Participants: Amy Wellard, Cherie Lon Fernandez
Series Code: WM
Program Code: WM000442
00:35 Welcome to "Wonderfully Made"
00:37 I'm Amy Wellard with the 00:38 Wildwood Lifestyle Center and Hospital, 00:40 and today our topic in our 00:41 Vibrant Health for Women's series is cervical cancer... 00:46 And with me today in the studio is Dr. Cherie Lou Fernandez 00:49 Welcome! Thank you, glad to be here 00:52 Our subject - cervical cancer, is actually affecting 00:55 16,000- the statistics say 00:58 of women in America every year with about 5,000 deaths. 01:02 It's actually quite a very large problem for many women, 01:07 and it's actually the third most commonly diagnosed cancer 01:10 after lung and breast... Yes 01:12 So tell us, is it on the rise, along with all the other 01:15 lifestyle conditions or is it being controlled? 01:18 Good news... because of the use of the Pap smear, 01:22 ...Papanicolaou smear, you would call that, 01:25 and making it readily available for everybody, 01:28 and educating people on the use of Papanicolaou smear, 01:33 the cervical cancer is caught early, 01:36 and problems associated with 01:40 EARLY cervical cancer is caught earlier. 01:43 So then, you don't necessarily go into cervical cancer 01:46 because you stop it at its beginning... 01:50 So because of the Papanicolaou smear, 01:52 cervical cancer seems to be coming down. 01:54 So, can you tell us - what is the Pap smear exactly? 01:58 Well the Pap smear can be done in any other part of the body 02:02 like the buccal mucosa and other mucosa. 02:07 It's not right, but it is usually 02:10 used down there for the cervix. 02:12 They take a scraping of the cervix and/or inside the cervix 02:17 and the vaginal pool and smear it on the slide 02:21 and they stain it with a stain invented by Mr. Papanicolaou... 02:27 That's why it's the Papanicolaou smear... 02:29 And when you look into it, 02:31 you see abnormal cells if there were abnormal cells. 02:34 And so it's like a screening test to see whether 02:41 you have abnormal cells... precancerous cells, 02:45 but it's not really mainly, although it's used as a 02:49 cancer screening test... it does not only check for cancer, 02:54 it checks for infections and hormonal imbalances as well. 02:58 So how effective is it in actually preventing 03:01 death from cervical cancer? 03:03 It is really very effective because even if there are 03:07 false-negatives, you can catch cervical cancer 03:10 because cervical cancer is a slow-growing cancer... 03:14 actually 15 years before you have it. 03:18 So if you have your cervical smear, even if you missed a year 03:21 ...if you do it every year thereafter, 03:24 because of the slow growth of cervical cancer, 03:26 you will catch it. 03:29 The thing is, you HAVE to have Pap smears every year. 03:32 Okay now, I wanted to ask you that... 03:34 You have to have Pap smears every year 03:37 if you are sexually active, or even if you're not? 03:40 As soon as you start being sexually active, 03:45 or if you're not sexually active, 03:47 but you come into the reproductive years, 03:49 maybe 18-19, then you start having the Pap smear. 03:54 So what is actually causing the cancer in itself? 03:58 It's a virus... that causes it? 04:00 Well, cervical cancer the majority of the time, 04:04 it's 90+% a very, very small amount 04:09 for cancer that's not caused by HPV. 04:14 The majority of cancers are caused by human papillomavirus. 04:18 That's the HPV... That's the HPV virus. 04:21 That is what causes cervical cancer. 04:24 Okay, and most viruses manifest themselves 04:27 in manifestations on the skin... 04:30 Is that right, when it comes to this virus? Yes 04:33 HPV actually is a type of virus that has several strains. 04:40 You have even a little wart on your hand is HPV. 04:45 But there are different HPV strains that 04:49 go to different parts of the body, 04:51 and even in the cervix, you have different kinds of 04:54 HPV strains... 04:57 You have the low risk for cancer strains, 05:00 and you have the high risk for cancer strains. 05:03 So, you have different kinds of strains that - 05:07 you might have a wart even in the vaginal area 05:11 but you may not have cancer depending on what strain you got 05:16 So just because you have a wart, doesn't mean that 05:19 you're necessarily going to get cancer. 05:21 There is a probability - you might have both... 05:24 but that means you are not really sure what you have. 05:28 Okay, and you may have no warts at all, 05:30 and yet still developing cancer- And still have the cancer 05:33 Now in 2006, there was a vaccine that was approved 05:37 to prevent cervical cancer... 05:39 Can you comment on that? 05:40 Okay yes, that is the vaccine "Gardasil" 05:43 It's recommended for young girls, 05:47 as soon as they enter into their menarche. 05:49 They do the Gardasil because maybe it's because of the 05:53 permissive society, they think the little girl at 13 05:57 would be sexually active. 06:01 So maybe they are thinking to PREVENT this young girl 06:06 from having cervical cancer later. 06:09 However, because of the large amount... 06:15 I mean so many strains of the high risk cervical HPV 06:21 causing cancer... 06:24 Gardasil has only the 2 most virulent strains, 06:29 but there are over 12 of the most virulent strains... 06:33 So Gardasil really is not covering everything. 06:38 The real thing really is that everybody is supposed to 06:42 practice abstinence. 06:43 Okay so you basically summed up the complete prevention there 06:49 Yeah... I'm sorry but yes. 06:52 But for married couples it's purity in marriage, 06:56 and outside of marriage. 06:57 Faithfulness to one partner can really minimize 07:00 and that begins WAY before marriage... 07:02 preparing yourself to marry involves faithfulness 07:06 and complete abstinence prior to marriage. 07:08 So is this cancer specifically linked to sexual behavior? 07:15 Yes - because of the HPV, it is specifically linked 07:19 to sexual behavior, but if you were somebody 07:22 who was really pure, you were a lady who was pure, 07:27 and you married a pure guy, 07:31 somebody who has NEVER had any sexual intercourse with 07:35 ANYBODY - pure person, pure you, 07:37 you will NEVER get... 07:40 I mean, the risk of developing cancer is very small, 07:45 hardly no more, but even if you were a pure lady, 07:50 but you married a guy who ran around early in his life, 07:55 and even if he marries you, but he wasn't pure one time 08:00 and he had it... he took it, he'll bring it to you 08:02 and there is a chance for you to have it. 08:05 However, if you take care of yourself, 08:08 you probably won't get it. 08:10 And I suppose you could apply that to another stage in life... 08:14 For example, if a wife dies of cervical cancer, 08:18 the husband himself would be a carrier of the HPV, 08:21 and could pass that to a future wife. Yes, he could 08:26 So then if that would be, it would be just fair for him 08:28 to tell his wife that we should 08:30 be both healthy in order for you not to get it. 08:33 Okay, so he could have passed it on to her, 08:35 but she doesn't need to actually GET the developed cancer. 08:38 If she takes care because if you catch it early 08:41 you won't have it because you can easily take care of it. 08:45 That's great... So what are the other 08:46 risk factors that make some women or some socioeconomic 08:50 groups of women more at risk than others? 08:53 First is poor socioeconomic status. 08:58 Well, I don't want to talk so much on that... 09:01 it speaks for itself. 09:02 But you could say - women who are from 45 to 50-60 years old 09:09 ...because the before the early 60s, they had a drug 09:14 which is "DES" or diethylstilbestrol 09:19 ...that they gave to women who had signs and symptoms of 09:24 miscarriage. 09:26 So they would give this to a pregnant woman 09:28 who was having threatened abortion... DES 09:31 It would apparently hold the pregnancy from aborting, 09:35 but the little baby that was inside would be affected 09:40 by the DES, and it would make her 09:42 in the future, prone to develop cervical cancer. Really? 09:46 Was there anything that she 09:48 do about that later in life? 09:50 Oh yes, take care of herself by having a Pap smear. 09:53 Okay, wonderful. 09:55 So how is cervical cancer manifest once it has 09:58 got into the more advanced stages - what are the symptoms? 10:02 Oh, many times cervical cancer does not manifest itself, 10:07 and it will only manifest too late. 10:10 That's why I cannot overemphasize the importance 10:13 of really having your Pap smear regularly. 10:17 It's asymptomatic for a long time. 10:21 But if there were signs and symptoms that occur late, 10:26 they would include abnormal vaginal bleeding. 10:31 So the vagina bleeds between menses, 10:33 or maybe you're already menopaused, 10:36 and you start bleeding or maybe after 10:38 a sexual intercourse you would have bleeding. 10:42 This bleeding where you are not supposed to be bleeding 10:45 is a very, very strong sign of cervical cancer. 10:50 And, you could have continuous vaginal discharge... 10:56 A discharge ALL the time, you know... 11:00 You would have to always wear panty liners. 11:03 The discharge could be clear or copious. 11:06 It could be pink, brown, bloody, frank bloody, 11:10 but they are definitely foul-smelling. 11:13 I could remember when I was in internship back years ago 11:17 when I was in my internship for early medicine, 11:20 when I would go into the cancer pavilion, 11:24 I would know that even if I would blindfold myself, 11:27 I would know that I was close to the cervical cancer ward. 11:32 It's a specific smell that is just so cervical cancer. 11:38 When I have a patient that comes into my office 11:41 I just know the whiff, the breeze that she brings. 11:45 Oh... this smells like cervical cancer and that's the discharge. 11:50 So has the cancer already spread to other areas? 11:54 Sort of yes, because it is already... 11:57 depends on how it spreads... 11:59 It can spread down or it can spread up; 12:00 it can spread sideways, 12:02 but it is one of the manifestations, 12:06 and menses also become heavier and longer than usual. 12:11 So how could you tell how advanced a woman is? 12:15 What testing is there? 12:17 First and foremost, you do the Pap smear. 12:21 And the Pap smear can catch whether you have the 12:27 precancerous stage. 12:29 The Pap smear catches the precancerous stage. 12:31 You call that "dysplasia"... 12:34 "dys" meaning abnormal and "plasia" meaning growth. 12:37 So abnormal growth - dysplasia. 12:39 So you have mild dysplasia - meaning one-third of the 12:43 cervical lining is abnormal. 12:46 You have moderate dysplasia - meaning around two-thirds 12:49 of the lining of your cervix is affected or abnormal. 12:53 And you have SEVERE dysplasia - meaning the WHOLE layer 12:58 of the lining of your cervix is affected... it's SEVERE 13:02 So you have ALL abnormal cells. 13:04 It's just dysplasia but you get 1 cell off this dysplasia 13:09 ...a patient with dysplasia and you get a cell off one from a 13:14 frank cervical cancer... 13:16 You look at it under the microscope... they are the same. 13:20 So cervical cancer and dysplasia have the same kinds of cells, 13:24 BUT the amount of cells - you would say... 13:29 Mild is one-third, moderate is two-thirds, 13:32 and severe. 13:34 It's like saying that you have your entire lining cancerous. 13:38 They call that "carcinoma in situ" 13:42 just localized or maybe you could say "stage 0 cancer" 13:47 if you could say... it's just localized. 13:50 So when you talk about stage 0 13:53 that sounds really hopeful to me because we often hear about 13:56 stage IV and V 13:57 So a stage 0, this precancerous almost condition, 14:01 is that curable? 14:03 VERY curable... it is very curable. 14:07 So what are your chances of still being alive after 14:10 5 years of having cancer... 14:13 Let's say you had severe dysplasia, 14:16 you can have further tests. 14:20 You have the colposcopy... it's like a microscope that they 14:26 examine your vagina and they have a microscope 14:29 that focuses on your cervix and they can per se... SEE 14:32 how your cervix is affected. 14:35 And then they know whether you can take out locally 14:40 the area that is affected. 14:42 You call that the "cone biopsy" 14:44 So they make a cone - inside is the apex, here is the base... 14:48 They make a cone and take out the cervix like this 14:50 because there are some women - they're scared... 14:53 Yes - they have cervical SEVERE dysplasia, 14:55 and you can say "cancer" already, but it's just contained 14:59 But they still want to have kids; 15:01 they don't want their cervix taken out. 15:03 So you have your cone biopsy 15:05 so that you still have your uterus, 15:07 or you can have your MRI or your PET scan 15:10 or your CAT scan if you would want to see whether 15:13 you have had spread around the... 15:17 Okay, so let's talk about the different types of cancer cells 15:22 or rather the growth of the cancer cell, 15:24 and the different facets to this disease process, 15:28 and how we can conquer each facet with lifestyle. 15:31 Yes, it is important that we, again, know our enemy... 15:36 When we know our enemy it's much, much easier 15:38 for us to conquer the enemy. 15:40 So in the management of cancer, 15:43 we have 5 things to take into consideration. 15:48 Cancer actually is a multiple myriad of problems in your body 15:52 manifesting as cancer and mainly it's the gene 15:56 that's affected by free radicals... 15:59 A free radical damage to your cell and/or your DNA 16:03 causing abnormal cells. 16:04 If it is a free radical, you fight it with antioxidants. 16:08 So antioxidants... vitamin A, C and E, 16:11 and ashwagandha herb and schisandra - another herb, 16:16 and GARLIC - a very, very STRONG and POTENT antioxidant 16:22 which I really have an experience with... 16:25 A friend of mine had a sister with stage IV cancer, 16:29 and she was given a short time to live... 16:32 that's SEVERAL years ago and she's still alive now! 16:36 What she does - is she reeks with garlic. 16:39 She finishes one pound of garlic a WEEK! 16:42 A WEEK - she... one pound of garlic a WEEK! 16:45 But she is alive! 16:47 Better to smell of garlic than be dead. 16:49 She still has the cancer there but it has not cost her her life 16:54 That's for free radical damage. 16:56 But then you have inflammation. 16:58 Inflammation is like the gas 17:00 that makes the cancer GO and GROW... 17:02 So turmeric is one of the STRONG anti-inflammatory, 17:08 and it's food besides - it's a spice. 17:12 You don't have to go somewhere looking for it, it's in 17:16 Wal-Mart; there's turmeric in the spice section. 17:18 And you can use a lot of turmeric in your food. 17:23 Then work on your immunity because it will be the one 17:28 to FIGHT your cancer... 17:29 And we have this, what you say, "angiogenesis" 17:33 It's a big term... "angio" meaning - blood vessels, 17:37 and "genesis" meaning growth. 17:39 A cancer will not grow bigger and will not spread 17:43 if there are no blood vessels that are feeding it. 17:48 So if you have antiangiogenesis, 17:53 meaning you get food or substances that keep 17:57 blood vessels from growing into it, 18:00 the cells, of course, will die; 18:02 no nourishment and so they die. 18:05 Well, you see the cells, per cell will call for angiogenesis. 18:09 A cancer cell is a rogue cell. 18:12 It has a government of its own. 18:15 It will do what it wants to do because it's 18:17 not the same as the other normal cells. 18:19 So this rogue cell calls for new blood vessels towards it. 18:24 Praise the Lord... because turmeric is a very strong 18:28 antiangiogenesis agent. 18:33 It's been a lot of experience - experiments are coming up, 18:37 and studies are coming up that turmeric is very good, 18:40 for antiangiogenesis... How would you actually 18:43 take that turmeric? 18:44 You would just buy the culinary turmeric from the super store 18:46 and just add it to your food 18:48 or mix it in some milk and drink it or... 18:49 One to 2 teaspoons, 2-3 times a day. 18:53 Okay... Yes, you could mix it... 18:55 I found out that it tastes bad. 18:58 It tastes bad - you know, the pungent smell and everything 19:01 and it makes your teeth yellow. 19:04 But you can do things to keep your teeth from turning yellow, 19:07 but anyway, if you put it in pineapple juice, 19:12 it tastes good! 19:14 But then you have to put it in a straw, a big straw, 19:17 and straight down the back of your mouth 19:19 so that it doesn't go to your teeth and stain it yellow. 19:22 And all the good colors, the different rainbow colors 19:26 of food - the berries with dark colors, 19:30 and vegetables with dark colors, 19:31 they're anthocyanin-rich. 19:34 They are antiangiogenesis. 19:37 Garlic is again, fruits and vegetables - 19:40 most of them have antiangiogenesis, 19:42 and the last one is telomere. 19:44 Telomere is something to do with the end of the chromosome 19:48 that tells the cell when to die. 19:51 Cancer cells NEVER DIE... 19:53 they just grow and grow and grow and grow. 19:55 Telomere really tells the cell when it should die. 19:58 Then when you do exercise, you do all the natural remedies 20:06 from nutrition, exercise, water, sunshine, vitamin D, 20:10 sleep well, trust in God and you would help the telomere 20:14 work properly and tell the cell... "Okay, let's die" 20:17 And when the cell dies, it doesn't replicate. 20:20 So you're hitting different ways to control 20:23 your cancer that would be really giving you a chance to 20:28 not move from precancerous to cancer. 20:31 And when you talk about exercise - what kind of level? 20:34 Are you talking high impact aerobic-type exercise? 20:37 ...Or just consistent - maybe 5 miles walking a day 20:41 at a gentle pace or... 20:42 Yes, it's important that you do not stress yourself 20:46 when you exercise. 20:47 So if you have never been exercising before, 20:50 you don't climb Mt. Everest! 20:52 In other words, you go slowly... 20:55 First, you start with a mile and then 2 miles. 20:58 Your body will tell you because you won't be huffing and puffing 21:01 ...initially, you would be, but then you walk 21:03 Let's say I'm walking a mile, 21:08 and I'm going to walk it in 30 minutes, 21:11 but next time, I'm going to walk the mile in 15 minutes, 21:16 so I'm going to walk 2 miles this time... 21:18 And as soon as you have adapted to it, 21:22 you're not huffing and puffing, 21:24 you push to 3 miles in 30 minutes. 21:26 You push to 4 miles in 30 minutes. 21:29 Moderate increased but not pushing it too hard, 21:33 because when you... especially heavy, strenuous 21:37 weightlifting, climbing Mt. Everest 21:40 increases your cortisol and cortisol is FRIENDLY to cancer. 21:45 Ah, so if the exercise is making you STRESSED, 21:48 better not do it... It's not going to do good for you. 21:51 Oh that's great, so just the moderate, 21:53 but the balance between the ease and the effort. YES! 21:55 So it is pushing you a little bit but not OVER-STRENUOUS. 21:59 Now, what about the immune enhancers? 22:01 Could you tell us a little bit more about the 22:03 herbs that can really BOOST the immune system. 22:06 Oh, the one I know fairly well is "pau d'arco 22:10 Now the pau d'arco comes from South, 22:13 and aside from garlic, the ones that you have in your kitchen, 22:18 your onions, your garlic, your ginger, your turmeric... 22:22 they are readily available for you. 22:23 You can get pau d'arco, we were talking about 22:30 astragalus... astragalus - yes, 22:32 goldenseal, Echinacea. 22:35 You can do burdock root. 22:39 Those are the ones... Blood purifiers. 22:41 Yes, blood purifiers and immune enhancers. 22:44 And okay, to be sure, always support your liver. 22:47 When you're trying to keep your body at par, 22:50 always support your liver because your liver 22:53 is trying to get rid of all the waste that your body is getting; 22:58 you know, the end products that your body is working 23:01 and having its waste products. 23:03 The liver will catch all that... 23:05 And so help your liver detoxify. With for example... 23:09 With for example - you could say 23:12 milk thistle or dandelion. 23:15 Those are the most common ones that you would use. 23:19 Could I take dandelions out of my garden... 23:20 I have plenty of weeds! I'm sure you could, 23:22 but it's the root! 23:23 It's the ROOT - that's the hard thing to dig up 23:25 so maybe you are better to just buy the root from a herb shop. 23:29 You could! It's FRESH, you're sure that it's organic! 23:34 And you've got the whole phytopharmacy 23:36 in one complete polypharmacy. 23:39 Okay, now you mentioned earlier about sleep. 23:42 Now could you give us the physiology behind 23:45 why it's important, if you have cancer, to get to bed early, 23:49 and when we say "early," what time do we mean? 23:51 Okay, we are counseled that 2 hours before midnight 23:57 is equal to 4 hours AFTER midnight. 24:01 I know everybody has experience that if they went to bed EARLY, 24:06 let's say - 8 o'clock or 9 o'clock, okay? 24:11 When you go to bed at 8 or 9 o'clock, 24:13 then you have a deep sleep, 24:17 you wake up somewhere like 3 or 4 o'clock and it feels like 24:20 you're done! 24:22 You have to wake up! Why is it so? 24:27 And you look at the clock and you say... 24:28 "It's still 3 o'clock, I thought I had slept enough already" 24:33 That means your body has recovered! 24:35 Your body has been able to clean itself. 24:39 Your body has been able to get rid of the toxins. 24:43 Your body is ready to face another day! 24:45 It's because around 9 o'clock, or when the sun comes down... 24:51 At 6 o'clock, let's just say... when the sun comes down, 24:55 your growth hormone and your melatonin starts to increase. 25:01 Now melatonin is VERY important because it is the REPAIR hormone 25:06 So this will help you to repair some cells that are damaged 25:09 by cancer invasion? YES, and the growth hormone ALSO 25:12 It's balanced, you know, you have to get this one 25:17 so that whatever trauma there is in your body, can be repaired. 25:22 So when you get enough of your melatonin, 25:25 and your growth hormone which is 25:27 only there prior to 12 o'clock - before... 25:31 And no more late night internet surfing! 25:33 NO - because if you went to bed past 12 o'clock, 25:38 you slept until 12 o'clock noon, 25:39 and it seems like you've NEVER been able to sleep... 25:42 It's like you want to sleep some more; 25:45 you're not satisfied! 25:46 It's because you didn't get your melatonin. 25:48 You didn't get your growth hormone. 25:50 There's no repair in your body! 25:52 Your body is still... "I'm still... still worse" 25:55 ...The dirt is still there, it has not been cleaned up. 25:58 I have not been able to repair myself. 26:00 So you're tired; so you must go to bed early! 26:03 So there's truth to the old saying - 26:05 "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man HEALTHY, 26:09 ...wealthy and wise!" 26:11 Maybe not always wealthy, but certainly healthier! 26:16 So, we've mentioned on some of the other shows, Dr. Cherie Lou, 26:19 about vitamin D, and now this has been 26:22 or the lack of it has been implicated in many, many 26:25 different health issues. 26:27 Is it an issue with cervical cancer? 26:29 Oh... for ALL cancers besides. 26:34 Vitamin D ENHANCES the immune system. 26:37 Vitamin D helps all your organs recover faster. 26:44 It's an ESSENTIAL vitamin in EVERY CELL, 26:50 the same way as all cells. 26:54 We thought initially that vitamin D was only for bones, 27:01 but it is MORE, MUCH MORE for cancer. 27:05 You have to have your vitamin D NOT LOWER than 50. 27:09 Somebody said 60... so that would be really helping 27:14 in making your immune system work to par. 27:16 So supplementation would be needed in many cases. 27:20 Sunshine is better, although if you need it 27:23 start now, then you can do the vitamin D supplementation. 27:27 Okay, wonderful... Now is there any other aspect to 27:29 having cervical cancer that you can advise the ladies on 27:33 that may be out there that got a diagnosis... 27:35 Maybe you can give them an encouraging testimony 27:37 ...somebody who has just got a Pap smear back and it's abnormal 27:42 They're at a certain stage where 27:44 they're not sure what's going to happen. 27:45 Oh, trust in God first and foremost and follow His laws. 27:49 And I do believe you had a lady with a stage 0 cancer 27:52 that she followed the lifestyle program you've been describing 27:55 and she got results. 27:57 Yes, she got well. 27:58 Well, thank you so much Dr. Cherie Lou 28:00 We hope you've been blessed by the information. 28:02 Please remember that God is in control of your healing program. |
Revised 2014-12-17