Interview with Dr. Galitzer in Knockout, by Suzanne Somers
Dr. Michael Galitzer is my personal western trained, alternative, integrative anti-aging doctor. He understands it all; how to balance hormones, how to strengthen the weakest glands and organs, how to strengthen the body to prepare it for fighting cancer or tolerating conventional therapies, and how to prevent getting cancer in the first place through lifestyle and dietary changes coupled with anti-aging therapies which he provides at his office in Santa Monica California.
Most of all he is a compassionate and caring man. He is brilliant in his instincts, is a proponent of the triad: body, mind and spirit all working together towards the goal of optimal health and happiness. He has been one of my great teachers.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Hello Michael…let’s talk about your approach to treating people with cancer….there are two types of cancer patients… some want to choose alternative treatments, and some choose conventional standard of care including chemotherapy. How differently do you deal with both types of patients in order to help them get well?
MICHAEL GALITZER: Ok, Suzanne, let’s start with a basic premise; cancer is a disease of the whole body and a tumor is just a symptom of the disease. So basically you’ve got to treat the whole body, you can’t just treat the cancerous tumor and try to kill it or eradicate with chemo without supporting the whole body. We all have cancer cells in our bodies and that’s important for people to understand, but you need about a billion cancer cells to get to the lump or bump stage which is why a tumor takes years to develop. When traditional medicine diagnoses a tumor, whether it be by mammogram, MRI or a CT scan, whatever the diagnosis… it is important to understand that you have time… it is not necessary to start therapy the next day.
SUZANNE SOMERS: As patients we don’t know this…my two cancer experiences both had a rushed element to them…as in let’s start treatment tomorrow.
MICHAEL GALITZER: Right, but a lump or a bump is an indicator that your body is now extremely toxic, plus, just the experience of being diagnosed with cancer sets people’s immune systems back enormously. At this point is when the ‘building up’ process has to begin; the patient needs to eat better, take nutrition seriously and try to only eat organic and then I start the detoxification process. The stronger the patient gets the more likely they are to do well with the therapy given in terms of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Most cancer patients are depressed and frightened at the possibility of dying, then on top of that they are given treatments that usually weaken the body and unfortunately this combination is a recipe for disaster. When they come to me in this condition I ask them to take a deep breath, find a doctor who does integrative medicine, build up their body for 4-6 weeks, and then choose do whatever treatment resonates best with them.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Are you a proponent of integrative medicine only, or are you open to patients like me who want to do everything alternative? And just to put you on the spot…Who do you think has the better shot?
MICHAEL GALITZER: Who has the better shot? (laugh) You always do this to me….okay… we’ve talked about this in previous interviews, what’s more important; the belief of the patient or the belief of the doctor? I think it’s the belief of the patient, and as a doctor you must respect that. If the patient believes chemo is going to help them, then most likely it will. The placebo effect works 1/3 of the time and the placebo is basically a belief overriding biology. I always say to people,’if you can believe it, you can achieve it, if you can see it, you can be it’. I truly believe the first key is to respect the belief of the patient.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Well that’s refreshing. Having your doctor work with you is so very helpful. I’ve spent so much time fighting with doctors because I want to do everything natural if I can and their resistance and, worse, mocking, makes for a contentious experience. Finding alternative western doctors such as yourself has been a godsend for me.
MICHAEL GALITZER: I work with patients however they choose… For instance, for the past 20 years, I’ve supported people who have chosen chemo and many sail through it pretty well. Chemo when coupled with integrative medicine is going to allow most patients to feel safe, and that alone is healing. Then there are patients like you who see chemo as the poison devil.
SUZANNE SOMERS: I do. The whole idea of putting chemical poisoning inside my body is and never will be an option….just that thinking alone on my part means that I would not accept this treatment as a healing cure for me. I would see it as a foreign enemy… trying to kill rather than cure.
MICHAEL GALITZER: And that is your belief and you have to go with that belief and do what resonates for you. I really believe we have all the tools to support any patient doing any sort of allopathic or alternative treatment. Again, one of the key elements of healing is to build that patient up first and then support the patient every day not only before but after they go through chemo and radiation. My approach is to honor the patient’s belief, and then support the patient all the way along the road.
SUZANNE SOMERS: I agree with that, but I have to say in learning about cancer and writing this book there just do not seem to be that many cancers that respond to chemotherapy and also they are not doing chemo sensitivity tests in this country. It just feels like it’s off-track.
MICHAEL GALITZER: The most off-track aspect is that patients who elect to do these treatments don’t see integrative doctors. Their oncologist usually says that what doctors such as myself do won’t help. One of my best friends had kidney cancer and went to see the head guy at UCLA who told him not to bother with homeopathy, nutrition, or vitamin supplements…he said “none of it works”. So my friend just did chemotherapy for 4 or 5 months and did very poorly…total body degradation. To me this Is a perfect example; if you don’t bother to empower yourself with information and do the research, and just listen to the doctor in front of you who is discouraging you from doing anything regarding strengthening the body and ignoring the benefits of nutrition you most likely won’t do well or you will die. One of the problems with chemotherapy is that it doesn’t kill the cancer stem cells and that is something everybody is missing, both conventional medicine and integrative medicine. The drug companies are very aware of this and they’re trying to develop ways to kill these stem cells, but I’m not sure that approach will be successful. So, yes Suzanne, I do agree with you that there’s been very few cancers that have been shown to be treated successfully with chemo; only some leukemias in kids, testicular cancer, Hodgkin’s, and some lymphomas are the ones that respond to chemo. Bottom line; conventional medicine believes that it is about killing the bad guys and once we kill all the bad guys you’re fine…. Or…. is it? Isn’t it about having a healthy body? What you’re saying Suzanne is that there is no way the present protocol of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation is going to result in a healthy body, without strengthening the body and I agree.
SUZANNE SOMERS: What I have learned writing this book is that cancer appears to be manageable; that we can live with cancer whether the approach is integrative or alternative? So, specifically what does building up actually mean?
MICHAEL GALITZER: Ok, let’s first talk about what causes cancer, we need to define what cancer is before we can actually treat it whichever way the patient desires. Toxicity accumulates over time whether it be nutritional toxicity, emotional, physical, or environmental. Over time, these toxins deplete respiratory enzymes in the mitochondria, or energy factories within the cell, resulting in an inability of the cell to utilize oxygen. Healthy cells utilize oxygen to create energy. But with cancer, instead of utilizing oxygen, cancer cells revert to a primitive way of creating energy by fermenting sugar. Once you ferment sugar, you create lactic acid, which makes the acidic condition of the body even worse. Now you have produced even higher levels of acidity and toxicity within the body. This was discovered in the 1920’s by Otto Warburg MD, a German doctor, who by the way won two Nobel prizes. Suzanne Somers: Is this called Anaerobic metabolism, and does this result in decreased cellular energy production?
MICHAEL GALITZER: Absolutely. You got it. Anaerobic metabolism is occurring. So what do you do at this point? You want to limit sugar intake; this is vitally important. No sugar for any cancer patient. Number two: you must increase the oxygen supply to the cell.
SUZANNE SOMERS: How do you do that?
MICHAEL GALITZER: We know the more toxic you are the thicker your blood and all cancer patients have thick blood. Cancer patients have enormous amounts of toxicity, and they have very thick blood. As a doctor I know you’ve got to thin the blood and you do this with garlic, gingko, proteolytic enzymes, and a natural blood thinner called Nattokinase. The thinner the blood (blood should flow like wine as opposed to ketchup), the more nutrients and oxygen can get to the cells. Exercise is crucial in order to increase tissue oxygenation….in the 1950s a lady by the name of Joanna Budwig, who was a German biochemist, discovered that if you combined cottage cheese with flaxseed oil, (a unique combination), you could increase oxygen supply to the cells. The Budwig diet has been a mainstay in a lot of therapies that have not been talked about, and you can look it up on the internet, where you can find more information about this diet.
SUZANNE SOMERS: What exactly is it?
MICHAEL GALITZER: It’s pretty simple. It consists of 2/3 of a cup of cottage cheese plus 6 tablespoons of flaxseed oil. You mix them together and then you can put them in a blender with berries or nuts. No peanuts.
SUZANNE SOMERS: How often would one take this?
MICHAEL GALITZER: Take half of the above combination, twice a day For maintenance you can take half of that amount. It’s a very easy thing to do.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Okay I always need to know…. what does this do? Why do I want to take this?
MICHAEL GALITZER: This combo gets to the cell membrane, increases the oxygen level in the cell and can also cause increased cellular energy production. It’s all about getting increased cellular energy production. Some people feel that the you can reduce body acidity by ingesting alkaline water, and by increasing your intake of vegetables. But the best way to reduce total body acidity is to get the cells to make more energy (or ATP). Once the cells make more energy the acidity of the body goes down.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Cottage cheese and flaxseed oil appeals to me. I get it but it’s as ‘out there’ as coffee enemas in terms of mainstream reaction to alternative treatments. Cottage cheese and flaxseed oil will be laughed up just like coffee enemas are laughed at. Why is there such a disparity between what you guys are doing and what the orthodox docs are doing?
MICHAEL GALITZER: All doctors want to help people; whoever they are, and whatever therapies they are administering, they truly believe in those therapies. Doctors, number one, are very bright people. Number two, they’re very conservative people. And number three, their basic assumption is is if it wasn’t taught to me in medical school or it’s not presented to me at conferences it doesn’t exist. There is an old saying that if you’re not up on it you’re down on it. So Oncologists have so much to do. They have so many patients; they need to be abreast of the latest drug therapies in oncology; they have to read all the monthly oncology journals, and attend all the important oncology conferences. Consequently, there’s no time to increase your knowledge in any other area of medicine. And I think that is a flaw in the medical system.
SUZANNE SOMERS: What do you mean?
MICHAEL GALITZER: All doctors need to be aware of Integrative Medicine. All doctors need to be aware of natural ways to strengthen the body. At present, the medical system is a study of disease. We’re taught how to treat disease and unfortunately, people are viewed as either disease or diseases in progress, as they walk into a doctor’s office. It’s not a health model; Traditional medicine sees health as the absence of disease. Integrative Medicine sees disease at one end of the spectrum, and health at the other end. Most people are in the middle. Fatigue is not a disease, nor is insomnia; but these symptoms are certainly not signs of good health. The modern approach to cancer is to ‘kill the bad guys’. At the same time, one often sees problems within the body(microcosm) as reflecting problems within our society(macrocosm). In this thinking, the issue of cancer is likened to the issue of homeless people. Cancer cells are primitive cells, that don’t contribute to the community of the body, and in fact, live off the body, and ultimately drain the body of its resources and energy. Homeless people are usually uneducated, are not integrated into our society, to a certain extent live off the system, and drain society’s resources. So what do you do? We haven’t figured out a solution for homeless people; do you shoot them like you kill cancer cells with chemotherapy? Obviously not. Obviously you want to rehabilitate them, and you want to educate them. So in our approach where the body represents society and cancer represents the homeless problem, cancer is not the enemy. The enemy is a toxic weakened body that is energy depleted, and which has allowed the cancer cells to multiply. The next question that we should ask is how do we strengthen the body?
SUZANNE SOMERS: Burton Goldberg talked about hyperthermia as a treatment for cancer. Do you support that and what exactly is it?
MICHAEL GALITZER: Hyperthermia is an innovative treatment for cancer; it involves increasing the body temperature in order to kill the cancer cells. Cancer cells are more susceptible to heat than the cells in the body. Temperatures of 105 degrees will kill cancer cells. In Germany hyperthermia is combined with lower doses of chemotherapy and radiation to effectively kill cancer cells, while causing much less harm to the body. When I was an intern, I could rotate through the subspecialties at the hospital and my last subspecialty was cancer. I found that every cancer patient had a body temperature of about 94 or 95 degrees F when normally it should be 98.6. This was consistent with every cancer patient. In putting things together I realized that if everyone with cancer has a low body temperature then maybe high body temperature would prevent cancer. I was 26 and trying to figure this out and I was so enthusiastic. I submitted an article to several medical journals including The Annals of Internal Medicine and The New England Journal of Medicine. Its premise was that in a state called Hyperthyroidism, in which the body temperature was elevated, cancer could not exist. I couldn’t prove this because Medicine always treats hyperthyroidism, and in so doing we frequently make the patient hypothyroid. Dr. Josef Issels a German doctor, found that when he created fevers in cancer patients, or when they got an infection that was associated with a high fever, the cancer frequently disappeared. Then he looked at people that had very high fevers in childhood, and he found in those whose temperatures got up to 105 degrees, they never got cancer. This has always been one of the treatment modalities that has been found to be useful in cancer patients. It is known that the closer your resting body temperature is to 98.6, the healthier you are, as body temperature is a reflection of cellular energy production. As doctors we are very interested in blood pressure and pulse but we’ve forgotten to take body temperatures on our patients. We’ve known for years there have been spontaneous remissions in people with cancer…it only makes sense that these are the people who should be studied yet no one has looked at these cases at all. Think about it, if there are spontaneous remissions in cancer patients, obviously the body has some way of producing something that takes care of the cancer. So the big question is, what can we do to deal with this situation naturally? So the first thing that an Integrative Physician would do in the treatment of a cancer patient is to strengthen the body before the patient is to undergo surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation. We would use the same anti-aging approach as we would to prevent the development of cancer. Dr. Gary Gordon who you know pretty well Suzanne, came up with a program called FIGHT as a way of preventing cancer and preventing all illnesses. F- is for Foods and Supplements, plus Elimination of coffee, coca-cola, alcohol, cigarettes, and refined sugar. We must also understand that we eat too much animal protein in this country. as do many people in other industrialized nations. The book “The China Syndrome” proved that if you became a vegetarian you wouldn’t see cancer and you wouldn’t see all these chronic debilitating diseases. This author proved beyond a doubt that you could eat a vegetarian diet and do very well and stay healthy.
SUZANNE SOMERS: I’m not sure I agree… some people require protein and animal fats. I believe I am one of them but I do think that eating organic food and avoiding chemicals at all costs would certainly be cancer preventative.
MICHAEL GALITZER: Absolutely, but in this country, we eat too much animal protein and too much animal protein causes too much cellular acidity. Then on top of it we don’t consume enough fruits and vegetables. So nutrition and supplements are vital. I- is for infections. We’re all carrying a huge load of bugs, whether you call it Candida, or chronic viral syndromes, there’s just too many infections going on. One great source of infections are the teeth, particularly, root canals. Dr. Rau at the Paracelsus Clinic in Switzerland found that in 100 breast cancer patients, 96 of them had a root canal in the molar tooth.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Interesting….I had root canals on my right side which is where I had breast cancer.
MICHAEL GALITZER: Right, in acupuncture each tooth is connected to an organ and to an acupuncture meridian, and that molar tooth was connected to the breast via what’s called the stomach meridian, which basically goes down the center of your eye, hooks into the thyroid and goes through the breast and works its way down the body. 96 out of 100 people with breast cancer had root canals which is a source of chronic infection. When you try to clean out a root canal, there’s an infection in the root, but there are so many canals in that root that it’s almost impossible to clean them all out, and consequently, this dead tooth represents a source of chronic infection. Some of these canals still have bugs in them and it can seed to other areas within the body. Now, Dr. Issels who was the father of integrated cancer therapy in the 50s and 60s, had remarkable success with terminal cancer patients; in fact, so remarkable that about 70% of his Stage IV patients survived and did well. He had a unique setup; the German government paid for the treatments, so that the cancer patients had no problem with finances which is important as a de-stressor because most people become financially drained with the cost of cancer therapy. Not having to worry about money is part of healing in itself plus he was also able to have one support person per cancer patient, whether it be a nurse or therapist. Here is what is interesting.He found that tonsils swelled up in his cancer patients as a result of draining the infections in the teeth, and when he did tonsillectomies on these people they did much, much better. You remember how we all had tonsillectomies as kids, yet he found that by removing the tonsils in cancer patients, he eliminated a source of chronic infections, and the patients got better. Integrated medicine utilizes Intra-venous Vitamin C to reduce the viral load. Some people also do intravenous hydrogen peroxide, others irradiate the blood, with ultraviolet light. These are all-natural treatments and are very, very effective in killing viruses. Another German treatment is to ozonate the blood.
SUZANNE SOMERS: I know that these treatments are very popular in Germany. In fact, I feel the Germans are way ahead of us relative to alternative medicine, and its because their government allows it to begin with.
MICHAEL GALITZER: But in this country, as we’ve talked about, ultraviolet radiation to the blood and ozone are illegal. Too bad because it does kill viruses and yeast organisms in the body. The next one is the G in Fight. G is for geopathic stress.
SUZANNE SOMERS: What is geopathic stress?
MICHAEL GALITZER: There is a frequency called the Schumann frequency which is a nourishing frequency that comes out of the crust of the earth at 7.82 hz, which corresponds to the alpha brain wave. People always talk about being in the alpha state in terms of meditation, and the 7.82 frequency is a nourishing frequency in the earth that’s been found to not only support life, but enhance life. Unfortunately, there are many electromagnetic frequencies that we are exposed to everyday, that are harmful to the human body.
SUZANNE SOMERS: What causes this?
MICHAEL GALITZER: Well, for instance, homes that are built over underground water, are a source of electromagnetic energy that is a disharmonic to the body, and can stress the body. Having your home less than 50 feet from high power lines can stress the body. Cell phones stress the body. Standing in front of a microwave oven while you are heating up your food, can stress your body. By the way, never use a microwave oven to heat your food, as it changes the molecular composition of the food. Electrical currents in the mouth can result from mercury fillings in the teeth, or from 2 different metals used as fillings in the teeth (e.g. mercury and gold fillings). These currents can contribute to insomnia, especially if one’s bedroom has electrical devices near the head of the bed (electrical alarm clocks, electric blankets). Your bedroom should be electrically quiet, when you are sleeping. So geopathic stress is a major stressor and can be a cancer trigger. The H in Fight is for hormones. You’ve got to have balanced hormones. You know that better than anyone Suzanne. All these cancer patients are completely depleted of hormones whether it be adrenal hormones, thyroid hormones, and bioidentical progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone. You’ve got to optimize hormonal output. Also a lot of these cancer patients have too much insulin (a major hormone) because they’re eating too much sugar. So it’s important to increase estrogen, progesterone, testosterone when indicated and definitely maximize adrenal output, by making sure that cortisol and DHEA are not low, and then make sure that you have optimal levels of thyroid hormone. T is for toxins: mercury toxins from the teeth, mercury in tuna and swordfish, mercury in the atmosphere from coal burning, and then there are trade winds that blow from China which consequently blows a lot of that mercury from Chinese industrial coal production over the west coast to California. They also found that 10 or 20% of the population in New York City have elevated levels of mercury. So mercury is a key toxin. The other heavy metals that are toxic would be cadmium and lead. We’ve talked about your exposure, Suzanne, in the Las Vegas casinos years ago to the second-hand cigarette smoke you inhaled while you were performing and we found you had high levels of cadmium in your urine 20 years later. This is how pervasive toxic poisoning can be and is affecting all of us.
SUZANNE SOMERS: I remember being so shocked by this because I never smoked.
MICHAEL GALITZER: Right… simply from second-hand exposure. Cadmium in cigarettes acts as a toxic metal. We are also exposed to enormous amounts of pesticides which have an affinity for the pancreas, and the pancreas creates digestive enzymes which I will explain the significance of later. So there you have FIGHT… Now I’ve added the EM part. And I call it FIGHT EM. Because I think that emotional mental states have got to be looked at. I see you, Suzanne, attending the anti-aging conferences in Las Vegas, the [A4M] where the latest advancements in Integrative Medicine are discussed. I also go to [ACAM] American College for the Advancement in Medicine, which provide attendees with the latest information in Integrative Medicine. But I have to say I am always surprised that no one talks about the emotional mental states in relation to health or in relation to treating disease, and obviously it’s never talked about in traditional medicine.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Well I think it is a crucial element of healing. Dr. Steven Sinatra in this book discusses this extensively in his interview….the power of intention and belief.
MICHAEL GALITZER: And my wife, Dr. Janet Hranicky, has for the last 30 years helped patients understand the emotional connections to cancer, and has empowered people with cancer to transform their lives. In terms of a person’s emotions, it is crucial, that we live our lives with purpose, passion, and gratitude. Granted when you’re feeling terrible and you have cancer it’s a little difficult to get passionate when you don’t have the energy. But I try to tell people, do what you love, help others, and healing will follow. Then you’ve got to take care of your body. You’ve got to look at your body as a Ferrari, and a Ferrari needs high-octane gasoline; so you must be very selective as to what you put into your body in terms of food. One needs to find an exercise program that you enjoy and you need to do it regularly. Make fun and relaxation a daily priority. Learn to love yourself and once you learn to forgive yourself, it’s easy to forgive others. Find your inner peace and don’t let go of it. Therefore make decisions that give you the greatest peace of mind. More importantly, connect with your higher source as often as you can. You can call it a guide or inner guides or higher self but tap into it, and that’s the value of meditation because this inner you is always a source of knowledge, inspiration, and guidance. Involve yourself in cleaning up the environment, and it will help cleanse you emotionally. Once you decide that someone up there is your friend, everything else flows a lot easier. Going barefoot in the grass, is very, very important. Taking hikes, walks on the beach all these things connect you to nature. The emotional, mental aspect has got to be addressed in terms of the concept of FIGHT EM. The anti-aging approach is both preventative and has a huge role in the treatment of cancer. There is a quote from Ghandhi which said “first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” I think this applies to you Suzanne; First, they paid no attention to you, then they started laughing at you, now they’re fighting you and writing articles about you, and soon you’re about to win.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Thank you but I think it applies to all of us in the alternative world, but it’s the essence of passion….you can’t walk away once you have seen the light. It doesn’t seem though, that this approach is being taught in medical school at all. Today’s students are taught allopathic medicine as though this is all that exists. Do you think there’s a shot that alternative medicine, as it is presently gaining in acceptance in a grassroots way, will ever get big enough, important enough, and financially set to where studies can be done on non-patentable medicine?. Do you think the value of nutrition and cancer as a manageable disease will ever have acceptance and legitimacy?
MICHAEL GALITZER: This is a huge problem because there is no incentive for any drug company to fund these kinds of studies that basically look at nutraceuticals. So how do we change this consciousness? How do you get more people or more doctors to start thinking the way you think or the way I think? At ACAM (American Academy for the Advancement of Medicine)we try to get medical students involved by reaching out to them and inviting them to our conferences. We let them come for free so as to expose them to our possibilities for healing. Show them our approach. You’re not going to be able to change the approach of older doctors who are set in their ways as you are able with young doctors. As far as doing studies, the only way to do an integrated study is for mainstream and integrative medicine to work together, present them with our successes, and show how integrating the two modalities is better for everyone. We’ll show that we can get great results by combining these therapies. Everyone wins, but mainly the patient wins.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Even as you say this it feels a long way off but a starting point of inviting medical students who are not yet locked into their thinking thrills me. This is the first idea I have heard that has the potential to affect change; get the young minds and maybe there’s a shot.
MICHAEL GALITZER: We need to teach everyone about how to reduce toxicity, which is not taught in traditional medical schools, and a very crucial step in reducing toxicity is the concept of “Drainage.”
SUZANNE SOMERS: How do you do that and why?
MICHAEL GALITZER: We want to neutralize and eliminate the toxins in the body and the key organs to do that are the liver, kidneys, and the lymphatic system. For the liver we want everybody to take a fresh lemon every morning, cut it in half, squeeze the juice out of both halves, pour it into 6-8 ounces of water, and drink that down. Vegetables have got to be consumed 2,3,4 times a day. For liver health eat carrots, beets, zucchini, squash, artichoke. We want people to have the healthy water. For years, I’ve been studying water. The elements of water that make it good are a pH that’s slightly alkaline, and that has lots of electrons because electrons are energy. Number three, you don’t want the water to be distilled, because distilled water is dead water, it doesn’t have any minerals; at the same time, you don’t want lots of minerals in the water, just a certain level of minerals. The lymphatic system needs to be stimulated with a trampoline or rebounder; if you’re going to a gym use the elliptical, or jump rope. Bouncing causes the lymphatic system to be stimulated. Deep breathing helps the lymphatic system. Colonics can be very helpful. Most cancer patients are toxic. You’ve got to have bowel movements every day. If you’re not, get a colonic. Skin brushing can be very helpful. This is all about getting your drainage systems working efficiently. If the drainage systems of the liver, kidney, and lymphatics are not open then the process of pulling toxins out of the tissues (detoxification) will further stress the patient, because these toxins go from the tissues to the blood to the liver, kidney, and lymph system. The analogy is like having a bowel movement in a toilet bowl that won’t flush. Drainage is first, detoxification second. Detoxification includes saunas, homeopathy, herbs, juice fasts, chelation, (where you pull heavy metals out of the body). You’re pulling them out of the tissues, into the blood and out through the liver, kidney, lymph system. To do this I use a lot of intravenous vitamin C. Intravenous vitamin C is used in a couple of different ways. The National Institute of Health (NIH),has proven that intravenous vitamin C will produce high enough blood levels to actually kill cancer cells. We frequently use 50,000 milligrams of vitamin C intravenously over the course of 1 1/2 hours. Some people go up to 75,000 or 100,000. If you’re getting chemotherapy which kills cancer cells then we’ll reduce the vitamin C to 25,000 milligrams intravenously. Here, we’re not trying to kill the cancer cells; we’re trying to keep the body as toxin-free as possible. You have to remember that when you’re doing chemotherapy all these dead cancer cells have to go somewhere; they go into the bloodstream and ultimately through the liver, kidney, lymph filter. Keeping the liver as healthy as possible, as clean as possible, is probably the number one thing you can do for a patient with cancer on chemotherapy. And again, when we do the cancer chemotherapy, we do intravenous vitamin C on the off weeks.
SUZANNE SOMERS: And how are these patients fairing?
MICHAEL GALITZER: They’re feeling good and they are confident. When you have a patient who’s doing chemotherapy and they come into your office and say, I feel great, I think you’ve done an amazing thing. Unfortunately, we are frequently not in consultation with the oncologist and often the patient has elected not to tell their oncologist that they are working with an integrative doctor who is simultaneously building up their body. Hopefully, this will change in the future. A lot of oncologists by the way, especially in the LA area are open to our work and will tell me, ‘whatever you’re doing keep doing it’. Because basically they’re doing their thing, we’re doing our thing, and the patient’s benefiting. The bottom line is everybody wants to help these people. It’s just a lack of awareness and education about how to maximize one's health, whether they’re on chemo or not. We measure vitamin D levels with a blood test. We like to maximize vitamin D levels with cancer patients in the 70 to 80 range. That usually involves at least 6,000 to 10,000 units of vitamin D every day. We want to stimulate their immune systems. Mistletoe, otherwise known as Iscador, is a powerful anti-cancer treatment that builds up your immune system. You know this of course, Suzanne, because you chose Iscador injections to build up your immune system to prevent a cancer recurrence and you have been cancer-free for the past nine years. Its readily available to all patients with cancer in this country and I believe its because of you and all the talk you did about it on television. All the patient’s doctor has to do is fax over a request to either Germany or Switzerland and on that request mention the type and stage of cancer, what kind of therapy they’re presently doing, and the manufacturers will then send a Mistletoe protocol to the patient. There are other ways to build up the immune system; mushrooms such as MGN3 and AHCC activate the natural killer cells which are one of the keys in stimulating the immune system in its effort to destroy the cancer cells.
SUZANNE SOMERS: When you get lab numbers back on natural killer cells where should they be?
MICHAEL GALITZER: Normally they should be where you have gotten your levels, at the high end of the normal range; different labs have different numerical ranges. As for Vitamin D levels in cancer patients, we would ideally like to see them at 70, but they are usually in the 10 to 20 range. On another note, the Germans found that zinc supplements interfere with the treatment of cancer.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Why is that?
MICHAEL GALITZER: Zinc potentiates an already active cancer.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Should no one take zinc?
MICHAEL GALITZER: No. People with cancer should not take zinc. Young healthy people can and should take zinc to help their prostate or to get a healthier testosterone metabolism. Zinc helps sperm motility, when a couple is trying to get pregnant. For healthy people, zinc is very good, but cancer patients should stay away from zinc. These are the latest findings presented at A4M last December. There are many natural treatments we use to support and strengthen the body of the cancer patient. If you’re on chemo, we would add melatonin because melatonin potentiates the chemo and helps people sleep. If you don’t sleep well, it is very difficult to get better, and once you lose the ability to sleep, your health deteriorates. It is so important to allow people to sleep naturally. Melatonin does that.
SUZANNE SOMERS: And what about bioidentical hormones relative to cancer?
MICHAEL GALITZER: Bioidentical hormones are key; not only do estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone improve the symptoms of menopause, and they also have a great stimulating effect on one’s psyche. They give you your zest for life, and frankly, women look better on bioidentical hormones. When you are taking chemotherapy and now you see yourself looking better it’s a huge boost. And, if you can stimulate patients’ sexual response and help them feel more sexual while being treated for cancer, they feel healthier. The more you can show people that they are looking and feeling healthier, the better their outlook; the better their belief systems, the better the prognosis. So bioidentical hormones are very, very important.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Dr. Gonzalez is very keen on using pancreatic enzymes as part of his protocol for cancer treatment.
MICHAEL GALITZER: Yes, Cancer cells have a protective coating, and by giving the patient enzymes, such as WOBENZYME, it lets these enzymes attack the cancer cells and take off that protective coating so that the white blood cells can then zoom in and attack the cancer cells.
SUZANNE SOMERS: I know with a cancer patient on Dr. Gonzalez program they sometimes require 150 or even 300 of these different enzymes daily to do the job but how many would someone like myself who is without cancer take daily?
MICHAEL GALITZER: About 15 enzymes daily; 5 three times a day on an empty stomach will help reduce inflammation in the body.
SUZANNE SOMERS: Why on an empty stomach if you’ve got cancer?
MICHAEL GALITZER: We want the enzymes to eat up the cancer debris. They’re kind of like little Pac Men, they get into the bloodstream and then eat up the debris not only from a healthy person’s normal day but also importantly from a cancer patient who is undergoing chemo or radiation. These therapies will kill many cancer cells. All these dead cells eventually make their way into the bloodstream. So eating up that debris makes it easier on the liver lymph detoxification system.
SUZANNE SOMERS: When I’m at your office and when I run into people who are your patients they just love you. They love your approach to medicine. They love how they feel. It must be rewarding work for you.
MICHAEL GALITZER: Well, I love my patients.. They give me purpose, I want to help my patients and I embrace all challenges. When I was in emergency medicine I loved the challenge in that it was life or death. You had to work on your instincts. You had to think quickly and decisively. In emergency medicine, there’s nothing better than saving somebody’s life. Sick people are similar; huge challenges; it is rewarding to have cancer patients who are receiving chemo and radiation and feeling well. Its about quality of life before, during, and after treatment and that’s what I try to do with this kind of medicine. Whatever choice they make, I must always honor their belief system. This kind of medicine is successful, and the more that people realize that it is available now, the more will be willing to take advantage of the breakthroughs being made. They’re going to read your book. They’re going to read about these other doctors in the book, and the success stories of their patients.
SUZANNE SOMERS: My choice to go alternative in every facet of my health has been empowering. I feel I am in control of my health and that I can control or manage disease through my understanding of nutrition, detoxification, and supplementation. I’ve never felt better, and I like working with you as my doctor because of our back and forth communication. You never talk at me, you educate me, and it’s made me a better patient and as a result, I take better care of myself. In fact, I honor my health.
MICHAEL GALITZER: You’re the model patient. You’re excited, you’re interested, you look up things, you email me, you call, you read, you want to know more. You’re a unique person and because you are so passionate about it, is the reason that you’re feeling so great and healthy, In fact, I’ve never met anybody that’s more into this kind of medicine and health than you.
SUZANNE SOMERS: When I wake up feeling this great every day and every day is a good one, why wouldn’t I do it? And I don’t find it difficult, I find it easy, I find the food I eat to be delicious and nutritious. I have no interest in bad food or chemical foods, and I have very little interest in sugar anymore, the cravings are gone… It’s just not in my system. And I sleep. I always feel happy and connected. This is the greatest thing I’ve ever done for myself and I love having you as my doctor.
MICHAEL GALITZER: I love that you are my friend. It’s been wonderful taking you on this ride for the last five years.
SUZANNE SOMERS: I look forward to many more years together. Thank you for all this great information.
MICHAEL GALITZER: Always my pleasure.