This week's blog post is written by Dr Aryan Tavakkoli who is Founder of Quantum Clinic, a Functional Medicine clinic based in East Sussex. She shares with us why she made the transition from conventional to Functional Medicine and what she believes to be the root causes of cancer...
That Was Then
Going to
medical school was a dream come true for me. I had, for as long as I can
remember wanted to become a doctor, and medical training, rigorous though it was,
stimulated my mind and made me look forward to the day I would finally qualify
and start working as a doctor.
Things got
a bit disappointing after that. Leaving aside the 70-100 working week that was
the norm in those days for junior doctors (my weekend shift would start at 9am
Saturday morning and end 5pm Monday afternoon with no formal breaks and, if I
was lucky, three hours of broken sleep at night), I soon found that my
interventions were almost completely limited to the use of pharmaceutical drugs,
and whilst in many cases they did result in a rapid improvement in symptoms, I
intuitively felt that I was only scratching the surface of the problem, putting
a plaster on the wound, as it were.
A couple of
years into my working life as a doctor, the longing to find a more meaningful
way to address illness led me to explore other systems of Medicine. I read, with
an insatiable appetite, subjects ranging from Chinese acupuncture energetics to
western herbal therapy to the use of different forms of waves and frequencies
to treat infections and cancer. During the day, I worked as a medical registrar
in busy London hospitals, and in the evenings and weekends I studied and gained
qualifications in different medical approaches including TCM (Traditional
Chinese Medicine) acupuncture and phytotherapy.
I seriously
considered leaving conventional medicine to pursue a path in holistic health,
but somehow that never happened and I continued in my very traditional and
conventional doctor’s role, eventually obtaining a consultant post and working
for over another decade as a respiratory physician.
During that
time, I diagnosed countless people with cancer. In accordance with recommended
protocols, I discussed all the cases in the Cancer Multidisciplinary Meeting
and referred to the appropriate specialists for further management – surgery,
radiotherapy, chemotherapy or palliative care, depending on each individual
scenario.
I used to
be the doctor that said: “I’m sorry Mrs X, there’s nothing else we can offer
you, I recommend that I refer you to the Palliative Care Team who will look
after you and ensure that your symptoms are kept under control.”
That was
then.
What Changed?
When you
look at doctors or other health practitioners who have drastically shifted their
perspective and changed their medical approach to a more integrative and
holistic one, the turning point was often a personal tragedy, whether it was
personal ill health or the loss of a loved one. So it was with me.
I won’t recount
that story here, only to say that the whole harrowing experience of watching my
loved one disintegrate before my eyes, highlighted something very eye-opening
to me – that despite having diagnosed many people with cancer, I had very
little knowledge about the underlying causes of cancer and even less about what
I could do about them.
What is it,
for example, other than the commonly quoted (and overestimated) role of
genetics, that determines if someone develops cancer? And why do they develop
it at a particular age, say 65 – why not when they are 20, or 40, or 80? Why
can someone smoke like a chimney for years without developing lung cancer,
whilst others who have never smoked in their lives, do?
There were
so many questions – questions which at the time, I had little idea how to
answer, despite my so called expertise as a specialist.
The immediacy
of the situation propelled me onto an acute learning curve where I voraciously
consumed every piece of information I could glean in a perpetual race against
time. I treated my relative with many of the treatments that you read about in
the ‘alternative cancer clinics’ of Mexico and Germany. Our front room took on
the appearance of a lived-in medical clinic, with IV equipment, ozone and
biophotonic therapy devices, far infrared sauna for hyperthermia, relaxation
and meditation CDs, and all manner of supplements. You name it, I tried it.
Unfortunately,
despite everything I did, it was too late for him. Or at least, I didn’t
succeed. Looking back, and with the
knowledge I have now, I recognise every factor that led to the development of
this ‘sudden’ advanced cancer. It wasn’t so sudden, of course, the underlying
issues were present for years beforehand, but only with the eye and wisdom of
experience can I now see this. And with this same experience and the
information I have learned since, what was invisible to me before, has become
so clear.
The mire of
desperation and the subsequent urgent quest for more knowledge led me to a
clarity of understanding about cancer that I never possessed before.
The Causes Of Cancer
In most
adult cancers, aside from the genetic component, which is strongly influenced
by the person’s environment anyway, there are numerous factors which provide a
favourable environment for cancer to develop in the body. These include:
-
Mental and emotional stress. This is number one on the list.
The stress may be due to a sudden, acute trauma, or due to ongoing emotional
issues;
-
Exposure to some form of
cell-damaging toxin.
This may be, for example, nicotine, chemicals, or heavy metals;
-
An infective agent. Usually a virus that propagates
and spurs a cancer to spread. This has been confirmed in several types of
cancer but I think the medical world has yet to fully understand the crucial
part that viruses play in the role of cancer development and spread;
-
Nutritional deficiencies. Very common and almost universal in
people with cancer, I would say, often coupled with poor diet.
The above
factors are what I consider to be the leading underlying causes of cancer, and
they almost always occur together – not all at once, but often one after
another over a period of months to years, like adding links to a chain, until
they are all in place to wreak havoc on the unsuspecting host.
Other
factors also play a role in propagation of cancer, including exposure to
cancer-propagating ‘foods’. This is very common again, and sugar is the leading
culprit here. Also exposure to anything that suppresses the immune system –
there are many possibilities, but frequent or continuous exposure to a cold
environment is one.
The
diagnosis may seem sudden, but the underlying factors have usually been around
for years. The body’s change in terrain, over time, and often for the above
reasons, becomes favourable for this condition we call ‘cancer’ to appear.
There is
something important I want to say about all of the above factors.
All of
them are environmental.
All of
them are potentially treatable.
All of
them are potentially reversible.
So why don’t we hear this from
conventional doctors?
Why is it
that doctors in the fields of Functional Medicine and Integrative Medicine know
about these issues, yet you will rarely hear about them from your conventional
doctor?
Is it
because this information about root causes of cancer isn’t accessible through
the usual medical databases?
Actually,
it is. All this information has been verified and published in medical
journals. The trials are all available to view online via different platforms,
including Pubmed, a search engine commonly used by doctors that
provides access to a database of medical
literature.
All In The Medical Literature…
Mental and emotional stress
Stress-related
hormones such as catacholamines and cortisol have been shown to influence
cancer cells and their potential to proliferate and to migrate. There are
numerous studies indicating that stress hormones are likely to be responsible
for progression of malignancy.
Exposure to
cell-damaging toxins
The carcinogenic action of many chemicals and certain heavy metals such
as mercury and arsenic have been documented, but they are virtually ignored as
possible aetiological factors in cancer formation, in contrast to the almost
universal knowledge amongst doctors of the cancer-causing effects of other
environmental toxins such as nicotine and asbestos.
Infective agents
Several
viruses including human papilloma virus (HPV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr
virus (EBV) and hepatitis B virus have all been implicated in numerous cancers.
Nutritional Deficiencies
It has been
known for decades that diet is a major factor in the development of cancer and
it is estimated that as much as 30% of all cancers worldwide have dietary
factors as the main underlying cause.
Despite the
fact that there are literally thousands of publications, including clinical
trials and reviews, all published in peer-reviewed medical journals, for some
baffling reason, much of this information has neither infiltrated routine
medical practice, nor international guidelines and protocols.
How many
doctors ask whether a person with cancer has been exposed to high doses of
mercury in the past? How many address emotional and traumatic issues causing
stress? How many seek out an underlying chronic viral infection, or perform
detailed nutritional testing to identify micronutrient deficiencies?
Doctors
will usually only search for information about these treatable causes of cancer
if they have an interest in the area in the first place, because finding these
studies would involve actively searching certain terms in medical databases, terms
such as ‘heavy metals’ and ‘neoplasms-aetiology’. If there is no interest or
knowledge in this area to begin with, then it is unlikely that any individual
doctor would search for these terms and links, and subsequently it is unlikely
that they would know about these studies.
The fact
is, most doctors today would not even think about these underlying factors, let
alone address them. To find someone with the knowledge to address root causes
of cancer, currently one would need to search for a health professional who is
knowledgeable in other approaches to Medicine, most likely in the areas of
Functional Medicine and Integrative Medicine.
There are
many clinics around the world that offer a progressive approach to treating
cancer. Organisations such as Yes To Life are invaluable sources of information about these clinics for
people
whose lives have been affected by cancer, and especially at the time of
diagnosis when the need for information is so crucial.
Quantum Clinic’s Cancer
Programme
At Quantum Clinic, our aim is to
address the underlying dis-ease that allowed cancer to appear in the first
place. That means searching for, and addressing, the root causes. After
extensive history-taking and laboratory testing to identify these factors, we
offer an integrative programme that involves support with healthy nutrition, provision
of targeted nutritional supplements, cellular detoxification, and anti-cancer
supplements. Some of the latter are delivered in liposomal form, and carried to the diseased cells through
enhancing the microcirculation via therapies such as Bemer physical vascular therapy and exercise with oxygen therapy (similar to hyperbaric oxygen therapy in its
effect). We also use low level laser therapy for its myriad benefits which include anti-inflammatory effects at a
cellular level. The anti-cancer supplements are timed synchronistically with
these therapies in a convenient oral delivery system that enables maximum
intracellular delivery of the agents.
We measure
anti-inflammatory markers and certain cancer markers in order to monitor your progress. The programme can be undertaken
with conventional treatment if you are receiving this.
We will be
happy to speak with you about your personal circumstances and to answer your
questions. Please contact us by telephone or email:
Telephone: 01825 841155
Upcoming Event
She will be sharing information about
anti-cancer treatments that you won’t hear from conventional doctors. This information will be valuable
knowledge for anyone touched by cancer.
Areas
covered will include:
-
What
do people who survive terminal cancer have in common?
-
What
are some well-researched and proven anti-cancer treatments that you are unlikely
to hear about from your doctor?
-
What
are the four pillars of health?
If you would like
to attend this talk, you may find more information and book your ticket on
Eventbrite by clicking here.
