A New Paradigm for Cancer Metabolism based on Deuterium with Stephanie Seneff, BS, MS, EE, PhD
It has become widely accepted that cancerous tissues adopt a deranged metabolic policy according to the Warburg or reverse Warburg effect, favoring aerobic glycolysis over oxidative phosphorylation to supply ATP. Beyond this, cancer cells also often upregulate a number of enzymes related to the inflammatory response, including NADPH oxidase (NOX), lipoxygenase and heme oxygenase, among others. What has not been clear is why. In this presentation, I will argue that cells evolve into tumor cells under conditions where their mitochondria are overloaded with deuterium and that their unusual metabolic activities promote recovery.
Deuterium is a natural heavy isoform of hydrogen, present at 155 parts per million in seawater. Deuterium disrupts the mitochondrial ATPase pumps, causing impaired ATP synthesis along with the release of damaging reactive oxygen species. Many if not most of the enzymes that are localized to the mitochondria are involved in one way or another in maintaining a steady supply of deuterium-depleted protons to the intermembrane space. In particular, a large class of enzymes called flavoproteins are able to select for hydrogen over deuterium by exploiting proton tunneling.
My research on the mechanism of toxicity of the pervasive herbicide glyphosate predicts that glyphosate would severely disrupt flavoproteins, by displacing one or more glycine residues at the flavin-binding site. There has been an alarming rise in the prevalence of several types of cancer, such as pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer, breast cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in step with the rise in glyphosate usage on core crops.
I also theorize that the extracellular matrix plays a significant role in deuterium homeostasis, by preferentially trapping deuterons and releasing protons from the matrix gel. Deuterons form tighter covalent bonds, and protons, being lighter, are more mobile. Sulfate is essential for maintenance of the gel, and so sulfate deficiency will necessarily weaken the ability of the glycocalyx to fractionate deuterium in this way. Glyphosate is predicted to interfere with the supply of sulfate to the tissues, through multiple mechanisms.
Cancer cells adopt an extraordinary strategy for repairing their mitochondria, which involves creating a reservoir of deuterium depleted water in the external environment, and then using macropinocytosis to imbibe the beneficial water and deliver it to the mitochondria. It is when cancer cells are unable to restore deuterium homeostasis that cancer progresses. Furthermore, macrophages invade the tumor milieu and also partake of the deuterium-depleted water the cancer cells have produced while healing their own mitochondria and restoring immune health.
Some of the new natural therapies that are becoming popular for cancer treatment are beneficial in helping to solve the deuterium overload problem. This includes of course deuterium-depleted water (DDW), but also a ketogenic diet and hydrogen water. Fats are naturally low in deuterium, and animal fats like grass-fed butter and organic lard are especially low. The hydrogen gas in hydrogen water is also deuterium depleted because hydrogen is much more likely to enter the gas phase than deuterium.
Learning Objectives
Deuterium is pervasive in our environment, and excess deuterium in the mitochondria disrupts ATP synthesis and increases reactive oxygen species.
Eukaryotic cells work very hard to keep deuterium levels low in the mitochondria. Toxic environmental chemicals, especially glyphosate, disrupt this process.
Cancer develops when mitochodnria are overloaded with deuterium
The Warburg effect (aerobic glycolysis) is part of a strategy used by cancer cells to restore health to the mitochondria. Other markers associated with cancer are well motivated by deuterium dysbiosis.
Ketogenic diet, hydrogen water, deuterium-depleted water, organic diet, and high-sulfur diet are possible strategies to improve deuterium homeostasis and treat cancer.
It has become widely accepted that cancerous tissues adopt a deranged metabolic policy according to the Warburg or reverse Warburg effect, favoring aerobic glycolysis over oxidative phosphorylation to supply ATP. Beyond this, cancer cells also often upregulate a number of enzymes related to the inflammatory response, including NADPH oxidase (NOX), lipoxygenase and heme oxygenase, among others. What has not been clear is why. In this presentation, I will argue that cells evolve into tumor cells under conditions where their mitochondria are overloaded with deuterium and that their unusual metabolic activities promote recovery.
Deuterium is a natural heavy isoform of hydrogen, present at 155 parts per million in seawater. Deuterium disrupts the mitochondrial ATPase pumps, causing impaired ATP synthesis along with the release of damaging reactive oxygen species. Many if not most of the enzymes that are localized to the mitochondria are involved in one way or another in maintaining a steady supply of deuterium-depleted protons to the intermembrane space. In particular, a large class of enzymes called flavoproteins are able to select for hydrogen over deuterium by exploiting proton tunneling.
My research on the mechanism of toxicity of the pervasive herbicide glyphosate predicts that glyphosate would severely disrupt flavoproteins, by displacing one or more glycine residues at the flavin-binding site. There has been an alarming rise in the prevalence of several types of cancer, such as pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer, breast cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in step with the rise in glyphosate usage on core crops.
I also theorize that the extracellular matrix plays a significant role in deuterium homeostasis, by preferentially trapping deuterons and releasing protons from the matrix gel. Deuterons form tighter covalent bonds, and protons, being lighter, are more mobile. Sulfate is essential for maintenance of the gel, and so sulfate deficiency will necessarily weaken the ability of the glycocalyx to fractionate deuterium in this way. Glyphosate is predicted to interfere with the supply of sulfate to the tissues, through multiple mechanisms.
Cancer cells adopt an extraordinary strategy for repairing their mitochondria, which involves creating a reservoir of deuterium depleted water in the external environment, and then using macropinocytosis to imbibe the beneficial water and deliver it to the mitochondria. It is when cancer cells are unable to restore deuterium homeostasis that cancer progresses. Furthermore, macrophages invade the tumor milieu and also partake of the deuterium-depleted water the cancer cells have produced while healing their own mitochondria and restoring immune health.
Some of the new natural therapies that are becoming popular for cancer treatment are beneficial in helping to solve the deuterium overload problem. This includes of course deuterium-depleted water (DDW), but also a ketogenic diet and hydrogen water. Fats are naturally low in deuterium, and animal fats like grass-fed butter and organic lard are especially low. The hydrogen gas in hydrogen water is also deuterium depleted because hydrogen is much more likely to enter the gas phase than deuterium.
Learning Objectives
Deuterium is pervasive in our environment, and excess deuterium in the mitochondria disrupts ATP synthesis and increases reactive oxygen species.
Eukaryotic cells work very hard to keep deuterium levels low in the mitochondria. Toxic environmental chemicals, especially glyphosate, disrupt this process.
Cancer develops when mitochodnria are overloaded with deuterium
The Warburg effect (aerobic glycolysis) is part of a strategy used by cancer cells to restore health to the mitochondria. Other markers associated with cancer are well motivated by deuterium dysbiosis.
Ketogenic diet, hydrogen water, deuterium-depleted water, organic diet, and high-sulfur diet are possible strategies to improve deuterium homeostasis and treat cancer.
It has become widely accepted that cancerous tissues adopt a deranged metabolic policy according to the Warburg or reverse Warburg effect, favoring aerobic glycolysis over oxidative phosphorylation to supply ATP. Beyond this, cancer cells also often upregulate a number of enzymes related to the inflammatory response, including NADPH oxidase (NOX), lipoxygenase and heme oxygenase, among others. What has not been clear is why. In this presentation, I will argue that cells evolve into tumor cells under conditions where their mitochondria are overloaded with deuterium and that their unusual metabolic activities promote recovery.
Deuterium is a natural heavy isoform of hydrogen, present at 155 parts per million in seawater. Deuterium disrupts the mitochondrial ATPase pumps, causing impaired ATP synthesis along with the release of damaging reactive oxygen species. Many if not most of the enzymes that are localized to the mitochondria are involved in one way or another in maintaining a steady supply of deuterium-depleted protons to the intermembrane space. In particular, a large class of enzymes called flavoproteins are able to select for hydrogen over deuterium by exploiting proton tunneling.
My research on the mechanism of toxicity of the pervasive herbicide glyphosate predicts that glyphosate would severely disrupt flavoproteins, by displacing one or more glycine residues at the flavin-binding site. There has been an alarming rise in the prevalence of several types of cancer, such as pancreatic cancer, thyroid cancer, breast cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, in step with the rise in glyphosate usage on core crops.
I also theorize that the extracellular matrix plays a significant role in deuterium homeostasis, by preferentially trapping deuterons and releasing protons from the matrix gel. Deuterons form tighter covalent bonds, and protons, being lighter, are more mobile. Sulfate is essential for maintenance of the gel, and so sulfate deficiency will necessarily weaken the ability of the glycocalyx to fractionate deuterium in this way. Glyphosate is predicted to interfere with the supply of sulfate to the tissues, through multiple mechanisms.
Cancer cells adopt an extraordinary strategy for repairing their mitochondria, which involves creating a reservoir of deuterium depleted water in the external environment, and then using macropinocytosis to imbibe the beneficial water and deliver it to the mitochondria. It is when cancer cells are unable to restore deuterium homeostasis that cancer progresses. Furthermore, macrophages invade the tumor milieu and also partake of the deuterium-depleted water the cancer cells have produced while healing their own mitochondria and restoring immune health.
Some of the new natural therapies that are becoming popular for cancer treatment are beneficial in helping to solve the deuterium overload problem. This includes of course deuterium-depleted water (DDW), but also a ketogenic diet and hydrogen water. Fats are naturally low in deuterium, and animal fats like grass-fed butter and organic lard are especially low. The hydrogen gas in hydrogen water is also deuterium depleted because hydrogen is much more likely to enter the gas phase than deuterium.
Learning Objectives
Deuterium is pervasive in our environment, and excess deuterium in the mitochondria disrupts ATP synthesis and increases reactive oxygen species.
Eukaryotic cells work very hard to keep deuterium levels low in the mitochondria. Toxic environmental chemicals, especially glyphosate, disrupt this process.
Cancer develops when mitochodnria are overloaded with deuterium
The Warburg effect (aerobic glycolysis) is part of a strategy used by cancer cells to restore health to the mitochondria. Other markers associated with cancer are well motivated by deuterium dysbiosis.
Ketogenic diet, hydrogen water, deuterium-depleted water, organic diet, and high-sulfur diet are possible strategies to improve deuterium homeostasis and treat cancer.