“It takes a village…” This saying speaks to the power of a community beyond that of an individual. When cancer forms a community (a tumor), it causes havoc as it builds it own “nest” and gets comfortable there. The environment it builds makes normal cell life even harder.
When protestors took over portions of certain cities, they damaged or destroyed some things while building their own structures. They reinforced their position by making barriers, new supply routes, and repurposing existing structures to their purposes. Tumors are a lot like the rioters — they build their own micro-environment to support their way of life, with complete disregard for the normal life around them. They simply don’t get along with their neighbors, and one side or the other takes over eventually.
How tumors take over
An article, published in PMC (PubMed Central) by the National institutes of Health, encapsulates it this way: “…once a tumor initiates, the surrounding tissue is altered to promote cancer survival and growth.” It refers to the “tumor microenvironment” which is comprised of cells and metabolic functions that have been co-opted by the tumor to make itself at home. Here are some of the ways that the tumor adjusts its environment to favor its growth and make surrounding tissue do its bidding:
Pressure:
Tumors create a tight space where there is limited intake and outflow of fluids, This is referred to as “interstitial pressure”, which can build up to 100 times normal. This pressure guards against normal immune cell attacks simply by pushing them away, inhibits “cleaning out” of toxins from the tumor by normal flow of fluids through the region, and reduces oxygen supply. This pressure forces toxins to leak into healthy surrounding tissue and into the lymph system. Cancer, which is born and breed in a toxic environment, not only thrives, but forces its garbage, in high concentrations, into surrounding cells — making them sick as well.
Stiffening:
Cells in the body generally have a physical support matrix holding them together; otherwise we would be a gelatinous blob of disconnected cells running around aimlessly. This support matrix changes in a tumor: normal proteins are degraded, odd new protein deposits are laid down, and the polymer fibers (fibrils) that align cells into a coherent structure are altered. This leads to a stiffening of the tumor which expands as the cancer invades healthy tissue.
Expansion and metastasis:
Cancer cells focus on rapid growth. Since the tumor region is compressed, this growth creates even more pressure and crowds out normal cells and normal metabolic functions. The tumors become “solid” as the pressure and new structural matrix develop. The pressure can also eject cancer cells out of the tumor, where they can wander through the body and attempt to find a new home. Away from the protection of the tumor environment, this journey often fails, but there are plenty of other cancer cells to make the attempt. As the tumor matures, the pressure, quantity of cells, and level of toxins increase the probability of successful metastasis, which is the term for a successful transplantation of the cancer to a new location and the creation of a new tumor.
Inflammation:
Cancer and inflammation tend to go together, as the harsh inflammatory environment suits the cancer much better than normal tissue. Cancer is tuned for the toxic, harsh environment that makes normal cells sick. In the tumor, toxins build up to extreme levels before they leak out under the high pressure and poison normal cells, force their way into the lymphatic system, and spread cancer cells elsewhere. This promotes inflammation greatly as the immune system attempts to deal with the invasion. This expands the region where the environment favors cancer over normal cells, and the situation spirals downward.
Lymphatic Takeover
As the tumor progresses, it expands into healthy tissue and surrounds existing lymphatic vessels, which enlarge and become more permeable so they can accommodate the increasing high-pressure drainage forced by the tumor. This highly toxic, concentrated drainage would be difficult for a normal lymphatic system to clear, and is a huge task for the co-opted lymph nodes particularly in the tumor region. The lymphatic system becomes a roadway for cancer cells to spread elsewhere, and is why lymph nodes may be checked for metastasis with a cancer diagnosis. The lymphatic system attempts to do its job, but gets overwhelmed. Speeding the lymphatic drainage gives the system a fighting chance.
What to do:
We know a tumor will attempt to “make its nest” quickly in ways that are opposed to normal fluid exchange, oxygenation, waste product removal, and lower inflammation. So a logical defense is to enhance all four of those factors! Move the body, breathe deeply, keep fluid levels high, make garbage removal more effective by not adding to the garbage load, keep overall inflammation low, and favor the normal cell environment rather than the sick, toxic environment that cancer needs.
Standard medical investigation looks to find drug solutions to the problems caused by tumors, but these solutions are generally toxic and inflammatory in themselves. So results have been disappointing and frustrating, An article outlining four “new” aspects of tumors — high solid stress, very high interstitial fluid pressure, increased stiffness, and altered tissue micro-architecture — was published in Science and cites researchers from Steele Laboratories. Their conclusion was that new approaches and a broader cooperation among scientific branches is needed to more effectively deal with tumor development. They cite researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Ludwig Center who point to the need for a broader approach.
Since cancer is so complex, and acts in seemingly purposeful ways to develop its optimal environment, a broader approach which favors healthy cell metabolism is vital. This is a quiet revolution in cancer research, where scientists are recognizing the need to discourage the special development of the tumor environment and encourage the development of normal metabolism to counter what the cancer is creating. Some therapies may effectively deal with tumors, but first and foremost promoting a healthy environment in opposition to what the cancer is trying to create must be your top priority. All cancer therapies should be considered in light of how much they favor or disfavor the preferred tumor environment, and all therapies would be more effective when combined with basic health-promoting activities.
Dr. Nemec’s Comments:
What we have taught at Total Health Institute for over the last 35 years is the basics for health and healing. Things like how to oxygenate your cells with deep diaphragm breathing, lymphatic exercise, and cell exercise. Eating a diet that is customized for each individual, taking into account their unique food sensitivities, and making sure the diet and the lifestyle are highly anti-inflammatory and promoting detoxification instead of toxification. When you put this together, with our treatment and teaching program, you make the environment where cancer does not want to live anymore. This is key in healing — to make an environment that supports only health and never disease. Our live food preparation classes and exercise classes tremendously augment our treatment protocol that addresses body, mind and emotional balance. How can you expect to heal when you are just poisoning and radiating your body? That is okay for short term, but not without side effects of toxicity and inflammation. Many patients who come to us choose us because they want integrative treatment, meaning conventional treatment to kill tumors and our treatment to heal the body and make sure it does not get sick again. Others come because they would never put poison in their body. We are here to help you in these ways:
- Outpatient Comprehensive Teaching and Treatment Program-has the most benefit of teaching, treatment, live classes and personalized coaching. This program has the most contact with Dr. Nemec with 3- 6 month programs that can be turned into a regular checking and support program for life. This is our core program that has helped so many restore their health and maintain that restoration for years.
- Inpatient Comprehensive Teaching and Treatment Program-is our four-week intensive inpatient program for those that are not in driving distance, usually over 4 hour drive. This is the program that is an intensive jumpstart with treatment, teaching, live classes and coaching designed for all our international patients along with those in the US that do not live in Illinois. This program is very effective especially when combined with our new membership program support.
- Stay at Home Program-is offered to continental US patients who cannot come to Total Health Institute but still want a more personal, customized plan to restore their health. This program also includes our Learn Membership Program.
- Membership Program is our newest program offered for those that want to work on their health at a high level and want access to the teaching at Total Health Institute along with the Forums: both Dr. Nemec’s posts and other members posting. And also, to have the chance to get personalized questions answered on the conference calls which are all archived in case you miss the call. The Membership Program has 3 levels to choose from: Learn, Overcome and Master. The difference is at the Overcome and Master levels you received one on one calls with Dr. Nemec personalizing your program for your areas of focus.
