Depke Wellness take on Breast Cancer

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Instead of breast cancer awareness month I would love to have a breast cancer prevention month. Thinking about this further, I would actually like to think of breast cancer prevention every month, right?

The challenge with breast cancer awareness is that most, if not all, of the money collected, is going to the development of drugs and not toward the single biggest impact we can actually have on breast cancer, which is prevention. Prevention is the key and the focus of this article.

Let's first look at how conventional medicine defines "survival" of breast cancer, which is living 5 years or more after diagnosis. With this said, if a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 58 and lives to the age of 63, she is considered a survivor. Even if she dies of complications from breast cancer or chemotherapy at the age of 65, she is still a breast cancer survivor. Honestly, the chance of being a "survivor" then are very good, due to the fact that breast cancer is typically diagnosed much earlier these days.

So really, do you just want to "survive?"

I think not, and that is why the issue of  prevention is the key to "thrival" not "survival." Yes this is my made up word, but don't you truly want to thrive rather than survive? Of course!

The good news is that you can!

Here at Depke Wellness, we have seen many clients with breast cancer and continue to today. Our approach is very different though and this starts with the first comment made to these clients. That comment is "we do not assist women in fighting cancer, we assist women in living in harmony with cancer." After all, that's what the rest of us are doing. We are in a constant state of living in harmony with cancer. Even as I sit here writing this article, I have cancer cells in my body. Thankfully I trust that these cells are being dealt with properly via the immune system function and a process referred to as apoptosis.

So what are the keys prevention?

• Support immune function
• Balance adrenal function
• Assess food sensitivities
• 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 few of these areas to discuss.

The first is the process of apoptosis. We can refer to apoptosis as cellular suicide. Understand that 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. Ulitmately when you are living with chronic inflammation, this creates an immune system dysregulation and 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?

Of course it is the triggers of inflammation that is the deepest issue. Here is a list of the most common triggers for an inflammatory response in the body.

• Food sensitivity
• Standard American diet (SAD)
• Chronic mental/emotional stress
• Chronic infection
• Injury
• Obesity
• Chemotherapy
• Addiction

Getting to the core of your inflammatory triggers plays major role in prevention! 

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 an 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...

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

Cherry Angiomas

Myomin. Referring to a study with 60 postmenopausal women with fibroids/cysts, after only 10 days there was almost a 50% reduction of estradiol. Every time a woman's hormonal panel comes back into our office showing elevated estrogen, the use of Myomin 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 

Now if you find yourself already diagnosed with breast cancer, don't simply fall into the fear and doom and I get it, easier said than done sometimes. We have seen many women walk away from breast cancer and living happy health 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 women 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. Angiostop does not directly cure cancer but it does help cut off its life support.

I also wanted to briefly discuss thermography. Medical or Clinical Thermography is a completely SAFE, no radiation, no contact, no compression body scanning procedure that is approved by the FDA, and many other leading health care Councils, Associations and Academy’s.

Clinical Thermal Imaging is the same (DITI) technology used by the military, building engineers to detect leaks and weather forecasting. It’s a very reliable tool. It records what it sees, in “real time.” It does not specifically diagnose any disease but does identify the symptom, a physiological response of your body’s own defense to protect itself.

This imaging technique provides valuable information about your current health. The DITI (Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging) camera scans the thermal patterns of your skin’s heat patterns and converts them into an image. Color spectrums and grayscale pallets are used to identify the range from heat to cold, light to dark which reflects each person’s unique thermal blue print.

Our bodies are designed symmetrically, so by comparing and measuring the thermal patterns, it can identify signs of potential disease, especially inflammation, nerve damage and even pain. This test can provide multiple clues to the health conditions currently within your body. It can detect early on, the precursors to many types of cancers, years before the cancer reaches a stage that becomes more serious to treat.

Clinical Thermography is an invaluable tool to help identify and track physiological changes as you begin to work on improving your health or are challenged with a condition you want to focus on and optimally manage.   

So in the end, let's remember that there truly is not a lack of awareness on breast 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 breast cancer. This is not an us and them scenario. 

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

Breat Cancer Awareness?

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

I like to wait until later in Breast Cancer Awareness month to write about this. After all, we truly have quite a bit of awareness of breast cancer. Everywhere you turn you see pink nowadays and I am very supportive of this. Heck, when I watch the NFL football games during October I am aware of the pink shoes, socks and other parts of the uniform. Again, I support this and am thankful that this awareness has been created.

The challenge that I have is that most, if not all, of the money collected, is going to the development of drugs and not toward the single biggest impact we can actually have on breast cancer, which is prevention. Prevention is the key and we will look at this further later in the article.

Let's look at how conventional medicine defines "survival" of breast cancer, which is living 5 years or more after diagnosis. With this said, if a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 58 and lives to the age of 63, she is considered a survivor. Even if she dies of complications from breast cancer or chemotherapy at the age of 65, she is still a breast cancer survivor. Honestly, the chance of being a "survivor" then are very good, due to the fact that breast cancer is typically diagnosed much earlier these days.

So really, do you just want to "survive?"

I think not, and that is why the issue of  prevention is the key to "thrival" not "survival." Yes this is my made up word, but don't you truly want to thrive rather than survive? Of course...

The good news is that you can!

Here at Depke Wellness, we have seen many clients with breast cancer and continue to today. Our approach is very different though and this starts with the first comment made to these clients. That comment is "we do not assist women in fighting cancer, we assist women in living in harmony with cancer." After all, that's what the rest of us are doing. We are in a constant state of living in harmony with cancer. Even as I sit here writing this article, I have cancer cells in my body. Thankfully I trust that these cells are being dealt with properly via the immune system function and a process referred to as apoptosis.

So what are the keys then?

• 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...

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

Cherry Angiomas

Myomin. Referring to a study with 60 postmenopausal women with fibroids/cysts, after only 10 days there was almost a 50% reduction of estradiol. Every time a woman's hormonal panel comes back into our office showing elevated estrogen, the use of Myomin 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 

Now if you find yourself already diagnosed with breast cancer, don't simply fall into the fear and doom. I know, easier said than done sometimes. We have seen many women walk away from breast cancer and living happy health 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 women 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 breast 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 breast 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 breast cancer, do not hesitate to call for a complimentary new client consultation at (949)954-6226.

 

 

Scar Tissue, Lymphatic Drainage, Improved Circulation & Dare I Say, Cellulite Removal

by Glen Depke

Let's jump right into it today. We are talking about a healing tool called endermologie. Endermoligie was originally invented in Europe as a means of breaking up scar tissue and alleviating the pain and discomfort associated with this scar tissue build up.

My wife Dawn uses endermologie for the use of scar tissue recovery on a consistent basis with her clients. Dawn along with her team member Lisa, have made it their mission to assist women with post operative breast cancer surgery find an escape from the pain of scar tissue associated with this surgery.  Lisa herself, is a breast cancer survivor that had overcome numerous surgeries, yet was riddled with pain from scar tissue. She became an advocate of endermologie and eventually learned to perform endermologie after this changed her life so dramatically. We have heard far too often that surviving breast cancer surgery, only to live with the pain of scar tissue is almost not living for. But...

There is hope!

Don't stop there though. It is not only scar tissue from breast cancer surgery that is waiting for relief, this can be scar tissue from almost any type of surgery. If you have post operative pain, think about the possibility of enderomologie for:

• Uterine Fibroid Surgery
• Hysterectomy
• Myomectomy Scar Recovery
• C-Section Scar Tissue
• Mastectomy Scar Tissue
• Shoulder Surgery
• So Much More...

Yet there is more.

When I refer to endermologie, it is not only for scar tissue. Likely, my most common referrals for this technique is tied into poor lymphatic drainage and poor circulation. The lymphatic system is the forgotten system of detoxification and a common challenge for so many. I often recognize poor circulation with clients and understand that when circulation is poor this often leads to recognizable symptoms such as cold hands and feet, numbness or tingling in the hands and feet and often this lack of proper circulation leads to brain fog, poor memory and other neurological disturbances.

Ah, but now the icing on the cake.

One of the benefits that was recognized with endermologie was originally a huge surprise. As this promising technique was being used on scar tissue, it was recognized that cellulite was also going away. Yes, you read this correctly. Cellulite going away. That in itself is why some companies use endermologie but here at Depke Wellness and OC Endermologie, we look at it first as a therapeutic relief, then from the aesthetic benefit.

Here is a  short video showing the interaction of endermologie in regard to cellulite.

I will share that I receive endermologie on a monthly basis for an entirely different reason. I tend to build up tension in my muscular tissue in my upper back and endermoligie is one of the tools that provides the most significant release of this tension for me personally.
 

If you are interested in hearing more about endermologie for those in Orange County California, feel free to contact Dawn or Lisa at 949.954.6226. If you are not in Southern California, search for an endermolgist in your area that focuses on both the therapeutic as well as aesthetic benefits of endermologie.

You will not be sorry....

If you have a question or comment on this article, leave this below and Dawn will reply to this personally for you.

"Time to Thrive" Fund-Raiser for Breast Cancer Scar Tissue Recovery

by Dawn Depke

When I found out that a friend of mine was on her 5th surgery after being diagnosed with breast cancer, and in tremendous pain with "normal" movement from scar tissue adhesions. The scar tissue was created from her mastectomy, expander surgery, implant surgery, then another surgery to remove the implants after a staph infection. This resulted in a tremendous amount of scar tissue in her breast area. I was horrified!

We decided to "experiment" on her with a technology called Endermologie to see if that would decrease the pain and increase the range of motion. This machine was originally designed to decrease restriction of scar tissue and increase circulation. This provides a flow of nutrients to those restricted areas resulting in decrease of pain, increase in range of motion and improved circulation. Endermologie is heavily promoted as a non-invasive cellulite treatment, but it is so much more.

We "played" and it was a huge success! She had a decrease in pain on increase in elasticity, getting hr ready for her 6th and final surgery.


Her story inspired me to educate, inspire and empower the women of Orange County that there is something is something they can do about the pain and restrictions they are suffering from post surgery.

Together we can make a huge difference in our community and the lives of women in your life. I invite you to join the cause.

Follow this link to be a contribution to the breast cancer community!