All things being equal, as we often say, the curtain should fall on this subject today, for a while. We are conversing again because some doctors do not see cure guarantees in professor Kingsley Ekwueme’s efforts to cure prostate cancer with laparascopic keyhole camera surgery. Last month, this column exclusively reported the first of such hi-technology surgeries in Nigeria by professor Ekwueme from London. Afterwards, he went back to London, promising to return this month for 50 or more such surgeries. There were prospects that this type of surgery, done in only 150 minutes, with no damage to nerves or erectile function and in which the patient can leave hospital on the same day, will grow in number as more prostate cancer patients regain their lives through it bearing encouraging testimonies.
Some Nigerian doctors who read of that first surgery in this column told me they did not believe the technology could cure cancer that have spread or metastasised, to other parts of the body. I communicated to Professor Ekwueme their doubts and my beliefs, as a lay person in cancer surgery cures. These beliefs are founded on the understanding that, if the head and body of a cancer are killed,but the roots survive, it may regrow even more vengefully.
Prof Ekwueme admitted fears were founded where the cancer had spread. However, he said that, even then, the technology was on the trail of this complication and, sometimes, subdued it.
As a lay person on this technological battle field with cancer, I have no reason to discard any thought on this matter, firmly standing, as I do, on the reasoning of alternative medicine, some of which I mentioned in the last column. As a reminder of that reasoning, I said any cancer has many possible causes and that, in prostate cancer, the culprits may include but were not limited to….de oxygenation, congestion, free radical damage and antioxidant deficiency, flat worms and other worms infestation, heavy metal toxicity( especially of lead, Mercury, cadmium, nickel etc), leaky intestine or leaky gut syndrome, bacteria, viral and fungal infections, zinc and other nutritional deficiencies, and elevation of five-Alpha Reductase(an enzyme), Colon congestion etc. Alternative medicine believes that every disease has a root cause or root causes and that the cure of disease, therefore, is not achieved by eliminating the flowering and fruiting parts, the symptoms. This is like cutting the aerial parts of a flourishing field of stubborn grass and leaving the roots in the soil. It would in time regrow. This explains why uterine fibroids and even cancers surgically removed regrow, and why surgical removal of one cancerous breast does not prevent the other breast from later becoming cancerous as well .
Nigerian testimonies
We do not have many public testimonials as yet that laparascopic key hole camera surgery is a masterstroke conqueror of prostate cancer. Many beneficiaries believe that sharing their experience to create awareness of it, to give hope to fellow challenged persons, is like washing their dirty health linen in public. Many women would appear to have benefitted from this technology for uterine fibroids. About two or three years ago, a natural medicine and agriculture – inclined multi level marketing company called Leimall came to Nigeria from Israel and was flying in Indian surgeons to perform laparascopic key hole camera uterine fibroids surgery. Uterine fibroids have grown into epidemic proportions among Nigerian women, and become a huge market for possible recipes. Some women patronise leimall. But it has not been possible to determine what came out of it. I found illogical and, therefore, unbelievable the story of one of the marketers who was trying to invite me to endorse Leimall. She said a large mass of tissue was brought out of the womb of a woman. I wondered how a large mass could be brought up and out through a tiny hole. Even the marketer could not explain how. So, I walked out of the subject for want of conviction . My temperament could not stand such information, moreso in an unregulated environment. It is still unclear if these surgeries succeeded or if the uterine fibroids regrew, largely on account of poor record keeping and record tracking, not to mention the culture of silence among patients. But thanks to Nobel prize laurette Professor Woke Soyinka and Dr Kunle Okupe, whose testimonies are still hope building for prostate cancer challenged men who look up to laparascopic keyhole camera surgery for a cure.
Doubts
The Nigerian doctors who expressed doubts are, like professor Ekwueme, reputable physicians. I have been acquainted with one of them since about 1995. He practises Complementary medicine. He sent me the following to express his fears:
“My dear Dr. Femi Kusa, I feel led to send you my “insignificant comment” on this post that you shared with me (and I believe with some others).
While I thank God for what these specialists, consultants, and all big names in Medicine are able to do, I am no longer ever carried away by such write ups.
And for that reason, I couldn’t even read upto half of this epistle let alone even finish it.
Questions are:
1. after such fine surgery that often cost so much, how many of the patients survive beyond a few years?
2. does this kind of hi-tech surgery take care of things like widespread metastasis especially to the bones , liver and lungs?
It’s not just about removing a small localised cancer with hi-tech surgery and people start making announcements of curing prostate cancer. Does it help a man in stage 4 cancer, when most of them come?
Right now one of my most recent three prostate cancer cases with severe bone metstasis had received such hi-tech (key-hole) prostate surgery two years ago. Today, we are managing him for wide spread bone metstasis; he started consulting with us four days ago, after spending almost all his living in the care of well publicised specialists.
May God help all of us.
Regards.”
I summarised it in the following message to Professor Ekwueme:
“Dear Professor Ekwueme, thank you most sincerely for acknowleding my publication of your prostate cancer cure hope for Nigerians through laparoscopic key hole camera surgery.
I am a journalist intensely passionate about health and non or list invasive methods of rebalancing health when it fails. So, I couldn’t have treated your offer to Nigerians with attention lesser than it deserved.
Congratulations, Sir.
Irrespective of the prospects of this method of surgery making prostate cancer surgery safer, less traumatic and possibly cheaper, I have some questions which I raised in the second part of the series of publication on your intervention in Nigeria. Basic to these questions is the fact that every disease had an orign or a multiplicity of origns or roots. We have found that where surgery does not address these origns or roots causes, the disease may flare again, sometimes more devastatingly. About one year ago, one of my older friends at first went through surgery to remove his testes because his doctors said his bleeding prostate cancer was fuelled by his male sexual hormones. His pain and bleeding subsided for a while. When the prostate cancer flared again, he went in for surgery on the gland. A short while later, he departed.
Some of the doctors in Lagos who read the column expressed misgivings about the capacity of laparoscopic keyhole camera surgery to cure prostate cancer, especially where it has overgrowñ his bounds and impacted through metastasis, other tissues and organs.
In the final column on this series, I intend to give them the opportunity to express their opinion, and wonder if you would like to make any contributions in respect of these fears and the earlier one I raised regarding root causes of prostate cancer. With the best wishes for your health and work…Femi Kusa….www.olufemikusa.com”.
Professor Ekwueme replied the mail:
“Dear Mr Kusa,
Good to hear from you
Sorry for delayed response. I have been busy operating.
I am sorry to read of your friend who sadly passed following prostate cancer treatment. – To answer your questions:-
– Yes I agree with your reasoning that tackling the origin of cancer might offer cure to it. Indeed this is subject to various researches looking to target cancers at various levels and pathways. But prostate cancer ‘origin’ remains enigmatic but we know of the risk factors.
– With regards to prostate cancer, unfortunately when it has spread, then cure cannot be achieved but control can. In the case of your older friend, the fact that testicle removal (orchidectomy) was offered to him would suggest to me that his cancer had spread beyond cure (metastatic). This is because, orchidectomy is only indicated in cases of metastatic prostate cancer. In contemporary times, surgical removal of the testes is not routinely performed as we now have injections that can achieve same result. This is called medical castration.
– That said, my ambition for coming back home is that no man should have metastatic prostate cancer at all. That is why I have been alerting Nigerians at every lecture that I have been opportuned to give to the benefit of early prostate cancer detection. In the UK, the vast majority of prostate cancers (>80%) are detected early . But in Nigeria, the reverse is the case. this is an urgent problem and one that I have dedicated my life to do.
– Unfortunately, once prostate cancer spreads, although we now have more ammunition to fight it, control is very expensive and ultimately would fail over time. It is, therefore, much cheaper to detect it early and cure it. This is why I need you to help with spreading this information. So I thank you so much for the passion for health that you have.
In your email, you also mentioned some doctors who have contacted you in Lagos with reservations on the capacity of laparoscopic surgery when the cancer has ‘overgrown’ and metastasised.
– Well, I think I have partly addressed this already above. But the question should not even arise as surgery is no longer indicated once the cancer has spread. This is the current practice. However, We are currently conducting research in UK to find out if some men whose cancer has spread will benefit from surgical removal of their prostate. This would be a game-changer for men in this situation and we are currently halfway in this research. I will revert in the future once we have concluded.
I hope this explains your questions.
Thanks again
Kind Regards”.
New Surgeries
All other things being equal, as I said earlier, the curtain should fall on this subject for a while, while we await the return of Professor Ekwueme for 50 cases of surgeries on his bill.
Slumber…On African Traditional Medicine Day. By Femi Kusa
This is the second and bottom article for Femi Kusa’s column for Thursday 07/09/2023. Please publish with own headline under the top article which is on Prof Utomi and Prof Ekwueme
Why did most of us literally fall asleep on August 31,2023? I am addressing all of us lovers of Nigerian Traditional Medicine (NTM) , whether we are teachers of traditional medicine, researchers, practitioners , backyard garden or plantation herb growers, health food shop owners, manufacturers and…who else? For August 31, 2023 was yet another African Traditional Medicine (ATM) day, which the entire world celebrated with us. Yet no leaf appeared to shake in the Nigerian forest, and no trumpet sounded in town.
On VOA Africa that day, I heard the story of a Kenyan woman told by herself. Before she became a practitioner, she suffered from endometriosis and pain during menstration. No pharmaceutical medicine helped her. She recovered through the bark of a plant an old woman gave to her. I wondered how many persons listened to her and would like to research this bark and even turn it into a plant medicine from the heart of Africa for the rest of the world.
Ahead of August 31, 2023 ATM Day, the world health organisation (WHO) on 17 and 18 August 2023 supported ATM with a summit in Gand Hinagar, Gujarat, India, home of ayurvedic medicine(Indian Traditional Medicine) .
In Lagos on August 31, 2023, eminent researchers gathered at the pharmacognosy department of the faculty of pharmacy of the University of Lagos. The outcome, in my humble view , was that the eminent gathering of academic bigwigs and the outpouring of intellectual prowess did not celebrate NTM. What could have, would have been the launch of doctor prescribed plant medicines , not just herbal teas and slimming pills about which even the public knows little or nothing about. Forgive me if Iam somewhat hard. It was in this department decades ago that JOBELYN , then known as JUBI BLOOD FORMULA , was researched , cut its teeth and grew wings to fly around the world.
Thus, I expected to hear of gigantic new strides. This thought led me again to jobelyn this week and to what has been happening to this herbal blood formular which , arguably ,is the most researched and most marketed Nigerian plant medicine at home and abroad.
JOBELYN
I found that, beyond studies on how it helps anaemia in all anaemia -related conditions, used as an Energiser, antioxidant, immune booster, well being in psychiatric conditions, HIV-AIDS, cancer and more, there is an ongoing effort to robe it as anti-diabetic. But this effort, like those to show that it can be of some value in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s therapies, is still limited and requires more work to present it as a definitive anti diabetic formula. For the benefit of whoever may wish to try it out, that work is presented below…
Case note for Diabetes Patient
“Title: patient ABC XYZ Journey with Diabetes and the Remarkable Impact of Jobelyn Extract
Introduction:
In this blog post, we will explore the history and treatment of patient ABC XYZ diabetes, as well as the significant role played by Jobelyn extract in managing his condition. We will delve into the data showcasing the improvements in his blood sugar levels and the subsequent successful eye surgeries he underwent. Finally, we will discuss the efficacy of Jobelyn extract as a stand alone treatment option for diabetes.
History of patient ABC XYZ Diabetes:
Patient ABC XYZ was diagnosed with diabetes in March 2015. He had been managing his condition by taking a daily dosage of Metformin and Daonil, two commonly prescribed medications for diabetes.
Concerns and Eye Condition:
In April 2022, patient ABC XYZreported a deterioration in his eye condition, necessitating corrective eye surgery. However, as a diabetic patient, this presented a challenge as his blood sugar levels were high, posing a risk of delayed healing and potentially worsening his eye condition.
Pre-Jobelyn Treatment Data:
At this point, patient ABC XYZ’s fasting blood sugar level was 168 mg/dL, while his post-meal blood sugar levels ranged from 170-175 mg/dL. The data collected over a period showed consistently high blood sugar readings.
Introduction of Jobelyn:
To address patient ABC XYZ’selevated blood sugar levels, he was prescribed Jobelyn (250mg). The recommended dosage was three capsules, three times daily. The immediate effect of Jobelyn was evident in his blood sugar readings after the first week.
Post-Jobelyn Treatment Data:
Over the course of several weeks, patient ABC XYZ’S blood sugar levels showed a significant improvement. The readings gradually decreased, indicating the effectiveness of Jobelyn in reducing his blood sugar to a normal range.
Successful Eye Surgeries:
As a result of the improved blood sugar control, patient ABC XYZ successfully underwent eye surgeries in June and November 2022 for his left and right eyes, respectively. He reported a substantial improvement in his vision following the surgeries.
Continued Treatment with Jobelyn:
Patient ABC XYZ has been consistently taking Jobelyn since then, and his blood sugar readings have remained within the normal range. Encouraged by these results, he recently started taking a high-grade Jobelyn extract, which further improved his blood sugar levels.
High-Grade Jobelyn Extract and Blood Sugar Readings:
The data collected while patient ABC XYZ was taking the high-grade Jobelyn extract alongside Metformin and Daonil showcased outstanding blood sugar readings. His levels resembled those of a person without diabetes.
Jobelyn as a Standalone Treatment:
To further evaluate the efficacy of Jobelyn, patient ABC XYZ suspended the use of Metformin and Daonil and continued with a daily dose of the Jobelyn extract alone. Although there was a slight increase in his blood sugar levels, it remained significantly improved compared to when he was only taking Metformin and Daonil.
Conclusion:
The data collected over three weeks of using Jobelyn extract alone demonstrated that patient ABC XYZ was able to maintain normal blood sugar levels ranging from 127-133 mg/dL. This suggests that Jobelyn extract can effectively regulate blood sugar without the need for other conventional medications. The remarkable improvements in patient ABC XYZ’S condition highlight the potential of Jobelyn as a valuable treatment option for diabetes.
Disclaimer: It is important to consult with a healthcare professional before making any changes to your diabetes treatment plan”.
