What's up with Movember?

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Funny but I was getting a hard time in the gym last November for not growing facial hair in November, AKA Movember. Little did I know that this had a significant tie into prostrate cancer awareness. 

I stood corrected.

Movember (a portmanteau word from moustache and "November") is an annual, month-long event involving the growing of moustaches during the month of November to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other male cancers and associated charities. The Movember Foundation runs the Movember charity event, housed at Movember.com. The goal of Movember is to "change the face of men's health."

By encouraging men (which the charity refers to as "Mo Bros") to get involved, Movember aims to increase early cancer detection, diagnosis and effective treatments, and ultimately reduce the number of preventable deaths. Besides getting an annual check-up, the Movember Foundation encourages men to be aware of any family history of cancer, and to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

Since 2004, the Movember Foundation charity has run Movember events to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues, such as prostate cancer and depression, in Australia and New Zealand. In 2007, events were launched in Ireland, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Spain, the United Kingdom, Israel, South Africa, Taiwan, and the United States.

It has spread from Australia to South Africa, Europe, and North America. As of 2011, Canadians were the largest contributors to the Movember charities of any nation. In 2010, Movember merged with the testicular cancer event Tacheback.

In 2012, the Global Journal listed Movember as one of the top 100 NGOs (non-government organization) in the world.

I have to share the same sentiment about prostate cancer awareness for men as I do for breast cancer awareness for women. In my mind the awareness needs to be on prevention and obviously addressing the key factors that lead to prostrate cancer.

Understand that this year, more than 238,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. In most cases, the cancer consists of small knots of abnormal cells growing slowly in the walnut-sized prostate gland. In many men, the cancer cells grow so slowly that they never break free of the gland, spread to distant sites, and pose a serious risk to health and longevity. 

With this said, get your prostate exam and your PSA tested (even though the accuracy is questionable) because you can absolutely follow some aggressive natural steps to assist your body in overcoming this challenge.

So if you find yourself diagnosed with prostate cancer or there is a family history, what do you do?

Here are some keys...

• Support immune function
• Support the system of apoptosis
• Reduce or eliminate inflammation
• Normalize estrogen levels
• Address the over production of aromatase
• Release emotional suppression
• Find "your" space

Let me pick a couple of these areas to discuss.

The first is the process of apoptosis. The way I explain this is to refer apoptosis as cellular suicide. You see when a cell becomes "broken" it is actually designed to die. Yes, "broken" cells in your body should commit suicide. The problem though is the for so many women, this process had been significantly reduced or shut off by chronic inflammation. Understand that when you are living with chronic inflammation, this creates an immune system dysregulation. This dysregulation can and does turn off apoptosis. 

So what happens when apoptosis is turned off? Simple. One broken cell becomes another broken cell and so on and so on. In the end, this ends up being diagnosed as cancer. So with this said, is the cancer the issue or is the inflammation the issue? Take this one step further, is the inflammation the issue or whatever causes inflammation the issue?

You should be getting the idea about now.

The other area to discuss is the elevated estrogen. While this can be caused by estrogen in our environment and/or food sources, the biggest issue is when overproducing and enzyme referred to as aromatase. Did you know that high levels of aromatase can and will convert testosterone to estrogen? Too high of estrogen is a risk factor for what...breast cancer. So is the high estrogen the cause or the overproduction of armomatase? Take this a step further, recognizing that a diet high in sugar and processed foods raises insulin and leads to an overproduction of aromatase, perhaps the high sugar and processed foods is the issue? You decide... 

I have to say that I see more and more men in my clinic with elevated estradiol which is very dangerous for a man. I once had a consultation with a male friend of mine that I was able to be very candid with and I told him, "dude, you're becoming a woman!" His response was so interesting though. He mentioned that his breast tissue was changing and becoming more voluminous and his moods were definitely shifting. He actually agreed with my light hearted chuckle that he was becoming a woman in a sense. After all, his estradiol levels should have been between 1 and 3 and they were in the teens. Yikes!

To take this one step further, this man was diagnosed from another practitioner about a year earlier with low testosterone and had implants placed under his skin to slowly release testosterone over the next 12 months. The problem though was that this gentleman had elevated aromatase so this added testosterone was being converted into estrogen type hormones. Yikes again!

In our clinic we regularly use a collection of Chinese herbs from Chi Enterprise referred to as

Cherry Angiomas

Myomin. There was a study confirming that after only 10 days on Myomin there was almost a 50% reduction of estradiol. Every time a man's hormonal panel comes back into our office showing elevated estrogen, the use of Myomin will assist the body in lowering these dangerous levels very quickly. I would note that completing a comprehensive adrenal panel is always recommended prior to use unless of course high estrogen have already been confirmed by your personal practitioner. One clue you can use to recognize high estrogen is the recognition of cherry angiomas on the trunk of your body along with white spots on your nails. These two together show a strong likelihood of estrogen dominance. Also take a look at your tongue. If there are red dots in the back to middle of your tongue, this could also show a possible hormone

White Spot on Nails

imbalance. Recognizing these signs should lead you to complete a saliva hormone test. From there it is much easier to recommend what would assist your body in finding its hormonal balance.

Thankfully there are ways to address all of this. 

• Address what's causing your inflammation
• Reduce or eliminate the inflammation
• Turn the apoptosis back on
• Address your dietary intake
• Use an aromatase inhibitor (Myomin)

Now if you find yourself already diagnosed with prostate cancer, don't simply fall into the fear and doom. I know, easier said than done sometimes. We have seen many men walk away from prostrate cancer and living happy healthy lives based on finding their own personal balance and as mentioned earlier, learning to live in harmony with cancer as do most of us. This is a tough concept for many but very true. 

Finding your balance includes everything mentioned above and more but it is absolutely achievable. One addition that is made for men already diagnosed is Angiostop. Recognize that cancer requires a high energy intake and a significant blood flow. The Angiostop as a strong effect on inhibiting new blood vessel formation, thus cutting off nutrient and blood supply to a tumor. This also inhibits fibroblast, platelet-derived and epidermal for broad spectrum inhibitory effects. With the use of thermography, I have seen the results of angiogenesis that are remarkable with the Angiostop. The Angiostop does not directly cure cancer but it does help cut off its life support.

So in the end, let's remember that there truly is not a lack of awareness on prostate cancer but there is a significant lack of awareness on prevention and also holisitic protocols that can be effectively utilized. Also understand that you can easily integrate your conventional care with holistic care when dealing with prostrate cancer. This is not an us and them scenario. 

After all, it's all about your personal health and happiness, isn't it?

*If you would like to learn more about the Depke Wellness approach to prostate cancer, do not hesitate to call for a complimentary new client consultation at (949)954-6226.