Our newsletters generally have a unifying theme, such as cancer care or stress reduction.  In this newsletter, each contributor writes about health or medical issues current in their own consciousness. Each of us writes from our own perspective and experiences, from our interactions with our patients, and from our research. At Pacific Naturopathic, we endeavor to walk our talk, to understand and work with our own healing as we work with the healing of others.

Dr. Connie muses on dietary rigidity; Dr. Corrine offers her observances from more than a year of immersion in the Hernandez Center for Adjunctive Cancer Care; Dr. Connie distills the research on the dangers of GMOs; Dr. Marcel ponders on how people make decisions concerning their cancer care options; Elijah Free talks about his work with PTSD; Nicole Noceto writes on mental illness and how to transform life experiences; Jane Hernandez presents solutions to sleep problems and Carlene Foldenauer discusses the relationship between chronic stress and overall well-being.

We hope you enjoy these articles. As always, if you would like us to address a particular issue in these newsletters, please let us know.

Be Well.

Dr. Connie, Dr. Marcel and your care team at Pacific Naturopathic and the Hernandez Center for Adjunctive Cancer Care

Recently, I have been struck by how often I hear the C word around me, even outside of our clinic. I hear it from friends, family, even in random, passing conversations next to me from strangers at the grocery store. It seems like cancer is a big topic of conversation in health these days, and almost everyone's life has been touched by cancer. 

Most people can name at least one person that has been affected by cancer. I keep thinking about a distant friend of mine recently, who was only in his mid-20s and just passed away from his metastasized cancer. I can only imagine what his family went through, particularly his parents who must be wondering why they are having to outlive their son who was so young and seemed to have a full life ahead of him. Cancer is such an all-encompassing illness - not only something to battle physically but also a very emotional journey for each individual as well as their family and friends. 

Watching my patients go through chemotherapy to combat their cancer, oftentimes seeing their vitality being sapped, has given me even more empathy for them. I am grateful that as naturopathic doctors focusing on adjunctive cancer care we have safe, effective medical approaches to help them through their process through the rounds of their conventional treatments, helping to truly improve their quality of life through their cancer journey and giving them more options for treatment. 

By thinking about and learning more about cancer, we can definitely do our part in preventing it and decreasing our risk of developing it. Cancer is largely due to the environment's effects on our genetics. The American Cancer Society states that only 5-10% of cancer is truly due to gene defects inherited from a parent. If this is the case, what can we do to help prevent cancer?  Below is a list of basic dietary and lifestyle changes that can help keep away the chances of developing the big C.

1)   Eat 5-7 servings of vegetables a day (1 serving = 1 cup raw or ½ cup cooked vegetables), especially focusing on cruciferous vegetables for cleansing. These are vegetables in the broccoli family - broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, collard greens, arugula.

2)   Add in a variety of spices, especially turmeric for cancer-fighting and anti-inflammatory properties.

3)   Decrease intake of possible toxic exposures - eat organic foods on the dirty dozen list. Chek out the list here. 

4)   Make sure water intake is ½ your body weight in ounces a day for proper elimination.

5)   Drink green tea - the constituent in green tea, ECGC, is a potent antioxidant and helps to fight cancer.

6)   Exercise most days - even a quick 20-minute walk can help with decreasing stress, boost the immune system, and elevate mood.

7)   Managing stress overall will help with maintaining immune health and allowing the body to restore and repair - on top of exercise, consider yoga, meditation, bodywork, taking a bath, or any other way of helping you to relax.

Following these guidelines and maintaining a healthy lifestyle can go a long way not only in preventing cancer but also many other illnesses. 

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For more information about my practice and how naturopathic care can help address issues you be working with, please call (650) 917-1121 or visit www.drcorrinewang.com. For information about our cancer center, please visit www.hernandezcenter.com.

Dr. Connie has offered natural medicine guidance to her Bay Area patients since 1993.

 In considering topics not previously addressed in our newsletter, I noted that we have not discussed GE (genetic engineering) and GMOs (genetically modified organisms).  

 Millions of consumers have marched against Monsanto. Numerous countries, and several counties and states in the United States restrict GMO foods, either by banning GMO crops, or by requiring labeling to identify GMO products.  Diverse companies have weighed in, from Walmart rejecting Monsanto's GE bovine growth hormone due to cancer risks, to Ben and Jerry's becoming GMO free, to Whole Foods committing to GMO transparency.

Proponents argue that genetic engineering is no different than hybridization, an accepted practice for years. However, genetic engineering is NOT the same. GE involves developing traits in plants by inserting foreign genetic material from one species into another. The name "frankenfoods" is apt.

Say NO! to GMO

Facial eczema in dairy cows in New Zealand can be traced to nutrient deficiencies caused by GMO feed. Rats fed GMO corn develop mammary tumors and kidney and liver damage. Glyphosphate residues in GE sugar, corn, soy and wheat have been found to damage cellular systems, creating inflammation throughout the body and preventing the detoxification of xenobiotics, enhancing the damage. (Astonishingly, in the face of the many independent reports detailing concerns with glyphosphate , the FDA has been busy upping what they consider to be acceptable levels in our food.)

And then there's the issue of a gene from Bacillus theringensis (Bt), an insect killing bacterium, present now, through GE, in a majority of corn grown in the United States, and in the blood streams of anyone who wittingly or unwittingly consumes the Bt corn. Bt is linked in humans to dysbiosis, leaky gut, food sensitivities, autoimmunity, childhood learning disorders and more.

I'm barely scratching the surface of the research here. Additionally, in the health care world, clinicians report that removal of GMO foods helps clear a veritable laundry list of health concerns:  allergies, headaches, fatigue, kidney and liver problems, diabetes, skin problems, infertility, hypertension, obesity.

The wise choice would be to avoid GMOs whenever possible. Choose organic. Read labels, looking for 100% organic, and GMO free. (Natural or all natural labels are neither regulated, nor reliable). Better still, grow your own food with organic seed.  Stop buying nonorganic processed foods and avoid prevalent GMO ingredients: soy, sugar from sugar beets, corn, Hawaiian papaya, cottonseed, some varieties of zucchini, canola oil, crookneck squash. Support GMO labeling campaigns. Support companies and stores that reject GMOs. The Institute for Responsible Technology provides a NonGMO Shopping Guide here. Check it out.

 It is constantly pointed out to me just how much we are creatures of our conditioning.  A personal example is my choice of which medical school to attend.  On the one hand, for the same amount of financial investment and same amount of time, I could have chosen the conventional path and enrolled in a program that would have conferred an MD (Medical Doctor) degree.  I chose to attend a medical school which granted me an ND (Naturopathic Doctor) degree, knowing that if I had chosen the conventional route (MD) I would have been locked into that path by five to six years of mainstream medicine conditioning.  I chose five years of natural medicine conditioning instead and an education that was more in line with my own values and worldview.  I have never looked back.

In my busy adjunctive cancer care practice, I observe many patients making decisions based on fear and conventional conditioning.  Many of us have been brought up thinking modern, technological medicine must be better than traditional medicine because, 1) its terminology is complicated and undecipherable to the layperson, therefore it must be better because only intelligent people can understand it and, 2) it is extremely well promoted by the big pharma/medical establishment.  We are conditioned to accepting the words of our oncologists as gospel truth.  And the oncologists, stuck in the conventional paradigm, are conditioned to accepting the words of the pharmaceutical companies that develop the therapies they employ.  In this paradigm, there is no room for integrative medicine, no room for biological individuation and no room for deviation from a path that statistically does not work.  One size fits all.

Most of our cancer patients have done their homework.  They look online and see that therapies we offer, like high dose IV vitamin C and IV curcumin, have large databases of efficacy in both killing cancer cells and mitigating the side effects of chemotherapy.   So our patients use us as a secondary treatment to their conventional chemical medicine doses. 

We can't help but notice that our cancer patients do very well until they receive their chemo.  Then they start feeling poorly and it takes weeks to help rebuild their immune systems and get their blood counts up.  But the restoration in between chemo treatments takes longer and longer and they slowly begin to fade.  It seems like a race: can we keep their bodies healthy with the chemo undermining their constitutions while also trying to reduce the tumor load?  With such poor statistical outcomes, why undermine the quality of whatever life span remains by choosing to do chemo in the first place?  The only possible answer is that the choice is a response to our conditioning. There is an unconscious part of us that trusts the conventional approach.  Whether or not it really works in your specific case is another question.

Now that I have said all of that, there are cases where chemotherapy will improve survival odds.  Read the data, weigh the benefits and risks and bounce your ideas off your health care team.  There is a right decision.

Regardless of the choices our cancer patients make concerning their care, our job is to support them in the choices they do make.  From our perspective we see that the paradigm is slowly shifting -- cancer patients are more savvy and they are demanding integrated approaches to treating cancer. Right decisions are being made with increasing frequency.  Change is afoot.

By now, it is most likely that you have heard about PTSD. PTSD is a severe metabolic anxiety disorder that typically follows continual or multiple exposures to a traumatic event such as combat, disaster or assault.

The symptoms of PTSD include; paranoia, deep depression, irritability and aggressiveness, nightmares, jumpiness, inability to thrive, substance abuse, ungrounded fears, giving up on life and more.  Suicide is a final stage for many veterans with PTSD.

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, nearly 30 percent of the 834,463 Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans treated at VA hospitals and clinics have been diagnosed with PTSD, according to a report from the Department of Veterans Affairs. (2012)

As of March 2012, the VA reports more than 228,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war Veterans were diagnosed by VA mental health professionals with PTSD (the count excludes Veterans treated at non-VA medical facilities).  Every month, nearly 5,000 new war Veterans diagnosed with PTSD are treated at VA hospitals for the first time."Almost once an hour-every 65 minutes to be precise-a military veteran commits suicide, says a new investigation by the Department of Veterans Affairs.  And even this may not be accurate as not all deaths are precisely reported.  A tragic milestone was in 2012, when 185 active-duty Army soldiers died by suicide, surpassing the 176 soldiers killed in battle in Afghanistan that year. The Army's annual death toll from suicide has more than tripled since 2001, when 52 active-duty soldiers took their own lives." (Huffington Post 09/25/2013)

"Studies have found that, in addition to more general relationship problems, families of Veterans with PTSD have more family violence, more physical and verbal aggression, and more instances of violence against a partner. Click for citation

In August of 2012, President Barack Obama charged the medical branches of the Armed Forces to do something about the mental and psychological well-being and health of their military service people. And that is where I come in, as a veteran and medic of the Vietnam conflict. 

 Several years ago, I designed an all-herbal formula that not only halts PTSD, but also helps to reverse the effects and eliminate the symptoms and metabolic condition of the PTSD.  Now, one would think that the VA would be very happy to find out about this, as PTSD has become a national problem.  But-instead they told me that they had no interest and that I was a stupid, blank idiot to think that herbs even worked. Gee, I bet you must be surprised! 

 Right now we are involved in the postproduction of a remarkable documentary interview with a vet that has healed from severe PTSD. After sixteen months of work, the IRS has granted us non-profit 501 (c) (3) status as a non-profit organization working to end PTSD.  The video will be available before the end of the year. We are hoping for numerous online campaigns to inform our government and the VA that there is something that actually works.

We are also working to collect enough donations to be able to pay for all of the work that we are undertaking to complete the video and to begin an online campaign to inform our Veterans with PTSD.

If you are interested in purchasing the product called Cortisol-Ease, to learn more about our work to end PTSD and to find out what you can do to help, visit  www. bringourvetsallthewayhome.org

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Elijah Free is a healer, specializing in pain elimination of all types, both mechanical and metabolic. He is a master medical herbalist with numerous specialties, a researcher and product designer for his own label; Earth Friend Herb Co. 

Elijah is the author of Apprentice to Angels, and a U.S. patent holder for a formula to eradicate fibromyaligia. He was recently granted a 501-C3 from the IRS as a medical study, something almost exclusively for institutions such as Stanford, hospitals or pharmaceutical companies.

Bringourvetsallthewayhome.org is all about Elijah's work with an herbal formula for PTSD that restores the lives to veterans and anyone else with this condition. A documentary video will be available later this fall about this project. A video on fibromyaligia can be seen at rapidpainelimination.com

"Ultimately, happiness comes down to choosing between the discomfort of becoming aware of your mental afflictions and the discomfort of being ruled by them." ~Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche 

* * *

Following my recent studies of yoga philosophy, I have been giving a lot of thought to the relationship between the mind and the brain with regards to conscious experience.  This is such a unique and mysterious relationship that even the most well-studied researchers can only speculate about its nature.  This relationship also lends itself to mental health - a person's condition with regards to their psychological or emotional well-being. Mental illness, then, can be described in terms of any deviation from a balanced mental or emotional state. 

Depending on the extent of these deviations, we might know them as anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder, to name a few. I will safely assume that every single human being who occupies this Earth can relate to one of the aforementioned circumstances, directly, or indirectly. For this reason, I am particularly fascinated by the prevalence of mental health issues, as they seem innately human.

The brain being the physical structure that houses the mind is more easily (and objectively) observed; whereas the mind, which cultivates conscious reality, is both intangible and subjective.  Subsequently, since the mind cannot be directly observed or dissected, Westerners have not developed an interest in making discoveries of its workings, especially in comparison to the ancient inquiries of Eastern cultures.

Instead, Western science puts all emphasis on the brain, treating illness of the mind with drugs developed to change the chemistry of the brain.  Of course the chemistry of the brain influences the health of the mind, but what if we (as Westerners) put as much emphasis on the reverse relationship: how does the health of our mind influence the chemistry of our brain? And further, how can we have an affect on the health of our minds to effectively change our brains?

We can turn to the discoveries of our predecessors, be it yogis, spiritual leaders, transcendentalists, or philosophers - those that took an interest in understanding and enriching conscious experience as humans. Throughout the ages, the most shared realization of the human experience seems to be that pain is inevitable. We have experiences that are out of our control, and we live inside a brain that is physiologically hard-wired to pay attention to negativity - it's how our species has evolved, survived, and come to dominate the animal kingdom. 

But when we turn to traditional cultures for insights into consciousness, considering meditation, mindfulness, movement therapy, self-compassion, connection to Nature... it is blatant that us humans have a tremendous ability to influence our own minds, and subsequently, our brains - a process that will undoubtedly change our lives.

As I mentioned above, pain is inevitable... but I am trying to make the point that suffering is optional. With enough interest, awareness, and understanding, we have the choice to control how our minds behave.  With diligence and effort, we can cultivate qualities of happiness, clarity, and peace. We don't have to be defined by our pain, but rather, embrace the full spectrum of human emotions, keeping in mind that each is temporary. 

Nicole Noceto offers Nutrition Education for people 

meeting the challenges of diabetes and cancer.  In October, 

she will begin offering yoga therapy programs.

Please phone 650-917-1121 to schedule.

Most of my life I have been an insomniac, either I couldn't fall asleep or I couldn't stay asleep. For those of you who suffer from this, you know what a torture it is. You know how impossible it is to fall asleep as you fret more and more about just that. You toss and turn and just can't find a comfortable position.  A million thoughts run through your head and there is nothing you can do to shut them off. I remember so many times just wishing that dawn would come and then seeing to my horror that it was 3am - three more hours to go! Yes, I've been there but no more.

First of all, there is such a thing as sleep hygiene. No, not just taking a bath before bed (though that helps too) but easy, important things like no computer or other electronics in bed, no caffeine after 4pm, no long afternoon naps, keep bedroom cool and dark at night...these are just a few of some easy new habits that make a difference.

There are other smart habits like incorporating a meditation practice and it doesn't have to be an hour a day, just a small practice that is regular. Brain scanning machines have shown the calming effects of meditation so now it has the medical seal of approval. And there are easily available mp3 tracks that guide you so that you don't have to try so hard. Even though you may feel that you were distracted the whole time you meditated, you'd be surprised to learn how much you have helped calm your brain.

Self-hypnosis is an important way to take control. You relax yourself by breathing deep and slow and using progressive relaxation to mentally calm your body from head to toe. Then, when you are in a focused, quiet state you think of calm, soothing words like relax, safe, peaceful, restful,  drowsy, sleepy.  Your mind goes along with these suggestions and, before you know it, you are asleep and stay asleep.

But I have personally found that the most important aid to guarantee sleep is, without a doubt, EFT (Tapping). It was with EFT that I was able to throw away my Ambien pills.  Sleep was so precious to me that I would turn to those little pills whenever I needed the guarantee that I would sleep.  It worked but I needed them more and more.  Then I started using EFT and noticed that it worked every time...EVERY TIME.  Just a few minutes of Tapping and I am able to drift off. I know many other people who are using this now and I want to spread the word about what a balm it is...for sleep and many other things both physical and emotional. It is used for stress, anxiety, test taking, fear of flying, phobias, weight control, to lessen physical pain and much more.

I teach EFT to all my clients in the first session. Please feel free to call me for a free 20 minute phone consultation and I can explain how you too can find the way to sleep - Every time. 

Carlene offers various approaches to energy healing at the Hernandez Center.

As a hypnotherapist, stress, worry and anxiety are the most common concerns reported by my clients. If stress is not the presenting issue for a client, it is often an underlying concern, so I find myself constantly researching stress and seeking new techniques to provide relief.

When stress becomes chronic, or ongoing, it can directly or indirectly impact our psychological and physical wellbeing. Stress may come as a result of a sudden change or trauma, or as a reaction to issues related to work, health, relationships, finances and daily responsibilities. We can also be affected by the stress that others are experiencing around us.

When we are young children, we are especially vulnerable to picking up our parents or caregivers stress. According to Bruce H. Lipton, as written in The Honeymoon Effect, "From two to six years old, a child's predominant brain wave is theta." "Theta brain frequencies are associated with the state of hypnosis during which information can be directly downloaded into the subconscious mind." So as children we are highly programmable which helps us learn quickly, but we can also be negatively programmed.

I grew up in a household with a parent who worried excessively about our safety, and I too became a worrier. As a young child, I remember always being anxious about riding in a car, for fear we would crash. As I became an adult, this uneasiness continued, until I did some work to address the issue. As adults we have the power to make the change.

While attending hypnotherapy school, one of my teachers described worry in a way that hit home for me. He said that when we worry, we repeat thoughts over and over putting ourselves into a trance-like state, while feeding ourselves negative suggestions. Hypnosis can be used to do just the opposite, to relax and become more focused and open to positive suggestions.

It is important to be aware of what you are "feeding" yourself. Carefully choose the music you listen to, what you view on the internet, and what you watch on TV. Pay attention to the messages that may have been programmed a long time ago and are no longer serving you. Be aware of what you are repeating over and over to yourself.  Create new habits and download new programs that serve you NOW. 

Many people have already heard about intravenous vitamin C as a complementary cancer therapy to help stimulate the immune system as well as being directly cytotoxic to cancer cells. We are often using this therapy at the Hernandez Center for our cancer patients. What people may not know is that we also have many other IV therapies that are also very helpful in supporting our cancer patients depending on their symptoms and what they need. 

We often give a nutrient IV in between IV vitamin C sessions, which helps to provide more energy and rebuild our patients that may be feeling fatigued or have low blood counts. 

We also have other anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer therapies like IV curcumin (turmeric) or IV silibinin (from milk thistle). 

Another IV treatment that can help cancer patients from losing more weight or to help them gain weight is an infusion that includes a variety of amino acids. 

These are just a few of the protocols we have for our cancer patients. For more information or to set up an appointment, please contact us at the Hernandez Center at (650) 917-1121.

Artemesia is native to China and has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine.  

The artemisinin molecule has an affinity both for cancer cells and for iron.  Cancer cells concentrate iron and iron containing compounds.  Artemisinin can combine with the intercellular iron creating Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) which precipitate cancer cell death. 

In addition, specialized molecules called terpenoids and flavonoids derived from Artemisia annua are cytotoxic to several human tumor cell lines. Artemisinin has been shown to have antiproliferative effect on medullary thyroid carcinoma cells and provoke a powerful cytotxic response on pancreatic cancer cells.  Artemesin also induces cancer cell death in a lung cancer cell line by a variety of mechanisms.  

Artemesia annua is used at the Hernandez Center both through intravenous therapy and orally through a product developed by our resident herbalist, Elijah Free.

* Dr. Connie: dietary rigidity

 * Dr. Corrine: thoughts about my work with cancer patients

* Dr. Connie: GMO NO!

* Dr. Marcel: making the right decisions in cancer therapy

* Elijah: PTSD -- new developments

* Nicole: mental illness and choices we make

* Jane: new tools for deep and restful sleep

* Breast thermography at  Pacific Naturopathic

* Hawaii retreat: reinvent yourself in Paradise

Hernandez Center: News and Commentary on Cancer Topics

 - - - 

 * Carlene: chronic stress and overall health

 * Dr. Corrine: other IV therapies offered in our clinic

 * Dr. Connie: red beet therapy in cancer care

 * Dr. Marcel: artemesia annua -- powerful cancer therapy

The Hernandez Center 

for Adjunctive Cancer Care

2570 W. El Camino Real, Suite 111 Mountain View, CA 94040

650-917-1121

 www.HernandezCenter.com