Health

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Has there been a “pink washing” of a global epidemic?

The author is a nurse practitioner and healer who has recently been healed of breast cancer through a combination of both western and eastern medicines as well as diet and exercise. This article represents her opinion based on her experience, study and work.

The Pink Campaign

It’s that time of year again when everything is “pink-washed”. Last week I was on a Delta flight. The attendants had donned their pink dresses and were encouraging people to donate “to the cause”. As a reward for raising a certain dollar amount, a flight attendant actually got in the aisle and did 10 push-ups, in her dress. Everyone cheered on, but me. My heart was heavy, as I thought about the hidden facts about the big business of the breast cancer Industry. Not to mention that the focus in on breast cancer, instead of breast health!

The Stats  

With all of the “pink-washing” (coined by Breast Cancer Action) and even “awareness”, the rates of breast cancer continue to soar. In 2016, an estimated 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 61,000 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.

In fact, all cancers continue to soar – 1:2 men and 1:3 women will die of cancer. And, gentlemen, men get breast cancer too. The most common culprits of Breast Cancer are also directly linked to Prostate and other cancers.

According to a report from the WHO cancer statistics are indicative of a future “human disaster”. Cancer cases are expected to surge 57% worldwide in the next 20 years. Why is it that we are not winning this war on cancer? 

What are we missing? What are we unaware of? I feel that what is missing is a strong focus on prevention. The current conventional focus is on diagnosis and treatment – with chemotherapy, radiation or surgery.

The Big Business of It All

Since the “war on cancer” was declared in 1971 by Pres. Nixon over 500 Billion dollars has been spent to fight this conflict. However, after all of the research, the treatments, the walks, and the “awareness” mortality rates area still staggering!

The Susan B. Komen Organization states that the five year relative survival rate is 99%. These stats fail to address the rate of reoccurrence. I was certainly unaware until recently that our current conventional therapies of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery do NOT kill cancer stem cells. What?

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a highly tumorigenic (tumor causing) subset of the total cancer cell population. These CSC’s can migrate to other parts of the body and grow another cancerous tumor. (Metastasize). Unfortunately, after conventional therapies the CSC’s can be very resistant to a new round of therapy. Thus, the “relative five year survival rate” is often reflective of killing the daughter cells, not the parent stem cells, giving us a false sense of “cure” rates.

With the staggering amounts of money spent on “awareness”, why are we not aware of this?

Still Unaware of So Much

Many of us are of unaware that we all have rogue cells, cancerous cells floating in our bodies at various times in our lives. It is the magical miraculous healing power of our bodies, our immune system, that can detect and destroy these rogue cancerous stem cells. For those of us who are healthy this is great news. For those who have struggled with viruses (ie. Epstien Barre), fungus (ie. Candida), molds, or heavy metals, they are at greater risk for cancer if their body is unable to handle the toxic load. For those diagnosed with, and under treatment of cancer, unfortunately our conventional therapies wipe out their immune system function, thus making it near impossible to kill the CSC’s.

Supporting our DNA and our immune systems is key in prevention and healing from cancer, thus I will cover this in more detail in the next article.

Additional shocking information that I became ‘aware’ of in the past few years was when Dr. Kathleen Ruddy, the first breast surgery fellow at Sloan Kettering, shared with me the story of the breast cancer virus.

It was first discovered in the 1930’s, and after decades of research a congressional hearing was held during the Nixon era. Unfortunately, it stopped there. It has taken researchers another 40 years of struggle to gain funding for continued research to create the “Pink Vaccine”. Currently Dr. Vincent Tuohy at the Cleveland Clinic is spear heading the research.

“After 100 years of research, scientists on five continents are 85% sure that the virus that causes breast cancer in mice plays a role in 40-94% of human breast cancer. That’s the good news. The bad news is that despite these impressive data less than $100,000/year is currently spent supporting this research.” Why is it that only $100,000 is allocated towards this research?

Is it that the Big Bucks are actually spent on Big Pharma? Or is it that the system is just making too much money to shift things? Why are the majority of the funds going to pharmaceutical research, when there is also documented science about the impact of nutrition and Super Foods? Is it because they can’t be patented?

Empowering ourselves with Education and Prevention

While the Pink Campaign has made tremendous awareness of breast cancer, what is missing is awareness of prevention strategies, early screening tools and other healing options.

Early Screening

Mammography is a late diagnostic tool, not a screening tool.

By the time a tumor reaches the size of a pinhead (approximately two years into its growth), it can no longer be sustained by the normal blood supply and so it develops its own. The development of that blood supply is called angiogenesis. Thermography is the only technology in place that can detect angiogenesis.

Mammogram is not early detection. A cancerous tumor has been growing eight to ten years before it is big enough and dense enough to be detected by mammography. The lump can contain as many as 4.5 million cancer cells. That is why the treatment at that stage is so drastic – removal of breast, underlying muscle, lymph nodes, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and hormonal therapy.

Here are seven other facts about Thermography vs. Mammography that you may be interested in looking into. It has been my screening tool of choice for over eight years, now combined with the SureTouch.

Now, another new scan is on the market that I became aware of in the last 18 months. It’s called the SureTouch Breast scan.

It’s similar to an ultrasound in that it has a probe, yet it doesn’t use sound waves. It’s very accurate at giving a detailed picture of the breast contour that can be measured and followed closely year after year. It is far superior to your doctor doing an annual palpable exam. It’s been widely used and is soon to be covered by insurance as a first-line screening tool.

The Oncoblot test is another amazing new test that is changing the scene of early screening. The ONCOblot® blood test identifies a specific type of protein in the blood, ENOX2, which exists only on the surface of a malignant cancer cell.

The ENOX2 proteins are shed into the circulation and can be detected in the blood. These proteins serve as highly sensitive markers for confirmation of cancer presence. The test is a valuable complement to early intervention.

When I was diagnosed with breast disease – 2 lumps found by MRI- almost 2 years ago, this was one of the early tests that I did so that I would have more information before I chose a healing plan. Fortunately, my lumps were not cancerous, yet I had work to do, to heal my breasts. In 6 months, with many natural solutions that I will discuss in my next article, my lumps were gone!

Summary  

The Pink Campaign is spending the majority of its dollars on bringing awareness to breast cancer treatment options. Yes, they are funding research for metastatic disease and various pharmaceutical options, yet what if they funded research on the pink vaccine or integrative solutions? What if insurance paid for thermography or other early screening tools? Could we actually start winning this war on cancer?

In my opinion, it may take years before our current health systems focus on prevention. Thus it’s time that we become personally responsible for our own health and vitality. Instead of awareness of breast cancer, perhaps we can become aware of prevention and other natural or integrative health solutions.