LIVING WITH MCL

For my diagnosis of MCL that is. For years, prior to my diagnosis with MCL, I had taken mega doses of vitamin C (2000 mg/day), along with vitamins E and D, and calcium, solely based on the supposed research of Linus Pauling suggesting it would prevent cancer. It wasn't until shortly after my diagnosis with MCL that I started reading about the hazards of taking vitamins and supplements, and while I didn’t stop immediately, it wasn't very long afterwards that I came to the realization, it was highly likely all those vitamins and supplements were, at the very least, a contributing factor to my diagnosis. Now, I can proudly say I have been vitamin and supplement free for the past 10+ years, and haven't experienced any undesired consequences. (At least none that I am aware of.) It's just too bad  this article in The Atlantic didn't come out long before my diagnosis. I'm sure I would have stopped taking them a lot sooner, had I learned about all the contradictory ev...

I received some interesting criticism the other day for my stance on alternative therapies. I ......... cannot for the life of me understand why you would not use supplementation and then use an over the counter poisonous liquid which has proven liver toxicity. Especially while taking a statin. She was referring to the use of an over the counter cough medication, I have been taking to help ease the symptoms of my upper respiratory infection. I did this once and vow to never use it again! I have gotten off Lipitor by using Nicotinic Acid and getting much better results but still use COQ10 to protect Liver as you must do while taking Statins. If you are not using CoQ10, I urge you to research this issue. MCL reduces your D3 and should be taken everyday! I use 5000mgs a day. I was sorta taken aback. She was partially correct. I'm against taking supplements, but when necessary I don't have a problem taking over the counter medication, when my ailments finally get the better of me. ...

Not even a weekend of eating and drinking wine in the Santa Rita Hills wine country, could alleviate all of the anguish I've experienced since the start of this month, but it did help. So to keep whatever momentum I've started going, I thought I'd switch focus to something else that has been bugging me for some time now. The concept of complementary treatment ! It appears the bad name alternative treatments have been receiving is finally taking its toll. Why else would advocates of alternative treatments be trying to steer clear of the term alternative . A term often met with skeptism by medical experts, in addition to carrying the much deserved stigma of being unproven, risky and dangerous at best. So now, in order to remove that stigma, the industry is taking a new approach. In order to create legitimacy, where only skepticism existed before, the industry is promoting the concept of complementary therapy, that is alternative treatment(s) combined with conventional treatm...

The mere mention of someone touting the benefits of vitamins and supplements, whether it be from some renowned[?] source , or another cancer survivor , usually sends me into a tirade. There is not much good that comes from taking vitamins and supplements. Their is no proof that any of them provide the benefit(s) claimed, they are easily abused, and there is no regulation guaranteeing you're even getting what the label says. But you don't have to just take my word for it anymore, simply because I've managed to fight my MCL for over 10 years, without any conventional cancer treatment, and by completely abstaining from taking any vitamins, supplements or herbal remedies. Now  Consumer Reports  is also warning of the 10 Surprising Dangers of Vitamins and Supplements .

I've always thought of him [and still do] as nothing more than a shill for the vitamin and supplement industry, promoting products that do nothing more than line the pockets of himself, and the industry that produces the products he is constantly touting. I'm not even sure why I bother watching him, but I did so yesterday, and it just further solidified my position. His first guest was a self appointed diet guru. He was providing information on how to eat healthier, and while some of the info may have had some merit, two bits of information stood out that I had a great deal of trouble with. The first was adding sugar to vegetables, supposedly to make vegetables taste better, encouraging people to eat them more. While eating more vegetables is certainly good advice, I'm not so sure adding sugar is such a good idea. Sure it will make your vegetables taste better, but adding sugar to anything will make it taste better. And how much sugar is enough or too much? Where do you dra...

Whenever I come across articles such as this one I'm intrigued. If only it were that simple. Exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet, get plenty of sunshine, and you'll be healthy forever. The thing is, I already knew that, and it didn't help. Despite what you may hear or have heard, there is no magic formula! You can no more prevent cancer  than you can boost your immune system . Maybe you can delay the inevitable, but truth be told, if you live long enough, you're going to get cancer. Then there's the two biggest factors contributing to cancer, the environment, and your heritage. Two items you have little, if any, control over. It's been pretty well established, if your parents lived to be 100, you'll likely do the same.  Of course living in a polluted environment has been known to cancel that out. So while there's nothing much new in this article, and there's at least one step I have a problem with, i.e. talk to your doctor about the benefits of t...

After a recent email, and several exchanges on a few of the message boards I frequent, I felt is was imperative of me to reiterate my stance on the use of vitamins, supplements and herbal remedies. As long time readers of my blog may already know, I am against the taking of all vitamins, supplements and herbal remedies. But I wasn't always that way. Prior to my diagnosis I truly believed the taking of Vitamin C, E, Calcium, fish oil (and a few other items) were essential for good health. Obviously that didn't work, and now I'm even of the opinion it was that belief which led to my diagnosis of MCL. That's not to say all of the hype is a complete fabrication. After all, I am a firm believer in the efficacy of EGCG , a by product of green tea. Nor am I saying maintaining proper nutrition isn't important, because it definitely is. What I am saying is, if you can't get it naturally, it's probably not worth getting. And that's a policy I adhere to religiously...

The following doesn't need any commentary. It speaks for itself. (No pun intended) [note]Oh, and BTW, in case anyone's interested, I'm feeling minutely better today. I'm not sneezing or blowing my nose as much, but I am still doing both. And my headache is mostly gone. I'm hoping as the day goes on I'll feel even better.[/note]

Still believe in the benefits of vitamins and supplements? Still have trouble grasping the idea that vitamins and supplements are a well devised scheme by the pharmaceutical and supplement industries to separate you from your hard earned money? Then maybe this article from Consumer Reports will finally convince you otherwise. Americans .............. spent an estimated $10 billion on them [vitamin and mineral pills] in 2008, according to the Nutrition Business Journal. But recent studies undertaken to assess their benefits have delivered a flurry of disappointing results. The supplements failed to prevent Alzheimer's disease , cancer, heart attacks , strokes , type 2 diabetes , and premature death. "We have yet to see well-conducted research that categorically supports the use of vitamin and mineral supplements," says Linda Van Horn, Ph.D., a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. "Most s...

Shortly after my diagnosis with MCL, I came to the conclusion vitamins, supplements, immune system boosters, what every you want to call them, are bad for you. They're nothing more than a scam perpetrated on a naive and unsuspecting public, designed by the pharmaceutical and supplement industries to separate you from your hard earned money. If you can't get it naturally from the food you eat, then it's not worth getting. Now here's just one more piece of evidence to support my belief. Researchers at Kansas State's [K-State] Cardiorespiratory Exercise Laboratory now believe anti-oxidants may be bad as well. ....what a lot of people don't realize is that the antioxidant and pro-oxidant balance is really delicate. One of the things we've seen in our research is that you can't just give a larger dose of antioxidants and presume that there will be some sort of beneficial effect. In fact, you can actually make a problem worse. .............. K-State's stud...