CANCER & AUTOIMMUNE PREVENTION & SUPPORT

There is a widely held belief that the most dreaded diseases facing our time, including cancer and autoimmune diseases can be blamed on genetics. This is the notion that our DNA and genes predetermine us to our current and future health, and that we have little to no control over this or our health outcomes in the long haul. In the words of Eric Lander, PhD, one of the leaders of the Human Genome Project, “People will think that because genes play a role in something, they determine everything. That’s nonsense. To say that something has a genetic component does not make it unchangeable.”  

This understanding of health and disease is backed up by the latest scientific research which reveals that in fact, the common cause of these chronic illnesses are not to be blamed on genetics, but rather on lifestyle. According to the National Cancer Institute, at least two-thirds of all cancer is lifestyle-based. This means that we actually have tremendous control over our health outcomes, that what counts more over the genes that we were born with are the actions and thoughts that we choose for ourselves each day. Whether we prevent or develop autoimmune diseases and cancer is largely determined by how and where we choose to live our lives, by what nutrition we put into our mouths, what exercises we give our minds and bodies, and what environments and communities we choose to be engaged in. This is what’s behind epigenetics, the latest field science which studies how lifestyle choices and experiences determine which genes are expressed and which are not. This means that even if you were born with a set of genes for cancer, autoimmune or other diseases, that you are NOT doomed to develop these diseases, IF you make the right lifestyle choices. This is incredibly empowering!

Most of us have had our lives touched in some way by cancer and autoimmune diseases, whether we have been directly affected ourselves or someone we know has.  For me, my life was forever changed nearly twenty ago by the diagnosis of my father with end-stage colon cancer. At the time, I was not yet in the health profession and this devastating news hit me and my family hard, seemingly coming out of nowhere. There had been no history of cancer in my father’s family and he exercised and practiced tai-chi and meditation daily.  

In hindsight, however, I see that my father’s intestinal cancer had a great deal to do with his poor diet. Growing up in the 1930s during World War II, my father, one of eight children in an impoverished Chinese family, was dealt his hand with malnutrition and periodic starvation. As a result, he developed the habit of “inhaling” his food faster than anyone else at the table. Once food was no longer scarce, the staples at the dining table for himself and his family were large quantities of white rice or bread at each meal, along with processed foods like canned Spam, margarine, instant ramen noodles and on average only one fruit or vegetable a day. In addition, my father’s work as a consultant required him to dine out over elaborate meals with his clients much of the week. Although he seemed to be in relatively good health, he had suffered from chronic constipation and hemorrhoids since his thirties, and both of these symptoms are widely recognized as warning signs for more severe intestinal illnesses down the road, including intestinal cancer.    

At the age of 64, my father was told he had cancer which had spread all throughout his colon and into his liver. His doctor said he had at most six months to live if he received the most aggressive conventional cancer treatments available at the time. After trying out 6 months of chemotherapy and radiation which failed to help stop the progression of his cancer, my father prepared for the next phase of his journey. Our family found a hospice in China which used acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, and qigong therapy. That would become my father’s final home for the last 6 months of his life. It was Thanksgiving Day in 2000 when he passed, 12 months after his initial cancer diagnosis. I was there to witness his final moments when he passed without pain and with full mental clarity. This left an indelible mark on me to dedicate myself to learning all I could about how to prevent cancer and other chronic debilitating conditions such as autoimmune diseases in healthy people. I also want to support patients who already have these conditions by offering guidance on optimal nutrition and lifestyle, as well as providing natural therapies using Acupuncture, Chinese Medicine and Functional Medicine.

My father continues to be an inspiration to me in my clinical practice and in life. He exemplified courage, integrity, and love in living and in dying. If he had known about the healthy lifestyle in terms of the role of nutrition in preventing and treating illnesses, I believe he would have chosen that for himself and his family.  Discovering that cancer existed in my family during my twenties and losing my father to it dramatically changed the course of my life. I resolved to dedicate myself to learning everything I could about disease prevention and support for myself and others. Not only do I coach patients on the optimal nutrient-dense foods to eat, the exercises that would help them most in regulating their immune systems and calming inflammation in their bodies and techniques for meditation to help alleviate their stress and improve sleep, I maintain these practices each day for myself. Making simple, consistent changes each day on the health journey is how we can take control of whether our genes are activated or remain dormant, and of whether we live in health or in illness.