Cancer is an umbrella term for more than 100 different diseases that share a common trait: abnormal cells that grow uncontrollably. These mutated cells can show up on almost any part of the body, typically damage neighboring body tissue, and may spread throughout the body.
CONVENTIONAL APPROACH
Allopathic medicine’s treatment program and cure rate for cancer vary greatly, depending on the type of cancer and whether or not it has spread. Some treatments are aimed at curing the patient; other treatments take a less optimistic approach and are designed to improve the symptoms or quality of life.
Options for treatment include surgery, radiation, and drug therapy. They may be used alone (such as having only radiation for cervical cancer or only drug therapy for leukemia) or in combination.
SURGICAL TREATMENT
A cancerous tumor and surrounding tissue (such as muscle and lymph nodes) can be surgically removed, as long as the cancer has spread little or not at all. In some cases, part of the tumor may be cut out in preparation for other treatments.
SYMPTOMS
- Thickening or lump felt under the skin
- Unusual-looking or changing mole or wart
- Slow-healing or nonhealing sore
- Persistent cough or —hoarseness
- Unexplained bleeding or discharge
- Unexplained digestive upset
- Prolonged change in bowel or urination habits
- Pain and discomfort with no known cause
RADIOTHERAPY
Ionizing radiation (high-energy X rays) can be aimed at the tumor in hopes of killing all of the cancer cells or shrinking the tumor (making it easier to remove surgically). Common side effects include hair loss, anemia, and fatigue. Radiation also carries the risk of triggering second tumors and other health problems.
DRUG TREATMENT
Chemotherapy works to destroy or inactivate cancerous cells, but it also harms some healthy cells in the process. It can involve any of a number of combinations of drugs given orally or by injection. It carries a number of potential side effects, including hair loss, nausea, anemia, water retention, fatigue, and bone marrow damage, which can weaken the immune system. Another drug treatment, hormone therapy, is sometimes used for prostate or breast cancers.
ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES
Perhaps more than any other ailment, cancer begs for alternatives to the conventional approach. America’s cancer death rate continues to rise, and cancer is expected to nudge out heart disease and become the number one killer of American adults by the turn of the century.
For many people with cancer, selecting a treatment approach—whether to include elements of conventional medicine, alternative medicine, or both—is excruciatingly difficult. These people may decide to follow a conventional treatment program, using alternative therapies to ease the side effects of radiation or drug therapy, strengthen the immune system, and improve their well-being and outlook. Still other people prefer to rely only on alternative treatments, many of which focus on restoring general health.
NUTRITIONAL THERAPY
Nutritional therapists hold that a certain diet and certain supplements are an important part of the cancer treatment process. The goals include encouraging the proliferation of healthy cells, enhancing the immune system, and inhibiting tumors from growing. In general, the diet of someone with cancer should be
- rich in organic whole grains, vegetables, and fruits
- high in fiber
- low in refined sugars and low in sodium
- low in fat (about 15 percent of daily calories from fat)
A vegetarian diet, with no meat, poultry, and fish, is recommended on the basis that it doesn’t supply excess iron, a mineral that many types of tumors require to grow. The fat, chemicals, and other hormones found in red meat and chicken and the mercury and other pollutants found in fish caught in polluted water are also of great concern.
Shark Cartilage- Shark cartilage holds promise for people with cancer. here’s why. Cartilage—whether it comes from sharks or humans—has no need for an attached net-work of blood vessels to supply nutrients and oxygen and carry away wastes. Because of this, cartilage carries a sub-stance that prevents blood vessels from forming. A cancerous tumor, on the other hand, does need a blood supply to thrive. Taking cartilage supplements can prevent the tumor from getting what it needs. Under this treatment, people with advanced cancer have reported their tumors stabilizing in size or shrinking.
Vitamin C—High doses of vitamin C are often prescribed to cancer patients. Researchers, including the famous vita-min C guru and Nobel laureate Linus Pauling, have found that people with cancer can experience shrinkage in tumor size after vitamin C treatments. It may also reduce some of the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant, which renders free radical compounds powerless. Occurring naturally in the body, free radicals can damage tissue and speed the aging process. Antioxidants are often recommended to prevent some forms of cancer. Other nutrients that are antioxidants include beta-carotene, vitamins A and E, and selenium.
Vitamin C functions to fight cancer in two other important ways as well:
- It enhances the body’s production of the connective tissue collagen, which can help to wall off the tumor; and
- it enhances immune function, allowing the body to destroy cancer cells.
Other Emerging Supplements—Coenzyme Q10 has been shown to be very effective in the treatment of breast cancer at doses of 390 mg daily. Melatonin in fairly high doses (10 to 50 mg at bedtime) has been shown to improve the quality of life of patients with advanced solid tumors. And pH-modified citrus pectin was recently reported to aid in the prevention of metastatic (spreading) tumors of several types, including cancers of the breast, prostate, and skin. Because most cancer patients die as the result of a metastatic tumor and not the primary tumor, this is a potentially significant treatment option.
Prevention- Of course, it’s better to prevent cancer than treat it after it has developed, and diet is estimated to be a contributing factor in 35 percent of cancer deaths. A first preventive step is avoiding the possible triggers of various types of cancer, which include a high-fat diet, lack of fiber, deficiency of vitamin A, and food additives.
A practitioner of nutritional therapy may prescribe 10 grams of vitamin C per day. This is a high dose that will require monitoring by the practitioner. Higher doses-30 grams or more—are sometimes given intravenously to cancer patients.
MIND/BODY MEDICINE
Mind/body medicine recognizes that the mind plays a vital role in healing and recovery. In cancer treatment, various mind/body therapies can be used to control pain, relieve stress and anxiety, ease depression, and fortify the immune system.
If nothing else, these therapies seek to make people with cancer feel good about themselves and their lives. Guided imagery, for example, encourages patients to picture their bodies’ reaction to cancer in either medically accurate or highly personalized terms. Repeated use of these exercises is thought to contribute to a stronger immune system.
Other mind/body therapies that are helpful for the treatment of cancer include prayer and mental healing, spirituality, psychic healing, biofeedback training, meditation, and hypnotherapy.
Guided imagery exercises should be performed two to three times a day, for about 20 minutes each time, during the cancer treatment pro-gram. Before starting each exercise, progressive muscle relaxation can be done as a way of -warming up.” It involves letting go of tension in small, isolated steps:
- Sit in a comfortable chair or lie on a firm surface. Wear loose clothing.
- Close your eyes and begin breathing slowly and deeply.
- When relaxed, begin to visualize the white blood cells of your body as a large, highly organized troop of protec-tive white knights.
- Imagine them finding and fighting off the small and weak cancerous cells.
- Feel this energy and activity happening inside your body.
OTHER THERAPIES
Ayurvedic Medicine—Treatment may include herbal therapy, dietary changes, and meditation.
Herbal Medicine--Iscador (extracted from mistletoe), Venus flytrap, garlic, and astragalus can be effective. Two herb formulas, Hoxsey tonic and Essiac tea, have well-known anti-cancer properties.
Traditional Chinese Medicine—Acupuncture, moxi-hustion, herbal therapy, qigong, and other therapies can be used to treat cancer. Beware that acupuncture may encourage certain types of cancer to spread.