Monthly Archives: May 2014

Living with Cancer

Starting an Exercise Plan While in Cancer Remission

 

Fighting Cancer With Exercise
Fighting Cancer With Exercise

Exercise has been called a “magic pill.” Exercise plays a vital role in maintaining a healthy immune system and helping your body fight off disease. There also appears to be a strong link between physical exercise and not only cancer prevention, but also reduced risk of cancer recurrence.

At Issels Centers for Integrative Medicine, our holistic approach to cancer treatment recognizes the benefits of exercise in achieving long-term cancer remission. Education in exercise and nutrition are included in our individualized immunotherapy plans. While some level of physical activity is encouraged during and after cancer treatment to strengthen the immune system and promote healing, we understand that most patients will need to adjust their physical activity to match fluctuations in strength and energy.

Cancer survivors should use the following tips to help manage their post-treatment exercise programs:

  • Start slow and build on your progress. Strengthening your immune system is a process. Increase activity levels gradually and don’t be upset by setbacks. It is normal for strength and energy to fluctuate after treatment. Give yourself time to heal. Do a little more when you’re feeling energized; a little less when you’re not.
  • Do what you enjoy. Immune system benefits can come from any physical activity. You’re more apt to exercise if you’re doing something you enjoy.
  • Try yoga. Yoga is an excellent low-impact exercise. Yoga does not require physical strength or stamina but offers an excellent workout.
  • Build stamina and muscle mass. Eventually, your exercise program should include a mixture of aerobic exercise to increase stamina and resistance training to rebuild lost muscle mass.
Cancer Research, News

Cancer News Roundup

Measles Killing Cancer
Measles Killing Cancer

Here is a roundup of recent discoveries that could lead to new cancer treatments:

Measles Virus Causes Cancer Remission

A concentrated dose of measles virus – the equivalent of 10 million vaccinations — has sent a woman’s incurable blood cancer into remission. A woman with metastasized multiple myeloma was injected with an experimental dose of measles vaccine in a Mayo Clinic trial.

“The idea here is that a virus can be trained to specifically damage a cancer and to leave other tissues in the body unharmed,” the Mayo Clinic’s Dr. Stephen Russell told CNN.

Cancer vaccines that target the tumor and the surrounding tumor microenvironment are producing results that many oncologists and cancer patients are calling “miraculous.” Some researchers believe the recent success with measles vaccine could lead to the development of other “virotherapies” to treat cancer.

Researchers Discover Cancer’s “Mother Cells”

British scientists say they have identified the stem cells that cause cancer. According to London’s Daily Mail, tumors originate from deadly “mother cells” that not only “give them birth” but also nurture and keep the cancer cells alive. Researchers say cancer stem cells also play a critical role in metastasis and the establishment of cancer tumors in other parts of the body.

The existence of cancer stem cells has been theorized, but this is the first time researchers have identified and tracked their progress in cancer patients. Many researchers believe that finding a way to kill cancer stem cells will be a crucial step toward curing cancer.

To stay on top of the latest cancer treatments and news, sign up for our E-newsletter today.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy Expected to Steal Spotlight at Cancer Confab

Immunotherapy Stealing The Spotlight
Immunotherapy Stealing The Spotlight

Immunotherapy is expected to steal the spotlight when the world’s leading cancer doctors convene in Chicago in June for a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. At center stage will be new biotech drugs designed to help the body’s immune system fight cancer. Under development by global pharmaceutical giants Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Roche, the new designer drugs enhance the ability of immune system T cells to target and attack cancer.

In previous studies, T cell therapies have produced promising results when used to combat several types of advanced cancer, including melanoma, lung and kidney cancers. New studies showing similarly promising results for advanced bladder and head and neck cancers will be presented at the conference.

T Cells: Natural Cancer Fighters

The cancer community’s interest in T cells and immunotherapy cancer treatments is two-fold:

  1. There is tremendous need to find cancer treatment solutions for advanced cancers that have proven resistant to standard Western cancer treatments.
  2. The new T cell therapies have produced only mild side effects, offering a healthier option to the often debilitating side effects associated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

Immunotherapy “should represent a major advance in cancer therapy and patient survivability. Wall Street is increasingly recognizing the multibillion-dollar potential for cancer immunotherapies,” Len Yaffe of StockDoc Partners told Reuters.

While it is heartening to see Big Pharma finally embracing immunotherapy, we find it somewhat disturbing that Western medicine continues to value drug protocols over natural, non-toxic immunotherapy. Visit our website to find out about Issels’ non-toxic T cell cancer vaccines and our holistic approach to immunotherapy.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Immunotherapy

Your Body Knows Best: Why Immunotherapy Works

Your Body Knows Best
Your Body Knows Best

Last year Science magazine hailed immunotherapy as the medical “Breakthrough of the Year.” After decades spent trying to cut cancer out, poison it with chemicals and bombard it with radiation, cancer researchers are discovering that your body knows best! Increasingly, practitioners of Western medicine are joining Issels’ experts in integrative immunotherapy in recognizing the power of the body’s immune system to fight cancer and heal itself.

Integrative Immunotherapy

Today, immunotherapy is being used successfully as both a primary cancer treatment and in conjunction with traditional Western treatments. When used as a primary treatment, integrative immunotherapy offers cancer patients an improved quality of life both during and after treatment. When combined with traditional treatments such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy has been found to decrease the length of treatment and reduce toxic side effects.

For cancer patients, including integrated immunotherapy in their cancer treatment plan is a win-win scenario. Immunotherapy boosts the body’s natural defense system which helps your body fight cancer. But it also improves immune system strength and health, giving your body the resources it needs to keep cancer from coming back.

60+ Years of Experience

Issels Oncology Centers have more than 60 years experience using integrative immunotherapy to treat cancer. Our methods have produced a unique history of complete, long-term remission of advanced Stage 4 cancers and cancers that have proven resistant to standard cancer treatments. We offer a wide range of alternative cancer treatments, cancer vaccines, and advanced targeted therapies at our cancer medical centers.

Visit our website to find out more about integrative immunotherapy and why we think your body knows best when it comes to fighting cancer.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Testimonials

What Do Our Patients Say About Our Treatment Program?

Positive Feedback
Positive Feedback

We could tell you all about the treatment provided at our alternative cancer therapy center. Our mind-body approach has made Issels Treatment® a leader in individualized immunotherapy for more than 60 years. But we’re proud and honored to let our patients speak for us.

  • In early 2007 Jacinta McShane arrived at Issels from her home in England. She had been battling recurring breast cancer with lung metastases, choosing to come here after refusing her doctors’ advice to begin radiation and chemotherapy. “Nothing really prepared me for the inspirational, loving atmosphere of this healing oasis. Here I was ‘cared for’ as Jacinta – a person first and foremost who happens to have breast cancer. At times, I felt more like an invited guest than a patient at all.” She continues to lead a happy, healthy life.
  • Joseph Momot came to us in June 2010 after being told his liver cancer was terminal and he had only a few months left. “It was a really, really rapid recovery for me so I call it a miracle place.” His liver is now functioning normally and he’s able to walk freely.
  • After round-the-clock chemotherapy for leukemia, Barbara Humphrey decided against a bone marrow transplant and came to Issels instead. “They care about you just like they would about someone in their own family … That’s what I love about the Issels clinic – you become empowered with so much knowledge.”

Nothing gives us more satisfaction than helping our patients to resume healthy and productive lives.  Please call 888.447.7357 or contact us online for more information.

Alternative Cancer Treatment

Relieve Stress and Insomnia with “Laughter Yoga”

Have a Good Laugh
Have a Good Laugh

It’s long been said that laughter is the best medicine. Letting go with a deep belly laugh can provide a physical and emotional release. A doctor in Taipei is helping cancer patients improve their moods and sleep better with a class in laughing.

Liao Chih-Ying, director of radiation oncology at Taichung Hospital, first learned about “laughter yoga” in the United States and introduced it at his hospital in October 2013. This innovative method is based on the idea that forced laughter provides the same physical and emotional benefits as spontaneous laughter. Through regular practice, the fake laughter can eventually become genuine.

According to Dr. Liao, many cancer patients experience varying degrees of post-traumatic stress disorder. Symptoms can include depression, stress and insomnia. This creates a domino effect when stress-related hormones and chemicals weaken the immune system, which can allow the cancer to spread.

Laughter stimulates production of endorphins, which are the body’s natural pain relievers. Dr. Liao believed that learning to laugh more frequently could be a healthy way to reduce the patients’ mood disorders. Yoga instructor Lai Ching-ju was asked to teach a weekly one-hour class at the hospital. Two months later roughly 70 percent of the participants reported improvements in their pain and mood levels as well as better quality sleep.

At Issels Santa Barbara we also believe that improving your quality of life can help build your defense mechanisms. Our personalized alternative cancer therapies take a mind-body approach toward restoring health. Please contact us for more information.