The Sunday Mail
Dr Tafadzwanashe Magodora
Cancer is a major health problem in many parts of the world, including Zimbabwe.
An inter-governmental agency forming part of the World Health Organisation – the International Agency for Research on Cancer – explores the global cancer burden and projects that deaths will continue rising, with an estimated 12 million deaths in 2030.
The rise of cancer worldwide is a major obstacle to human development and well-being. These new figures and projections send a strong signal that immediate action is needed to confront this human disaster, which touches every community worldwide, without exception.
Yet it may surprise you to know that cancer is a 20th century “invention”.
The top five cancers – lung, breast, stomach, colorectal and prostate – were basically unheard of before the beginning of the 20th century.
The growth in cancer paralleled the industrialisation and chemicalisation of developed countries. With Westernisation of foods and industrialisation of developing countries, cancers prevail everywhere.
More commitment to prevention and early detection of cancer is desperately needed in order to complement improved treatments and address the alarming rise in the global cancer burden.
The old adage that “prevention is better than cure” is still relevant in the modern technological world of today.
With a few simple lifestyle changes, you can drastically reduce your risk of many types of cancer.
Many factors play a role in cancer development, but the good news is that most can be avoided. Some of the most important preventative measures include avoiding smoking and exposure to smoke, limiting alcohol intake, eating adequate fresh fruits and vegetables, cutting consumption of red meat and animal fat and being physically active.
Avoiding UV ray exposure and protecting one’s skin by using sunscreen is important, particularly in people with albinism. People are also urged to practise work environment protection. Practising safe sex safeguards against STIs like HIV, hepatitis B, Human Pappilloma Virus (HPV), which are known to be risk factors for some types of cancer.
Effective vaccination campaigns and Health Education and Promotion (HPE) are effective in reducing the burden of cancer.
Knowing your personal and family medical history to take specific preventative measures is very important and getting screened for cancer regularly. For some types of cancer, research shows that using certain screening tests regularly will reduce deaths from that cancer, for example, cervical or breast cancer. Integrative approaches to treatment of cancer promote better patient outcomes by combining the best of modern science with time-tested natural methods of Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM). In advanced state-of-the-art cancer care settings, cancer treatment like chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery are combined with integrative oncology services. Integrative oncology services help one to stay strong, boost your immune system, combat side-effects and maintain your well-being.
Integrative oncology services include nutrition therapy, chiropractic care, herbal medicine, pain management, oncology rehabilitation, psychotherapy and spiritual support.
Many cancer patients experience gastrointestinal symptoms. Dieticians provide nutrition therapy with personalised meal plans that complement cancer treatment and help prevent malnutrition, restore digestive health and reduce side-effects.
Foods play a vital role in cancer prevention as well as additional treatment resource. There is experimental evidence documenting their effectiveness in slowing the development of cancer cells demonstrating that their use as a therapeutic tool is well founded. All fresh fruits are rich in antioxidant vitamins and phytochemicals which are capable of neutralising cancer-causing substances entering the body. Some of the vegetables with effectiveness include red beets, carrots, tomatoes, eggplant, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and radishes. Olive oil, whole grains and legumes are arguably the best diet (Mediterranean diet) and are key components in nutrition therapy.
CAM like chiropractic care, acupuncture, herbal extracts and teas use natural, non-toxic means to treat the whole person and encourage the self-healing process in integrative cancer care. It also focuses on reducing harmful effects from cancer treatments thus making the treatment more tolerable. Chiropractic care aims to relieve pain and stiffness in one’s joints and muscles caused or intensified by surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy with potential benefits of improved mobility, flexibility, strength and function.
Cancer care herbal packages with ingredients like Ganoderma, Spirulina, Ginseng and Chitosan come in forms of coffee, teas or capsules.
They boost the immune system which is responsible for eliminating cancerous cells and also protect against chemotherapy-related injury.
Blueberry and grape seed extracts are among the strongest antioxidant and nutritional formulae recommended to those who are in rehabilitation phase after radio-chemotherapy to minimise damage caused by oxidative stress. Pain management is a branch of medicine focused on reducing pain and improving quality of life through an integrative approach to care. Pain management is particularly important for cancer patients, considering one in three patients continues to experience pain after treatment.
Those with advanced cancer are most likely to have severe pain. Most of the pain associated with cancer can be blamed on the tumour itself. The tumour pushes on nerves, bones or organs, which can lead to significant discomfort. Pain also can result from common cancer treatments: chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery. For example, chemotherapy can lead to peripheral neuropathy, a condition that includes tingling, numbness and weakness in the hands and arms or legs and feet.
Modalities to treat and control pain include prescription medications, implanted pain pumps, nerve block therapies, acupuncture and auriculotherapy, massage therapy, relaxation techniques and chiropractic treatment. Rehabilitation therapists – including physical, occupational, speech, and massage therapists – help one rebuild strength and overcome some of the physical effects of treatment. Oncology rehabilitation describes a wide range of therapies designed to help build strength and endurance, regain independence, reduce stress and maintain the energy needed to participate in daily activities(like showering, eating and dressing etc) that are important to cancer patients.
They also have programmes to address sexuality concerns, incontinence, weight management, and support for fatigue and sleep disturbances. Psychotherapy given to cancer patients and their family/caregivers is an integral part which recognises the powerful ways in which emotional, mental, social and behavioural factors can directly affect health. Individual, couple or family counselling helps with anything on the mind and working through difficult decisions while exploring ways to enjoy life on this journey.
For faith-based individuals, spiritual support can be a fundamental part of treatment.
Nurturing one’s faith can help one better cope with the spiritual and emotional challenges associated with cancer. There are so many ways one can integrate spiritual care like individual and group prayer, counselling by a faith representative of your choice, weekly inter-faith worship and communion services. Chaplains can also visit before surgery to provide prayer and counsel. Caregivers and family members may also talk with them. In addition, other clinicians, including physicians and nurses, often pray with patients as part of the care they provide.
Recorded ministries and reading books also helps. One notable book titled “When God and Cancer Meet” contains powerful stories about cancer patients and their families who have been touched by God in miraculous ways – some in their bodies, others in their minds, all in their spirits — offers inspiring testimonies that, when God and cancer meet, cancer is conquered. Studies have shown that a significant percentage of cancer survivors deal with chronic health problems that may be related to their cancer treatment. Survivorship support treatment planning takes into consideration, and plans for, the possibility of side-effects like nausea, hair loss, weight loss, and neuropathy and quality-of-life issues.
Send feedback to Dr TB Magodora (MBCHB-UZ, DPTCM-Sh, China) on [email protected]. You can also get him on Whatsapp number +263 776 903 026
