Fighting Cancer
Cancer cells have altered genetic material and sometimes associated proteins called histones and have lost control of cell division. The telomeres have shortened in length through damage. Genes for repairs, found in telomeres, have been damaged. Repair does not match the damage because stress is too metabolically demanding to the cell.
Telomeres grow back by some repair mechanism that could not take place during the metabolically demanding damage to the cell. The regrowth in telomeres means that the change in the cell has been consolidated and so can be perpetuated as cancer cells multiply uncontrollably.
Treatment with cytotoxic drugs and radiation further damages the cancer cells, shortens their telomeres and leads to cell death. Other treatments attempt to put a brake on excessive cell division. Still others target hormones that promote cell growth(division) via cell receptors (transcription factors).
Continuous cell, and hence DNA, damage, indirectly from excessive cell stimulation(from e.g. irritation or other environmental factors which 'force' replication and cause damage to DNA on replication) or directly on pro-oncogenes or tumor suppressors, leads to cancer.
It is now known that some nutrients that produce their benefits on cellular damage, including cysteine and indeed all anti-oxidants, do so more by supplying molecular oxygen to tissue rather than by depriving the cell of reactive oxygen free radicals(which are naturally taken care of by our enzyme systems).
This brings us to the importance of aerobic respiration in the prevention of cancer and all cell damage, for that matter, and the accompanying aging of the cell, with the shortening of telomeres. No doubt, exercise has been shown to reverse this shortening of telomeres. This proves that exercise, through oxygen supplies, repairs telomeres and cells and prevents most diseases, by efficient energy output and input.
On the other hand, insulin signaling, which leads to uncontrolled cell growth, predisposes cells to damage from 'forced' replication, cancer, and in fact, many diseases, thus reducing lifespan. This again underscores the importance of exercise, which reduces the need for insulin, in health.
Metformin, a hypoglycemic(ant-diabetic) drug, which reduces the need for insulin, has been shown to be effective in the treatment of cancer. So, although having normal weight is very important for good health, the good effects of exercise outweigh the benefits of weight loss without exercise.
Normal growth hormone is stimulated by fasting, which prompts glucagon secretion that supports normal growth and repair and this has been shown to slow aging. This occurs more in sleep and rest.
There has been a long-held view that cancer cells do not carry out aerobic respiration. Evidence is coming up that they do not only use oxygen but that such usage in aerobic respiration is increased above that of normal cells. To do so, cancer cells send signals that make it difficult for surrounding normal cells to use oxygen, in an attempt to effectively compete for energy resources, needed for cancer growth. Hence, immune cells that will normally fight cancer, become weak, being deprived not only of food but more importantly of oxygen. Inflammation sets in, in the normal tissue.
Blood vessels leading to cancer tissue become leaky. This is an attempt to further deprive normal cells of oxygen. Being inflamed, these normal cells cannot take up oxygen very well. Cancer cells, on the other, hand are well equipped genetically to take up oxygen, in a carefully controlled manner to grow and survive. Dopamine has been shown to re-establish the endothelial integrity and lead to normal tissue oxygenation, which has been viewed as a strategy to defeat cancer
Of course, having enough rest, promotes cell repair and produces less cellular damage. In stress, physical and psychological, which are both cellular stimulants and insults, our cells with their DNA are more open to damage.
These logical scientific explanations have been advanced in an attempt to show how our lifestyles shape our health and longevity. From stress through nutrition to exercise, we have a say.
Dr Oliver Verbe Birnso,MD
Telomeres grow back by some repair mechanism that could not take place during the metabolically demanding damage to the cell. The regrowth in telomeres means that the change in the cell has been consolidated and so can be perpetuated as cancer cells multiply uncontrollably.
Treatment with cytotoxic drugs and radiation further damages the cancer cells, shortens their telomeres and leads to cell death. Other treatments attempt to put a brake on excessive cell division. Still others target hormones that promote cell growth(division) via cell receptors (transcription factors).
Continuous cell, and hence DNA, damage, indirectly from excessive cell stimulation(from e.g. irritation or other environmental factors which 'force' replication and cause damage to DNA on replication) or directly on pro-oncogenes or tumor suppressors, leads to cancer.
It is now known that some nutrients that produce their benefits on cellular damage, including cysteine and indeed all anti-oxidants, do so more by supplying molecular oxygen to tissue rather than by depriving the cell of reactive oxygen free radicals(which are naturally taken care of by our enzyme systems).
This brings us to the importance of aerobic respiration in the prevention of cancer and all cell damage, for that matter, and the accompanying aging of the cell, with the shortening of telomeres. No doubt, exercise has been shown to reverse this shortening of telomeres. This proves that exercise, through oxygen supplies, repairs telomeres and cells and prevents most diseases, by efficient energy output and input.
On the other hand, insulin signaling, which leads to uncontrolled cell growth, predisposes cells to damage from 'forced' replication, cancer, and in fact, many diseases, thus reducing lifespan. This again underscores the importance of exercise, which reduces the need for insulin, in health.
Metformin, a hypoglycemic(ant-diabetic) drug, which reduces the need for insulin, has been shown to be effective in the treatment of cancer. So, although having normal weight is very important for good health, the good effects of exercise outweigh the benefits of weight loss without exercise.
Normal growth hormone is stimulated by fasting, which prompts glucagon secretion that supports normal growth and repair and this has been shown to slow aging. This occurs more in sleep and rest.
There has been a long-held view that cancer cells do not carry out aerobic respiration. Evidence is coming up that they do not only use oxygen but that such usage in aerobic respiration is increased above that of normal cells. To do so, cancer cells send signals that make it difficult for surrounding normal cells to use oxygen, in an attempt to effectively compete for energy resources, needed for cancer growth. Hence, immune cells that will normally fight cancer, become weak, being deprived not only of food but more importantly of oxygen. Inflammation sets in, in the normal tissue.
Blood vessels leading to cancer tissue become leaky. This is an attempt to further deprive normal cells of oxygen. Being inflamed, these normal cells cannot take up oxygen very well. Cancer cells, on the other, hand are well equipped genetically to take up oxygen, in a carefully controlled manner to grow and survive. Dopamine has been shown to re-establish the endothelial integrity and lead to normal tissue oxygenation, which has been viewed as a strategy to defeat cancer
Of course, having enough rest, promotes cell repair and produces less cellular damage. In stress, physical and psychological, which are both cellular stimulants and insults, our cells with their DNA are more open to damage.
These logical scientific explanations have been advanced in an attempt to show how our lifestyles shape our health and longevity. From stress through nutrition to exercise, we have a say.
Dr Oliver Verbe Birnso,MD
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