Dr. Omar G. Arabia II, Integrative Oncologist

During my recent trip to Manila, I had the privilege to interview Omar G. Arabia II, M.D., who operates the Paracelsus Integrative Medical Clinic in Quezon City, Philippines.

Dr. Arabia has been practicing Family Health, Biological Medicine and Integrative Oncology for more than 20 years. Talking to him was educational, and the information that follows is an eye-opener.

"The human body, given the right conditions, has miraculous powers to renew itself...," so says the good doctor.

According to Dr. Arabia, the gentle art and science of healing is to provide biological, non-toxic, integrative health care through the maintenance of health and optimal wellness--and most important--the prevention, early detection and treatment of cancer and other chronic, degenerative diseases.

Talking about the present state of health of Filipinos, Dr. Arabia enumerated the following findings:

• Over a quarter of the Philippine population will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime, and one of five will die of it.

• While cancer has risen over the last four decades (even more drastically in the last 10 years) there has been scant overall improvement in treatment and survival.

• This recent 'cancer epidemic' has been paralleled by the phenomenal growth of the petrochemical industry and the resulting introduction of a wide range of synthetic carcinogens into the workplace and the environment, especially the food supply.

• Most independent experts now agree that the overwhelming majority of all human cancers are environmentally-induced or related--and just preventable.

On his method of treatment, Dr. Arabia shares his views:

"The longstanding, generally accepted medical approach to the treatment of cancer has been to destroy the cancer cells by radical methods. Cancer is regarded as a foreign body that has to be removed either by surgery, radiation or chemotherapy. Though some cancers may respond to this approach, many others do not. In fact, in a number of cases, this type of treatment does more harm than good because of the unpredictable, unwanted side effects. Although the standard treatment approaches might reduce the tumor burden, they would do nothing to change the underlying conditions that had encouraged this abnormal growth to occur and recur in the first place.

"There is a growing consensus in medicine today to investigate other approaches, like strengthening the immune system through nutrition, detoxification, biological medicine, meditation, and many others.

"Our approach rests on the assumption that cancer is a systemic, not a local disease, even before it reaches advanced stages. Our strategy is to support and enhance the body's defense functions, to mobilize internal healing forces--all to assist the body in neutralizing and/or breaking down the cancer. Patients with cancer may often survive for long periods of time beyond expectations, as long as their defense systems are kept nourished and strong."

Expect more cutting-edge preventive/holistic medicine "gems" from Dr. Arabia and other alternative doctors and health researchers from around the world. Stay healthy and fit!

Sugar: Food or Poison?

More children are being poisoned with sugar and excess salt than ever before, according to an intensive shocking study at Louisiana State University made a few years ago.

Dangerous high blood pressure in millions of children is caused by sugar. Deadly hypertension in adults, causing crippling heart attacks, strokes and kidney failures, is also caused or made considerably worse by sugar, the study disclosed.

Sugar increases the amount of harmful cholesterol in a person's blood and also adds to the dangerous effects of too much salt. This sugar damage answers an old mystery that doctors have wondered about: What causes high blood pressure in people who are otherwise healthy?

"Refined sugars do not contain the essential nutrients necessary to even metabolize them properly. Sugary processed food are also unlikely to contain much fiber, so the high consumption of sugar-laden foods contributes to a harmful, low-fiber diet," says James Braly, MD.

"While cookies, cakes, candies, ice cream and soft drinks predictably contain high amounts of sugar, surprisingly, so do salad dressings, cereals, yogurt, catsup and relish. In general, food that is frozen, canned, cured, and processed is likely to be high in sugar. Sucrose is sugar(cane sugar to be specific), so is lactose (milk sugar), and maltose (grain sugar). Other sugar derivatives, including fructose and corn syrup, contribute to the excessive sugar load.

"Sugar provides empty calories and is a cheap way to get a boost of energy since it is metabolized by the body into glucose. But too much sugar swamps the body, which is incapable of processing the sugar effectively. With continued overuse of sugar, the pancreas eventually wears out and is no longer able to clear sugar from the blood efficiently. The blood sugar level rises and diabetes may result," continues the study.

And here's an eye-opener: Thirty minutes after consuming sugar, the immune system is measurably suppressed, losing as much as 50% of its capacity, so says Jon D. Kaiser, author of Immune Power (NY: St. Martin's Press, 1993).

The Vegetarian Option

"You're a vegetarian?" asked a friend, with such horrified look that I thought I had suddenly transformed into a goat or some strange sea creature. "Yes," I answered.

"Why?" asked my friend, with an even more daunting tone. And I began to explain for the nth time…

Living the life of a vegetarian is not easy. You have to adjust to a society where 90% of the population eats animal flesh. The reality is that when you attend parties, your main course ends up being dessert. Or, you would be limited to a glass of water.

I completely understood my friend’s reaction. It’s actually quite amusing to observe different reactions from people. Some would think that I’m going to die of malnutrition soon. And who’s dying of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and other degenerative diseases these days? What kind of food do doctors tell their patients to avoid when they have diagnosed their patients of serious diseases? Of course, we can guess: Meat.

I’d rather start living a healthy life now than wait for my doctor to tell me that I’m dying of mad cow disease, cancer, or whatever kind of disease that may develop in the future.

Looking at it from another perspective, there are the laws of nature. If a man, who doesn’t know anything about gravity, jumps off a building, he’s off to the next world. His ignorance of the law of gravity doesn’t exempt him from its effects. I’m sure you know the biblical passage: “What you sow, so shall you reap.” And in science, the law of thermodynamics states that, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Well, I’m not saying that the chicken you just ate will return from the dead and eat you. But isn’t it right to say that the pain inflicted in the animal you are eating will also be returned to you?

It’s not easy to be a vegetarian. You have to believe in your principles with utmost conviction to be able to resist the temptation of eating meat again.

Now, in case you don’t know, there are different types of vegetarians. There’s the pesco-vegetarian – one who doesn’t eat meat and chicken, but eats fish. The ovo-vegetarian doesn’t eat meat, chicken and fish, but still eats eggs. There’s also the lacto-vegetarian (that’s me!) – one who doesn’t eat meat, chicken, fish, or eggs, but consumes milk and other dairy products. Then there’s the vegan – the complete and full vegetarian. No milk, no honey, nothing that comes from animals at all.

A lot of famous people in the world were and are vegetarians, and their reasons range from ethical to health – to everything in between – including Karma. Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Dustin Hoffman, William Shatner, Brook Shields, Alicia Silverstone, Natalie Portman – and others too many to mention – were all vegetarians.

Yes, living the vegetarian way seems hard. But a path becomes easy if you know the way; if you truly believe in it. There may be obstacles but if you know what awaits you in the end, it will give you the determination – and the courage – to stand up each time you fall.

Now, the question, why am I a vegetarian? It’s because I respect life.

(Note: The author of the above article is Architect Virna Liza V. Padua, my youngest daughter, who is currently a partner of 3rd Cube Architects (website: www.3rdcube.com) and is a member of the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) Camarines Chapter. She is also a Past President of the Rotary Club of Midtown Quezon City, Philippines. – J.Padua)

Obesity: Hereditary or Not?

In an old issue of HR Magazine, there appeared an article, entitled, "Obesity is not hereditary."

"The problem of the 'fat' person has become paramount importance in the last few years, with the trend towards physical fitness as evidenced by the jogging craze," says the article.

"Physical fitness is always linked with health. The aim of any physical fitness program is not merely to make a person physically fit, but healthy as well, since health, physical as well as mental, is very important.

"Hence, an overweight person cannot be physically fit because excess fat is unhealthy. What should one do, then?

"Many reducing clinics attempt to cure obesity by curing only the symptoms, and never bother to look at the cause, " continues the article.

And that cause is food.

There are factors which may be held responsible for obesity, such as hormonal imbalance and physical inactivity, but the root cause is still food.

No one was ever born overweight.

Every overweight person must learn correct eating habits, create a new lifestyle based on wise food choice, and have enough physical activity.

To further explain the obesity syndrome, bariatric experts (those specially trained in weight control) suggest behavior modification techniques to control obesity.

Psychology defines behavior modification as the correction of disorders in human behavior by the application of the principle of learning. It contends that an individual, throughout his lifetime, develops a distinct mode of behavior or habit.

Habits, good or bad, are the products of learning and are embedded in one's subconscious. In the same manner that computers can be programmed and de-programmed, so habits can be learned and unlearned.

A healthier, longer life to all in 2011!

Meditation Promotes Health

Practitioners of various relaxation methods have long accepted meditation can have beneficial health effects by reducing blood pressure, heartbeat and respiratory rate.
Blood pressure rises in response to our emotions, say researchers, suggesting that it may be possible to lower blood pressure with good thoughts.

On the contrary, we can raise our blood pressure just by thinking of a traumatic experience.
Therefore it seems reasonable that calming thoughts can also lower blood pressure. But it was not until the advent of biofeedback training that these claims were scientifically validated.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, affects a very large percentage of the adult population.
It can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and hardening of the arteries.
It is our emotional reaction to various pressures in life which creates stress. Our body responds to any threat, physical or psychological: muscles tense, blood pressure rises, and heart rate increases.

Like primitive warriors, we are prepared for any battle. But we --modern "hunter-warriors"-- are desk-bound. We have little or no opportunity to react physically to the threat and release the pressure. We are therefore left with a pounding heart and soaring blood pressure.

But each time we get angry, frustrated or excited and our blood pressure rises, it fails to return down to normal. Bit by bit, millimeter by millimeter, our normal pressure at rest creeps upward until we have essential (not caused by disease) hypertension.

Dr. Herbert Benson, who conducted studies with Transcendental Meditation (TM) at Harvard and Beth Israel Hospital in 1968, emphatically stated that essential high blood pressure can be lowered by a simple form of Transcendental Meditation (TM). He describes the technique in his book, The Relaxation Response. He writes:
"Our hypotheses is that the 'relaxation response' decreases and counteracts the increased sympathetic nervous system activity that accompanies the arousal of the fight-or-flight response. This sympathetic nervous system activity is reflected in the measures...of oxygen consumption, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure which increase with the fight-or-flight response and decrease with the elicitation of the relaxation response."

Results of TM were demonstrated by a study of 36 volunteers with high blood pressure. The subjects were monitored for six weeks with special test machines to verify their high blood pressure readings. After the six-week period the volunteers were instructed in TM and began meditating daily. Their blood pressure was measured every two weeks at random times of the day, "but never while meditating."

After several weeks of meditation, their average systolic (upper) blood pressure dropped 10 millimeters, and their average diastolic (lower) reading lowered 4.6 millimeters. Although meditation had not cured them, as long as it continued, their blood pressure remained normal. When seven of the subjects stopped practicing TM, their blood pressure returned to pre-meditation hypertensive levels within four weeks.

Here are the four steps to Dr. Benson's relaxation response which laboratory tests at Harvard showed produces the same physiological changes as TM:

1. Sit comfortably in a quiet place.
2. Close eyes and relax all muscles.
3. Breathe easily and naturally through your nose. Inhale, then as you exhale say in your mind the word "one." Repeat the word "one" silently each time you breathe out.
4. "One" is a mantra, a mental device to anchor your thoughts. Your thoughts will wander--your mind will tend to reflect on problems, events and desires. Do not wrestle with these thoughts, just replace them with the thought of "one" and your steady rhythm of breathing.
Meditate for 10 to 20 minutes, twice daily. When the time is up--you may check a clock but do not use an alarm--remain quiet for a few moments, first with eyes closed, then opened.
Do not practice within two hours after a meal because digestive processes will interfere with the technique. And do not worry if the technique doesn't seem to work for you at first. It has worked for thousands of other subjects and, given time, it will work for you.

Here's to a Happy Yuletide Season--and a healthier you!

Stressed? Run!

Yes, running can diffuse negative emotions--and more.

Dr. George Sheehan, a medical practitioner who has written for Runner's World and Physician and Sports Medicine magazines, considers the running life as mental as well as physical.

Speaking from experience, Dr. Sheehan further claims that running has the effect of defusing anger, fear and anxiety. Like music, it soothes the savagery in us that lies so close to the surface. It is the ultimate tranquilizer.

But why is this so? What is it about running that blocks these negative, destructive feelings?

Here are Dr. Sheehan's own words: "The best explanation, it seems to me, lies in the James-Lange theory of emotions. It is one of psychology's most unlikely hypotheses and one that has been given little credence. Yet, like most ideas espoused by James, the passage of time seems to be giving it the support it has always deserved."

"According to James, I do not first get angry and then exhibit that anger in my body. The actual process is the reverse: My body gets angry, and then I get angry. My body perceives the object or idea that angers me, reacts with the usual physiological phenomena--rapid pulse, flushing of the face, and so on--and only then do I feel the emotion of anger.

"If the usual signs and symptoms of rage are blocked, I will not feel rage in my mind. Such blocking can occur two ways. The first is by flooding the various systems of the body with activity, so that there is no reserve to utilize for creating the reaction identified with emotion. The second is to substitute some positive emotion in its place. Act happy, look happy, speak happy, said James, and you will be happy.

SQUEEZE IT OUT. Persons can slow down a dangerously racing heartbeat by squeezing one of their ears; angina sufferers can relieve their chest pain the same way, said Dr. Mohan Kataria of King's College Hospital.

The squeezing action, he said, slows the heartbeat and reduces blood flow by stimulating the vagus nerve, which begins in the brain and branches to both the ears and heart.

Dr. Kataria outlined the proper technique for squeezing the ear: Cover one ear with the open palm of your strongest hand, press your fingertips behind your neck and squeeze the whole ear for 10 to 20 seconds -- firmly but not till it hurts. It's as simple as squeezing a sponge.

Principles of Exercise

A basic principle of exercise for individuals over forty years of age, according to Glenn Swengros, an American authority on physical fitness who has served as Director of Program Development for the President's Council on Physical Fitness, is to avoid incurring a large oxygen debt. An oxygen debt is brought on during the performance of anaerobic (without oxygen) exercise.

In this type of work, the exercise is so intense that the body is just not able to supply itself with sufficient oxygen. The oxygen must be repaid quickly, and to do that, the activity must stop or slow down considerably until the debt is repaid.

Anaerobic exercises are necessary for athletic training, but are of lesser value in a personal physical fitness program. In fact, if you have been sedentary or if the heart is damaged, this type of exercise could be harmful.

Most experts would suggest that you should concentrate on aerobic exercise (activities that do not develop an oxygen debt) to improve cardio-respiratory fitness, the most important type of fitness for adults.

The same principle applies to warm-ups. Perform a warm-up of 5-10 minutes before engaging in an all-out muscular activity, especially if your workout takes place first thing in the morning.

ISOMETRICS - USE CAUTION. If you have a heart condition, check with your physician. Then run and walk--but don't use isometric exercises.

According to researchers at the University of Texas Medical School, isometric exercises--the ones that pit muscles against other muscles or an immovable object--can cause blood pressure to rise.

Jogging, on the other hand, increases the oxygen uptake while maintaining a much lower blood pressure.