interior dream life. The cave paintings of the San from the Kalahari Desert in Africa and the art of other indigenous tribes around the world also demonstrate their ability to look from the inside out. When I started Ashes and Snow in 1992, I set out to explore the relationship between man and animals from the inside out.”

www.cancersupportwa.org.au environment • wellness • healing

May 2010

WELLNESS NEWS 17

Ashes and Snow Gregory Colbert’s Ashes and Snow is an ongoing project that weaves

together photographic works, three 35mm films, art installations and a novel in letters. With profound patience and an unswerving commitment to the expressive and artistic nature of animals, he has captured extraordinary, unscripted interactions between humans and animals.

Canadian-born artist Gregory Colbert began his career in Paris making documentary films about social issues. Filmmaking led to his work as a fine arts photographer, and the first public exhibition of his work was held in 1992 at the Musée de l’Elysée in Switzerland.

For the next ten years, Colbert showed no films and exhibited none of his art. Instead, he travelled to such places as India, Burma, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Dominica, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tonga, Namibia, and Antarctica to film and photograph wondrous interactions between human beings and animals.

In 2002, he launched the Ashes and Snow exhibition in Italy at the Venice Arsenale, a 125,000-square-foot shipyard owned by the Italian navy. Built in 1104, the Arsenale was originally used to construct and launch boats to sea via the Venetian canals. Ashes and Snow was the largest solo exhibition ever mounted in Italy. The interior architecture of the Arsenale provided an ideal setting for the exhibition, and served as the model for the Nomadic Museum, which debuted with the opening of Ashes and Snow in New York City in March 2005. The museum then travelled to Santa Monica in January 2006, Tokyo in March 2007, and Mexico City in January 2008. Ashes and Snow will continue its global journey indefinitely.

The title Ashes and Snow suggests beauty and renewal, while also referring to the literary component of the exhibition – a fictional account of a man who, over the course of a yearlong journey, composes 365 letters to his wife. The source of the title is revealed in the 365th letter.

Colbert’s photographs and one-hour film loosely reference the traveller’s encounters and experiences described in the letters.

Colbert, who calls animals “nature’s living masterpieces,” chose to film animals in their native habitats in an effort to be true to each animal’s voice. The film can be viewed as a work of art as well as a poetic field study. Colbert continues his expeditions and the development of Ashes and Snow.

The Ashes and Snow exhibition includes more than 100 large-scale photographic artworks, a one-hour film and two nine-minute film haikus.

None of the images have been digitally collaged or superimposed. They record what the artist himself saw through the lens of his camera. While Colbert uses both still and movie cameras, the images are not stills from the film. These mixed media photographic works marry umber and sepia tones in a distinctive encaustic process on handmade Japanese paper.

The artworks, each approximately five feet by eight feet, are mounted without explanatory text so as to encourage an open-ended interaction with the images.

It may be years before Ashes and Snow comes to Australia (if ever!) so unless we travel, we must content ourselves with the Ashes and Snow multimedia website which gives a sample of the experience of Geoffrey Colbert’s photographs, films and installations. While, not the same as attending the exhibition, viewing the images and excerpts from the film online is still incredibly moving. Go to www.ashesandsnow.org. ✦

All images by Geoffrey Colbert.

Online exhibition: www.ashesandsnow.org

of the Cancer Support Association of WA September 2008 Cancer SupportMagazine Association www.cancersupportwa.org.au

18 WELLNESS NEWS

May 2010

Top 10

Cancer Fighting

Foods

from an ABC radio presentation by Rod Quinn

1. Yellow & Green Vegetables

Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are the best known

varieties of the ‘cruciferous’ vegetables and all have good records as cancer fighters because they’re rich in ‘phytochemicals’ such as sulforaphane.

Should we be more pro-active in the prevention of Cancer? What foods are best to eat?

Spinach is a dark, leafy green vegetable high in antioxidants and rich in ‘carotenoids’ and folic acid, which are known to combat some cancers.

Pumpkin and carrots, which are high in ‘beta-carotene’, have been shown to have protective effects against stomach cancers.

The American Institute for Cancer Research says that up to 40 per cent of all cancers are directly linked to what we eat, what sort of exercise we do, and whether we’re overweight.

Around 30 per cent of cancers can be prevented by not smoking. In other words we can take active steps to reduce our cancer risk through adjustments to our daily diet and lifestyle.

2. Tomatoes Tomatoes are rich in antioxidants especially vitamin C and ‘lycopene’.

Antioxidants protect the body from cell and tissue damage, which is caused by harmful molecules called free radicals. Cooking tomatoes in foods such as spaghetti sauce can actually boost their ability to fight cancers.

3.

Oranges

Rich in vitamin C and ‘bioflavonoids’, oranges and their juice are thought to be able to improve the blood lipid (fats) profile, reduce oxidative stress, and improve blood levels of HDL cholesterol.

So what are some of the basic risk factors for cancer diseases and what are some of the top cancer-fighting foods?

Rod Quinn discussed this with Health and Fitness expert, Associate Professor Gordon Lynch, who is Associate Professor and Reader in Physiology at the University of Melbourne. This is Gordon’s list of his top 10 cancer fighting foods!

4. Garlic This pungent member of the onion family has been hailed for its therapeutic benefits, especially for cardiovascular conditions.

Garlic has also been reported to lower blood cholesterol and confer protection against cancer development and progression, and to boost general immunity.

5. Tea Tea contains antioxidant ‘polyphenols’ called catechins.

Green tea contains the highest levels of catechins, followed by oolong and black teas. Studies have shown catechins halt tumour cells and protect healthy cells from damage. Drinking three coffee-sized mugs of green tea a day might provide useful levels of polyphenols.

www.cancersupportwa.org.au environment • wellness • healing

May 2010

6. High Fibre Foods Either soluble or insoluble, dietary fibre (roughage) is not digested in the stomach or small intestine, as most other nutrients are. Some components of dietary fibber are broken down and digested in the large intestine (colon). Foods high in fibber such as grains, cereals, apples, and whole wheat are thought help protect against cancer of the colon.

7. Peppers & Spices

WELLNESS NEWS 19

in the news...

Genetic breakthrough findings often bogus, even when in medical journals Many scientific “breakthroughs” widely reported

Capsaicin, the active ingredient in hot chilli peppers, is thought to be able to kill cancer cells by damaging the cell membranes and limiting the amount of oxygen that reaches them. Many dried herbs we cook with, and some you may have in your garden, also contain very high concentrations of phytochemical antioxidants which have health benefits.

in the popular press are actually false, warn researchers Marcus Munafo of the University of Bristol and Jonathan Flint of Oxford University, writing in The Guardian.

8. Beans Rich in isoflavones, a type of phytochemical, beans are thought to provide protection against prostate cancer. Soybeans have also been shown to have breast cancer-fighting properties as well as protective effects against cardiovascular disease.

9. Olive Oil One of the best and healthiest types of fat and high in phytochemical antioxidants and vitamin E. Olive oil is a major component of the so-called Mediterranean diet. Olive oil is thought to be helpful in prevention of breast and colon cancer.

“The social environment in which research occurs places scientists under pressure to perform, measured by the amount and quality of publications, and success in attracting research funding from government and charitable agencies,” the scientists write.

This pressure encourages researchers to find some exciting conclusion to report, the authors write, even if that conclusion is probably false.

All scientific studies – such as those claiming to find a “gene for” depression, schizophrenia, obesity, or any other condition – contain a probability that their findings occurred simply by chance. Normally, this probability is less than 5 percent – making the findings “statistically significant.” Munafo and Flint note, however, that it is actually fairly easy to produce statistical significance.

“With enough data, and by running enough statistical tests, it is easy enough to find a significant effect,” they write. “And with enough people trying, this effect might even be found more than once, giving the appearance of replication. The problem is that the results almost certainly won’t be true.”

10. Berries Berries including raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, cranberries, and red and purple grapes have high amounts of ‘ellagic acid’, a plant nutrient with protective effects against oesophageal and colon cancer in animals. Berries are also rich in powerful antioxidant flavonoids. Ellagic acid alone does not account for the fruit’s ability to inhibit cancer, so a healthy diet should contain suitable quantities of fruit.

Most health authorities say that the most effective diets for cancer prevention are those recommending eating these fruit and vegetables. To give ourselves the best chance, we should also keep tabs on our weight, not smoke, and exercise.

So Gordon’s take home message is to eat at plenty of fruit and vegetables each day, keep careful tabs on your weight, don’t smoke, and exercise for at least 30 minutes on most days of the week! ✦

This is why further studies, particularly metaanalyses combining the results of multiple studies, consistently disprove many headline-topping “breakthroughs.” Yet these later studies rarely receive the same degree of media coverage as the originals. The authors note that although they conducted a meta-analysis finding no evidence for a connection between a certain gene variant and depression, screening for this “depression gene” is still available via the Internet.

More research being done does not necessarily mean more reliable findings, either.

“The greater the financial and other interests and prejudices in a scientific field, the less likely the research findings are to be true,” said genetic epidemiologist, John Ioannidis. “The hotter a scientific field (with more scientific teams involved), the less likely the research findings are to be true.” ✦

From: www.naturalnews.com, April 1st, 2010 by David Gutierrez. Sources for this story include: www.guardian. co.uk.

From: www.abc.net.au/overnights

of the Cancer Support Association of WA September 2008 Cancer SupportMagazine Association www.cancersupportwa.org.au

20 WELLNESS NEWS

w

May 2010

Email your healing recipes and food news to the editor: editor.wellness@yahoo.com.au

er soup t n i w g n i arm y Errey RNCP l l a S y b

Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup Wild rice adds an exotic feel to any dish and was used as a traditional food by First Nations people along with other foods such as maple syrup and native fruits. Try and source some wild mushrooms for this dish as their delightful flavours, textures, and colours make this soup multidimensional.

Ingredients 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 tsp (5 ml) extra virgin olive oil 2 garlic cloves, minced 3 cups (750 ml) fresh wild mushrooms (such as chanterelle, morel, porcini, shiitake, portobello, oyster), cleaned and sliced 1 carrot, diced 1 celery stalk, diced 6 cups (1.5 L) vegetable stock 1/3 cup (85 ml) wild rice 1 tsp (5 ml) dried thyme 1/4 cup (50 ml) sherry or red wine (optional)

Method In a large pot over medium heat, sauté onion in oil until translucent, about four minutes. Add garlic, mushrooms, carrot, and celery. Cover and cook until vegetables are softened, about five minutes. Add vegetable stock, wild rice, thyme, and sherry or wine, if desired. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is very tender, about one hour. Serves six.

Spicy Moroccan Lentil Soup This recipe brims with energizing legumes and warming winter flavours like ginger and cayenne pepper. The fresh ingredients parsley and cilantro add valuable vitamin C and minerals such as calcium. Use canned lentils instead of dried lentils to cut the cooking time from an hour to just 10 minutes.

Ingredients

540 ml can lentils, drained and rinsed 398 ml can diced tomatoes 2 1/2 cups (625 ml) water 2 scallions, sliced thin 3 garlic cloves, minced 1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh parsley leaves, minced 1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh cilantro leaves, minced 1 tbsp (15 ml) ground ginger 1 tsp (5 ml) ground turmeric 1 tbsp (15 ml) sweet paprika Pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste Salt to taste

Method Place all ingredients, including salt, in large saucepan and add water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat, and simmer until flavours blend, about 10 minutes. (The lentils will soften but not fall apart.) Adjust seasonings, adding more salt or cayenne if desired. Serves four.

Sally Errey, RNCP, is an acclaimed speaker on optimum health and longevity through healthy nutrition and lifestyle choices. She is the nutritionist at the Centre for Integrated Healing in Vancouver, where her seminars, cooking classes, and consultations help transform people’s lives. She is author of Staying Alive! Cookbook for Cancer Free Living (Belissimo Books). This book is available from bookshops across Australia and online. For more information go to www.stayingalivecookbook.com.

www.cancersupportwa.org.au environment • wellness • healing

May 2010

WELLNESS NEWS 21

Gingerly Carrot Soup Ingredients 1 cup (250 ml) carrots, sliced 1 cup (250 ml) water 1 tbsp (15 ml) raw almond butter 1 tsp (5 ml) fresh ginger root 1 or 2 drops essential oil of ginger (optional)

Method

Minestrone Soup

Steam carrots in water until tender, about three to five minutes. Reserve steaming water. Blend steamed cauliflower with water, almond butter, ginger, and essential oil until smooth. Serve warm.

Ingredients

1 400g can diced peeled tomatoes 3 pontiac potatoes, peeled, chopped 200g piece jap or butternut pumpkin, deseeded, peeled, chopped 1 large brown onion, chopped 2 carrots, chopped 2 celery sticks with leaves, chopped 1 large garlic clove, chopped 1 tsp dried oregano leaves 1.75L (7 cups) water 3 small or 2 large zucchini, chopped 40g (1/4 cup) small macaroni 1 400g can borlotti beans, rinsed, drained 1/2 cup firmly packed roughly chopped fresh continental parsley Salt & freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 tbs extra virgin olive oil 20g parmesan, finely shredded

Method Place the tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkin, onion, carrots, celery, garlic and oregano in a large saucepan.

Stir in the water and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook, almost covered, for 45 minutes.

Add the zucchini and macaroni, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the zucchini and pasta are tender.

Stir in the parsley and taste and season with salt and pepper. Ladle into serving bowls. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with the parmesan and serve immediately. Serves six.

we love soup! (why you should too...)

Many commercial soups that are simply ready for reheating don’t even come close to the therapeutic, health boosting, vitamin- and mineral-rich soups made at home in your kitchen.

Making soup at home allows you to double the recipe and freeze single servings for reheating at a later date, for a quick lunch, or weekend dinner.

The recipes featured this month have some special ingredients, such as ginger and cayenne, which have long been used for their warming effects on the body. Cayenne is helpful in the fight against sore throats and mouth sores, and the pigments in both cayenne and paprika are filled with disease-fighting antioxidants. Wild rice and wild mushrooms also make an appearance to help keep us grounded, add essential B vitamins, and supply much needed energy to stay warm. Wild rice is actually a long-grain marsh grass that grows wild in the Great Lakes area and is cultivated commercially in California and the Midwest. You’ll love this grain’s chewy texture and nutty flavour.

Soups are a perfect solution, whether you need a quick meal or have the time for some soup and solitude on a Sunday afternoon. Enjoy.

Sally Errey, RNCP,

of the Cancer Support Association of WA September 2008 Cancer SupportMagazine Association www.cancersupportwa.org.au

Cancer’s Silver Lining

By Don Vaughan

Researchers call the positives of cancer posttraumatic growth, but survivors call them cancer’s gifts.

“It’s always better if your suffering has some meaning to it. So if you perceive that it’s teaching you something or changing you in some positive way, there is a reason to keep going.” ~ Richard G. Tedeschi, PhD

Surviving cancer is seldom easy. Treatment can be painful, debilitating, emotionally draining, and financially

taxing. And yet, despite it all, a surprising number of cancer survivors report finding a “silver lining” in their cancer experience.

This positive perspective, what researchers call “post-traumatic growth,” affects survivors in a variety of ways. From experiencing a spiritual awakening to becoming aware of inner strength, the silver lining often leads to dramatic life changes.

“My life and well-being were both significantly improved by cancer,” says fantasy novelist Jay Lake, who was diagnosed with early-stage colon cancer at age 43 in April 2008. “In many ways, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

Richard G. Tedeschi, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, says Lake is among the estimated one-half to two-thirds of cancer survivors who come away from their experience with some kind of positive change.

Tedeschi, who has interviewed hundreds of trauma survivors, reports five common growth outcomes: • A deepened appreciation of life.

• Enhanced relationships with others.

• An appreciation for personal strength and endurance.

• Setting out on new pathways or pursuing new interests and opportunities.

• Spiritual growth and development.

“It’s always better if your suffering has some meaning to it,” Tedeschi says. “So if you perceive that it’s teaching you something or changing you in some positive way, there is a reason to keep going.”

DON’T TAKE LIFE FOR GRANTED Patricia Mumby, RN, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Loyola University Chicago and director of psychosocial oncology for the department of psychiatry at Loyola Medical Centre in the USA, agrees that cancer can be life-altering.

“I think many of us often take life for granted, and a diagnosis, such as cancer, can really make people look at their lives and ask, ‘Am I living my life in a way that is most fulfilling to me?’ ” she explains. “They wonder, ‘Are there things I can change or improve?’ ” After cancer, Lake found a much greater focus on his writing and his relationship with his 11-year-old daughter, whom he now spends more time with. “It’s easy to get caught up in both the ‘business’ and ‘busy-ness’ of life,” he says. “Adding a meaningful purpose requires sacrifices.”

Catherine Calame was in a bad marriage when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2002 at age 36.

Then she learned that her husband was having an affair. As Calame completed her treatments, she entered

May 2010

counselling, where she discovered the strength to end her marriage and move forward.

“My ‘aha’ moment came when I was visiting a friend, and I just looked at her and said, ‘I’m done.’ There was no turning back,” she reports. “From cancer, I learned to take life one day at a time.”

Calame says she could focus more clearly on her personal goals, which included getting a full-time job and negotiating her divorce.

“I now have the best life I could ever have hoped for,” she says.

On the other side of the coin, cancer can also help bring families closer together. Cindy Hecht was 45 and a divorced mum raising two daughters when she was diagnosed with aggressive nonHodgkin lymphoma in December 2006. Hecht’s oldest daughter, Carolyn Suna, 14 at the time, immediately stepped in to care for both her mother and her then 9-year-old sister, Lauren.

“We have a deep understanding and appreciation for each other that we might not have had during these ‘hot-button years’ for mothers and daughters,” says Hecht. “I think Carolyn also learned a lot about the power of community as she watched our town and her friends’ parents jump in and help.”

Carolyn, now 17, says she learned that her mother is “one tough lady.” Even when she was bald or vomiting as a result of her therapy, Carolyn recalls that her mother always tried to pretend that everything was fine.

Not everyone will find a silver lining in their cancer experience, of course. For some, it will be the most agonising experience of their lives and not easily traversed. But Tedeschi says that patients can increase their chances of finding something positive by avoiding fearful thinking.

“Some people are just blown away emotionally, with a lot of worry, fear, and anger,” Tedeschi explains. “They have to somehow make the transition to thinking about their experience in a calmer, more deliberate way, so that they can see how it may be changing them.

One way is to talk with someone who has already gone through a similar experience, or by joining a cancer support group.”

A CALL TO GOD

WELLNESS NEWS 23

on her foot when she was struck by the unique healing ability of the body. King, who had been raised an agnostic, says this simple, yet profound realisation helped transform her from an agnostic to believing in God. “This transition gave me the ability to quit worrying about myself and my treatments and actually ‘let go and let God,’ ” King says.

“When my friends ask me to tell them something positive about my cancer, I tell them that because of it, I found God, and I also got a few months’ reprieve from shaving my legs.”

Some survivors find their mission in life after cancer when they decide to become advocates for their fellow cancer patients. While in the hospital with a rare and aggressive form of cervical cancer in April 2008, 36-year-old Sarah Fisher became friends with her hospital roommate, Deborah, who had advanced cancer.

After Deborah’s death in early 2009, Fisher wanted to honour her late friend. So she founded Deb’s Day, a nonprofit organisation that enlists salons and beauticians to provide personal care free of charge to seriously ill hospital patients in the US. “I believe my fight with cancer was actually a good cause, for without it I never would have met Deborah or founded Deb’s Day,” Fisher says.

Stan Goldberg was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2002 at age 57, and felt compelled to help others after his recovery. Since becoming a bedside hospice volunteer, he has been present for the deaths of more than 250 adults and children, experiences that, he says, have helped him learn to live fully, regardless of how long it might be.

“When you are invited into the lives of people who are dying, there is an honesty in their words and behaviours that teaches you what it means to be authentically human.”

Cancer patients should never think of the disease’s potential silver lining as an all-or-nothing phenomenon, says Loyola’s Mumby.

“People can be feeling the stress of the cancer at the same time that they are able to find something positive,” she says. “It’s often a matter of degree. But I think if people are able, at any point in the experience, to identify even a single positive, that, in and of itself, can be very empowering.” ✦ From: www.curetoday.com

For Judy King cancer brought a spiritual awakening. While receiving chemotherapy following her breast cancer diagnosis at age 35 in March 1994, King was casually examining a small blister

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