Nature's Answer to Cancer

Sleep Better During Daylight Savings Time

When I practiced in a complementary medicine clinic , during patient rounds we’d talk about our patients’ symptoms. In addition to obesity and pain, sleep disorders were among the top health-related issue or physical manifestations linked to poor health. In fact, more than 70 million people in the United States are affected by some kind of sleep problem.

Throw in Daylight Savings Time and you can see a problem, right?  DST affects millions of people in terms of sleep quality, so I thought I’d pass along some tips from Dr. Verma, medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Methodist Hospital. These tips are important for year-round sleep habits, not just for this coming Sunday:

Sleep in a quiet and dark environment and set the thermostat at a slightly cooler temperature;
Don’t allow pets in the bed;
No reading, eating or watching TV in bed;
Don’t watch the clock;
Set a "wind down" time prior to going to bed;
Don’t take over the counter sleep aids and avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol close to bedtime, as these can disrupt sleep. Instead, try drinking warms teas or milk to increase your body temperature, which helps induce and sustain sleep;
Exercise is good for sleep, but not within two hours of going to sleep

Catch some Zzzzzzz’s,

Dr. Kim Dalzell, PhD, RD, LD

www.naturesanswertocancer.com

What's Inside The Golden Door?

It wasn't something I do every day, but this past Thursday, I found myself visiting a few neighbors that I had not met.

Coming up to the front door, I couldn't help but notice there was something different about this house: the door was a gleaming gold...not from the sun shining just so on the wood, but actually, really gold! A fruited garland adorned the top. It just "fit".

"Inside," I thought, "must be something special!"

I rang the doorbell. After several moments, a lady in her 70's answered the door, still in her robe and slippers, although it was nearing 9:30 a.m. She moved with the help of a walker. She had a cheerful face, a soft look with just a hint of sleepiness.

"I love your door!" I busted out and introduced myself. I explained that I was meeting new people in the neighborhood to discuss interest in putting together a community-based education program for nutrition for families.

The white-haired lady stopped me mid-sentence, "I don't think I'm interested....I'm terminal. I'm dying of cancer." Next, her daughter who had driven in from Iowa to help her mother "get her affairs in order", came over to the open door and smiled without saying a word.

I smiled back and saw the love that connected daughter to mother, person to person, heart to heart. I then realized that today, rather than me offering something to someone, I was being offered a gift. You see, inside that golden door was the gift of family and I was there to witness something made beautiful out of something that was harsh.

Today, I would like to say a special thank you to all the caregivers of the world. Without you, life would not be as precious.

Kim Dalzell, PhD, RD

www.naturesanswertocancer.com

Cancer Patients - Should They Give Up Hope?

Do You Want to Know When the End is Near?

At the most recent meeting of the Association Society of Clinical Oncology, a new study presented the hard facts about telling or not telling cancer patients that they have run out of options. Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston interviewed and followed 603 people who had failed chemotherapy for advanced cancer and had life expectancies of less than a year.

Of the 323 who have died so far, those who had end-of-life talks were three times less likely to spend their final weeks in intensive care, four times less likely to be on breathing machines, and six times less likely to be resuscitated. Based on the study, only one-third of terminally ill cancer patients were given end-of-life talks. Some doctors just didn’t want to talk about such things—preferring avoid an uncomfortable and depressing topic. Surprisingly, patients who had these talks were no more likely to become depressed than those who did not. And, being nervous or worried was no more common among those who had end-of-life talks than those who did not.

I’ve always believed that healing begins with hope – and that no one, not a medical doctor, not a family member, not the patient himself, knows when the end is really near. We were not born with expiration stamps on our forehead. While I have witnessed family members go to extremes to save their loved with stricken with cancer, I have also witnessed almost miraculous turnarounds in a patient’s status—simply when hope was offered and a course of action (usually in addition to traditional therapy) was taken despite the odds. I’m not sure when we are supposed to give up on life. But one thing is for sure. The best person to answer that question is the patient himself.

Kim Dalzell, PhD, RD

www.naturesanswertocancer.com

Cancer and Nutrition - A Timely Message

Yesterday a good neighbor came over to chat and casually mentioned that his doctor had found prostate cancer. "I'll be going into surgery on the 13th of June and then everything will be fine," he said. I was shocked.

Years ago his wife was diagnosed and treated for ovarian cancer.

Almost two years ago they adopted an infant son who has brought joy to them and to the whole neighborhood.

I've approached this well educated, professional couple several times over the years about the value of nutrition in health, but to no avail. Each time I told myself that I at least took the time to mention it. Yes, I know I should not lament over their lack of understanding or willingness to pursue information about something that is just not in their orientation. But, I can't help it. I really care about these folks and the promise that their family brings to the world.

Today I am going to do something I have never done before. I am going to write this couple a heartfelt letter explaining that it had been my experience that if they must change their growing environment in order to fend off any cancer from returning. I am willing to help or to refer them to someone for help and additional resources. After all, if cancer thrived in their body once, why would it not thrive again?

Will the letter make a difference? Who knows. I may even risk alienating them as friends and neighbors. But I've decided that it would be unethical of me not to at least try once more to open the door for them to healing through nature.

At the end of the day, I hope I can walk away knowing I have taken that extra effort to get them the message of how whole foods nutrition can actively fight cancer.

Are you willing to step outside your comfort zone and take a risk to show someone a new possibility in health and healing?

Wishing you the courage to be a messenger of hope without the burden of passing judgment.

Dr. Kim Dalzell

www.naturesanswertocancer.com

What should I tell them?

After my recent keynote address at a charity event for cancer survivors and caregivers, a young dietitian approached me with a question. "I work in the intensive care unit with ovarian cancer patients," she said, "and I'm not sure what to tell them to make them realize how important good nutrition is to their recovery." She asked me what I would tell them.

In twenty years of working with cancer patients, I have learned a thing or two. Most notably, that some will, some won't. I'm referring, of course, to self-empowerment. No matter what I say, no matter what they read, no matter what their loved ones will offer to them, there are a number of cancer patients that will heed every word of the attending physician and not branch out to seek alternative healing modalities. As one cancer patient told me once, "if the doctor didn't tell me about this, it must not be very important."

The advice I gave the dietitian: share your message and don't be shy. Give your thoughts and expert opinion to every one of your patients. Some will listen, others won't. That is not your burden to bare. You should feel good at the end of the day if you, without reservation or judgment, empower and educate everyone, regardless of whether you think they will take your advice or not.

It is that philosophy that has helped me come to terms with those who do not, or refuse to, see the bigger picture.

Wishing you wellness and a healing touch,

Dr. Kim Dalzell

www.naturesanswertocancer.com

The wait is what kills you

Several weeks ago I was visiting my parents in Utah. We decided to take a drive up past Brigham City into the Bear Lake region because the annual two-day raspberry festival was beginning. It was a glorious drive, winding along the canyon's jutting rocks, and we arrived just in time to slip into the perfect parking spot. Nothing, it seemed, could go wrong on this beautiful blue-sky day. Even the clouds played nice and covered up the warming rays every once in a while so that my father would not get too hot during our walk. Over 100 tents were posted in the fairgrounds and vendors from all over the West had come to sell their wares. We made our way, tent by tent, through the canvas maze until we reached a very large tent in the far corner. One woman sat, alone, next to her custom designed windows. I remarked how beautiful they were. Her reply? "Better get them now, this will be my last year here I think." I was sucked in....and had to ask, "why's that?"  She then choked out, "my husband is dying...I wish he would just hurry. I'm trying to get on with my life and I feel like I'm at a standstill." I know this woman did not really want her husband to be dead, but she was drained from the strain of caring for someone with a chronic illness and tired of waiting for the inevitable. I simply told her I thought I understood (not actually having gone through that situation personally but in my work with families of late state cancer patients) and I wished her well. A slight smile took over her sullen face. She had just released what she had been holding in for a long, long time.

www.naturesanswertocancer.com