Image credit to Chicago Tribune
A new book to help cancer-proof your life
If you’re really ready to Stand Up to Cancer, as more than 50 celebrities, athletes and musicians will be urging tonight on a commercial-free, three-network telethon, try adopting David Servan-Schreiber’s “anti-cancer lifestyle.”
Servan-Schreiber, who will also be appearing on the unprecedented television event, was a young and ambitious neuroscientist when he was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 31. Anti cancer: A New Way of Life” (Viking, $24.95), is an important, evidenced-based health guide for those who are diagnosed with cancer or who want to prevent it.
After going through surgery and chemo, he asked his oncologist for advice. When he got none–at least lung cancer patients are told not to smoke–he took it upon himself to research the body’s innate healing abilities.
His experience is detailed in his new book.
“I tried to write the book I wish I’d read and that I wish I had with me when I walked the journey,” said Servan-Schreiber, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and co-founder of the Center for Integrative Medicine.
“It helps people sort through what’s useful, what’s not, what’s grounded in science and specific actions you can take.”
His premise–that every human being has cancer cells–requires a new mindset in the fight against cancer.
“Cancer happens when there’s an imbalance in all the factors that push for cancer growth and all the factors that prevent it,” he said. “I wasn’t paying attention; I was a busy, arrogant doctor eating McDonald’s and drinking Coke. I discovered the tumor, had surgery and went right back to my lifestyle.”
He soon realized, however, that his daily choices could make his life meaningful or detract from it.
“I learned that I could feel a lot healthier with cancer in my body, than before I was every diagnosed with the illness,” he said.
Oncologists generally don’t recommend lifestyle changes for cancer patients because it’s difficult to control studies looking at lifestyle and the studies often aren’t high-quality. In addition, “no one wants to pay for them because you can’t patent broccoli or breathing,” Servan-Schreiber said. “So the oncologist doesn’t want to impose these things on patients.”
But what we know for sure is that people who are healthier live longer. And that diet and exercise can improve every parameter that an internist monitors.
“We don’t have a single drug in the world that does this,” Servan-Schreiber said. “So what’s wrong with telling someone who has cancer, ‘Look, I’ll put you on a diet to make you a healthier person. The better you are, the better your chances of fighting it.’”
Of course, you can do every single thing in his book and still get cancer. Servan-Schreiber says no one should feel guilty for getting the diagnoses.
But 80 percent of cancers can be avoided by eliminating tobacco and alcohol, improving the diet and getting more physical activity, said Servan-Schreiber. The figure is likely even higher, he said, because it doesn’t include exposure to environmental hazards.
The handiest part about the book is the two-sided card that comes with it. One side shows an “anti-cancer shopping list” with pictures of the foods that have been shown to inhibit cell growth in certain cancers. Beets, for example, are good for brain, colon, lung and prostate cancer. Celery has only been shown to help brain cancer.
Sources: Chicago Tribune
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