Wonderfully Made

Cervical Cancer

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Amy Wellard, Cherie Lon Fernandez

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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.


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Revised 2014-12-17