Types of Cancer Acupuncture Alternative Cancer Therapies Overview

Guide 4 Alternative Cancer Therapies Overview

One of the reasons for my commitment to expanding the Cancer Recovery Foundation globally is to educate people about the fact that a wide variety of excellent anticancer therapies do exist, albeit not yet in Western medicine.

• This book is limited to helping people put in place an integrated cancer care program. Typically, that includes conventional medical care such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and/or hormone therapy.
• Other treatments simply cannot be covered within the scope of this book.

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• Yet they need exposure, too, especially for people who have had disappointment after disappointment with conventional medical options. What follows is a partial list of the alternative treatments that I know, firsthand, have effectively helped people with cancer extend life and improve quality of life. I offer this list without evaluation or endorsement.
• A simple Google search will yield information for your consideration.

• Three stand out as holding exceptional promise for wide-scale use. Antineoplastons seem especially promising for brain tumors. Iscador, widely used with much success in Germany, is plant-based and actually derived from mistletoe.
• Plus hyperthermia, or heat therapy. It is time, past time, that these three treatments are routinely integrated into conventional oncology care globally.
• My aim here is to communicate to you a simple awareness that many other treatments exist. Many of these are superior to the conventional cancer treatments offered in North America and much of the world where Western medical practices are prominent.

Ayurveda

• Ayurveda is a holistic system of medicine from India. Its aim is to provide guidance regarding food and lifestyle so that healthy people can stay healthy and people with health challenges can improve their health.
• Its recommendations will often be different for each person regarding which foods and which lifestyle they should follow. Ayurveda treatments are validated by observation, inquiry, direct examination, and knowledge derived from ancient texts.
• The discipline believes that there are forces of energy that influence nature and human beings. These forces are called the Tridoshas.
• Because Ayurveda sees a strong connection between the mind and the body, much emphasis is placed on this aspect of health and healing.

If you are interested in understanding this modality and its potential application to your illness and treatment plan.

Homeopathy

• Homeopathy administers prescriptive symptom-like medications, usually in low potencies. This triggers the body’s own ability to combat illness and disease.
• Today, homeopathy is increasingly associated with fractionated dose chemotherapy where the physician monitors the results of a dilute-potency treatment before prescribing anything further. This results in minimizing side effects generally associated with cytotoxic drugs.
• If you are interested in understanding this modality and its potential application to your illness and treatment plan.

Naturopathic Medicine

• Naturopathic medicine is a part of healthcare emphasizing illness prevention, treatment, and the promotion of optimal health through the use of therapeutic methods and modalities that encourage the self-healing process.
• The naturopathic practice blends centuries-old knowledge of natural, non-toxic therapies with current advances in the understanding of health.
• Naturopathic diagnosis and therapeutics incorporate both traditional approaches and, increasingly, therapies supported by scientific research drawn from peer-reviewed journals from many disciplines, including naturopathic medicine, conventional medicine, European complementary medicine, clinical nutrition, phytotherapy, pharmacognosy, homeopathy, psychology, spirituality. Clinical research into natural therapies has become an increasingly important focus for naturopathic physicians.

Naturopathic Medicine:

• Acknowledges the healing power of nature.
• Emphasizes disease prevention and encourages building health by assessing health risk factors and hereditary susceptibility to disease and making appropriate interventions to prevent illness.
• Identifies, treats, and removes the underlying causes of illness, rather than suppresses symptoms.
• Adheres to the dictum “First, do no harm.” Utilizes methods and substances that minimize the risk of harmful side effects.
• Avoids, when possible, the harmful suppression of symptoms. Employs the least force necessary to diagnose and treat illness.
• Acknowledges the role of the doctor as a teacher to educate patients and encourage self-responsibility for health. Also honors the therapeutic value inherent in the doctor/patient relationship. Treats the whole person.
• Naturopathic medical care can be utilized to help maintain the physical well-being of patients going through the various stages of cancer treatment.

This includes both before and after chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Naturopathic medicine has been shown to alleviate the symptoms or negative side effects that often follow cancer treatment.

• For patients who choose to explore targeted naturopathic cancer treatments, individualized programs are available.
• People who are in remission or cancer-free and would like to improve their overall health and well-being can also benefit from naturopathic medical approaches.
• Facilitating detoxification while supporting health and immune function is an important cornerstone in naturopathic cancer care.
• A naturopath may also employ the therapeutic application of air, water, heat, cold, sound, light, and the physical modalities of electrotherapy, diathermy, ultrasound, hydrotherapy, hyperthermia, therapeutic exercise, and naturopathic manipulative therapy.

This may be accomplished by specific therapies including:

• Intravenous vitamin C
• Intravenous glutathione
• Intravenous hydrogen peroxide
• Hyperthermia
• Chelation therapy
• Neural therapy
• Ozone therapy
• Colonics
• Constitutional hydrotherapy
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy

In order to practice these specialized procedures, a naturopathic physician must undergo advanced training.

• Look especially for a Naturopathic Doctor (N.D.) with a degree from Bastyr University, the most-esteemed naturopathic medical school in the world.
• If you are interested in understanding this approach to health and healing and its potential application to your illness and treatment plan.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners use methods such as acupuncture, herbal formulas, diet and lifestyle counseling, and massage, as well as exercises such as tai chi and qigong to restore the flow of qi, vital energy, and the balance of yin and yang to the body.

• TCM diagnosis is based on examination of the pulse and tongue as well as observation and extensive question-asking. TCM views health as a state of harmony and balance between mind, body, and spirit.
• Chinese medicine developed from tribal roots. By 200 BC, traditional Chinese medicine was firmly established.
• Even though they did not understand the body in the way that modern medicine does, ancient Chinese physicians recognized that the body provides sensitive signals about health and the nature of illness.
• These signals are perceived as symptoms such as abnormal temperature sensations, altered thirst, increases or decreases in appetite, and changes in emotional states.
• ATCM examination is thorough and noninvasive. The practitioner will take a careful family and personal medical history, noting your body’s reaction to stress and stimuli such as heat and cold.
• They will observe the color and form of your face and body, note the condition of your skin and nails, look at your posture, and even listen to the sound of your voice. The condition of your tongue, including its shape, color, and coating, also provides important data on the way your circulation and metabolism are affecting your internal organs.
• Your pulse will be felt at three different points on each wrist, each location corresponding, in TCM theory, to a different part of the body.
• Considered together, this information gives the practitioner a sense of your body’s current functioning.

Acupuncture

We previously introduced acupuncture. It is a branch and central practice of traditional Chinese medicine. The key to understanding this acupuncture treatment is in the qi, the rivers of energy that flow through the body to nourish organs and tissues.

• There are fourteen major acupuncture meridians, and each of these is believed to be associated with a particular part of the body.
• An obstruction or blockage in the movement of qi creates imbalance and pain in the body and can lead to disease.
• By manipulating the acupuncture needles in a certain way, the practitioner attempts to bring energy to areas that are lacking or to create flow in areas that are blocked, bringing a sense of balance back to the body. Most people feel very relaxed during and after the treatment.
• The National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement on Acupuncture concluded that acupuncture has been found to be a promising treatment to help ease the side effects of conventional cancer therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation.
• It can also be effectively used to control pain, improve quality of life, and strengthen the immune system.

TCM practitioners believe that in order for cancer to exist in the body, there must be certain factors and imbalances present to a greater or lesser degree. These factors include blood stagnation, energy weakness, phlegm, and environmental toxins.

• Acupuncture is also used by TCM practitioners in an effort to counterbalance the damage actually caused by chemotherapy and radiation, thus helping the body to heal itself.
• TCM treatment may also help to support the immune system and digestive functioning.
  In addition to acupuncture, a TCM practitioner may make recommendations on diet, exercise, herbs, and lifestyle modifications based on your current state of health and modify as needed.
• If you are interested in understanding this modality and its potential application to your illness and treatment plan.