> Health and Disease > Immune System

Many are the warnings today about exposure to the “deadly” rays of the sun. Various sunscreen lotions abound for their promise of sun protection factor (SPF) in an effort to follow the advice currently in vogue. Are these warnings based on hard science?

My answer is “no.” These so-called sunblocks offer scant protection from the sun and even less for our wallets.

It’s true that the incidence of skin cancer is on the rise. This type of cancer however, has more to do with a disturbed immune system than exposure to the sun.

The skin, the body’s largest organ, is intimately connected to the immune system. As reported in “Immunologic Function of the Skin” (Scientific American, July 1985), researchers found that most types of skin cancer were directly related to malignant T-helper cells essential to the immune system which had a particular affinity for the skin. Their research further demonstrated that the cells of the epidermis, the first layer of the skin, have a structural and functional association to the cells of the thymus gland, a major player in immune function.

The skin is a final maturation site for the T-cells from the thymus and of specific interest was the finding that only when mice were exposed to large doses of ultraviolet radiation (much more than was needed to cause a severe sunburn) was a general state of immuno-suppression induced! It’s from this research that modern science advises us to avoid exposure to the sun. This is little more than conjecture. The very fact that these cells become malignant has more to do with the internal workings of the immune system than the rays of the sun.

Bring on the Sun

Unfortunately, we so easily forget that the sun has always been a most positive influence. Science has already demonstrated that when photons strike a plant’s “skin” they form electrons which drive photosynthesis. Similarly, the sun will stimulate production of vitamin D in human skin. Heliotherapy (sunbathing) was well accepted for many years for its healthful properties, giving a nice burnish to the skin and chasing away the sickly pale look of winter.

Dr Gunther Endelein’s Bacterial Cyclogeny warns that one must pay heed to the pH of the blood and tissues, as it’s a marker for the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen. As far back as 1933, Dr Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for demonstrating that cancer was caused by a lack of oxygen. In this anaerobic environment, a lack of oxygen will contribute to a fermentative process–a definite characteristic of cancer. The elevated hydrogen ions reflect an increase in the acidic quality of the blood and tissues. This in turn will assist inate pathogens to change from a benign to more virulent form that is fungal in nature.

This has recently been suggested by medical researcher Ron Gdanski, who says it’s this fungal component that allows the cells to replicate in an aberrant manner: they are unable to mesh properly with neighbouring cells and thereby produce a non-stop growth of cancerous tumours.

The three stages of the onset of cancer–initiation, promotion and progression–are allowed to take place not only because of this anaerobic background but also because of weakness of such key organs and glands as the liver, spleen, pancreas and lymphatic system.

Healthy Organs Build Strong Defences

In addition to removing intracellular waste and processing fats, the lymphatics are an integral component of the immune system and work in concert with the spleen. While most think of the pancreas as producing insulin and digestive enzymes, the pancreas also produces a substance that scavenges the body for cancerous cells.

In my practice as a herbalist, I continually see weakness (via iridological examination) in these organs and glands. Thus one of the main components of the treatment program for cancer of any kind is to support these glands and organs with specific herbal formulas. Equally, consideration must be given to the mineral lack in cases of cancer: potassium, silica (silicon bound to oxygen), selenium and, the dark horse in all this, iodine, are needed not only by the thyroid but the liver and spleen as well.

Treatment of skin cancer is more than just a topical consideration; it requires that we treat oxygen and mineral deficiencies in the dietary regimen as well as provide specific herbs to treat the cancer itself.

Cancer is not something that should be solely self-medicated. In my opinion, it should be treated by a qualified health-care practitioner who may employ, among other things, herbs such as red root (Ceanothus americanus), most commonly known as New Jersey tea, for the spleen, astragalus for its ability to stimulate interferon and other suitable herbs to cleanse the liver and the tumour itself.

Last but not least, you must attend to diet. Eat more vegetables. Leave processed foods, meats, alcohol, yeasted foods (bread, beer) behind. Let it be said quite plainly–there is no 100 per cent guarantee for curing cancer, but the sooner a treatment is begun that focuses on holistic methods and substances the greater the likelihood that cancer can be turned around.

Rick DeSylva practises as a consultant herbalist specializing in chronic degenerative ailments. He resides in Guelph, ON.

Source: alive #222, April 2001