Advanced Wellness Solutions

Whenever you hear the word “cancer” as part of your diagnosis, your hands start to shake and your palms start to sweat.  However, it’s important to stay calm, especially when the diagnosis is Prostate Cancer.

According to Cancer.org

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer found in American men, other than skin cancer. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be about 186,320 new cases of prostate cancer in the United States in 2008. About 28,660 men will die of this disease this year.

That’s scary - but the news gets better - from the same page:

While 1 man in 6 will get prostate cancer during his lifetime, only 1 man in 35 will die of this disease. More than 2 million men in the United States who have had prostate cancer at some point are still alive today. The death rate for prostate cancer is going down, and the disease is being found earlier as well.

So prostate cancer is a good news/bad news kind of a diagnosis. If you’re a man, chances are relatively good that you’ll be hearing this diagnosis in your lifetime.   That’s the bad news.  The good news is, the odds of survival are definitely in your favor!

There are two reasons for the optimistic survival rates:

1. Greater awareness of the symptoms which has lead to earlier diagnosis.
2. Prostate Cancer is a slow growing cancer.

Nothing beats early detection in the fight against cancer.  One of the best early detection tools when it comes to prostate cancer is the PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test.

There’s a great page at Cancer.org on Can Prostate Cancer Be Prevented? In the article are lots of tips on how a healthy diet may be the best way to prevent prostate cancer.

A healthy diet may be the best prevention, but what happens if you (or someone you love) has gotten this dreadful diagnosis?

The Prostate Cancer Foundation offers this advice on Prostate Cancer Treatments:

There is no “one size fits all” treatment for prostate cancer, so each man must learn as much as he can about various treatment options and, in conjunction with his physicians, make his own decision about what is best for him.

For most men, the decision will rest on a combination of clinical and psychological factors. Men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer today will likely live for many years, so any decision that is made now will likely reverberate for a long time. Careful consideration of the different options is an important first step in deciding on the best treatment course.

Consultation with all three types of prostate cancer specialists—a urologist, a radiation oncologist and a medical oncologist—will offer the most comprehensive assessment of the available treatments and expected outcomes

The Prostate Cancer Institute agrees:

The best prostate cancer treatment depends upon a man’s age and general health, the stage of his prostate cancer, its location, and his personal decision.

The more you know about prostate cancer treatment options, the better prepared you will be to work with your doctor to choose the best prostate cancer treatment for you.

So, you need to work out a prostate cancer treatment program with your physician(s).  However, in order to make the best decision, you need lots of information.  What do you need to know about prostate cancer treatments?

According to Family Doctor.org

The treatment options for prostate cancer depend in part on whether the tumor has spread. For tumors that are still inside the prostate, radiation therapy (using x-rays that kill the cancer cells) and a surgery called radical prostatectomy are common treatment options. “Watchful waiting” is also a treatment option. In this approach, no treatment is given until the tumor gets bigger. Watchful waiting may be the best choice for an older man who has a higher risk of dying from something other than his prostate cancer.

Generally, tumors that have grown beyond the edge of the prostate can’t be cured with either radiation or surgery. They can be treated with hormones that slow the cancer’s growth.

There has been a growing call in the medical community for an increased adoption of the “watchful waiting” treatment option because many prostate cancers are small and slow growing.  Be sure to discuss this treatment option with your doctor.

For more information about Prostate Cancer, in addition to the links above, here are some valuable resources from Family Doctor.org:

• American Cancer Society
  http://www.cancer.org
  800-ACS-2345 (800-227-2345)
• Prostate Health Council/American Foundation for Urologic Disease
  http://www.prostatehealth.com
  1128 N. Charles St.
  Baltimore, MD 21201
  800-242-2383
• Revolution Health Cancer Community
  http://www.revolutionhealth.com/forums/cancer

Prostate Cancer is scary, but your best weapon in the fight is information.  Take time to research your options thoroughly so you fully understand ALL of your options before you begin treatment.

Pursuit of Happiness- Definition: Happiness is an abstract concept which can mean many things to many people. For our purposes here, let’s say that happiness is simply “contentment”.

Since Pursuit can be defined as the act of pursuing or chasing, the pursuit of happiness is merely chasing contentment.

We’re all familiar that food is a popular “drug” used for many who are in pursuit of happiness. That’s the reason so many turn to sugar laden foods in an attempt to temporarily elevate their mood. However, there are healthy ways to use food to elevate your mood!

In an issue of Woman’s World (Volume XXIX Number 4, January 2008), according to Susan Kleiner, Ph.D. R.D., author of The Good Mood Diet: Feel Great While You Lose Weight, one way to flip on your happiness switch is to munch on popcorn!  It seems chewing crunchy foods help to stimulate a nerve that tells the brain to release a rush of mood altering chemicals.

Other ways to use food to achieve happiness in the article include starting your day with a glass of citrus juice (Orange Juice or Grapefruit Juice).  Turns out that vitamin C helps to lower the stress hormone cortisol and just one glass of OJ or Grapefruit juice is just enough to tame this stressful hormone.

Another tip is to sniff cinnamon!  Seems that cinnamon and vanilla scents also help to release feel good chemicals in our brains.  (Now you know why the smell of freshly baked cookies elevates your mood!)

While food can be used to lift your mood, probably the most important habit to acquire in the pursuit of happiness is to get enough sleep. Research abounds that not getting adequate sleep throws off the brain’s ability to regulate mood.

Get plenty of rest, eat healthy and stay away from refined sugar and you’ll find yourself well on your way to finding contentment and happiness.

First, a disclaimer: Depression is a serious medical disorder. It is not a sign of personal weakness. It is, instead the result of an imbalance of serotonin and other brain chemicals like dopamine, acetylcholine, norepinephrine. When these chemicals get “out of whack” depression can be the result.

There are many “wholistic” methods of treating depression including:

• St. John’s Wort
• Kava kava
• Tryptophan
• Gingko biloba
• B Vitamin supplements (especially B12)
• Omega-3 supplements
• Sam-e

Eating right is of course, an essential ingredient when achieving good health.  A diet rich in whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables combined with low fat dairy products (if you aren’t lactose intolerant) are all good healthy foods which also happen to be natural sources of tryptophan.

Tryptophan is converted by the body into serotonin, one of the essential brain chemical’s needed for optimal mental health. Tofu, or soybean curd, is a food very high in tryptophan as are most other soy products such as dried soy nuts.  (These make a TASTY addition to your salad!) Other tryptophan rich foods are sesame seeds, walnuts, cashews and pumpkin seeds.  Oh, and don’t forget that holiday favorite, TURKEY which is also rich in tryptophan.

The website Indian Child offers this advice:

For a long time, depression and nutritional imbalances have gone hand in hand. A deficiency in certain vitamins or minerals could inhibit the production of the neurochemicals —the good feel chemicals. B vitamins have always been in the news and Vitamin B6 is known to have assist enzymes to convert amino acids to serotonin and norepinephrine –the good mood chemicals. So a deficiency of Vitamin B12 or folic acid can cause depression.

It has also been found that a deficiency in magnesium can lead to nonspecific low mood levels. The point to be noted here is that improvement in the levels of serotonin can be set right by eating the right natural foods which contain the above elements. This in combination with other forms of therapy can alleviate depression. In fact ingestion of Vitamin C has been known to catalyze reactions, which lead to the production of serotonin.

The website Cure Your Depression offers six natural cures to relieve depression.  The site’s author  Merri Ellen Giesbrecht writes:

Eating healthy to cure your depression is worth it! It not only cures your depression but can cure and prevent many other diseases as well. Feed your body well and you feed your mind. Soon, your outlook on life can become completely different! Instead of not wanting to get out of bed, you jump out of bed in the morning – looking forward to the day.

According to Dr. Gregory L. Jantz, author of the book Moving Beyond Depression: A Whole-Person Approach to Healing, (cited by Giesbrecht) because depression can arise from a myriad of factors-physical, relational, financial, environmental, hormonal or spiritual-it doesn’t make sense to treat it with a one-size-fits-all system, he insists.

Organic Authority also offers tips on spotting symptoms of postpartum depression.

Again, depression is serious.  A change in dietary habits will not cure a case of severe depression.  However, implementing a healthy diet can possibly prevent serious depression.

If you or your loved one are experiencing any of the following:

• Feeling hopeless, worthless or inadequate
• Frequent crying or tearfulness
• Insomnia or sleepiness
• Lack of energy
• Loss of pleasure in activities you normally enjoy
• Difficulty doing typical daily chores
• Change in appetite
• Feelings of sadness and despair
• Feelings of guilt, panic or confusion
• Feelings of anger or anxiety
• Extreme mood swings
• Memory loss
• Fear of “losing control”
• Lack of interest in sex
• Withdrawal from social circles and routines
• Thoughts about hurting yourself or suicide

Seek medical attention IMMEDIATELY!  Depression is serious!