Transcript Of Today's Episode
Announcer: You're listening to The Doctor Is In podcast, brought to you by martinclinic.com. During the episode the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr.Martin: Well, good morning everyone. This morning want to talk to you about a couple of stories. One of them you'll see on our headline there, the Epstein Barr virus and [00:00:30] it's linked to cancer. So we'll talk about that.
Dr.Martin: Let's talk about the link. Okay, going to talk to you about two specific things, but one, let's talk about the link between Epstein Barr virus and breast cancer. That study came out last week. I was interested in it. I read the whole study. There's a real connection [00:01:00] between this virus, Epstein Barr, and breast cancer. Before, when you looked at any research about viruses and their effect on cancer, there was very little connection. But perhaps in leukemia, certain leukemias there was doctors that were thinking outside the box and they said a virus could be affected. And it could have started with a virus [00:01:30] and causing, having a big link to cancer in leukemia, but not so much in breast cancer. But now there seems to be a real association between breast cancer and this virus.
Dr.Martin: Let me just back up a little bit and go over what the Epstein Barr virus is. Now, Epstein Barr is part of the herpes family. It's part [00:02:00] of the chicken pox and shingles, herpes, zoster, and which is shingles, the chicken pox, cold sores. These are all herpes viruses. Now where Epstein Barr really got a lot of ink was back in the '80s. Some of you might remember this and a lot of you might not at all, but they called chronic fatigue syndrome, before they called [00:02:30] it chronic fatigue syndrome they actually called it the Epstein Barr virus. Even though when they tested people that were diagnosed with this chronic fatigue that only 50% were actually found to have this virus. But it really was, a lot of people called this disorder, it was caused by Epstein Barr, the [00:03:00] family of herpes and mono.
Dr.Martin: So mononucleosis, if a woman gets mononucleosis, here's what they're saying, that it's part of the Epstein Barr virus and more particular, it makes them much more susceptible to breast cancer. Now, if you got ahold of my book, it was on chronic fatigue syndrome. [00:03:30] I actually rewrote the book many years later and I called it The Energy Robbers and the Fatigue Cure. And really what that was about was chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia. And then I wrote another one, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia: The Modern Woman's Curse.
Dr.Martin: These were all part of a book, are books that I wrote on this topic. But if [00:04:00] you go back and look at those books, interesting that I talked about women that got chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia were 50 times more likely to get breast cancer.
Dr.Martin: Now you've got to remember those books were written way back 35-40 years ago, 30 years ago at least. So even then in my tracking of that [00:04:30] disorder, I was talking about the link between viruses and breast cancer, that they were women that got that diagnosis even in the late '80s or the mid '80s, and they didn't even know what to call it. It wasn't called chronic fatigue syndrome at the time. They didn't know what to call it. Many of them were called the Epstein Barr virus or the yuppie flu. In those days, and even today, [00:05:00] there's one, it's encephalitis because the brain swell and it was similar to getting symptoms of MS. They always had to differentiate between that and MS.
Dr.Martin: All I'm saying is it was kind of interesting that if you ever had the mono virus, the kissing, what we call the kissing disease, the mono [00:05:30] virus, the Epstein Barr virus, and most of the time people have Epstein Barr and they don't even get sick from it. It just lays dormant. It always stays in the body. Herpes always stays in the body. You get chickenpox as a kid, well, that's all right. You got the herpes virus and it stays dormant. Your immune system is supposed to keep it dormant. But what this new study is saying is that the Epstein [00:06:00] Barr virus, which is part of that herpes virus family, gets activated and it can be a factor in breast cancer.
Dr.Martin: Now, you guys know me. I talk about this all the time. I talk about breast cancer. In the 1970s one other 20 women were susceptible to it, statistically-wise, were susceptible to getting breast cancer. Now it's what, one of seven, [00:06:30] one out of six. It's crazy, but it's not all due to the virus, by the way. I want to tell you, you guys know me.
Dr.Martin: I talk about this all the time that reverse engineer, breast cancer, you will see that the vast majority of women that get breast cancer have a couple of things that are consistent. One, they have high levels of insulin, [00:07:00] high levels of insulin. Insulin is a growth hormone. Insulin will make cancer take off. Secondly, they have high levels of what hormone? Estrogen. They are too much of a woman, way too much estrogen on their bodies.
Dr.Martin: This is why I test for estrogen because estrogen is a beautiful thing, but if it's out of balance in comparison to progesterone, so women, [00:07:30] you need balance. Estrogen makes you a woman. Progesterone is pro babies. They are two hormone secreted from the ovaries and they need to be equal. It's always, you never see a woman ... You know what? They got too much progesterone. I never see that. Never, never, never see it.
Dr.Martin: It's always the opposite. They have too much estrogen and not enough progesterone and that creates an imbalance [00:08:00] and therefore estrogen. What does estrogen do? It is another growth hormone. It makes women much more susceptible to breast cancer. And men, when they have more estrogen than their wives, and a lot of men do, they are much more susceptible to prostate cancer.
Dr.Martin: Prostate cancer is two things. It is [00:08:30] too much insulin and too much estrogen, just like breast cancer is. If you know me, I've talked about this for the last 30-40 years, that men get prostate cancer and women get breast cancer and they are hormone driven.
Dr.Martin: But there's something else now in the equation that doctors are talking now about the virus. Now listen, in my opinion, okay, in my opinion, [00:09:00] it is never a virus that starts it. The virus might get activated. I agree with that, but I found that if [inaudible 00:09:12] immune, and this is what we talked about the other day in one of the greatest areas that medicine is looking at now, finally they're looking at building the immune system so that your immune system, and listen guys, [00:09:30] if you had the chicken pox as a kid, you got the herpes virus. If you had mononucleosis as a teenager or maybe even as a kid, that virus always stays there. The Epstein Barr virus stays there, but as long as your immune system is good. You see the idea is keeping your immune system good.
Dr.Martin: How do you keep your immune system good? We talked about this. We'll talk [00:10:00] about it forever. One of the things that will keep a virus quiet, why do people get shingles? I'll tie this up, but why do people get shingles? It usually comes after a period of stress, high levels of cortisol over a period of time like this will decrease your immune system. This is why people that maybe they've [00:10:30] been taking care of their parents or maybe they've gone through a divorce or maybe one of their kids went off the rails. You named something in a relationship or whatever, under an enormous amount of stress, what happens? The immune system comes down and the virus gets activated.
Dr.Martin: This is why I'm so big into prevention [00:11:00] and keeping the immune system strong, but how do you do that? How do you keep ... Well one, keep your levels of vitamin D high, vitamin D, vitamin D. It is so important because there's no vitamin like vitamin D. We talked about this the other day. As they were doing the research on the lymphatic system and the immune system, the T cells, your body as little T cells, [00:11:30] the navy seals of your immune system.
Dr.Martin: You know what? They'll keep that virus quiet. They'll keep the Epstein Barr virus quiet. They will keep your herpes virus quiet. The T cells, how do they do that? What activates what vitamin activates your navy seal? White blood cells called your T cells. What activates them? What vitamin? You guys know that? Vitamin D, [00:12:00] not vitamin C.
Dr.Martin: I had my vitamin C this morning, coffee. I love vitamin C coffee. Linus Pauling won the Nobel prize in the 1970s. I love Linus Pauling. He lectured at our college in the 1970s and he had won the Nobel prize in medicine [00:12:30] for his search on vitamin C. Well, good for him.
Dr.Martin: I always said this about Linus Pauling. He only missed by one letter in the alphabet. He was big on C and I'm big on D. I don't dismiss vitamin C. Like I said, I have my own vitamins and vitamin C is coffee. The more they study coffee the more they realize that it really truly is the vitamin C because it's so good for you.
Dr.Martin: But getting back to you. See, when medicine looks at viruses [00:13:00] and I got no problem with that, I look at the immune system because you and I are always, always fighting viruses. You and I are always fighting bacteria. You and I are always getting pathogens like fungus, yeast, candida. What planet are you going to go live on that doesn't have these things? Are you taking off to Mars? Are you going to live on [00:13:30] the moon? No, you live on planet earth. You're always around these bacteria. And when you go into the hospital or whatever and you go in and you use those chemical cleaners on your hands, I don't even like that stuff. I got no problem with washing your hands. Of course you should.
Dr.Martin: But what's even more important is that you keep your immune system, you keep your immune system strong because it's your immunity, [00:14:00] it's your immunity. And this is what I was talking about the other day when I was talking about where they're finally looking at immune therapy. Medicine is finally looking instead of ...
Dr.Martin: The question is why does not our immune system tackle cancer just like it would tackle the common cold? They're finally looking at it. Now they're looking for a drug or a vaccine that they can, [00:14:30] will stimulate your immune system to kill cancer cells. I got it. I understand that. But naturally you can do it. Naturally you can build your immune system.
Dr.Martin: I talked to you the other day about those two things. One, vitamin D. Vitamin D is the most essential part of your immune system because your T cells do not work properly without [00:15:00] vitamin D. They have a little antenna that goes to the surface of your skin to pick up from your cholesterol in your skin. So vitamin D is essential for your immune system to keep the Epstein Barr virus maybe that you have or the herpes virus maybe that you have that might [00:15:30] have a connection with cancer. I get it. I get it. I understand that. That's number one, vitamin D.
Dr.Martin: Number two, I talked about this. You know what puts your immune system to sleep, especially your T cells. What food puts your immune system to sleep. We talked about this the other day. Sugar, sugar. Yeah, sugar. This experiment [00:16:00] has been done years ago. I think I wrote about this in one of my books years and years ago, well over 20 years ago, that you can take a teaspoon of sugar and the activity of your white blood cells will literally stop in its tracks. Isn't it important to cut sugar out of your diet as much as possible? Now I'm not talking about natural sugars like that are found in fruits. [00:16:30] Those are natural sugars. And again, even in this day and age I sort of curtail that stuff.
Dr.Martin: But I know just for this conversation this morning, I just want to say that added sugars, and one of the biggest culprits today, and I might get to this this week, I'll do another podcast about it, how they're showing the difference between glucose and fructose and especially [00:17:00] high fructose corn syrup. And I talk about that in the past, but I just want to show you a study again that came out last week on this particular topic.
Dr.Martin: So isn't that wonderful guys? Isn't' that wonderful that medicine is, they're cluing into some stuff here and even looking at the Epstein Barr virus and its connection to its connection to breast cancer. Because you know what? [00:17:30] Again, I'll probably do another podcast on it, but let me just get to the headline here. Let me get to this headline. This drove me absolutely crazy because we're talking.
Dr.Martin: I've done this on previous podcasts, but after, let me read the headline from CBS news that came out on three days ago. After cancer prevention surgeries, [00:18:00] women learned that BRCA, remember that? Remember if you had the gene BRCA, you got a gene test and, oh, you got BRCA. You know who had BRCA? Angelina Jolie. You remember the headlines of what was that, 10 years ago at least? Remember the headline? Now listen to what the CBS news says.
Dr.Martin: [00:18:30] Let me read you the headline. But listen to the headline. Listen to the headline. Listen, Linda, listen. CBS news, not from Dr. Martin because if you ever heard me go crazy was when that story came out about Angelina Jolie. I went crazy. I guess I'm still crazy. I said, "That's the craziest thing I've ever heard in my life that you're going to actually get your breasts removed because you have [00:19:00] any chest ..." If they had that test and they got their breasts removed with no sign of cancer. I was furious about it because it was craziness.
Dr.Martin: But listen, listen, here we are at least I think 10 years, right? I don't know if it's been 10 years or not. Listen to this. After cancer prevention surgeries, women learn that the BRCA [00:19:30] tests are the BRCA, B-R-C-A, gene tests may have been wrong. Wow. The test, the test, now they're saying even that test, it looks like it was wrong right out of the gate. Nevermind whether it meant that you weren't going to get cancer or not, but the way they tested may [00:20:00] have been wrong.
Dr.Martin: Can you imagine if you had your breast removed for nothing? Now I didn't sAY it. So don't come after me, Dr. Martin. You're such a quack. They called me a quack back then. I remember some people online, they were really attacking me in 2013 because I said, "Angelina Jolie is making a huge mistake." It wasn't that what she was doing by herself. It was what other people, I am sure she influenced. [00:20:30] I had patients come in my office. I am not kidding you, that had their breasts removed because they tested positive for that test, the BRCA test.
Dr.Martin: It was already done, so I was very sympathetic and you know what? Even in those days I said, "Ladies, look, if you're asking me for my opinion, don't get that done because I'm telling you, I talked to you back then [00:21:00] even about, look, just make sure your immune system is good and you get a good immune system when you make sure your vitamin D levels are good." I'll tell you the most important factor is not viruses. The most important factor is that you have optimal levels of vitamin D ladies, the most important factor. And then keep your sugars down, keep your insulin down and block your extra estrogen.
Dr.Martin: [00:21:30] How do you block extra estrogen? I love flaxseed. Flaxseed have lignans. Lignans are spelled L-I-G-N-A-N-S, lignans. I don't know even know if I'm pronouncing it right. Lignans in flaxseed lower estrogen. Broccoli extract called dim, D-I-M. I love dim. [00:22:00] You know Dr. Martin? I take dim every day. Yeah, I take dim. It is an extract from broccoli that lowers, it blocks your extra estrogen.
Dr.Martin: Now it's very specific. You can eat broccoli. It has some dim in it. But to get, you'd have to have I think about five pounds of broccoli every day to get what you can get in a capsule. But look, all I'm saying is I'm trying to get you to get your estrogen down. How do you keep your estrogen [00:22:30] down? Dim, flaxseed, lignans. Keep your sugars down. I know it.
Dr.Martin: Let me just share again. Isn't that an interesting thing this morning? Two things. One, that there's a link between the virus Epstein Barr and breast cancer. And again, I think that link is because of the suppression of the immune system. [00:23:00] That's me.
Dr.Martin: And the fascinating new story that came out last week. I bet you you didn't even see it. It was on CBS news, but a lot of people I don't think even understood what it meant until they realize. So again, the gene test, they're saying it wasn't even right the way they did it. And so can you imagine people, oh my, I get a headache just thinking about [00:23:30] people that had their breast removed.
Dr.Martin: All I can say to you is think about what I just said. Going back to breast cancer, ladies, and men, it's the same thing you because breast cancer and prostate cancer are two identical cancers. They really are. I made that connection 30 or 40 years ago. Whatever happens in women can happen to men. Women, it's now [00:24:00] one out of six or one out of seven. And so we're not winning the war on cancer. And secondly, in men in prostate cancer at the age of 50 is one out of four prostate cancer, one out of four. So it's incredible when you think about these things.
Dr.Martin So guys, I love you. If you have any questions, let me know. Send them in and love you guys.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor Is In podcast [00:24:30] with your hosts, Dr. Martin Junior and Senior. Be sure to catch our next episode and thanks for listening.