Guest host Richard Syrett (Twitter) welcomed author and consultant Rick Shapiro for a discussion on evidence-based, integrative and alternative cancer treatments. Shapiro shared the personal account of his father's losing battle against cancer where he saw firsthand the effects of aggressive chemotherapy. "What I witnessed when he went through that one cycle was 'horrific' to put it in one word," he recalled. Shapiro recounted his own health scare involving his liver and how nutritional changes, such as adherence to a plant-based diet, turned his numbers around.
It is possible to alter the disease process by making major nutritional changes, he continued. Shapiro outlined the nutritional oncological approach which utilizes science to create a cancer-fighting diet. "The best cancer fighting plans are really personalized to the person", he said. As a general recommendation Shapiro proposed the elimination of sugar, animal protein, alcohol, and any food with grown with pesticides. Strict adherence to the diet is important, he noted.
In addition, Shapiro spoke about the importance of supplements to support the immune system, mind-body strategies to reduce stress and anxiety, exercise regimens, and the role attitude plays in fighting cancer. "There's a ton of research out there... these particular approaches can be profoundly beneficially, integratively with a standard of care program or alternatively in some case to save lives and extend lives," he explained. Shapiro also delved into cases of late-stage and terminal cancer survivors who used alternative treatment modalities to beat the odds.
------------------------------------------------
The latter part of the program was devoted to Open Lines. Charlie recounted the time he set off for the 45-minute return drive to his home in Alamogordo, New Mexico, taking a roadway which passed through a mountainous area near Holloman Air Force Base. According to Charlie, he and his passenger noticed they had only made it part of the way home after 45 minutes of driving. "We have no idea to this day of what happened to three hours of lost time - it took three hours to get to Alamogordo which should have taken 40 to 45 minute to drive," he said.
Steve from North Carolina told Richard about a paranormal experience he had at his bar in the early hours of the morning after he closed and fell asleep on a couch there. "I do not believe in ghosts... but I know what I seen and I seen people sitting at the bar," he recalled, noting he talked to them on the way to the bathroom. According to Steve, he did not recognize any of these 'customers'. Louise in Louisville, who believes she is the reincarnation of Cleopatra, remembered the time Julius Caesar invited her to Rome where she entered the Senate, dropped off their son with him, then left.