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Your Daily Dose — LYMPHOCYTES TO FIGHT CANCER. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
Whenever you've gotten your blood work done, and somebody does a CBC with differential. Did you ever look at it? Did you ever look at the description that said neutrophils, this number, lymphocytes, this number. We're going to highlight lymphocytes today. That's the second most prevalent form of white blood cells. And we're going to call these the cancer fighters. We're going to find out a little bit more about them and how you can boost those. Stay tuned. Hi, and welcome to Health Talk with Dr. Len, your daily dose. The information you hear on the show is informational. It's not meant to diagnose or treat any disease. Any kind of complete health conditions must be checked out and discussed with your primary care physician. Get ready for the good news of the day. God bless you folks, and here is Dr. Len. Our daily devotional today for March 11th, 2026. The book of 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, walk by faith, not by sight.
As you take steps of faith, depending on me, I will show you how much I can do for you. If you live your life too safely, you will never know the thrill of seeing me work through you. When I gave you my spirit, I empowered you to live beyond your natural ability and strength. That's why it's so wrong to measure your energy level against the challenges ahead of you. The issue is not strength but mine, which is limitless. By walking close to me, you can accomplish my purpose in my strength. Stay tuned.
727-916-422 While cancer is a dysfunction of our immune system's ability to recognize and control certain cells, simple daily habits can strengthen and support it. Lymphocytes, the cancer fighters we may be overlooking. For decades, cancer has been seen as a silent invader, an external force waiting to strike without warning. Treatments were framed as weapons of war and our body became the battleground.
However, cancer is not an external threat but a dysfunction of our own cells, our immune system's ability to recognize and control them. In recent years, cancer treatment has increasingly shifted toward harnessing the immune system with lymphocytes emerging as the key. These specialized cells are the body's cancer killers. Not only can they be tracked and measured, but simple daily habits can strengthen and support them. There are three main types of lymphocytes. B cells produced antibodies to fight infections and attack invaders such as viruses and bacteria. T cells, which attack cells in our body that have been infected by viruses, or have become cancerous. And natural killer cells are NK cells, which are the body's first line of defense. NK cells act quickly to identify and destroy cells infected with viruses and those with early signs of cancer. And are crucial to the innate immune system's defense against threats such as infections and tumors. Natural killer cells do not rely on having encountered a path in general harmful cell before,
and destroy potential threats with that prior exposure. Together, lymphocytes to the body's primary cancer killing mechanism. Among the cells able to kill cancer cells, the most important ones are lymphocytes, said Dr. Luis Ignacio Gonzales, a researcher in clinical immunology, specializing in primary immunodeficiencies. Immune cells are like the body's security system and in order for them to attack cancer, three things need to happen. First, they have to clearly recognize that the cancer cells look abnormal. If the tumor looks too much like normal tissue, they ignore it. Second, for a T cell to become fully activated, it needs to receive two signals, antigen recognition signals and co-stimulatory signals. These two signals serve as safety mechanisms to prevent the body from accidentally attacking its own tissue. Cancer takes advantage of this by using the immune system's off switch, a checkpoint. When the off switch is activated, the immune system is told to stand down and tolerate the cancer rather than kill it.
The process is called teliorogenesis. Even though the body detects cancer, it chooses tolerance over attack because it's trying to avoid harming the body. Third, the tumor microenvironment can weaken or exhaust immune cells, preventing them from functioning properly. This environment can induce chronic inflammation, recruits suppressor cells such as regulatory T cells, and release inhibitory cytokines that signal to dampen the immune response. An effective lymphocyte is one that recognizes a truly abnormal antigen. There are two broad philosophies for treating cancer, each fundamentally different in its approach. Generally speaking, conventional treatments include surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, cut and paste. The primary goal is to induce damage into the tumor and the tissue directly. As collateral damage, they often eliminate lymphocytes leading to temporary immune suppression.
The immunotherapy takes the opposite approach rather than attacking the tumor directly. It works to restore or enhance the immune system's own ability to recognize and destroy cancer cells with lymphocytes at the center of that effort. Both strategies are increasingly combined using conventional treatments to reduce tumor burden and immunotherapy to maintain long-term immune control. Lymphocytes are critical in cancer care. One of the keys to a cancer patient's survival is maintaining their lymphocytes at Dr. Steve Wallace, a doctor of naturopathic medicine with clinical focus on integrative cancer care. Specifically, he highlights the neutrophils to lymphocyte ratio, a figure derived from a standard blood test as a predictor both overall and progression-free survival. He describes it in detail in his book when oranges become apples. Neutrophils are the most abundant immune cells in the first to respond to infection and injury. In cancer patients, Wallace has frequently observed neutrophil cats rising, largely driven by inflammation.
The lymphocytes levels fall, left unaddressed and in balance as serious consequences. Trying to get inflammation fuels cancer by damaging DNA, accelerating tumor growth and adding petastasis by releasing cytokines and growth factors. So how do you support your lymphocytes? For cancer patients, Wallace recommends several treatments, supplements, lifestyle habits, which include intravenous vitamin C. I say you can use buffered vitamin C orally. Vitamin D3, probiotics, anti-inflammatory diet, fasting, especially during chemo, zinc, a straggolus, and racing. For the rest of us, consistent daily habits make a meaningful difference. Get enough sleep. Regular as sufficient sleep is absolutely critical from immunity, especially for lymphocyte production distribution and function. Sleep promotes the production of immune cells, including lymphocytes, and reduces stress for months, such as cortisol, which inhibits T cell function. So again, keeping cortisol in line. Sleep, especially consistency, is massive to the immune system.
Regulate stress. That's an easy one to say. High cortisol levels diminish the total amount of white blood cells. Get sunlight exposure. Regular sunlight also plays a vital role in lymphocyte health. Get regular exercise, eat well, and supplement. Diet supplementation run out the picture. The micronutrients necessary for lymphocyte development and function include vitamin A, C, D, E, and B. Iron, selenium, and zinc. It can be obtained from a variety rich diet, rich in vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Rollus emphasizes the role of zinc, and it will bust a immune system in the importance of increasing consumption, especially in cancer treatment. It's hard to absorb more than 25 milligrams of zinc per oral dose, so we sometimes have to dose it more frequently. Vitamin D3 is another supplement vital for supporting lymphocyte health. The gut health also matters. Roughly 78% of the body's total of immune cells rely, recited and gutted. Maleficites only one aspect of the infinitely complex landscape of cancer treatment. They're critical to a healthy robust immune system that's able to identify and destroy cancer cells.
I like immune glandular. It has a thymus extract in it. I like buffered vitamin C. I like immunomax. I like GI complete. Put that all together. You bundle it, you do it, and it does it properly. You can make a big difference in a person's life. That's what I got for you today folks. You can find all those products that we talk about on nutritionalfrontiers.com, nutritionalfrontiers.com. Have a great healthy day. I'll see you back here soon. Take care.
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