Tag: cancer

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HOW TO HANDLE CANCER DURING THE PANDEMIC

Do you have a health condition, like cancer, that you’d normally seek medical care for but you haven’t during the coronavirus pandemic?  Is this because you think you’re safer at home and going out would risk infection, or your usual physician is not available to see patients?  You aren’t alone.  

One of the most disconcerting things to me as a physician during this pandemic is that the other medical conditions people have been suffering with have mysteriously disappeared.  It makes sense that emergency rooms have noted a dip in occurrences like car fatalities and injuries since many of us are not out and about driving. However, what about heart attacks and strokes?  These are time-sensitive events that if treated early, make a significant difference in someone’s survival.  Many people are afraid to call an ambulance or go to the ER with concerning symptoms like chest pain or sudden weakness in parts of the body because they fear they will get infected with Sars-CoV2.  And unfortunately this is leaving many people to die at home or they are left with permanent disabilities because they received medical attention too late.  These are not conditions where the wait-and-see approach works.

SCREENINGS FOR CANCER DURING THE PANDEMIC

Have you been due for your regular screening colonoscopy or mammogram and have delayed calling to make that appointment because it isn’t an emergency or you decided it can wait until we have some clarity about returning to normal life? Again, you are not alone.

In a typical year, roughly 150,000 cases of cancer are detected monthly in the US population.  As a physician specializing in Integrative Oncology, I am very concerned that people with signs of cancer – a new mass or lump – are not being assessed quickly enough and that these new cases are being missed in the earliest stages when treatment is most effective.  Many people have been choosing to wait until it is “safe” to make the phone call for an appointment.  Every doctor and health system is doing their best to create a safe environment for patients, and while we don’t have all the answers, it is now time to reach out to your provider through telemedicine and share your concerns so that you can create a plan of action together.

CANCER AND COVID

As someone with cancer during the coronavirus pandemic,  are you concerned about what you can do beyond secluding yourself at home? 

During the past 3 months, I have been hearing from many of my cancer patients with concerns about what else they can do. Whether they have a past history of cancer, or are actively in treatment, these patients are looking to have an action plan in place that will help when they are going to reintegrate into the world.  

During this exceptional time, it has also been more difficult for my cancer patients to find some semblance of security in their treatment or monitoring.  Many have felt that their diagnosis has taken a backseat to the pandemic at large.  One of my patients called for a telemedicine followup with her oncologist to find that he was recruited by his hospital to work in the ER managing COVID-19 patients.  Another patient was told to forgo treatment for one month due to a high risk of exposure; her tumor markers became elevated the following month.  Others have found that when they questioned their current regimen, they were told to stay the course until things resumed to a more normal format.  And just like everyone else, those with cancer are very reluctant to go to an ER (whether for a cancer related issue or anything else like heart attack or stroke symptoms), because they are known to be a high-risk category because of a weakened immune system. 

INTEGRATIVE ONCOLOGY

I have been practicing integrative oncology for well over 15 years, helping people to navigate through conventional treatments by offering ways to naturally mitigate symptoms from chemotherapy, radiation and surgery as well as exploring other areas of evidence based treatments that lie outside of the box of their oncologist.  Often, people seek me out to support their treatment nutritionally or to “boost immunity” during treatment, and this is a good place to start.  But then most people discover there is a plethora of other adjunctive possibilities outside of what their oncology team has offered.  Cancer is a diagnosis that I hope that one would consider all angles and possibilities and various opinions to help construct the most solid plan to move forward and try to conquer the disease.

One of the areas that I focus on is supporting immunity and treating immune issues with these patients.  It is interesting to me that many of the natural herbal and nutraceutical treatments that I have used in cancer for various reasons, have activity in some format against Sars-CoV2. For example, I’ve  utilized Chinese Skullcap (also known as scutellaria baicalensis) in both breast and ovarian cancers (as well as other cancers such as colorectal and prostate cancer) because of its anti-proliferative activity against tumor cells but interestingly it has a place in combating Sars-CoV2 by enhancing not only immune function but also possessing anti-inflammatory activity for a variety of cytokines and can potentially block the virus from attaching to ACE-2 receptors that are unique to this virus.  A good review can be found HERE.

The field of integrative oncology is immense and I have always gravitated to working with cancer patients for a number of reasons.  It presents an incredibly difficult time that often necessitates a change in mindset, which allows me to show people that this challenge is an opportunity not only to make positive and sometimes radical change in one’s life. It’s also a time to take control and not always assume that there is nothing out there beyond what the oncologist or surgeon is offering.  And with over 100 peer reviewed publications that come out daily, the field is constantly evolving and my work is never “protocol.”  These are just a few reasons why I find working with cancer patients extremely rewarding. The current pandemic adds yet another layer to work through with patients and I accept the challenges ahead.

 

Pamela Yee, MD is an Integrative Physician at Blum Center for Health in Rye Brook, NY where she creates highly personalized treatment plans for each of her patients. Dr. Yee has a special interest in integrative cancer care, immune disorders, and lyme disease. She lives in Nyack NY where she and her husband manage their own organic micro-farm.

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It’s Summer! Which cocktail is best for me?

Here’s a common question: It’s summer and I really want a cocktail, will having one ruin all my hard work?

Ahh, summertime … cocktail parties, bbq’s, dinner alfresco, family gatherings, rooftop parties … add a little heat, add the celebratory nature of being outside and you’ve got the perfect recipe for cocktail time.

Whether you’ve got a hankering for gin, vodka or tequila, there are a few things you should know.

The good news: If you’re in good health, and at low risk for cancer, then alcohol in moderation is likely okay. What is moderation? A few social drinks a week. There’s no need to drink every day, afterall, plan for them — wait for the rooftop get-together or the weekend summertime bash.

What you need to know about summer cocktails: 

Any amount of alcohol consumption of any kind, increases your risk for cancer. If you are concerned about cancer because you have a strong family history, or you have had cancer yourself, you should not drink. Period. Does this mean that an occasional glass of wine or cocktail will hurt you? Probably not. But chronic daily consumption, or drinking several days every week, is not a good idea.

Alcohol stresses your liver. Alcohol is viewed as a toxin by the body and needs to be processed in the liver just like mercury, pesticides, plastics and everything else you are exposed to in the environment. If you have known issues with your liver, other toxin exposure like mold or heavy metals or pesticides that are causing issues with your health, you shouldn’t drink, or only consume alcohol on occasion. If you have multiple chemical sensitivities, such as you can’t tolerate smells like perfume or cigarette smoke, this can be a sign that your liver is stressed with too many toxins.

TIP: Pad the lining of your stomach before drinking alcohol with healthy fats like nuts and seeds, avocado, or something made with olive oil or coconut oil.  This will slow the emptying time of the stomach so that alcohol will be absorbed slowly into the body, allowing you to excrete it more easily and then resulting in less accumulation of toxins.

Alcoholic beverages are high in sugar. If you have diabetes, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, or are trying to lose weight, keep In mind that when you drink a glass of wine or a cocktail mixed with juice, you are consuming a glass of sugar. This can trigger cravings for bread and dessert and other high starch foods, and cause you to make poor food choices that undermine your healthy eating goals. 

TIP: Be sure to skip the mixers and choose low sugar options, such as a cocktail with club soda or fresh lime juice.

All alcoholic drinks are dehydrating. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning you might notice you’re running to the bathroom more often. Alcohol suppresses the hormone that regulates how much urine we produce. And, all the added trips to the bathroom strip water and electrolytes from the body. Even a small amount of alcohol can make you feel like you have a hangover.

TIP: Drink two glasses of water for every alcoholic drink you consume. Be sure to hydrate during the day as well. 

Better yet, give our delicious Blueberry Lime Margarita Mocktail a try. Put it in a beautiful glass with a spring of mint, and you won’t even miss the alcohol! Get the Recipe

 

Feeling like you’ve been having a little too much fun this summer — feeling bloated, heavy or out of control and need a quick, effective reset? Check out our HealMyGut Summer Reboot. Relief is on the way! Get Our Special Summer Reboot

 

Meet Melissa: Melissa Rapoport is the Manager of Health Coaching and Lifestyle Programming at Blum Center for Health in Rye Brook, NY. She combines her graduate work in Developmental Psychology with her education in nutrition, health and coaching to create highly individualized programs that result in lifetime change. A contributing author to three international bestselling books, Melissa’s greatest joy is her relationship with her two daughters. To learn more about Melissa’s coaching practice at Blum Center for Health, click here.

 

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Protecting our Youth from Colorectal Cancers

cancer

By: Pamela Yee, M.D.

A photograph of a beautiful, vibrant, 22-year old woman with the following headline recently caught my eye: Colon and Rectal Cancers Rising in Young People (1). As reported by The New York TImes, the American Cancer Society cites an increase in the number of young adults developing colon cancer, a disease most associated with that of an aging population.

Interestingly, researchers are at a loss to explain this rise.

The connection is obvious to me.

I strongly believe our diet foremost, and plethora of toxic environmental exposures, cannot be ignored. These exposures, both food and environment, begin in the womb and continue throughout childhood.

The larger question is, how can we collectively get our children to develop good eating habits to set the stage for optimal health?

FOOD

What’s Changed? The MEDIA!

As a kid of the 70’s I witnessed the early blossoming of processed foods.  Doritos, Lucky Charms, Kool Aid and Twinkies were common kids’ staples and few spoke of organic food. But, coming from a family that immigrated from China, these foods were kept at bay since my Grandma home-cooked almost all meals. There was no need, or pressure, for convenience foods — they were seen as treats.

Also, the art of corporations marketing to children had just began taking off. The allure of characters beckoning children to sample their spaceship-shaped waffles or cookies bathed in food coloring could not readily reach children through TV and other media. I believe the kids I grew up with benefitted from this relative media innocence.

A crucial point in 1980 changed everything.  The Federal Trade Commission had been trying to set restrictions on advertising to children. Their argument was that young children could not discern commercials from entertainment programs and older children could not understand the long-term health consequences of eating lots of sugar.  But pressure from the sugar, toy, candy and cigarette industries and farmers growing wheat for sugared cereals, all swooped down to prevent this from happening.

In 1980, Congress passed an Act that “mandated that the FTC would no longer have any authority whatsoever to regulate advertising and marketing to children, leaving markets virtually free to target kids as they saw fit,” wrote Anna Lappe, author and food advocate.

This one act launched the onslaught of marketing to children, and morphed into the complex state it is today where movies create characters which then show up on cereal boxes, plastic toys and candy wrappers.  [To read more about this pivotal act in detail, you can read Anna Lappe’s take on it here.

It’s surprising there was no extended commentary on the New York Time’s report on why this increase in colorectal cancers are being seen in young adults, and that the reasons are “baffling.” To me it all boils down to the environmental change that has occurred over the last four decades. And if food is the “medicine” that we put in our bodies all day, processed by our gut and microbiome, it seems that there would be an association between diet and incidence of disease.  Of course we can wait and wait for further studies to elucidate or we can do something about it now.

HOW TO HELP OUR CHILDREN

ROLE MODELS

From a preventative sense, one of the most potent things we can do for ourselves, and for our children, is to set a behavior we want modeled.  The younger you start with children, obviously the better. But, discussions with older children about why and how food impacts how they feel are powerful. They may not take to them right away, but you are sending a verbal message that you then reinforce by walking the talk. If mom and dad are eating sugar or convenient processed foods on a regular basis how can you expect your children to take you seriously?

MEDIA

Another way we can help our children is to limit media.  Easier said than done, I know as tech is the easy babysitter we employ so that, as parents, we can do chores around the home or placate an angry toddler on an airplane.  But the more we rely on that easy solution the more detriment it imposes on our children, not only because of the advertising and marketing, but also on the very relationships parents have with their own children.

Catherine Steiner-Adair Ed.D, a clinical psychologist and expert in child development and education, wrote the book, The Big Disconnect: Protecting Child and Family Relationships in the Digital Age after extensive interviews with children and parents on how social media and technology change the way children learn, grow and make connections with others.  She also gives advice to parents and educators on how to deflect the detrimental effects of media on our children.

These suggestions can all translate to better eating — not only because of the reduction of media influences — but because it will force us to pause, parents included. When both parents and their children employ awareness and make conscious choices surrounding food, media and their relationships with one another, family health automatically comes to the forefront. Suddenly you will find that you’re at the dinner table, without your devices, and enjoying a meal together, conversation included.

Reference:

(1) https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/well/live/colon-and-rectal-cancers-rising-in-young-people.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0]

Meet Dr. Yee:

Pamela Yee, MD is an Integrative Physician at Blum Center for Health in Rye Brook, NY.   Dr. Yee has a special interest in integrative cancer care and creates highly personalized treatment plans for each of her patients. She lives in Nyack NY where she and her husband manage their own organic micro-farm.

CLICK HERE  to learn more about Dr. Yee.

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How to Manage Cancer Treatment Side Effects with a “Whole-Person” Plan

By Pamela Yee, MD

Breast cancer patients often see me to reduce a variety of treatment side effects. Side effects during chemotherapy. Side effects from radiation. Side effects from being on long term estrogen suppression, such as Tamoxifen or Femara.

For some women, estrogen suppression, and the assumption that they are going to hit menopause like a wrecking ball, induces more fear than either chemotherapy or radiation. One day you’re living with a certain level of hormones and the next day the cord is cut. It’s easy to start imagining what it means to suddenly live without the hormones that define womanhood.

Some of the side effects of estrogen blockers are much like those in menopause: night sweats, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, insomnia, mood changes on the spectrum of irritability up to depression. Additionally, the Aromatase Inhibitors, like Femara, can cause muscle or joint pain and stiffness. In my practice, this is actually one of the most limiting side effects and a cause for some to stop their treatment.

Good News: There’s Another Way

Treatment of the muscle and join pain associated with Aromatase Inhibitors does not have to come in the form of more pharmaceuticals like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDS), such as ibuprofen and naproxen, which are very disruptive to the gastrointestinal system.

For years I’ve been advising my patients to employ techniques like acupuncture and exercise to treat side effects. Now there is research to back up my approach.

A study recently published in the Obesity Journal (1) demonstrates that exercise — both resistance training and aerobic — mitigates the side effects of Aromatase Inhibitors. How much training did it take? Weight training twice a week and 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise. Not only were side effects reduced but patients had a positive change in body composition. This is very exciting news and shows how even a small amount of exercise can have a big impact.

In many prior studies looking at the role of exercise in breast cancer patients, exercise has shown to increase survive and weight gain has been been associated with increased mortality.

Exercise has always been an important part of my treatment strategy with patients with breast cancer. The data clearly reinforces my approach as I continue to support my patients in helping them prioritize exercise in their treatment plan to increase their lifespan, improve their quality of life, and prevent recurrence.

About Dr. Yee

Pamela Yee, MD is an Integrative and Functional Medicine Physician at Blum Digital, LLC in Rye Brook, NY.   Dr. Yee has a special interest in integrative cancer care and creates highly personalized treatment plans for each of her patients. She lives in Nyack NY where she and her husband manage their own organic micro-farm.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Dr. Yee

Reference:

(1) Thomas, G. A., Cartmel, B., Harrigan, M., Fiellin, M., Capozza, S., Zhou, Y., Er-colano, E., Gross, C. P., Hershman, D., Ligibel, J., Schmitz, K., Li, F.-Y., Sanft, T. and Irwin, M. L. (2016), The effect of exercise on body composition and bone mineral den-sity in breast cancer survivors taking aromatase inhibitors. Obesity. doi:10.1002/oby.21729