DR. BASKO'S EDITORIAL:
Our Current Paradigm of Preventing & Treating Cancer is a Failure
By Ihor Basko

Cancer is the fastest growing disease of the modern world. In cats and dogs, the latest statistics show that 52% of pets will die of this disease. That is 1 out of every 2!
When I was in veterinary school some 31 years ago, cancer in pets was 1 in every 5.
In humans, this has increased in the past 50 years from 1 in 10, to 1 in 4 humans will come down with some kind of cancer.

What is responsible for the increase of cancer? Well, the answer to this question, maybe found in the answer to this question: “What has changed in our lifestyles in the past 50 years?” The answer is Air, Water, and Food quality has changed drastically, as well as how and what we eat.

The largest changes in the last 50 years that affect us all are the increased use of pesticides, herbicides, and chemicals in our agricultural practices that “infect” our pets’ and our food, and water. Kauai is no different. We spray chemicals to control weeds, to control fungi, and insects, and on our pets to control fleas and ticks. We use these substances as if we are spraying “water” with no thought as to the consequences of long term use on our animals, on our family’s health, and the health of our environment.

Why Cancer?
Chemicals and rancid fats in our diet and in commercial pet food, pesticides and herbicides in our environment, radiation from the sun, and stress damage cells irreversibly which then mutate and grow into tumors.

No one, especially in government wants to acknowledge this fact of “anti-Nature”. Because populations are increasing all over the world, and people are too busy to sit down and eat healthy food… fast food, and junk food saturates our consciousness when it comes to eating, and feeding our pets. Even when we try to eat healthy, outside of foods certified “organic”, human food is full of chemicals, and commercial pet foods are even worse! Food for the “masses” produced in “massive amounts” cheaply has a cost to our health, and the health of our environment.

Today 40% of the America’s streams and rivers are polluted. 80% of this pollution is due to agricultural wastes which include chemical run-off and animal feces and by-products.
Therefore, we want to support farmers who do not pollute our streams and their food products with chemicals. We want to encourage our county government to stop spraying herbicides near where we live, near our streams, and waterways.

The Status Quo
The current medical establishment teases us with “new cancer cures” every year, but yet, cancer rates are increasing not decreasing. Why? Because of all the 100’s of billions of dollars spent on looking for the “magic bullet” to cure cancer, only about 1% is spent on looking for the causes, and preventing cancer.

This paradigm of thinking cannot result in any great cures…. no matter what formula of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery your doctors or veterinarians use. Einstein once said something like " The mode of thinking (our Western approach to medicine, culture and lifestyle) that created the problem (cancer) cannot solve the problem". I have been thinking about this statement in politics, war, and health issues for along time.

What exactly are the doctors and veterinarians really treating? Which philosophy of protocols for treatment are they trying to follow? “Search and Destroy” is the name of the game, and the quest for finding the "magic bullet".

Cancer is a very complex syndrome that includes many issues: pollution of food,
water, and air, solar radiation, carcinogens in food, degree of exposure, stress
and lifestyle, genetics, diet, immune system, and the health of the internal organs
especially the antioxidant producing liver.

We cannot hope to solve all these issues with "one or even two" remedies...of
course. “There is NO magic bullet!”

Prevention is the answer.

We must start cancer therapy before it occurs….with Prevention.
Prevention must start with eating fresh wholesome and un-adulterated foods
diets high in omega-3 and drinking clean, unpolluted water. We must decrease chemical and pesticide exposure in our families and in our pets. Because we may not be able to eat chemical-free foods, we must give antioxidants to our pets and take them ourselves.

Antioxidants “block” damage from harmful substances and radiation from the sun, and help the Liver detox what chemicals we do have in our systems and eliminate them from the body.
Sources of antioxidants include the following:
1.) vegetables: broccoli, brussel sprouts, wheat grass, cabbage, asparagus, beets and beet greens / peppers, and garlic….these can be cooked and mixed with meat.
2.) Fruits: papayas, kiwi, blueberries, cranberries, grapes and cherries. (unfortunately, many of these contain high amounts of pesticides….so buy organic when you can afford to.)
3.) Nutraceuticals: Vit C, Vit E, Selenium, n-acetyl-cystiene, alpha-lipoic acid, Coenzyme Q10, milk thistle, pycnogenol, bioflavanoids, vitamin A, and essential fatty acids/omega-3 oils from fish and plant sources.
4.) Medicinal mushrooms: Reishi, maitake, shiitake, trametes, and cordyceps.
These mushrooms have been scientifically investigated in Japan, China, and Russia, and are used with chemotherapy and radiation in cancer therapy in these countries.
Again, I will say, avoid commercial pet diets. They may be the source of chemical pollution and in time will precipitate cancer in your pets.

Change our Paradigm of Thinking

We need to change our thinking from “search and destroy” cancer to “search and prevent” cancer. We need to address all the issues concerning cancer, not just removing and killing the cancers. Unfortunately, trying to get the doctors and veterinarians to change their ways of thinking can be challenging. It’s much easier to stay in one’s “comfort zone” than to be a pioneer and try something new…….or, even have the interest in trying something new.

This is where the consumer or the client/patient can change a doctor (or rattle their cage) by not automatically going along with their protocols without considering side-effects, quality of life, and answering all questions to your satisfaction.

If your veterinarian is not meeting your expectations, and differs from you in the philosophy of medicine, find one that fits your parameters. Become more proactive in the health care of your own pets, so that you are not so dependent upon the veterinarian for everything. And continue to educate yourself about health. Do not just accept the standard “rap”….ask questions until you get answers.

Wholistic Thinking and Treatment
My approach is to define to the client “what are we trying to accomplish” in stages:

1.) Detoxification: Clean and clear chemicals and damaging waste byproducts from the blood, body tissues, and especially the liver.
This can be accomplished again with food, herbal supplements and increasing water intake and...........Antioxidants.
RESOURCES BRAND: “Antioxidant Support”
2.) Improve Immune System Function / especially the Necrosis Factors,
T-lymphocytes, interleukins and interferons within the body through
supplements, acupuncture, homeopathy, exercise, and good nutrition RESOURCES BRAND: “CAS Options”
3.) Kill the Cancer: surgery, (chemotherapy in some cases), and herbs and nutraceuticals that have shown promise in increasing NK cells etc. within the
body's own mechanisms that kill cancer
RESOURCES BRAND: “CAS Options”
4.) Quality of Life: I use acupuncture, encourage people to do more "touching" of their pets, and outdoor fun activities for the pet. Homeopathy can address the constitution" of these animals....and herbs and acupuncture can help in Pain Control. RESOURCES BRAND: “PAIN PLUS”

5.) Health Maintenance: Once we have remission or a dissolution of tumors, do not stop #1, #2, and #4

Along with extensive monitoring, blood chemistries, ultrasound, etc., veterinarians can give animal owners the “updates” on how things are progressing or not.

When it looks like we have failed our battle with cancer, we must address the
Quality of Life issues, and allow people to "complete" with their animals so that
they can "let go" emotionally. This can take days, weeks, or months. In the interim, I encourage veterinarians to focus and continue # 4 Quality of Life maintenance until the clients are ready.

Cancer is Big Business

Most veterinarians and physicians I have talked to are fixated on step # 3 “Search and Destroy” the cancer. This is the paradigm that keeps us looking in the wrong or rather, the same "boxes" for a cure. In the meanwhile, more and more animals are subjected to needless experimentation that is cruel and harsh that results in a lot of suffering, funded by non-profit organizations through which expensive and profitable, but only marginally effective toxic drugs are sold for billions of dollars. The “big C” is terrifying to almost everyone. This fear of cancer keeps us paralyzed and at the mercy of the current medical establishment.

Cancer is big business. Hope and Fear fuels more research in “killing” than in
“preventing” cancer, and that is why the current medical establishment is failing in the prevention and cure for cancer.....because it's good for THEIR business!

Feed your pet’s FOOD high in ANTIOXIDANTS:

Organic Vegetables: broccoli, cabbage, carrots, red bell peppers, tomatoes, bok choi, choi sum, squash, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, garlic, mushrooms, beets, beet greens, kidney and azuki beans

Organic Fruits: kiwi, blueberries, papaya, cherries, cranberries, apples

Omega-3 fatty Acid foods: range fed beef, deep ocean fish (mackerel, halibut, ahi), flax seed meal, sesame seeds ground and roasted,

Avoid commercial dog and cat food, decrease the use of pesticides and chemical exposure, and your pet’s cancer risk will be much lower.

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SPECIAL REPORT:
Heart Health: Be Proactive or Wait Till Something Happens?
(Part II in a three part series)

Types of Heart Disease Most Commonly Found In Pets

Because human heart problems are mostly due to high blood pressure, clogged arteries and coronary artery disease some distinctions need to be made, although it is not the scope of this article to pursue a complete explanation of the cardio-pathophysiology of dogs and cats. The main types of heart problems presented that do respond to nutritional and herbal intervention are:
• Cardiomyopathy
• Valvular dysfunctions most commonly Mitral Valve Insufficiency
• Heart worm disease
• Stressed Hearts

Cardiomyopathy occurs in both dogs and cats and can be related to hereditary factors, lack of specific nutrients (taurine & L-carnitine), or both. To explain the pathology simply, this disease results in an enlarged heart with little strength in the myocardium to contract properly causing poor circulation throughout the body. The heart becomes dilated…stretching like a balloon. The body as well as the heart itself slowly deteriorates overtime due to lack of nutrients and oxygen while fluids build-up in the lungs causing edema.

Another form of cardiomyopathy can occur in cats producing hypertrophic changes within the heart muscle causing a “thickening” and dilation. Many of these cats have a concomitant thyroid disease (hyperthyroidism) problem. In both cases, the heart does not function properly and is working under a lot of stress. Eventually, the valves are affected, and “leakage” of blood produces congestion in the lungs, and liver as the disease progresses causing coughing, and in the later stages…fluid in the abdomen..
Mitral Valve Disease (“leaky heart valves”) can be the result of a normal aging process and is commonly found in most geriatric dogs, and some cats; or it could be due to damage from bacteria such as the Streptococcus spp. sourced in the mouth infecting the gums and teeth, or other infectious diseases.

A distinct murmur can be heard in the ventricle (left heart chamber) which is due to an inefficient closing and opening of the mitral valve causing “regurgitation”. As the disease progresses, the lungs fill up with blood and fluid resulting in a cough. In the early stages of the disease this cough is dry and “unproductive”, and later becomes “wet” sounding. This cough occurs during sleep and inactivity.

Heart Worm Disease can be easily prevented with a monthly preventative treatment, but sometimes people forget to administer the drug, and mosquitoes infect the pets with the microfilaria which grow up into spaghetti sized worms in the heart, usually in the right heart chamber near the pulmonary artery. Herbs and nutraceuticals can be used to “strengthen the heart” to adapt to the stress of the arsenical-based drug that kills the worms, and to help eliminate the dead worms from the blood vessels and prevent emboli.

DIAGNOSIS:

The only way one can access the condition of the heart is to evaluation through:

1.) Stethescope / Listening to different areas of the chest for heart sounds
2.) X-ray / Looking for areas of enlargement and abnormal shape and shadows on the heart
3.) Ultrasound / using sound waves to distinguish specific abnormalities: leaky heart valves, tumors, constrictions, dying muscle tissue
4.) EKG / examining the electrical impulses from the heart to ascertain whether the problem is functional or mechanical
5.) Blood Chemistry Tests / distinguish how the organs are functioning in relationship to the heart.

But of course……….all these “tests’ cost money, and when added all together….a lot of money!

Another way of accessing the condition of your pet’s heart health is to do a few of these tests, and use Traditional Oriental Medicine techniques of Pulse and Tongue Color Evaluation.

A veterinarian who is trained in this medical art can feel your pets pulses, and from them ascertain whether the heart is pumping sufficiently, weakly, spastically, irregularly, or normally. This takes time to develop the “touch” just as you would learn to play a musical instrument.

Tongue diagnosis can be taught to clients to monitor their pets condition as well as severity of the current state of affairs. The color of the tongue will change with the condition of the pet. The tip of the tongue refers to the heart / and the middle of the tongue to how well blood is circulating to all the internal organs.

TONGUE COLOR SEVERITY OF CONDITION

Pale Tip / Pale Body Very Serious / low blood pressure
Or slightly pale purple poor circulation / close to death

Pale Tip / Purplish Body Very Serious / poor oxygen utilization
by the body / low blood pressure

Dark Red Tip / Moderately Serious / Inflammation
Purplish body of the Heart Muscle / poor circulation

Pink tip and body Moderately Serious Heart problem
But changes with exercise that could be related Cardiomyopathy
or stress to purplish

Although these may seem very subjective evaluations, in time a veterinarian, or owner can predict a worsening or improvement of a condition without having to wait for test results.

Symptoms

Early symptoms can be difficult to determine without many of the tests above. Usually an animal with separation anxieties, restlessness at night, hyperactivity, and an occasional cough with a changing tongue color is all you would observe.

Moderately severe symptoms may manifest themselves to the pet’s owner as lack or stamina, coughing at waking or after a long nap.

In advanced and serious heart conditions animals will be sensitive to hot weather (get worse), cough at night and during the day, have poor appetite, and very little stamina for going on walks.

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ARTICLES: Bovine Leukemia Virus

One of the least talked about issues regarding milk and meat products it the issue of viruses such as the Bovine Leukemia Virus which will cause tumors in cows, and is very similar to human virus HIV. The most recent American Veterinary Medical Association journal estimates that 89% of US dairy herds are infected. What the human health implications are coupled with the presence of growth hormone, pesticides, and antibiotics we cannot say, but I would guess they are not good.

In general, several epidemiologists suggest that women should avoid milk and dairy to prevent the incidence of breast cancer. For more information please check this website: http://www.emilyproject.org.

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