Prostate and Poop!

Following is a question I received from a client who has decided last month to change his approach to the diagnosis of elevated PSA after a malignant biopsy 18 months ago; radiation took the count to 0 but it is back to what it was before treatment. Frankly, that’s pretty common! Most of the current research recommends a very limited response to prostate treatment in men over 60, since the cancer is likely to take decades to significantly impact health or risk fatality, while the treatments typically result in incontinence and impotence.

“I wanted to contact you before we continued. My husband’s had another PSA level that was high. He mentioned something to me about not being surprised that the PSA would be up. I don’t know if it was information he got when he got the C-herb or what. The plan is to continue the protocol. He hasn’t been doing the coffee enemas, probably because his bowels are already very loose. I am thinking that to do the enemas might clear that up. It’s hard for him to think about when he is working. Lessened the meat, doing only poultry. Green drinks seemed to exacerbate the loose bowels. Are there any adjustments you might make. He seems to have good energy, and be fine before he goes to work. However, the other night he complained of dizziness and confusion, we are presuming it might be withdrawal off of the Paxil. His energy and his confusion level seemed to be better to me. He has gotten more things done at home than when he was on the Paxil. I hope that at work he is doing better also. How long should we continue with butcher’s broom, cholesterol reg and hops? Needing to place an order… Let me know what you think.”

My response follows:

I would keep going for a few months. We are rebuilding systems, not just treating symptoms. I would keep the butcher’s broom at 6; it’s cleaning stuff out of the bloodstream that the other things are breaking down. I would go up to 7 on the cholester-reg, just taking them throughout the day; I know that sounds like a lot but it’s supporting the liver in regulating and using fats, which are the basis for hormone production and immune response. That is key to managing the PSA levels. Remember that he also works in a toxic environment, which means his liver is having to work extra hard to fight and function normally, and coming off the Paxil is making his liver do things it had not been having to do previously, since hormones also manage depression and anxiety.

I agree that it’s not surprising for the levels to go up, since we are activating the hormone processes, which increases inflammation. Similarly, most tumors enlarge at the beginning of chemotherapy and other treatments, as the body recognizes the tissue as invasive and begins to fight it. Remember that study after study show no direct correlation between prostate cancers and PSA levels. We are not really sure what it actually reflects! From Web MD (emphases added):

“Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a substance produced by the prostate gland. Elevated PSA levels may indicate prostate cancer, a noncancerous condition such as prostatitis, or an enlarged prostate.

Most men have PSA levels under four (ng/mL) and this has traditionally been used as the cutoff for concern about the risk of prostate cancer. Men with prostate cancer often have PSA levels higher than four, although cancer is a possibility at any PSA level. According to published reports, men who have a prostate gland that feels normal on examination and a PSA less than four have a 15% chance of having prostate cancer. Those with a PSA between four and 10 have a 25% chance of having prostate cancer and if the PSA is higher than 10, the risk increases and can be as high as 67%.

Younger patients tend to have smaller prostates and lower PSA values, so any elevation of the PSA in younger men above 2.5 ng/mL is a cause for concern. [On the other hand, this likely also means that elevation in older men is to be expected even in healthy males.]

Just as important as the PSA number is the trend of that number (whether it is going up, how quickly, and over what period of time). It is important to understand that the PSA test is not perfect. Most men with elevated PSA levels have noncancerous prostate enlargement, which is a normal part of aging.” [So apparently the PSA levels reflect inflammation, period.] “Conversely, low levels of PSA in the bloodstream do not rule out the possibility of prostate cancer. However, most cases of early prostate cancer are found by a PSA blood test.”

“Loose” bowels are relative, and actually are a good thing when you are cleansing the body. “Normal” elimination is free movements that take only a couple minutes after each meal, and you should expect more than that when you are de-toxing. Green drinks “exacerbate” that because they activate the liver. Most Americans have at least 20 pounds of impacted fecal matter lining the colon wall (documented in a California autopsy study several years ago), and it’s not uncommon for people to have fairly solid bowel movements even 30 days into a juice fast, so that is not an indication that he doesn’t need the coffee enemas. Their primary function is actually to flush the liver; bowel elimination is simply the exit route for the toxin release. (Loose, cleansing bowels are not spastic, crampy, or just lots off chunks and water; that usually indicates digestive stress or intestinal infection. Strong odor and tarry stool is often a part of active cleansing.) If you break things down and don’t release them they are re-absorbed into the bloodstream. An interesting and relative statistic is that 85% of testicular and prostate cancers are on the left side, which is adjacent to the sigmoid colon. Waste matter not moving through the bowels quickly enough is reabsorbed into that area! Everything in the Gerson protocol has specific purpose, so picking and choosing is not usually an effective approach!

I am not a vegetarian as a rule, but meat feeds tumor growth, period. Animal protein is a lot of work for the body to process, and his body needs to focus on nothing but rebuilding healthy cells; cancerous cells corrupt the body into redirecting that protein to feeding themselves. Poultry actually has higher levels of hormones, antibiotics, and other stressful and damaging substances than beef-which is NOT to say he should be eating it either at this time. He has to decide what’s most important to him, the quality of life that got him where he is, or a switch to something better for his body at this time! Remember to keep up with the lymphatic massage in the groin, and drinking much more water than he thinks he needs.