Cancer And Micronutrients: A Connection Worth Exploring?

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According to German doctor Ryke Geerd Hamer's iron-bound rules of cancer, the development of a tumoral growth invariably follows a highly traumatic experience that is too intense to have been fully "confronted" or looked at. Each different kind of trauma, according to Hamer, leads to corresponding brain edemas that can be detected by modern scanning methods and eventually to a tumorous growth or, in the case of bone cancer, to a dissolution of bone tissue. (A more detailed description of Hamer's discoveries can be found here)

While the idea that cancer seems to develop only after certain traumatic experiences is suggestive, it is an outsider's view, not generally accepted. Science looks into possible viral causation, as well as the "cells gone mad" theory of tumor growth. This has led to a proliferation of growth-limiting, highly toxic medications and radiation as the preferred mode of treatment. However it seems these treatments have been enormously oversold, according to a recent Australian study. When all the statistics are examined, the results in real terms of survival of those treatments are extremely slim, says Dr Ralph Moss, author of the book "Questioning Chemotherapy".

Search for a cancer cure... (Image credit: Keith Syvinski)

Many studies have looked into a different cellular mechanism of cancer causation, where the oxidative potential of certain environmental factors is said to overwhelm the anti-oxidant defenses that normally keep oxidation in check to ensure healthy cell function. Both chemotherapy and radiation counteract this line of defense by increasing oxidative pressure on cells. Such oxidative "treatments", while slowing growth may even push previously healthy cells into a different mode of operation, one where energy is provided by fermentation, a mode of operation typically found in tumor cells.

Beldeu Singh discusses these studies in this recent article:

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CANCER AND MICRONUTRIENTS – IS THERE A CONNECTION WORTH EXPLORING?
Beldeu Singh

"About one third of the world's population suffer from micronutrient deficiencies and hundreds of millions suffer from chronic diseases of lifestyle. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), myocardial infarction, angina pectoris and stroke as one of the most important causes of mortality and morbidity globally, will continue to be first and second leading causes of death in the world. Most developing countries, including South Africa, currently are in the process of transition and experiencing the double burden of both communicable and non-communicable diseases in which chronic diseases of lifestyle such as CVD have emerged while the battle against infectious diseases has not been won. In the last few years the HIV/AIDS epidemic has spread extremely rapidly and is likely to double overall mortality rates, undermine child survival and halve the life expectancy over the next five years." The US Environmental Research Foundation published an article on February 5, 1998, entitled: "Poverty Makes You Sick".

Individuals whose diets are high in fresh fruits and vegetables have a lower incidence of many cancers than those with a diet low in these food groups (Gary E. Goodman, Steven Schaffer, Gilbert S. Omenn, Chu Chen and Irena King; The Association between Lung and Prostate Cancer Risk, and Serum Micronutrients, Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention Vol. 12, 518-526, June 2003 - American Association for Cancer Research).

Greater consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of degenerative diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, cataracts, and brain dysfunction. More that 200 studies in the epidemiological literature have been reviewed and show, with great consistency, an association between low consumption of fruits and vegetables and the incidence of cancer (Ames, Bruce N., "DNA damage from micronutrient deficiencies is likely to be a major cause of cancer", Mutation Research, January 1, 2001, Vol. 475, Num. 0, pp. 7-20).

It has been hypothesized that this association is because of the presence of naturally occurring micronutrients or trace compounds, which act as inhibitors of carcinogenesis. If the food constituents responsible for this "prevention" activity can be identified, modification of the diet to include foods rich in these compounds or supplementation with the specific agent(s) may be an effective method of cancer prevention. The challenge has been to identify the relevant dietary constituents (Gary E. Goodman, Steven Schaffer, Gilbert S. Omenn, Chu Chen and Irena King; The Association between Lung and Prostate Cancer Risk, and Serum Micronutrients, Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention Vol. 12, 518-526, June 2003 -American Association for Cancer Research).

More than 40 micronutrients (the vitamins, essential minerals and other compounds required in small amounts for normal metabolism) are required in the human diet. For each micronutrient, metabolic harmony requires an optimal intake for optimum cellular function and maximum life span and any deficiency distorts metabolism in numerous and complicated ways, many of which may lead to DNA damage.

"Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) constitute the single greatest cause of preventable brain damage in the fetus and infant, and of retarded psychomotor development in young children. It remains a major threat to the health and development of populations the world over, but particularly among preschool children and pregnant women in low-income countries...

"Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major public health problem, and again the most vulnerable are preschool children and pregnant women in low-income countries. In children, VAD is the leading cause of preventable visual impairment and blindness... In addition, VAD significantly increases the risk of severe illness and death from common child infections, particularly diarrhoeal diseases and measles... In VAD-prevalent countries, pregnant women often experience deficiency symptoms, such as night blindness, that continue into the early period of lactation...

"Iron deficiency is the world's most widespread nutritional disorder, affecting both industrialised and developing countries. In the former, iron deficiency is the main cause of anaemia. In developing countries, it is also associated with other nutrient deficiencies (folic acid, vitamin A, B12), malaria, intestinal parasitic infestations (especially hookworm, schistosomiasis and amoebiasis), and chronic infections such as HIV. Zinc deficiency causes growth retardation or failure, diarrhoea, immune deficiencies, skin and eye lesions, delayed sexual maturation, night blindness and behavioural changes. Inadequate dietary calcium intake is associated with a number of common, chronic medical disorders worldwide, including osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, cardiovascular disease (hypertension and stroke), diabetes, dyslipidaemias, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, obesity, and cancer of the colon. Outbreaks of beriberi, pellagra and scurvy still occur among the extremely poor and underprivileged and, not infrequently, in large refugee populations.

Between 30% and 40% of all cases of cancer are preventable by feasible and appropriate diets, physical activity and maintenance of appropriate body weight. The same applies to heart disease and stroke, which accounted for 22% of deaths in South Africa in 1996. This is a true "pandemic", propagated by the 'globalisation' of risk factors such as cigarette smoking, salty high saturated fat foods, obesity and lack of exercise” (A US-trained physician from Haiti, Paul Farmer, has written in his book "AIDS and Accusation": (University of California Press, 1993).

“Micronutrient deficiency is a plausible explanation for the strong epidemiological evidence that shows an association between low consumption of fruits and vegetables and cancer at most sites” (Ames, Bruce N., "DNA damage from micronutrient deficiencies is likely to be a major cause of cancer", Mutation Research, January 1, 2001, Vol. 475, Num. 0, pp. 7-20).

Micronutrient deficiency can mimic radiation (or chemicals) in damaging DNA by causing single- and double-strand breaks, or oxidative lesions, or both. Chromosomal aberrations such as double strand breaks are a strong predictive factor for human cancer. Those micronutrients whose deficiency mimics radiation are folic acid, B12, B6, niacin, C, E, iron, and zinc, with the laboratory evidence ranging from likely to compelling. However, the level of each micronutrient that minimizes DNA damage remains to be determined (Ames, Bruce N., "DNA damage from micronutrient deficiencies is likely to be a major cause of cancer", Mutation Research, January 1, 2001, Vol. 475, Num. 0, pp. 7-20).

Interestingly, Federico et al (Federico A, Lodice P, Federico P, et al. Effects of selenium and zinc supplementation on nutritional status in patients with cancer of digestive tract. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2001;55:293-297), showed that serum concentrations of selenium and zinc were significantly lower in cancer patients than in control patients, whereas serum copper concentrations were elevated in cancer patients compared with control patients. These differences in serum selenium, zinc, and copper concentrations were noted prior to patients receiving any form of therapy. In a case series study of patients with lung cancer, 64% of the patie