Judy writes:

Have you had patients or reports of people with non-Hodgkins lymphoma whose health has improved or lives have been extended by following the BTD?

Hi Judy,

Have you read my blog about Jim, my bother in law? Jim is still doing very well, now close to eight years after having been diagnosed with both Hodgkin's Disease and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

I think the program has a lot to offer those folks trying to do something positive for themselves in conjunction with proper and appropriate concentional oncology care.

General, the best source for information on using the BTD for situations like this is the D'Adamo Library Book on Cancer which you can purchase online, at any major book seller or check out from your local lending library.

There's lots of good, reliable and sound info in there.

The trick is to take someone and turn them into what Bernie Siegel calls 'the exceptional cancer patient.' I always tell my cancer patients that no matter how grim or dire the circumstances, there is always a minimum percentage of survivivors, and my job is to get my patient into the survivor group.

There are lots of unexplored links between blood type and cancer; we are now just beginning to scratch the surface. Certainly choosing foods according to their blood type reactivity is a smart idea if your are undergoing chemotherapy or radiation: It's just another way to help conserve resources.

A story that I told in the cancer book sums things up nicely.

One of my long term cancer survivors used to run a support group at a cancer center in NYC. She would always mention the BTD, but most people would just fob it off. One day the head of radiation oncology ran by in a hurry, glanced in, then kept going. But in about ten minutes he returned. He was born in China, so his English was rather clipped. He pointed to the copy of Eat Right For Your Type that my patient had on her chair.

'Good book. Very good book.' he said, gesturing with his finger.

You could have knocked over my patient with a feather.

'How do you know about this book?' she asked.

'Oh,' he replied: 'Last person in support group always waving that book.'

Funny thing about so-called medical 'closemindedness': After my brother-in-law had obviously beaten the odds (he was given 3-6 months with treatment) he was asked to return to the Medical Center, where he described the scene as a 'sea of white coats.' They took note of every element of his protocol; foods, vitamins, herbs, etc. He was surprised to find out that this was not uncommon in seemingly miraculous type results.

You see, cancer has a virtually zero placebo effect, so when something unexpected happens in a cancer patient (especially one under their direct care) even the conventional oncologists want to know about it.

Today is March 25 2006, I am 63 years old, and I am writing to tell you how "Eat Right 4 your Type" saved my life. Until 1991 I was a typical O, type A lifestyle. Full time ER RN supervisor, Shotokan Karate teacher, occasional SCUBA teacher, building a house, busy, busy. In Oct. 91 while running up several flights of stairs, I was stopped in my tracks by palpations and SOB. I guess my diet and lifestyle caught up with me. My physician ruled out any problems but I did have a 2nd degree block, Mobitz I, that was explained away because of my good physical condition and chest pain that was explained away by reflux, even though I had never had these before and eventually the palpations were explained away by lack of exercise. (what?) I lost a lot of problem solving abilities. For example I went from being able to figure out emergency medication dosages in my head to being unable to double the recipe for banana bread. From the moment on the stairs I had severe tachycardia on any exertion, even minor, palpations, SOB and anxiety that went on for years. I had to retire from Nursing, quit karate and all physical activity. I had to cut my long hair as the tachycardia was too overpowering to brush it.

Over the next few years I was tested for every disease known to man, everything was normal, so then they sent me to the Psychiatrist who also said I was normal and offered me Prozac which I did not accept. One day I put all my symptoms into a Dr friends computer and out came Mitral valve proplapse syndrome, and as I have a mild prolapse I said ah, hah, that's it. I took Lopressor and it did keep the palpatations under control, however the anxiety was a daily burden and several times I contemplated suicide. In 2004 I finally decided to take anxiety drugs and went to a Psychiatrist who tried me on every type of drug he could think of, even giving me pediatric doses and I had reactions to everything , mainly low blood pressure and vertigo, so it was back to biting the bullet.

Then in November 2005 a friend bought ER4YT, showed it to me and I said fine, what's another diet book, I'll try it. After three (3) days of eating no "avoids" both my palpitations and anxiety stopped. I even forgot to take my lopressor, which I took as soon as I opened my eyes in the morning before getting out of bed. On the third day I thought I feel good, why do I feel good, I never feel good. and then I thought, it has to be the diet, the no wheat. My Physician cannot understand it but bought your book.

I am totally off lopressor and I feel wonderful, happy to be alive and though I will not return to karate I am walking a fast 2 miles every day. I have other benefits. I no longer get motion sick, a condition I had all my life. Also I can now drink water. Before it made me gag and cough and I would have to doctor it up with something, not any more. There are two minor problems yet to solve even though they too have improved somewhat. Tinnitus and very little sense of taste. I will omit certain foods to see what makes a difference.

I think my biggest problem was wheat and I really knew there was a problem with bread, but kept on eating it. I recommend your book to everyone I meet. I made aeroplane reservations the other day and told them I wanted a special diet, the "O" type and they did not understand, hopefully one day that will come about. There is so much wheat around, sometimes I go to events and I find very little to choose from but that's OK, I am not tempted at all to stray from what makes me feel so good. Thank you for sharing your research and writing your book. You have given me back my enthusiasm and well being.

---Gaenor

Hi Gaenor,

Many of the links associated with being type O and the symptoms you describe are related to the effects of the balance between dopamine adrenaline and the health and effectiveness of the HPA (Hypothalus-Pituitary-Adrenal) axis. It is one of the prime influences that blood type appears to have on stress and physiology.

There are rather sophisticated reasons why type O's seem to be more compromised with regard to clearing adrenaline out of the system, but almost all point to the link between the ABO gene locus and the regulation of the enzyme dopamine beta hydoxylase. In short, as a type O you'll want to enhance your production of dopamine and optimize your metabolism of excess adrenaline.

What dietary secrets are involved?

Well, you already guessed them! Excess wheat consumption leads to increased inability to metabolize adrenaline, whereas higher intake of protein in the diet ehances dopamine production of dopamine.

High wheat intake in the diet is also linked to excessive immune activation in some individuals.

Hmm... Type O... low wheat.. high protein... where have we heard that before?

A recent Time magazine featured a slightly overweight figure holding two plates of food out to the camera. The plate on her right contained pasta, a sprig of parsley, no sauce, and a few slices of red and yellow pepper. The plate on her right contained what appears to be a 16 ounce porterhouse steak. Above the plates of food the title slug read: "What REALLY makes you fat?" while underneath the picture the subtitle promised "the latest science on how your body handles carbs and fats."

Unfortunately, like the steak, the Time article was all sizzle and about as unsatisfying as the plate of pasta without the sauce. Far from getting 'the latest science' on what makes us fat, we are again treated to the Atkins versus Ornish, both of whom are beginning to have that comfortable feel about dissing each other that reminds me of the golden days of Siskle and Ebert.

In his 'case for low fat,' Dean Ornish, sounding more like a politician with every swing of the pendulum, now agrees with the high protein advocates that 'is it wise to eat fewer simple sugars, such as sugar, white flour and white rice.' However, anyone remembering Ornish's earlier books will nowhere encounter this sort of caveat. His approach was and is fat-phobic, and the high carbohydrate approach advocated by him and other health writers such as the NY Times Jane Brody drew no real distinction between simple and complex carbohydrates (as did the original USDA Food Pyramid.) Ornish (and increasingly the American Dietetic Association) now pay credence to the insulin resistance consequences of high carbohydrate diets.

However, Atkins has only embraced the insulin resistance stance within the last few years - largely as a patch to his earlier, fundamentally unsupported, 'ketosis theory' (the notion that switching to burning ketones instead of sugars caused rapid weight loss.) The success of other books embracing high protein diets, such as The Zone also brought insulin resistance to the fore and Atkins was quick to incorporate the concept.

Readers of my books will note that many carbohydrate food sources are also high lectin containing foods. Many dietary lectins interfere with insulin metabolism, and approximately 60% of dietary lectins have some ABO blood type specificity. Thus it is not simply a matter of 'carbs versus fats' as the media so likes to portray as the issue, but rather that certain foods interfere with insulin metabolism in certain people, and that genetics, including the genetics of the ABO blood groups, can be used to predict this. ABO types also differ by virtue of digestive enzymes which can influence their ability to thrive on either a low-fat or low-carb diet.

What I found interesting about the article (other than the fact that the Atkins Diet seems to have passed the 'hundredth monkey' phenomenon) was the complete lack of interest on the part of the Time editors in any of the genetic aspects of weight gain and loss. They also seemed to have an inability to comprehend the basic fact that both the low-fat and low-carb approaches have value and it will be extremely unlikely that one theory will completely disprove the other. Unless we use an approach that recognizes the genetic components, such as blood type, that can allow this type of scientific duality to exist, I'm afraid that we will not soon see the end these sorts of nutrition controversies.

Like the steak the sizzle can be expected to sell many magazines, and like the pasta there will be enough unfulfilled readers to guarantee a 're-evaluation’ every 5-6 months or so.