Ask HER: Preventing Osteoporosis, Remedies to Help Heal Cancer & When Does Makeup Expire?
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My mother has been a silent sufferer for a year and a half caused by abnormal bleeding after menopause. On February 2015, we compelled her to see a family gynecologist, who prescribed a TBS blood test and ultrasonogram. The results came out something found in ca-cervix. Then she had a colposcopy, which resulted carcinoma in situ in the cervix. The doctor immediately had to then perform a Type 3 radical hysterectomy. According to the histopathology report, the cancer cells became invasive reaching stage IB1. By the grace of God, no metastasis occurred and the tumor was removed which was 4cm. Two months after the surgery, she's now taking 25 sessions of radiotherapy. The first two weeks were okay. Side effects started to occur from the third week, followed by constant stomach aches, emotional frustrations, diarrhea, loss of appetite and always groaning in pain. The stomach ache occurs right above the belly button. She has four more sessions to go. I am giving her green tea with chopped ginger and mint leaves, which I've read boosts the immune system and is an effective remedy to fight cancer. If you have any other suggestions, I'd be grateful if you'd share.Recently, Kelly Turner, PhD, a researcher and psychotherapist who specializes in integrative oncology was a guest on RadioMD. She studies radical remission in cancer patients.
Radical remission is when you heal from cancer and that healing process is medically inexplicable.
According to Dr. Turner, there are are nine ways you might be able to survive cancer against all odds.
- Changing your diet
- Herbs and supplements
- Taking control of your health
- Following your intuition
- Releasing suppressed emotions
- Increasing positive emotions
- Embracing social support
- Deepening spiritual connection
- Having a strong reason for living
Is there anything you can do to help prevent osteoporosis?Osteoporosis is a disease that occurs when your bones lose their density, become fragile and are more likely to break or fracture.
If you are worried about your chances of developing osteoporosis, you might want to consider decreasing alcohol intake, incorporating calcium supplements, performing light weight-bearing exercises, changing your diet to more wholesome foods, quitting smoking, and asking for a bone density test at your doctor's office.
When does makeup expire?You may have never thought you needed to worry about tossing out your makeup or even looking for an expiration date. Although expired makeup won't make you sick, it can still cause breakouts and skin irritations.
Makeup products all differ, as far as expiration dates. For example, you may want to throw out your mascara after two or three months. Your foundation can last from six months to one year, two years for lipstick, one year for lip gloss, eye shadow after two years, and nail polish one to two years.
If you have a personal health question you want answered, Pam and Michelle encourage you to send them in to
AskHER@radiomd.com Transcription:
RadioMD Presents: HER Radio | Original Air Date: June 4, 2015
Host: Michelle King Robson and Pam Peeke, MD
It's your time on HerRadio. Be a part of the show, make a comments. Ask your questions by email. AskHer@RadioMD.com or by calling 877-711-5211. Time to AskHer.
PAM: Well, Michelle, okay. So, we've got three really great questions from our HER listeners. The first one they really tossed to you. I'm just going to summarize it and this is a HER listener who said, "My mom went through a similar surgery like you, Michelle, and I wonder if I can get some help because she is getting through a tough time right now.
Sometime this year she went to her gynecologist because she was having abnormal bleeding after menopause." And flash forward she ended up having CA cervix carcinoma. She had a cancer. "She has been going through radiation and this is 25 sessions of radiotherapy and the first two weeks were okay. Now, she is having some side effects. She's got four more sessions to go." This is just tough, tough stuff. What is the best way to get through all of this? So, Michelle.
MICHELLE: First, I want to thank her for asking her question today and I hope that her mom is doing better. It's a hard time for anyone. Right, Pam? When you are sick like that and you have been diagnosed with cancer and/or you've had a surgery and you are taking some type of chemotherapy or radiation. One of the things that I highly recommend is Kelly Turner's book – Dr. Kelly Turner. It is called Radical Remission. Radical Remission talks about certain things one should do during their illness. I am going to list a few of those off and then, Pam, you can speak to this as well.
Sleep is hugely important for the healing of the body and sometimes it is hard to sleep when you are not feeling well. Getting proper sleep is important. A prebiotic as well as and/or a probiotic. They are very different. You should look up prebiotic because it is very helpful to get the gut in line. Filtered water is another one that was very predominate in Kelly's book. No meat, no wheat, no dairy, no sweet.
No meat, no wheat, no dairy, no sweet. Those were all important things. Organic vegetables, some organic fruits and be skeptical about over the counter immune system builders. There are a ton of them. There are good ways to build one's immune system but there are a lot of things being sold out there that actually don't work. Some people actually do vitamin drips, but you should check with your doctor. I do have some friends and others who do this as a supplement and it really helps them.
But, again, there is a protocol around that. Getting out of fear, Pam, which I think is the biggest thing for someone – a family member who is a caregiver, as well as the person who is ill – is to be able to get out of fear. Go do something that brings you joy. Read a book; watch a funny movie. Do something that makes you get out of that sense of "Oh, my gosh. I'm in such a bad place with my health. I need to figure out how to survive this." Go with your gut. Always, you have to have the will to live. Something has to be there that causes you to want to live.
PAM: Oh, there is no question. That strong meaning in life is one of the major points that Kelly Turner made in her book, Radical Remission. Never to suppress emotions. Just to let them out. Even if you have to open up the window and give a few major hollers out there. And, really, to stay positive with your emotions. Make certain to have social support. That is just such a huge thing. I think overall, Michelle, you would agree.
This wonderful listener for HER Radio who gave us this question, should try to reinforce with her mom that she needs to take control of her overall health – mind, body and spirit. Don't forget the spiritual connection. That is just so huge here, too. Don't live in fear. Because you know what fear does? That means that you've activated the fight and flight response. You've got too much cortisol rolling around in your body. That is the stress hormone and that will depress immune function just at a time when you want to have it boosted. I would rather boost it in a way that is more natural.
And, really, I am not particularly confident about all of those supplements and strange things that say they will boost immune function. I would rather, instead, meditate. I would rather take that walk. Get that massage. Take good care of yourself. I think this has been a really great question. All about Radical Remission and we hope that we were able to help our wonderful HER Radio listener with her question.
The next question is, "What the heck is the deal with osteoporosis? What is it? Is there anything I can do to prevent it?" Osteoporosis is when your bone is beginning to literally be shed in your body. You are losing bone content, bone mineral. If you think this is something for old farts – I think that is code for anybody 50 and over. You better not call us that, either. Then you are dead wrong. Because it actually begins as early as the teen years.
That means when you are sucking down all of those carbonated beverages which leach calcium from your bone. That's where it all begins. You are not getting enough physical activity – weight bearing. You want to be able to get up there and assume the vertical and do weight bearing, especially weight lifting and strength training throughout your entire life. This is incredibly important.
MICHELLE: No smoking, either, Pam. No smoking.
PAM: Oh ,my gosh, excess alcohol consumption is another one. Hello, little ladies out there doing the binge drinking and the rest of it. Drinking more than two drinks daily is linked to an increase risk of bone loss. Cigarette smoking, Michelle already mentioned.
Oh, my gosh. It absolutely doubles the chance to bone loss and fractures by reducing the effectiveness of your own body's estrogen. Yikes! Don't do that. It is terribly important to make sure that you are getting the right kinds of foods in your diet, too. These are magnesium rich, vitamin D rich. You want calcium fortified foods. Sardines are good. Certain vegetables are really good. Kale is good. I had a kale salad. Soy products, calcium supplements.
MICHELLE: Kale. Kale.
PAM: Girlfriends--everyone out there. Michelle and I do this all the time. We get our vitamin D levels...because I will put money on it, you are vitamin D deficient, and that means you can't absorb your calcium. You can eat calcium until the cows come home and it's not going to mean anything. You've got to know what your vitamin D level is. It is as important as your cholesterol.
MICHELLE: And don't forget to get a bone density test. That's what you should be getting. A bone density test.
PAM: You better believe it. Get in there. Absolutely. And I would get it after the age of 40. So don't be waiting until you are an old fart.
The last question is all about make-up. "When do make-up products expire?" Oh my gosh, yes, they do have an expiration. Right, Michelle?
MICHELLE: Oh boy, do they ever and each one is different. Number one, you need to look at the box when you purchase the product because it is not necessarily going to be on the bottle and each batch is going to have a different expiration on it. For example, lipstick may last a year or so. But you don't want it to last two years and you can tell because it actually smells and becomes rancid. You will also have mascara that lasts three months. Foundation can last six months. You need to go to SkinSafeProducts.com and you can type all of this in and you can get the expiration dates and you can find out what products are actually healthy for your skin.
PAM: I love it and say that app one more time.
MICHELLE: SkinSafeProducts.com is the website and Skin Safe is the app at the iTunes App store.
PAM: I love that. Fantastic. We have been covering our three questions. One to Michelle all about Radical Remission, osteoporosis prevention, and make-up expiration. Oh boy, we covered everything today. Thanks so much for your questions. I'm Dr. Pam Peeke with Michelle King Robson.
MICHELLE: You're listening to HER Radio on RadioMD. Follow us on Twitter. Like us on Facebook. Stay well.