• Colon Cancer—The Silent Killer!
• Reduce Salt in Common Foods
• The Truth About Selenium
• Cancer and Acid pH

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Dear Health Conscious Individual,

Welcome to House Calls with Dr. Cutler!

Many of you are aware of fatal diseases that plague millions of Americans each year—but are you prepared for the third most common killer in today’s society of both men and women? Most of you are not.

Today we’ll look at the risks and warning signs associated with digestive diseases. I advise that if you answer “yes” to several of the symptoms outlined in the short questionnaire below that you talk to your doctor today. There are preventive measures to invest in now!

And, did you know that selenium can be both good and bad—depending on the amount you take? Are you taking too much or too little? Read below to find out safe dosage amounts for your supplements.

Yours for healthy living,

Michael Cutler, M.D.
Medical Advisor, True Health™

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Colon Cancer—The Silent Killer!

Why should you be concerned about digestive disease? Because it is the third most common cancer in BOTH men and women!

The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be about 108,070 new cases of colon cancer and 40,740 new cases of rectal cancer in 2008 in the United States. Combined, they will cause about 49,960 deaths.

This is far too many. When colon cancer is detected and treated before it has spread, there is a 90 percent survival rate at five years. Once the cancer has spread to nearby organs or lymph nodes, however, the five-year survival rate goes down to 66 percent.

The reason it is so deadly is that by the time colon cancer is discovered (from symptoms alone), it has usually already spread. Therefore, the development of colon cancer has very few warning signs. It is difficult to detect this silent killer based solely on symptoms. This is why prevention and early screening is critical!

Colon cancer has early detection methods which are quite effective. While not intended to diagnose colon cancer or other intestinal diseases, this analysis can help you understand the risk factors and early warning signs.

• Do I have a family history of polyps or colon cancer? A family history of cancer increases risk by 66 percent.
• Do I consume high amounts of red meat? Instead of red meat, the American Cancer Society recommends choosing most of your foods from plant sources and limiting your intake of animal-source high-fat foods.
• Do I use tobacco, alcohol or other harmful drugs? Recent studies indicate that smokers are 30 to 40 percent more likely than nonsmokers to die from colon cancer. Colon cancer has also been linked to the heavy use of alcohol.
• Am I over 50 years old? More than 90 percent of people who have colorectal cancer are over age 50.
• Am I overweight? If you are very overweight, your risk of developing colon cancer increases. Researchers suggest the excess fat also changes metabolism in a way which increases growth of cells in the colon and rectum, and that cells in the waist area have the largest impact on improper metabolism.
• Do I have diabetes or a sedentary lifestyle? Colon cancer is reported to be 50 percent higher among diabetics compared to the normal population. They also tend to have a higher death rate from colon cancer compared to non-diabetics with colon cancer.
• Do I have constipation or hardening of solid waste in the colon? Having bowel movements less than twice a day is considered constipation. Ideally we should have a bowel movement for every meal.
• Do I have bloating, gas or excessive fullness after meals? This is a sure sign of inadequate digestive enzyme function or inadequate stomach acid for the types of foods present.
• Do I have pain in the lower esophagus with swallowing? Esophogeal spasm or “achalasia” is usually due to recurrent acid reflux up from the stomach into the lower esophagus.
• Do I have an acid heartburn feeling in the stomach, with or without meals? This is a sign of stomach lining fragility, typically from persistent acidity in the stomach because of digestive enzyme deficiency. The acid-enzyme imbalance, created ultimately by so many “manmade” foods is a correctable condition without long-acting prescription medications.
• Do I have stools that float or appear greasy? This indicates malabsorption of fats.
• Are there large pieces of undigested food in my stools? This is consistent with inadequate enzymes to digest certain foods, usually fibrous vegetables.
• Do I have bloody or black-colored stool? When stomach acid is present, the red blood color turns to black. This indicates blood coming from the stomach or first part of the small intestine. A stomach or duodenal ulcer is likely present and must be healed.
• Do I have painful bowel movements, with or without blood? This may be rectal inflammation such as a fissure or external hemorrhoid.
• Do I have lower intestinal cramping associated with meals? This is consistent with irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. These disease states lead to cancer over time with a miserable course unless the underlying gut lining tissue health is restored and causes addressed.
• Do I get a runny or stuffy nose during or after meals? This is the classic sign of allergy to certain foods.

If you answered “Yes”… to these questions, then these are some symptoms that a digestive disease may already be present. They are also warning signs that a potentially worse disease could develop if not addressed, such as cancer.

More than just risk factors, these symptoms and signs are warning you to listen to your body. While your doctor is qualified to pronounce the diagnoses of colon cancer or another digestive diseases, you now can choose a different path—the prevention path—before it’s too late.

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Reduce Salt in Common Foods

If you have hypertension, try eating low sodium breads and spreads. You may actually like them! Low sodium bread can be purchased in most supermarkets. If your supermarket doesn’t carry it, you can usually order it from the manager.

However, you can make your own and it tastes much better. It also keeps for more than a month, so the pleasant and educational experience of baking it only needs to be done about once a month. In fact, it can be a very rewarding family experience. The variety of homemade low sodium bread is wide, so the variety of sandwiches available is excellent.

Low sodium mayonnaise, butter and margarine spreads are available in supermarkets and some health food stores. They usually taste bland, but can be spiced up to taste better.

An excellent spread for sandwiches is to use avocados. Let them ripen a little more and they spread like mayonnaise. Avocados have a vitamin K factor of about 17 and are low in sodium. They have fewer calories than butter or mayonnaise and have a bonus: Avocados are rich in EPA or omega-3 fatty acids!

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The Truth About Selenium

Selenium has two faces. It is required for proper health but can be very damaging and even deadly if taken in extreme excess.

Some geographical areas in the world suffer from selenium deficiencies, resulting in a crippling effect in children that resembles arthritis. But patients respond well to treatment. This natural trace element is unique among nutrients. Its required amount is so little, yet its toxicity level is a consideration at high levels.

The symptoms of selenium deficiency are varied, but they include severe pain and weakness in the muscles, like arthritis. When a person is deficient in both selenium and vitamin E, liver degeneration develops.

Clearly this is an important part of everyone’s diet. The RDA is 50 to 70 micrograms a day for normal adults, 75 for pregnant women. If there are adequate amounts of vitamin E in the daily diet, up to 200 micrograms is fine and actually helps to become a protector for the body. A few important foods containing selenium are:

Food	Serving Size	Mcg/Serving
Egg Noodles	1 cup, cooked	105
Pasta	1 cup, cooked	90
Lobster tail	3 ounces	63.4
Shrimp	3 ounces	57.2
Cod, fillet	3 ounces	46.5
Chicken/turkey	3 ounces	34

Selenium supplementation only makes sense in order to maintain good health. I strongly recommend that anyone wanting to stay healthy should eat a healthy dose of selenium-rich foods daily, and use a supplement, too.

Selenium can be toxic at very high doses. This was first observed in animals that eat plants with toxic levels of selenium. Toxicity in humans is rarely seen. However, toxicity has been reported in parts of the world where dietary selenium levels are extremely high.

The reported symptoms of human toxicity from selenium have included increased nail and hair brittleness or crumbling, skin rashes, “pins and needles” sensations, irritability, nausea, vomiting or garlic breath. These side effects were observed in a study at the University of Arizona of approximately 10 percent of Chinese subjects consuming a diet with more than 1,000 micrograms of selenium daily. It is interesting to note that the regions of China that have a higher selenium concentration in the soil enjoy a very low incidence of cancer.

In the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer trial, no evidence of selenium toxicity has yet been observed with either 200 or 400 mcg per daily dosage, as indicated by routine examination of patient’s nails and hair and liver function tests.

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Q & A

Each week in the Q & A section of House Calls with Dr. Cutler, I will share with you some of the many questions I get every week from subscribers to my monthly advisory newsletter, Easy Health Options”. For more information on Easy Health Options”, visit www.easyhealthoptions.com.

Cancer and Acid pH

Dear Dr. Cutler,

have been a long-time subscriber to your wonderful newsletter. Also, I strongly value your advice and informative insight about medical matters. As you know, the one word that terrifies all human beings is CANCER. I, a pharmacist, have done a lot of reading about this dreaded disease. My research has indicated that cancer only appears in people with an acidic pH. If one’s pH is alkaline, cancer never appears. Do you concur with that finding? If you do, how can one alkalinize himself?—Harold O., Scottsdale, AZ

Dear Harold,

I am impressed not only by your newfound knowledge, but by your interest in the subject. You have undoubtedly felt the resistance by conventional medical doctors and the propaganda scoffing at such things as alkaline pH and its importance in health. Yes, you hit it right on. Cancer thrives in acidic tissue.

Here are the details for monitoring pH. For urine (what the body is getting rid of), dip the pH test paper into your first morning void. You are aiming for a pH of 6.0 to 6.6. If it’s too acidic it could mean two things:

• High proteins or other acids in the diet, or…
• A lack of buffering minerals in the diet.

For saliva (most representative of lymph fluid), one should place the pH strip on their wet tongue, aiming for a pH of 6.6 to 7.0. This is pretty straight forward, since this fluid does reflect the tissues. Blood, however, is a homeostatic fluid and therefore its pH will remain fairly stable (7.30 to 7.36) despite how sick one may be.

To increase tissue pH to a safe range, I suggest the following:

• Always eat alkalinizing foods first.
• Next, maximize the elimination of metabolic acid waste from the body through the organs of elimination (bowel, skin, lymph, kidney and lung).
• Stop all emotional stresses, which greatly contribute to cancer growth through unclear mechanisms (but one clearly related clinically).
• Use herbal and other non-toxic nutrients to boost the healing mechanisms in the body, slowly overcoming the chronic conditions.

Thanks again for your interest in body acid-base balance. For the pH supplement I personally use and recommend, Click Here.

Respectfully,
Michael Cutler, M.D.