Dr. David's News You Can Use

I have had many requests to put my basic complimentary cancer protocol in a newsletter for all to evaluate and perhaps benefit from. I strongly suspect an understanding of the protocol will be helpful in prevention. Although each cancer patient is different from all others, certain areas need to be evaluated in all patients and supported in most to one degree or another. Approximately 80% of cancers in industrialized countries are cancers of lining tissue. This is the protocol I use for those diagnoses whether the target organ is breast, prostate, colon, lung, stomach, etc. I am going to attempt to simplify and generalize to get the logic of the protocol across to you; however, because of the seriousness of this disease, I must heartily discourage you from undertaking any cancer treatment on your own, without the guidance of the necessary professionals.

As many of you, who are patients, know, I spent over ten years treating cancer patients, almost exclusively, before becoming a NAET practitioner. The majority of these patients had been previously treated with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. Their cancers had reoccurred, as cancer usually does, from five to ten years after initial treatment. When these patients asked their oncologist what they should do next, and he/she said more of the same, these intelligent patients realized that if it didn't keep it from coming back after the first round of treatment, what was the evidence/possibility that the same treatment would work the second time around. Obviously that was the correct conclusion, and of course the oncologist had no acceptable answer. It was at this point that these intelligent patients insisted on an alternative/complimentary therapy to replace, or do in conjunction with, the standard oncological protocol they had previously received. As a Clinical Nutritionist , my job has been to try to rebuild a body and immune system damaged by both the cancer and the toxic chemotherapy and radiation used to kill the cancer, while working closely with the primary oncologist who made the referral.

When used in conjunction with standard oncological therapy, according to the latest meta-analysis of the research, nutritional protocols do not interfere, but in fact improve positive outcomes in the cancer patient. For those involved in this work, that has been obvious for over thirty years. Medicine, in its ignorance, has frightened thousands of patients away from a complimentary approach that would have improved standard treatment outcomes. With the advent of the internet, all of the pieces of my protocol can be "googled," so there is no reason not to verify any questionable area, and I encourage you to do so.

Oncological medicine doesn't seem interested in focusing on why we get cancer, and therefore, how to prevent it. It's important to remember that it is well established that as far as the nutritional components of the disease are concerned, the way to treat them is the same as the way to prevent them. Perhaps it's the money that the standard method of treatment generates that keeps it in vogue. At least that seems to be part of the reason for maintaining an approach that has continued to produce such poor outcomes.

I believe that when we change the many underlying causes or contributors to cancer it can be prevented and often reversed. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been very clear in its review of the world scientific medical literature, and states that no more than 15% of cancer is genetic, leaving 85% as the result of poor diet and/or a toxic environment. WHO also makes it clear that a portion of the 15% of the cancers that are established to be genetically caused are modifiable, perhaps as much as 30%. That means that if we modify and supplement the diet and embark on a program of physiological detoxification, we should be able to improve the grim outcomes we have been led to expect. I will start sharing with you what I have learned about the causes of cancer with manufactured food as the first item to consider.

After the First World War, big business moved into the manufacture of food. It was a time when we citizens were led to believe via advertising that science had learned how to make food that was as health giving as that which was nature made. It was a lie, but we bought it. It was convenient.

After the Second World War, and the ability to transport foods via refrigerator railroad cars and trucks, we began consuming foods picked before ripe, and therefore nutritionally deficient. Additionally, even more packaged foods expanded the middle aisles of the supermarkets. We have paid an awful price. Epidemiological studies show that Third World Countries that do not depend on manufactured foods have significantly less cancer and other chronic diseases than industrialized countries, and we, as citizens, have yet to learn this lesson.

My cancer patients are told to eat the foods that are indigenous to the area in which they live, and in the seasons when they are most available. I recommend a very low refined carbohydrate diet with an emphasis on quality protein and quality fat similar to the Mediterranean Diet. More information on my diet recommendations can be found elsewhere in another newsletter article on my website www.askdoctordavid.com, entitled A Functional Diet, and is too lengthy to repeat here. Needless to say, all beef, pork, chicken, or fish that contains hormones or antibiotics is disallowed, and local organic alternatives are suggested.

Refined sugar is not allowed on my protocol, and simple sugars are kept to an absolute minimum. Over forty years ago, Nobel Laureate Otto Warburg demonstrated that cancer cells divided anaerobically (in the absence of oxygen), using the glycolytic pathway. Simply stated, that means that cancer grows on sugar. Therefore, if you don't want cancer to grow you shouldn't feed it. The low fat diet that has been recommended by our government for decades has emphasized a high carbohydrate intake (low fat is the equivalent of high carbohydrate), and we have seen cancer soar as a result. The official government groups that make the dietary recommendations are made up of individuals employed by the very companies that make the manufactured foods that are being recommended. That's like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.

Public drinking water, at the local "purification facilities," contains toxins and poisons in very small amounts, considered by our government to be acceptably safe for human consumption. Some of the items used to treat public water supplies have been argued as harmful for you over the long term, such as fluoride and chlorine, both documented carcinogens. It is also wise to remember that what is safe for you may not be safe for me, or an individual with a weakened immune system, i.e., a cancer patient. Additionally, the water that comes from your faucet has often traveled through aging pipes and may contain many chemicals and poisons that were not in it when it was first "purified." My cancer patients are encouraged to drink Mountain Valley Water, and to get it in glass containers. Considering your body is 70% water, does it make sense to replenish yourself with anything that isn't as close to the perfect replacement as possible? Also, to avoid increasing the amount of plastic already in your body, drink from glass containers rather than plastic.

I've already mentioned oxygen, so let's go there next. Otto Warburg, who I mentioned in the previous paragraph, also demonstrated that cancer prefers an oxygen poor environment. Therefore, a diet that causes premature arterio-vascular clogging would be a pro-cancer diet. A high refined carbohydrate diet promotes vascular disease, so the concept of the Mediterranean Diet or my Functional Diet, again makes sense.

Science also points out that over the last fifty years the oxygen content of the air you breathe has been declining. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about that; however, there is a product that can increase the oxygen carrying ability of the red blood cells. If you don't remember this from high school biology, it's the hemoglobin in the red blood cell that carries oxygen to the tissues to be used for aerobic (in the presence of oxygen) respiration. Aerobic respiration is the preferred method your body uses to make energy. This product increases the oxygen carrying capacity of the red blood cell by as much as one third. That's over 30%, and that's a lot. The Russians pioneered this product back during the cold war, and used it to help their athletes compete in the Olympics.

The product was once called Vitamin B-15 and is now referred to as DMG, or NN Dimethylglycerine, or Dimethylglycine. I have numerous athletes who purchase this product to be used before and during long distance events. It is especially popular before events held in higher altitudes, where oxygen deprivation is a performance hazard. Anything that improves the red blood cells ability to carry more oxygen will be an important player in a patient with cancer, restricted circulation, and/or compromised pulmonary (lung) function. My Preventics product is called DMG-Plus.

Obviously, exercise comes into play when we are talking about promoting circulation and our oxygen carrying capacity. Carefully regulated exercise not only increases oxygenation, it also improves aerobic respiration resulting in more energy for the body to combat invading cancer cells.

The dark side of the oxygen story is that it is a potent pro-oxidant. If we use oxygen in amounts much greater that normally found in the air it will often result in permanent damage to the lungs. It is for this reason that therapies like hyperbaric oxygen, which has proven helpful against certain cancers, must be carefully and professionally monitored. Hyperbaric oxygen was not readily available when I was treating numerous cancer patients, and a unit would be too expensive for an average individual to purchase. It is, however, now available locally at some medical centers and worthy of consideration as an additional treatment modality.

Recently, the air quality of our city has been called into question as reported in the KC Star. Not only is the air you breathe a causative factor in the cancer epidemic because of the decreased oxygen content, it is also full of harmful chemicals. Some of these harmful chemicals damage your lungs, and some of them get transported into your circulation, where they must be detoxified/removed by the liver, kidneys and skin, or stored away in your tissue cells, compromising healthy function.

A good example of this kind of chemical poisoning is the aluminum factor in Alzheimer's dementia. Although Alzheimer's is a genetic disease, if the person with the predisposition lives in a heavy metal free environment, Alzheimer's doesn't occur. When heavy metals get into the brain, and when the body can't get them out, the brains normal function is compromised. Excessive aluminum, for example, comes from new consumer habits within the last fifty years. A few examples that quickly come to mind are cooking in aluminum pots and pans, drinking from aluminum beverage containers, and using underarm antiperspirants.

Cancer, as well as many other chronic diseases, is much more prominent in areas where the environment imposes a greater toxic body burden on its inhabitants. Our industrialized environment has become so polluted that the average child born in the USA has over 200 toxic chemicals identifiable in its body at birth that are known to cause cancer (carcinogens), and none of those 200 toxic chemicals existed on the planet 100 years ago.

Another good example of chemical poisoning is plastic (pthalates). Plastic is an estrogen mimic and carcinogen, and is found in every cell of every animal on the planet. Keep in mind that plastic didn't exist 50 years ago. Now it's everywhere. Our bodies may need another 500 years before they adapt and build detox pathways that can efficiently rid us of this ubiquitous poison. You get it from drinking from plastic bottles and eating foods stored in plastic containers and bags, etc. It's everywhere.

A citizen of an industrialize country comes in contact daily with over 2000 chemicals that did not exist 50 years ago. WHO tells us that in the absence of an inadequate diet, these toxic chemicals are what causes alterations to the genetic code, resulting in a cancer, and although it's a daunting task, reducing that toxic body burden is a possibility.

My cancer protocol utilizes two therapies for specific detoxification, and a number of natural anti-oxidants. The first therapy is the Coffee Enema. Most of the Alternative/complimentary clinics in South America and the Bahamas rely on this modality that aids the liver in eliminating toxic carcinogens expeditiously from the body. Different cases require different schedules for the coffee enema, which is helpful wherever a toxic body burden and an overwhelmed liver is found. I personally take from four to six coffee enemas a year just to assist my normal liver function.

You will find coffee enemas referred to in many old texts and especially in books written for people attempting to compliment their medical treatment of cancer with natural alternatives. It has been derided by those who have never tried it and praised by those who have. Over the years, many cancer patients have used this detox method with considerable success.

How to do it... Put four cups of clean water into a pan with two tablespoons of Folgers Red Label caffeinated coffee or the equivalent. Bring this to a boil for a couple of minutes, turn off, and let cool to mildly warm. Strain the coffee grounds out and put the liquid coffee in an enema bag. Hang the enema bag at about waist level, lie on the floor, lubricate the tip with olive oil and insert in the rectum. Never put anything hot in the rectum. Put approximately 2 cups of coffee into the rectum and remove the tube. Now just lie still and read or meditate for ten minutes. After ten minutes you may get up and expel the coffee. Do not be surprised if much less comes out than went in. This is common.

Once you have expelled the coffee, repeat the whole process with the two cups of coffee that are left in the bag. If you experience a funny feeling up under the right rib cage, it is the gall bladder purging, and a very good sign. Coffee enemas can be done three or four times a day with no harm. The usual recommended frequency is once a day.

The second detox therapy in my protocol is the Far Infrared Sauna. Often, the body hasn't built a hepatic (liver) detox pathway, for example, to handle a new chemical like plastic. It does have, however, a secondary pathway that can still get the detoxification job accomplished. That pathway is the skin via perspiration.

In fact, perspiration is a wonderful indicator of overall wellness. If your perspiration smells (body odor), you're less than optimally healthy. If you need an antiperspirant, you're less than optimally healthy. Perspiration does not smell. When perspiration is loaded with toxic chemical debris, the bacteria that live on the skin devour the debris and their waste smells, i.e., body odor. Every family in America should have access to a far infrared sauna at least once a week. Excessively toxic cancer patients need sauna therapy from three times a week to twice a day. Sauna therapy more than once a week must always take place with mineral replacement therapy, because a frequent high perspiration regimen will cause the body to lose too many vital minerals. The mineral replacement therapy consists of taking four to six Bone 350 Plus tablets after each sauna. The Bone 350 product is available through Preventics at my website, www.askdoctordavid.com. The far infrared sauna is a proven detox technique that will help the body remove toxic chemicals that can be removed no other way. I take a sauna at least three times a week, and often more. Information on the far infrared sauna can be found on my website under the heading Referral Network, and Sunlight Saunas.

You've all heard of antioxidants. These are the natural chemicals that the body uses to inactivate the pro-oxidants that damage the cellular and genetic structures of the body and contribute to cancer. They include some B vitamins, essential minerals (more important than the vitamins), other water soluble nutrients, some oil soluble vitamins, and the essential unsaturated fatty acids. A basic supplemental program is always a good starting place, and one can be found under the heading, Basic Program, in many newsletters on the website. Other specific nutrients, will be discussed separately.

One antioxidant, however, should always be discussed under the heading of detoxification, and that's Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA). ALA is an unusual antioxidant because it is amphoteric, which means that it will protect both water soluble and fat soluble nutrients and structures. This unusual quality makes it one of the most powerful helpers available when it comes to aiding the liver in its job of detoxification. The liver's detox pathways produce a lot of pro-oxidative byproducts that must be immediately neutralized before they irreparably damage the very pathways that produced them, thereby leaving the body defenseless. ALA plays that role and greatly stimulates the production of glutathione, considered by many to be the most important antioxidant of all. The Preventics Acetyl L-Carnetine & Alpha Lipoic Acid product combines ALA with acetyl L-Carnetine, which facilitates its transport to the brain and plays an important role in reducing the pro-oxidative damage to the brain that results in dementia. More on the Preventics ALA product can be found in the May 2007 newsletter article at my website.

Certain major systems are almost always involved in the cancer patient, and they invariably become a problem long before the patient is diagnosed with cancer. I believe that it is reasonable to assume that if these early warning precursor markers are addressed adequately, most cancer could be eliminated. Again, the World Health Organization has stated that only fifteen percent of all cancer is genetic. Accordingly, eighty five percent of cancer, according to the WHO, is the result of environmental insult and/or malnutrition, and both of those are modifiable.

I would like to discuss the following organs/systems as specific to cancer: digestion, especially pancreatic and large intestine function; thyroid function; and immune function, especially thymus and allergy involvement. I will be mentioning a number of products in this discussion, and the dosage is relevant to the individual and the degree of problem in that specific area, so no hard and fast dosage recommendations are possible.

- This area, treated so cavalierly by medicine, is critical. If you can't digest the essential (essential means that your body will become diseased and die without them) fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals, you can't repair your tissues which are made from proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. As soon as any digestive function is interfered with or begins to malfunction, aging begins to increase beyond the normal rate, and ill health and death ensues more rapidly than normal. Optimum digestion is critical to good health.

- Pepsin, the primary digestive substance of the stomach, is activated by hydrochloric acid (HCl). Without HCl, pepsin is inactive and protein is inadequately digested. Because all tissues and systems are dependant on protein for repair, any departure from normal HCl production will result in premature aging, chronic disease, and death. HCl sets the stage for the remainder of digestion by establishing the correct acid base balance in the intestines. Without the correct acid base balance, nothing else in the digestive tract functions optimally, and the acid base balance of your internal organs and systems is critically affected, compromising optimum cellular and system physiology. In fact, HCl discourages the presence of Helicobactor Pylori, the prime cause of stomach cancer, ulcers, and possibly atherosclerosis. Additionally, when HCl production is diminished, the stomach can no longer act as a chemical barrier for food-bo rne infections that have become so common.

- Low levels of gastric acid also cause a reduction in the livers production of bile. When the amount of alkaline bile becomes reduced it becomes more acidic, creating an inflamed upper intestine (duodenum), resulting in duodenitis. Gastric-biliary acid/base disorders produce insulin resistance and cause the healthy bacterial milieu of the intestines to starve and die. Gall bladder removal will always result in long term digestive dysfunction, often taking decades to produce reduced immune function and increased cancer risk. When the gall bladder has been removed, bile supplements are essential.

If you have indigestion, you probably need digestive enzymes rather than antacids, and I would suggest a clinical trial of a digestive enzyme before antacids are prescribed. My experience suggests that between 80% and 90% of all hyperacidity (over acidity) is actually under acidity which perfectly mimics the symptoms of what is commonly referred to as acid indigestion and gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD).. Preventics primary digestive enzyme is Di Acid Stim.

- The pancreas is your primary digestive organ. It secretes enzymes into the intestine that break down fats, proteins and carbohydrates found in the diet. Pancreatic enzymes are also found in the serum, and that makes it a very special organ when we are discussing cancer. As important as the intestinal activity of digestive enzymes is to your ability to break down and absorb the chemicals that you need for tissue repair and replacement, pancreatic enzymes may be even more important in the role they play controlling abnormal cell replication, or cancer.

One of the oldest cancer theories hypothesizes that cancer occurs when the pancreas is overwhelmed by too much sugar and becomes under active. This theory predicts that diabetics will have a significantly higher incidence of cancer, and that is in fact correct. The theory suggests that the excess of simple sugars in the diet cause the pancreas to overwork and begin under functioning. When this happens, enzymes aren't adequately secreted into the intestines to support digestion, but more importantly they are also secreted into the blood stream in decreased amounts. Incidentally, when sugar was rationed during the Second World War, cancer rates dropped significantly in the rationed areas.

The theory suggests that pancreatic proteolytic (protein specific) enzymes are responsible for digesting the protein coat off a cancer, allowing the bodies immune system to recognize it and eliminate it. Cancers produce a protein coat or covering that surrounds them in their initial vulnerable stages of growth, disguising themselves as normal cells so the body won't attack them. Specific enzyme formulas have been used by alternative/complimentary practitioners for decades to supplement these deficient pancreatic proteolytic enzymes. These enzyme formulations are also used to reduce the risk of blood clots by efficiently dissolving them, increasing circulation by opening clogged blood vessels, and reducing inflammation. This is the theory behind the Kelly Program that has become so popular that it is being researched through Columbia University Medical School in New York because of its outstanding results with pancreatic cancer, one of the most devastating cancers.

- Commensal cells, one celled bacterium, that live in the intestines are important peace keepers that promote the digestion of food and destroy dangerous microbes. They also keep the gut (intestines) associated portion of the immune system in balance, and we now know that 2/3 of the immune system is found in the intestinal tract along with half of your detox system. Commensal cells make up a huge part of those systems. Commensals outnumber the cells in your body by a factor of ten, behave as a virtual organ, and have a collective metabolic activity greater than the liver. While pharmaceuticals and natural anti-infective herbs can save lives, they are indiscriminate killers of all commensal cells. Antacids, birth control pills, steroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), radiation, chlorine, fluorine, and perhaps worst of all, cancer chemotherapies also indiscriminately destroy commensals. Because these com mensals are a critical piece of the immune system, anything that interferes with them increases cancer risk.

Fortunately, it is easy to assess whether your gut flora is functionally balanced. You can determine what's going on inside by watching what comes out. Your stools should be well formed and light to dark brown. Green, yellow, or black stools are a warning sign that your gut is malfunctioning, and should be investigated. Your stools will float if you have sufficient fat in your diet, and they should not have a strong objectionable odor. Lastly, your stools should be of a consistency that when you wipe after a bowel movement you do no leave a mess on the toilet paper. Healthy animals do not mess themselves. If you fail these tests your commensals are out of balance and you need pro-biotic therapy and possibly digestive enzyme therapy. In my office we affectionately refer to these bowel health indicators as "The Poop Test." It is important to explain the importance of this to your children.

When commensals are out of balance, opportunistic yeast and fungal infections occur further resulting in what is called Leaky Gut Syndrome. Leaky Gut Syndrome results in allergy/sensitivity syndromes that are related to a weakened humeral immune system where your body begins to make antibodies against essential foods and other biochemical's. This overworked and weakened immune system is another risk factor for cancer and must be corrected. I have not treated a cancer patient who has not demonstrated a leaky gut, and most have become sensitive to many of the essential nutrients that the body must be able to utilize to successfully defend itself against a cancer. NAET theory suggests that even seasonal allergies are most often the result of a leaky gut, and mean that food allergy/sensitivity and vitamin and mineral allergy/sensitivity are likely present. NAET (Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique) is the therapy that corrects this risk factor, and more information regarding NAET can be found on my website and at www.naet.com.

My preferred pro-biotic is i-Flora which contains 16 bacterial strains that are normally found in the healthy gut. It can be found beneath the Probiotic heading under Preventics Vitamins on my website.

Having just discussed the gut and its relationship to the immune system, particularly the humeral immune system, it seems appropriate at this time to discuss the cellular immune system.

- The cellular immune system is very complicated, with new components being discovered with regularity. Nevertheless, it can be simplified sufficiently for the non professional to comprehend. Essentially, the cellular immune system is primarily composed of different types of white blood cells. Once again I must take you back to your high school biology class. Remember, both red and white blood cells are born in bone marrow. However, they are immature until they are educated, and it is here that the thymus plays its role.

The thymus is a pea sized gland in the adult. It is larger in the child, but reduces in size with adulthood. It is specifically involved with the development of lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) that attack cancer cells. In the cancer patient, anything that stimulates lymphocytes to attack a cancer more aggressively is good, and anything that results in the body developing more lymphocytes is also good.

Research has shown that stimulating the thymus gland results in the immediate production of statistically significant numbers of additional lymphocytes in the serum. For the patient, this means more soldiers are available to control the invading cancer. One of the laboratory findings characteristic of cancer is a low physiological level of lymphocytes in the cancer patients' blood test. The part of the blood test that shows this departure from the optimum range is called a differential blood count, and is a normal part of a complete blood count (CBC). Although the reference range changes from one lab to another, the approximate reference range for lymphocytes in our society is from 14% to 46%.

Unfortunately, this range reflects a nation of people who are far from healthy, frequently suffering from conditions that go hand in hand with a weak immune system. The optimum physiological reference range for lymphocytes is 35% to 45%. When the lymphocyte count drops below 35% it suggests that the immune system is not functioning optimally. When the lymphocytes drop below 30%, it is an early warning marker for cancer and other serious disorders. No abnormal reading on one individual test is sufficient to determine cancers presence, or to determine progress or lack of it. The lymphocyte count is just one of many markers that can be very helpful in conjunction with other indicators of patient status.

Obviously, for the immune compromised patient there is benefit in stimulating this gland to produce more lymphocytes. In order to do that, I need to show you how to locate this gland. The thymus is found behind the top of the breastbone at the base of the throat. It sits immediately behind and touching the back of this bone. Therefore, by tapping the top of the breastbone it is possible to vibrate, stimulate, and/or massage this gland. It isn't necessary to use much force in the tapping procedure.

This procedure is called the Thymus Tap, and it is suggested that you get into the habit of doing this tapping exercise whenever you go to the toilet. For most people this is at least five or six times a day. If you make this a habit it will serve as a daily stimulation of your cellular immune system for the rest of your life.

- I have yet to treat a cancer patient that doesn't demonstrate the symptoms of an under active thyroid (hypothyroidism). Both hypothyroidism and sub-clinical hypothyroidism are often seen in conjunction with other auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sjorgren's syndrome (dry eye and mouth), diabetes (type II), and hypoglycemia/insulin resistance (low blood sugar).

Broda Barnes, M.D., Ph.D., probably the world's leading authority on thyroid dysfunction during his lifetime, believed it to be present in undiagnosed form in as much as 50% of all adults in North America. This, of course, would be an epidemic of pandemic proportions. So, what would be the warning signs? Hypothyroidism is characterized by anxiety and/or depression, a dull facial expression, puffiness around the eyes, occasional droopiness of the eyelids, fatigue, coarse dry hair with frequent loss of hair, dry skin progressing to coarseness with scaling and thickening, forgetfulness, and personality changes that may approach frank psychosis. There is an often increased menstrual bleeding, complaints about being cold with actual low body temperature, carpal tunnel syndrome, and an elevated cholesterol.

In his book, Hypothyroidism: The Unsuspected Illness, Dr. Barnes points out that the symptoms of hypothyroidism fit the majority of adults in our society past middle age, but they remain undiagnosed because of inaccurate laboratory reference ranges. He treated thousands of patients during his career with excellent results when prior evaluations resulted in the patient being told they were normal. There are two tests that are valuable for you to know, because eventually, if you live in North America and/or the Midwest, you will likely experience some of these symptoms. One test is for simple iodine deficiency, which is very common, and when corrected, in most cases, causes the thyroid to return to normal function. The second test is the Barnes Basal Temperature Test, which in the opinion of many alternative/complimentary practitioners is more accurate than the expensive laboratory tests.

: The first simple home test for iodine deficiency is performed by applying tincture of iodine to your abdomen, buttocks, or thighs, about the size of a video cassette or paper back novel. Tincture of iodine is available at your pharmacy. If the iodine patch you painted on is gone in twenty-four hours, you were in iodine deficiency. Iodine - Potassium Iodide is the Preventics product I use to eliminate this deficiency. The iodine patch test should be performed monthly, while keeping track of the amount of time it takes for the iodine to be absorbed. When the iodine patch remains visible in twenty-four hours, you are in a state of iodine sufficiency, and a daily maintenance dose of iodine is all that is required.

: After you have satisfied your body's need for iodine with our iodine/iodide supplement, you can check yourself for adequate thyroid function in the comfort of your own bed.

Dr. Barnes discovered this simple way of measuring thyroid function while working on his Ph.D. He discovered the axillary (armpit) temperature, on awakening, was an accurate reflection of thyroid function. Medical laboratories aren't excited about this because they can't make any money by doing this test. Fortunately, most alternative/complimentary practitioners favor patient responsibility and patient empowerment, so the Barnes Basal Temperature Test has thrived among these practitioners.

This test provides an accurate idea of thyroid function when performed correctly, but instructions must be followed precisely to achieve dependable results. In the evening before going to bed, take an oral thermometer and shake it down to the lowest reading (this may be 92 or 94 degrees depending on the manufacturer of the thermometer). Place the thermometer on a table or chair where it can be reached without getting out of bed.

Upon awakening, reach over and get the thermometer and place it snugly under either arm in your armpit. Do not get out of bed. With the thermometer in this position, leave it there for ten minutes by the clock. Then you may get up, copy down the temperature reading and the date, and go about your morning activities. Follow these instructions for ten mornings, consecutively if possible. For the test to be valid you must have had four hours of uninterrupted sleep, with the exception of getting up to go to the bathroom.

Axillary temperature should be 97.8 to 98.2 degrees. Any readings below 97.6 degrees strongly suggests low thyroid function. If the readings are above the normal range, one must be suspicious of infection or and over active thyroid.

After you have gathered ten temperatures you simply add them together and divide by ten. It is not unusual to occasionally run a low basal temperature even if your thyroid is normal, so by taking an average you reduce the possibility of making a mistake in the evaluation. When I'm monitoring a patient on thyroid support, I like to have them run the test at least once a month in order to chart progress.

- Thyroid protomorphogen (glandular thyroid) has been effectively used for decades in aiding both over active and under active thyroid patients achieve normal thyroid function. Unfortunately, some thyroid disease is severe enough that more heroic medical intervention is necessary. The good news is that most of the time the more natural approach works adequately well.

Normal body temperature is important for the cancer patient because the body uses temperature to control the growth of foreign protein, be it bacterial, viral, or cancerous in origin. When your body temperature is low, you have lost an important survival weapon. This has become recognized to the point that there are many clinics in Mexico, the Bahamas, and Europe that utilize temperature (hyper-thermia) to treat cancer patients.

Teach your family to eat locally grown organic produce and naturally raised beef and chicken. Avoid farmed fish. Try to eat what is in season.
Drink pure water, preferably from glass containers. Avoid plastic.
Exercise daily in a non-polluted environment. Breathing polluted city air during rush hour can be hazardous and should be avoided.
Have an environmental detoxification plan in place for your family, and make it a habit. This will help keep your loved ones from getting sick by reducing toxic body burden.
Have everyone on a basic vitamin and mineral anti-oxidant program like the Basic Program in my newsletters or something similar.
Evaluate everyone's digestive function routinely. Proper bowel function is critical to good health, which makes it appropriate for family conversation. If you can't pass "the poop test," you're sick.
Discuss the presence or absence of body odor as an indicator of toxic body burden.
Get copies of your routine lab tests and check for optimum Lymphocytes (lymphs) under the differential portion of the CBC.
Check for iodine/iodide sufficiency in all family members ten years old and older with the iodine patch test.
Have everyone form the habit of doing the "thymus tap" when going to the toilet to strengthen the immune system.

For specific questions, I can be reached at my free Health Help Hotline, 816-753-4866, or 800-888-4866, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday between 10 and 12, Central Time.