Inflammation and Cancer
Inflammation is at the root of many chronic, degenerative, and even fatal diseases that deprive millions of people each year of health, wellness, and longevity. It does much damage to the body by depositing plaque in arteries, eroding joints and bones, and causing excess weight gain. Worse, inflammation can lead to cancer and take years off your life in terms of quality and quantity.
In this article, I will share how Chinese medicine has effectively dealt with inflammation for at least two thousand years prior to Western medicine through anti-inflammatory foods, herbal therapy, bodywork, and mind-body exercises.
What is Inflammation?
Inflammation is often discussed negatively, but the pain, swelling, heat, and redness are your body's natural response to injury, trauma, infection, or toxin exposure. It is the essential mechanism underlying healing responses as your body tissues restore and combats invading pathogenic enemies. However, it turns bad when the inflammatory response is excessive and goes unabated, causing tissue damage.
Common Inflammatory Diseases
A number of diseases are inflammatory in nature, such as tendonitis, bursitis, osteoarthritis, laryngitis, gingivitis, gastritis, diverticulitis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Others are called autoimmune disorders due to the friendly fire from one's own immune system, including asthma, eczema, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, lupus, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, polymyalgia, and celiac disease.
Poor Lifestyle Can Cause Inflammation
Chronic inflammation can also be caused by lifestyle factors such as poor diet, emotional stress, inadequate sleep and exercise. These can cause your body to generate free radicals resulting in cellular and tissue inflammation.
The presence of excessive free radicals and inflammatory proteins like cytokines may lead to functional decline of organs and DNA damage to cells. It is, therefore, not surprising that many chronic, age-related diseases have inflammatory components, such as atherosclerosis, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer.
Inflammation and the Cancer Connection
When the DNA of cells sustains continuous inflammatory damage that isn't repaired or destroyed by your immune system, these cells multiply uncontrollably and go on to fuel cancerous growth such as cancer of the lung, colon, pancreas, liver, mouth, esophagus, stomach, bladder and melanoma.
Biomarkers of Inflammation
As part of your prevention steps, at your doctor's visit, ask to be tested for CRP or C-Reactive Protein, a cardiovascular and general marker of inflammation. Other common clinical indicators of inflammation are a high ESR or erythrocyte sedimentation rate, a high white blood cell count, and a low albumin level. For suspected autoimmune diseases, ANA or anti-nuclear antibodies are used for diagnosis.
Natural Prevention & Treatment Strategies
Since inflammation is a natural part of your body's healing process, preventing excessive and prolonged inflammation is a lifelong pursuit. If you suffer from any of the aforementioned diseases, you must immediately undertake the following four inflammation-fighting steps.
Read on for Dr. Mao's Four Steps (link will go here).
Tropical Enzymes for Your Inflammation
Ever wonder why arthritis is less prevalent in the tropics than in the northern hemisphere? The answer may lie in the abundant tropical fruits consumed by its inhabitants. Researchers have long found beneficial enzymes like papain and bromelain in tropical fruits like papaya and pineapple. These enzymes assist not only in digestion but also in reducing inflammation. They help by breaking down cytokines in the blood that cause inflammation, removing fibrin, the clotting material that prolongs inflammation, and reducing swelling in the areas of inflammation. Other fruits that contain beneficial enzymes are passion fruit, mangos, and kiwis. You can also take papain and bromelain in Wellness Living's Inflammation Fighter.
Massage and Spice Away your Inflammation
Bodywork has been shown to speed the healing of tissue injuries and reduce inflammation by promoting blood flow and clearing toxins from the injury site. It is especially beneficial for those suffering from muscle, joint, and tendon pain. In Chinese medicine, tuina bodywork is an important part of our therapeutic repertoire, not just for aches and pains but also for all diseases of inflammation.
Additionally, topical oils with therapeutic properties made from herbs and spices with amazing healing properties like turmeric, ginger, and wintergreen, enhance tissue detoxification and activate energy and blood flow. These and other herbs and spices can be found in Tension Muscle Release roll-on and Pain-free Patches.
Move Inflammation out of Your Body with Qi Gong
Many studies have found that physical activity decreases acute and chronic inflammation, as measured by reductions in CRP-cardiac and general inflammatory markers and certain pro-inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, regular physical activity reduces one's risk for obesity and chronic inflammation-related diseases.
Qi Gong is a gentle, mind-body movement practice used in Chinese medicine for preventive health maintenance and for therapeutic purposes such as arthritis, back pain or fertility, and brain enhancement. It has been found to restore the health of your immune system by reducing inflammation. Try learning the Eight Treasures Qi Gong at home by downloading it here.
Combat Inflammation and Cancer with Mushrooms
Mushrooms, particularly medicinal ones like Reishi, Maitake, and Lion's Mane, are rich in anti-inflammatory components, such as polysaccharides, phenolic and indolic compounds. These compounds possess antioxidant, anticancer, and, most significantly, anti-inflammatory properties. Recent studies indicate that mushroom extracts exhibit positive therapeutic and health-promoting benefits, particularly in relation to diseases associated with inflammation.
Try some delicious mushrooms in your diet like Shitakes, Maitakes, and Lion's Mane, or find them plus Cordyceps, Reishi, Turkey Tail, Chaga, and Agaricus in Natural Immunity PLUS, a rich formulation for inflammation and cancer prevention.
In summary, managing inflammation is a lifelong process of maintaining health and healing. While inflammation helps repair your body from injuries and infections, it's imperative to stay vigilant and clear unnecessary inflammation from your body to prevent cellular damage and cancerous growths from occurring. This is a balancing act that can be achieved through nutritional, herbal, and qi gong practices.