Page 22 - Spring2020

Besides affected. They get on these medications right biological mechanism that can be used to coun-

keeping our away, allowing almost no chance to test whether teract these relapses. The approach activates a
or not something as simple as vitamin A therapy protein that is lost in the persisting cancer cells.
immune plus sauerkraut or other probiotic support might The scientists were able to reactivate this protein
system have worked. Their immune systems are now with vitamin A, thus eliminating the cancer
prepared to suppressed instead of overreacting, but that is cells and preventing their spread. In mice with
colon cancer, treatment with a form of vitamin A
not the same as healing.
deal with The other thing that we think of with an called retinoids blocked tumor progression and
pathogens, overactive immune system is allergies. We know returned the colon to its normal healthy state. 14
A recent study using human breast cancer
vitamin A that people with allergies often show lower levels cells found that vitamin A turned pre-cancerous
of vitamin A in their blood. Getting adequate vi-
allows our tamin A during pregnancy can prevent allergies cells back to normal healthy breast cells.
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immune in offspring, a big problem with children today. People whose diets included high levels of
system to Vitamin A along with other antioxidants such vitamin A had a 17 percent reduction in risk for
as vitamins C and E may help control asthma getting the second-most-common type of skin
be tolerant. symptoms as well. One of the reasons vitamin cancer, as compared to those who ate modest
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We want a A is effective in treating allergies is that it sup- amounts of foods and supplements rich in vita-
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tolerant presses the activities of mast cells. Those are min A.
Vitamin A also shows promise in the treat-
the ones that release the histamine that triggers
immune an allergic response. Functional medical doc- ment of pancreatic cancer. In a healthy pancreas,
system that tors will want to consider vitamin A as part of cells called stellate cells exist in a dormant
doesn’t their protocol. A good daily protocol would be a state, storing abundant supplies of vitamin A.
moderately high amount of vitamin A (10,000-
As colon cancer progresses, these stellate cells
overreact 20,000 IU); an appropriate amount of vitamin D become activated in response to signals from
to things. (1,000-5,000 IU), depending on the patient’s sun the tumor and lose their vitamin A content.
exposure; a therapeutic probiotic (spore-based These activated stellate cells form dense con-
or Sacharomyces boulardii and/or fermented nective tissue around the tumor, which is then
foods); raw milk, colostrum and/or lactoferrin; used by cancer cells to spread to other parts of
plus zinc and other needed nutrients. the body. The tissue also limits the ability of
An example of how vitamin A supports the cancer-fighting drugs to penetrate the tumor.
immune system comes from a study on Ebola. In the new study, researchers found that it was
The researchers studied patients after they were possible to switch off these stellate cells, po-
admitted to the hospital. They immediately tentially preventing the formation of the tissue
treated some of them with 200,000 IU of vitamin around the tumor, through a process involving
A. The treated group had a mortality rate of 55 vitamin A.
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percent and the untreated 72 percent. These are In another pancreatic cancer study, the
significant results for such a virulent virus. addition of high doses of a form of vitamin
A made chemotherapy more successful. The
VITAMIN A AND CANCER results were so promising that a clinical trial is
I don’t work with patients with active cancer now underway. According to the lead author,
diagnoses, but I think it is a good idea to make "Pancreatic cancer is extremely hard to treat
sure cancer patients are getting enough vitamin by chemotherapy, so this finding is important
A. At the least, vitamin A will help reduce your because vitamin A targets the non-cancerous
risk for cancer—after all, vitamin A is the main tissue and makes the existing chemotherapy
nutrient for keeping cell differentiation in line. more effective, killing the cancer cells and
Some recent studies indicate an important role shrinking tumors.”
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for vitamin A in preventing and treating cancer. These studies used only vitamin A, and not
Colon cancer often recurs when a group vitamin A combined with vitamin D, as in cod
of persisting cancer cells in the colon begin to liver oil or liver, which one might expect would
multiply again. Scientists recently identified a be even more effective.
22 Wise Traditions SPRING 2020