Cancer's Deep Blues

Today is our first day of seeing four new patients, as opposed to the two we’ve been seeing in previous weeks. Needless to say, it’s going to be a whirlwind. Dr. D’Adamo has even warned us to bring snacks. Dr. Ginger Nash, an excellent ND who works at The New England Center for Personalized Medicine with Dr. D’Adamo, is on hand to see patients. At ten o’clock on the dot, our first two patients arrive and it’s time to hustle. Jen and I meet James and his wife Liz in the lobby. They’re both in their 60’s, a sophisticated and stylish couple: he in jeans, a blazer and loafers and she in a white sweater wrapped with a belt, cool-looking chunky silver jewelry and red lipstick. After we’re finished doing James’s secretor test in the lab, we take him upstairs to start on his patient history and measurements.

As I peruse his intake forms, which he’s filled out, I notice that Liz has made little footnotes throughout, to clarify or expand on any points of interest; she is also holding Cancer: Fight It With Your Blood Type Diet by D’Adamo. James, it turns out, is a big-time state prosecutor but it’s Liz, I’m starting to think, who’s the brains behind the operation—at least when it comes to looking after the couple’s health. She, a Type O who beat breast cancer some years back, has had the both of them on their blood type diets for some time and has found it to be effective. They’re both very active: he plays racketball several times a week and she runs and does Pilates and I find they share a deadpan sense of humor. When James makes a few jokes that are dryly humorous, she says, “Oh, ignore his non sequiturs.” When she starts to talk about how much he loves sugar, he replies with a chuckle, “It’s always nice to bring your critic with you.” Despite the levity, their reason for being here is serious: a recurrence of James’s prostate cancer.

In 2004, a biopsy confirmed a malignancy in James’s prostate, with a Gleason score of 7, which indicates a more highly aggressive form of cancer. His prostate was removed in a robotic prostatectomy, which is less invasive and traumatic than an open prostatectomy. He had no chemotherapy. In the last five years, James has suffered from both impotence and incontinence, the severity of which, he jokes that no one really gave him a heads-up on. In a recent trip to his GP, lab results indicated that his PSA (prostate specific antigen) had gone from 0 to 4/5, so it appears the cancer is recurring, despite the removal of his prostate—a cruel reality that sometimes does occur to prostatectomy patients. In the next week, James will have an MRI of his prostate bed to determine where the cancer is and how far it’s spread. In the meantime, he and Liz want some dietary supplement recommendations to best contain the cancer and build up his vitality. It turns out, from his measurements, that James is a Nomad; he is also a Type B + secretor. We talked about the first three GenoTypes last week, so this time let’s talk about the last three.

As its name would suggest, Nomad is a GenoType that has developed over years of living in different environments, never too long in any one specific place. Their immunity, then, is a bit of a hodge-podge, as they never stayed put anywhere long enough to develop a specific survival strategy. “The price they pay for their more selective immunity is a problematic connection between their immune system, their cardiovascular system, and their nervous system, resulting in a lack of coordination between the three. This makes the Nomad prone to highly idiosyncratic health problems, such as chronic viral infections, debilitating long-term fatigue, and memory problems,” writes D’Adamo in The GenoType Diet. When they are healthy, their immune systems are very balanced; they also have an excellent mind-body connection and handle stress well. Personality-wise, they are quietly witty (like James), easy-going and optimistic. They fall at the extremes of the height scales: either quite tall or short, have a squarish head and have a higher number of red-headed, green-eyed people like Elizabeth I, who D’Adamo speculates was a Nomad.

Teachers, D’Adamo says, are remarkable for their immunological altruism. Developing from a time, perhaps, when people first started migrating and encountering other environments—and germs—Teachers can withstand a pretty strong assault of bacteria and viruses, without the quick immune response of the Hunter. The problem with this is that they can carry the precursor to disease for some time without any symptoms, until the disease state hits, and hits hard. They are particularly prone to digestive problems, lung disorders, and cancer. With the GenoType diet, the Teacher’s immune responses can be trained to be more effective, thus protecting the lungs, stomach, and colon, in particular. They are often Type A, or sometimes AB and tend to look wiry, with a more masculine body type. Like Abraham Lincoln, a probably Teacher, these people are balanced, spiritual and have great powers of analysis.

D’Adamo is a Warrior, in case you’re wondering (I’m an Explorer). Warriors are one of the newer GenoTypes, dating from several years B.C.E., nonetheless. This was a time in D’Adamo’s estimation when people lived in agriculturally harsh conditions and wars first started breaking out, so people had a lot of children to ensure the survival of the tribe. Warriors had to learn how to survive, so their strength and resilience is remarkable. When active, metabolism is great and Warriors burn lots of calories; when they’re sedentary, they put on weight very easily. In youth, they are beautiful, but they can age badly and early, turning rather round and insulin-resistant. They are also prone to stress-related illnesses, chronic gastrointestinal problems, hormonal imbalance and infertility and heart disease. Type As and ABs, they are intellectually very sharp and often need to force themselves to relax.

So let’s get back to James, our stylish and witty lawyer with a recurrence of prostate cancer. While we’re formulating his diet plan, D’Adamo throws a switch in SWAMI called Deep Blue, which is special for cancer patients. Essentially, Deep Blue tweaks the diet so that it includes foods with anti-cancer properties, such as:
• Anti-oxidants (petunidin, peonidin, cyanidin, delphinidin, catechins, quercetins)
• Lectins (cellular agglutinins)
• Mineral chelators, which deprive cancer cells of nutrients (phytic and oxalic acids)
• Cellular growth factor inhibitors (squalenes, polyamine production inhibitors).
Deep Blue also cuts out foods that might be detrimental to cancer patients. As for supplements, Liz has a long list that James is already on. D’Adamo reviews this and then adds a few (if you’re really interested, see below for descriptions from dadamo.com). After a long appointment, I show the couple to the lobby where Liz tells me they’re on their way south for a few days of vacation to bolster themselves for the fight ahead. We’ll check in with them again in a few weeks.




James’s Supplements:

Helix plus: As mentioned in Eat Right 4 Your Type, Helix has a powerful component, which helps the immune system to function more effectively and efficiently. This species, Helix Aspersia, is not the common edible snail (‘escargot’), but rather a hard to identify distant relative. The consumption of this species of snail may serve as a very potent protective agent, allowing your immune system to more accurately distinguish between healthy and unhealthy cells, especially in blood type A and AB.
Intrinsa: Created for use in his clinical practice, Dr. D’Adamo has blended two synergistic dietary nutrients, Butyric Acid and Caprylic Acid, with Larch Arabinogalactan to create a superior formula to protect and support stomach, intestine, and colon health. For this patient, in particular, it is being used to prevent histone deacetylation.
Polyflora B: Polyflora B was especially designed by Dr. Peter D'Adamo to deliver therapeutic levels of blood type friendly bacteria (probiotics) and growth media (prebiotics) specific for type B.
Rekon pro: There are times when the body needs immune support that goes deeper. Dr. D’Adamo designed his exclusive Rekon Pro formula for use in his clinic. Blended from botanicals historically known for their immune enhancing properties, Rekon Pro boosts healthy natural antibody function, which tends to drop with age and infirmity.
Scienca: Turmeric, quercetin and bromelain to protect against oxidative stress and inflammation.
Scutellaria: Scutellaria has been shown to decrease inflammatory cytokine production from human mast cells (immune system hormones which ramp up inflammation). Scutellaria also has a cell-regulating effect; encouraging the body to more efficiently remove cells which have become dysfunctional, either though age or malformation.
Itaru tea: Green tea, a powerful antioxidant, has been found to reduce cancer risk.