•
Sunlight causes cancer of the skin. Fortunately, the evidence suggests that we can cope with this tact quite easily without retiring to darkened rooms for most of our lives.
In discussing this matter it is important to distinguish between two quite different types of skin cancer. The first kind is the common cancers of skin that arise from the cells which make up most of the body’s covering, the epithelial cells of the skin. Although common, such skin cancers are among the most minor kinds of cancer and are usually recognized relatively easily and treated effectively by simple means. These common cancers occur in the sun-exposed areas of the body (the head, neck and hands) and tend to occur in elderly people. The second kind of skin cancer is quite different. This is known as malignant melanoma and arises from the pigmentation cells within the skin (melanocytes). These are responsible for producing the dark colour of the skin by manufacturing a material called melanin. They are distributed mainly in the deep parts of the skin, although small numbers of melanocytes are found in the eyes and in internal organs. In the body’s development, melanocytes have a quite different origin from the main skin cells. Melanocytes may be collected together in the skin in the form of moles. While moles are in themselves quite innocent, they can occasionally be the focus of the development of malignant melanoma which carries with it much more serious import than other kinds of skin cancer. When a malignant melanoma develops many people can be cured simply by having the tumour excised from the skin, an operation which often leaves only a minor scar. Early detection leads to curt. However, for a proportion of patients who have melanoma, particularly those diagnosed late, the disease will persist and recur and spread to other pans of the body. It is then a serious and life-threatening condition and unlike other kinds of skin cancer.
Before going on to talk about the link between melanoma and sunlight it is worth talking a little bit about the radiations that are included in sunshine. Sunshine is made up of electromagnetic radiation of various wavelengths that include light itself. These are quite different from the radiations that we think of in association with nuclear energy or nuclear bombs, which are called ionizing radiations and are discussed in a later chapter. In sunshine the part of the electromagnetic irradiation which is of concern in relation to melanoma is called ultraviolet irradiation (or UV). This is divided into UVA, UVB and UVC. UVA causes the skin to darken and tan, and docs not burn the akin, although too much of it can do damage at deep levels. UVB has a shorter wavelength and is therefore of greater energy. UVB ultra violet irradiation causes redness and burning, and if you get too much UVB irradiation it causes blistering. UVC irradiation is short-wavelength, high-energy ultraviolet irradiation and is extremely damaging to skin. Fortunately, we and everything else on earth are shielded from UVC irradiation by the ozone layer – a gas layer around the earth. The ozone layer protecting us against UVC is vital to our health and that of other animals and plants. At this stage it is enough to say that there is serious concern about the damage being caused by man-made gases.
*38\194\4*
•
The human body, like most living organisms, is assembled from millions and millions of individual cells. The cells are the building bricks of the body, making up the skin, blood and every functioning part. We start life as a single cell, which is brought about by the fertilization of a single egg by a single sperm. Each cell multiplies by dividing into two cells (called ‘daughter’ cells), and the resulting collection of cells develops into the unborn child. Growth into adult life requires further huge multiplication of cells, a process known as cellular proliferation. Once we reach adult life certain parts of our bodies require continuous repair and renewal. We are continuously shedding our skin, the lining of our intestines and the lining of our lungs and bladders; and, as these are shed, the cells in these organs are replaced by further proliferation. Cellular proliferation is therefore a basic process for maintaining life and health.
The proliferation of cells is linked to a process by which cells in different parts of the body develop different functions. Heart cells have to contract to push blood around the body, liver cells become chemical factories altering the content of our diet to turn it into the essential nutrition for all parts of the body. Cells which line the gut or cover the skin are developed specially for these purposes. The process by which cells develop different functions is called differentiation.
Cancer is a disease in which cellular proliferation and differentiation become disordered. The problem with cancer cells is that they continue to proliferate when they should not. This means that too many cells accumulate and this is how tumours are formed (the word tumour comes from the Latin word for a swelling); the accumulation of too many cells as a consequence of proliferation results in tumour masses in the affected part of the body. In addition to exhibiting disordered proliferation, the cancer cell usually fails to behave in the correct way for a cell in a particular location. It lacks correct differentiation. This means that it will look abnormal through a microscope and will behave abnormally, often manufacturing the wrong substances or failing to manufacture the substances that it should be making.
So if cancer is the result of a disorder of the way cells multiply and the way they function, how does it cause the extensive damage that we associate with this disease? Every medical student is taught that there are three essential characteristics of a cancer. These are growth, invasion and spread.
The process of growth of a cancer is easy to understand. We have already explained that the controls that normally act on the multiplication of cells are deranged and that excessive numbers of cells accumulate. Sometimes, the multiplication of cells occurs very rapidly but, equally often, the process may not be particularly rapid but may simply continue when it should be switched off. Either way, the result will be an uncontrolled growth of cells within the organ affected. With lung cancer, such a growth will be seen as a shadow on a chest X-ray. For breast cancer, a lump will appear in the breast. For a cancer occurring in the intestines, the lump will not be visible unless special X-rays or scans are used, but it will usually alter the function of the bowel or tend to obstruct it, a process which can produce pain. Sometimes these lumps may bleed, which is why bleeding is a common symptom leading to the diagnosis of cancer in many sites. The process of growth of the cancer is in itself dangerous. For instance, large cancers within the lung will interfere with the function of the lungs and sometimes, when cancers occur in particularly vital situations like the brain, the presence of quite a small growth is capable of causing catastrophic damage. However, growths can often be removed and it is the other features of the cancer which represent the greatest challenges to effective treatment.
*3\194\4*
WHAT IS CANCER? (part 1)The human body, like most living organisms, is assembled from millions and millions of individual cells. The cells are the building bricks of the body, making up the skin, blood and every functioning part. We start life as a single cell, which is brought about by the fertilization of a single egg by a single sperm. Each cell multiplies by dividing into two cells (called ‘daughter’ cells), and the resulting collection of cells develops into the unborn child. Growth into adult life requires further huge multiplication of cells, a process known as cellular proliferation. Once we reach adult life certain parts of our bodies require continuous repair and renewal. We are continuously shedding our skin, the lining of our intestines and the lining of our lungs and bladders; and, as these are shed, the cells in these organs are replaced by further proliferation. Cellular proliferation is therefore a basic process for maintaining life and health.The proliferation of cells is linked to a process by which cells in different parts of the body develop different functions. Heart cells have to contract to push blood around the body, liver cells become chemical factories altering the content of our diet to turn it into the essential nutrition for all parts of the body. Cells which line the gut or cover the skin are developed specially for these purposes. The process by which cells develop different functions is called differentiation.Cancer is a disease in which cellular proliferation and differentiation become disordered. The problem with cancer cells is that they continue to proliferate when they should not. This means that too many cells accumulate and this is how tumours are formed (the word tumour comes from the Latin word for a swelling); the accumulation of too many cells as a consequence of proliferation results in tumour masses in the affected part of the body. In addition to exhibiting disordered proliferation, the cancer cell usually fails to behave in the correct way for a cell in a particular location. It lacks correct differentiation. This means that it will look abnormal through a microscope and will behave abnormally, often manufacturing the wrong substances or failing to manufacture the substances that it should be making.So if cancer is the result of a disorder of the way cells multiply and the way they function, how does it cause the extensive damage that we associate with this disease? Every medical student is taught that there are three essential characteristics of a cancer. These are growth, invasion and spread.The process of growth of a cancer is easy to understand. We have already explained that the controls that normally act on the multiplication of cells are deranged and that excessive numbers of cells accumulate. Sometimes, the multiplication of cells occurs very rapidly but, equally often, the process may not be particularly rapid but may simply continue when it should be switched off. Either way, the result will be an uncontrolled growth of cells within the organ affected. With lung cancer, such a growth will be seen as a shadow on a chest X-ray. For breast cancer, a lump will appear in the breast. For a cancer occurring in the intestines, the lump will not be visible unless special X-rays or scans are used, but it will usually alter the function of the bowel or tend to obstruct it, a process which can produce pain. Sometimes these lumps may bleed, which is why bleeding is a common symptom leading to the diagnosis of cancer in many sites. The process of growth of the cancer is in itself dangerous. For instance, large cancers within the lung will interfere with the function of the lungs and sometimes, when cancers occur in particularly vital situations like the brain, the presence of quite a small growth is capable of causing catastrophic damage. However, growths can often be removed and it is the other features of the cancer which represent the greatest challenges to effective treatment.*3\194\4*
•
The mixture of oil, taken as described in the last chapter, will by-pass the liver almost in its entirety. It will go on to build new tissue throughout the body wherever it is needed. Doctors know and agree that cod-liver oil has tissue-building power.
Dr. I. Smedley-MacClean, for instance, conducted tests which proved cod-liver oil rebuilt tissue, and stopped kidneys, ovaries, etc., from degenerating.
The question now arises as to how we can best deliver this oil to the joint linings and cartilage to check osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis.
Or, if need be, so that it can fill the sac with oil in bursitis, cover the nerve with oil in neuritis, lubricate the muscles in myositis, and nourish the connective tissue in fibrositis.
To gain the fastest benefits from cod-liver oil, we repeat, it must be taken on an empty stomach. To empty your stomach requires three to four hours of fasting. If there is any food in the stomach, too much of the cod-liver oil will be seized by the liver. On an empty stomach, the cod-liver oil is simply pushed on to the small intestine. It by-passes the liver, which is what we have been trying to accomplish.
The major reason for mixing cod-liver oil with orange juice or cool milk is to defeat the liver. An emulsified mixture with orange juice or cool milk cheats the liver, beats it at its own game.
When we “sneak” the oil past the liver, we also gain added benefit from the iodine in cod-liver oil.
Organic iodine is of tremendous value to arthritics. Dr. E. R. Eaton in the Journal of the American Institute of Homeopathy (March 1941) lists the many accomplishments of iodine in the bloodstream.
1. Tends to “loosen” fibrous tissue.
(Arthritics with stiff joints have fibrous tissue which can certainly stand “loosening.”)
2. Iodine stimulates metabolism.
(More than 30 per cent, of arthritics have a slightly lower than average basal metabolism.)
3. Dilates the blood vessels.
(The rheumatoid arthritic often needs bloodvessel dilation.)
4. Helps in the formation of haemoglobin. (The anaemic rheumatoid can definitely use this property.)
5. Improves circulation.
(Arthritics frequently need better circulation, when they have clammy, tingling or numbness in hands and feet.)
6. Helps correct uric-acid metabolism. (Gouty arthritics need this form of help.)
7. Diminishes fatigue.
(Which is a common problem of the rheumatoid arthritic.)
The above seven services of iodine are added reasons why we should take cod-liver oil. To gain iodine!
There are only twenty-five milligrams of iodine in our entire body. In other Words, our whole supply could be placed on the head of a small common pin. About 60 per cent, of this is tied up by the thyroid gland. No wonder we need all the iodine we can get from our diet.
In a random sampling of cartilages from human beings—ages twenty to ninety-five—Dr. W. Bauer and others found the cartilage was progressively wearing out. Certainly the cartilage wore out; it was probably losing its elasticity. The oils which could feed iodine to the joint fluid were missing from the diet!
We agree that the cartilage has no blood vessels, but cartilage can still take nourishment throughout its life by means of osmosis.
This filter-exchange process of osmosis is of no use, however, if the very substance the cartilage needs—a trace of iodine—is missing from the oil. If the liver captures the iodine first, the cartilage suffers the loss.
*42\146\2*