Category Archives: Uncategorized

News, Uncategorized

Big Pharma Roadblocks Hinder Integrative Cancer Treatment

Conventional Medicine is Not the Answer
Conventional Medicine is Not the Answer

One of the things that makes cancer so difficult to treat is its ability to adapt. Recurrence is not uncommon when standard cancer treatment methods, particularly chemotherapy, are used. As explained in our previous post, cancer cells have an uncanny ability to develop a resistance to chemotherapy drugs which can allow cancer to return.

Value of Integrative Treatment

Cancer researchers are finally coming to the conclusion reached decades ago by renowned German cancer specialist Dr. Josef Issels, the founder of Issels Integrative Oncology: Treating cancer effectively requires an integrative approach that combines multiple treatment protocols. Ridding the body of cancer and driving it into long-term remission requires a multi-pronged attack that must be individualized to meet the specific needs of each patient.

Big Pharma Roadblocks

While alternative cancer treatment centers offer numerous beneficial integrative cancer therapies, Western medicine’s current approach to integrative cancer treatment is heavily drug based. Not only is the approach limiting; but, as Dr. Carlos Moreno of Emory University recently criticized on Reuters.com, Big Pharma roadblocks are hindering the development of integrative drug therapies.

Profits vs. Patients

Combining drugs into “cancer cocktails” and treating cancer with drugs approved to treat other conditions has shown early promise. But these approaches require cooperation from drug companies, most of which have so far been unwilling to put patients ahead of profits, Moreno complains.

Issels Puts Patients First

As Moreno points out, cancer patients don’t have time to wait for researchers and drug companies to resolve their differences. Integrative immunotherapy offers an immediate and effective alternative. Issels non-toxic cancer vaccine program is not forced to rely on the largesse of drug companies. Our autologous cancer vaccines are prepared from the patient’s own blood to enhance the body’s natural ability to fight cancer. Visit our website to learn more about integrative immunotherapy.

Cancer Research, Uncategorized

WHO Predicts Worldwide Cancer Increase

Cancer Research
Cancer Research

Researchers are making progress in combating cancer, particularly in the United States and other industrialized nations where medical treatment is readily available. But in the rest of the world, cancer is on the rise, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO). As developing countries adopt modern lifestyles, cancer rates are increasing. According to WHO, cancer cases worldwide could surpass 19 million by 2025.

Between 2008 and 2012, cancer diagnoses worldwide grew from 12.7 million to more than 14 million and deaths from cancer rose from 7.6 to 8.2 million. By the end of the next decade, WHO expects the number of people diagnosed with cancer to begin approaching the 20 million mark, which would be a significant jump over the current worldwide cancer growth rate.

As developing countries become more industrialized, smoking, obesity and longer life spans are contributing to an increased risk of cancer, according to a BBC News health report. Lung cancer, primarily from cigarette smoking, poses the greatest risk, accounting for 13% of total cancer cases, or about 1.8 million diagnoses, worldwide. WHO also cited a significant rise in the global number of breast cancer cases; noting that breast cancer has become the most common cancer among women in 140 countries.

“Breast cancer is also a leading cause of cancer death in the less developed countries of the world. This is partly because a shift in lifestyles is causing an increase in incidence and partly because clinical advances to combat the disease are not reaching women living in these regions,” Dr. David Forman of WHO’s International Agency for Research told BBC News.

Cancer Research, Uncategorized

New Studies Are Identifying Specific Cancer Risk Factors

Cancer Research
Cancer Research

The ability to examine cancer at the genetic level is generating tremendous volumes of new data that are both expanding and complicating our understanding of cancer. New cancer studies are identifying an increasing number of specific cancer risk factors; but in most cases we do not yet understand how those risk factors eventually develop into certain types of cancer or why some people develop cancer but others do not when risk factors are present.

To understand the complexities involved, consider these examples:

• A study of nearly 145,000 post-menopausal women between the ages of 50 and 79 found that height was a greater indicator of cancer risk than obesity, which is now known to increase the risk of multiple cancers. Researchers suspect that the growth hormones that influence height may also play a role in the cell division processes associated with cancer tumor development.

• Another study of more than 2,000 men found that truck drivers were four times more likely than most other men to develop an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Because another study revealed a similar risk among operators of heavy machinery, researchers suspect that exposure to constant vibration may be the common trigger.

The ability to process and mine vast volumes of data is revealing many new commonalities within cancer populations that point to potential risk factors. It is hoped that risk factor identification will lead to better cancer prevent techniques and greater use of advanced targeted cancer therapies. The growing number of individual cancer risk factors also points to the importance of individualized immunotherapy in tailoring cancer treatment to an individual’s specific needs.

Cancer Care Tips, Uncategorized

How to Help a Friend with Cancer

Lend a Hand to Friends With Cancer
Lend a Hand to Friends With Cancer

When learning that a friend has cancer, most people will offer to help. But as heartfelt as their friend’s offer of aid may be, cancer patients are often reluctant to call and ask for help. A friend’s vague offer of “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help” may be heartfelt; but it’s a hollow promise if not backed by action.

The best way to help a friend with cancer is to consider the type of help you can realistically provide. This will allow you to make a specific offer of help; such as: ”I can shop for groceries on Tuesday evening” or “I’m free on Fridays to drive you to chemo.” Then follow through by calling a few days beforehand to pick up her grocery list or get her chemo appointment on your calendar. By specifically defining your offer to help, you reassure your friend that accepting your offer will not place an uncomfortable burden on your other responsibilities and allow her to accept your offer without guilt.

If you want to help a friend with cancer, offer to do things that will make life easier for your friend or will make life feel more normal for her family. Consider these additional ways to help:

• Take children to music lessons and soccer practices

• Babysit young children one or two mornings or afternoons a week

• Pick up prescriptions

• Mow the lawn, rake leaves, shovel snow or weed the garden

• Send over a prepared dinner • Help your friend research alternative cancer treatment centers.

Next time: More ways to help friends with cancer

News, Uncategorized

Michael J. Fox’s Battle with Parkinson’s Offers Inspiration for Cancer Sufferers

Survivors
Survivors

Cancer changes your perspective. It changes what is important and how you choose to spend your time. Whether you’ve just been diagnosed, are undergoing cancer treatment or count yourself among the growing legion of cancer survivors, cancer is a life-changing event. People with cancer or any debilitating disease realize that what is important is not how long you live, but how you spend your life.

It’s a lesson actor Michael J. Fox learned early in his adult life. Diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease when he was only 30, Michael has beaten the odds. His 20-year struggle with Parkinson’s hasn’t been easy for him or his family; but his ability to maintain his emotional equilibrium is nothing short of miraculous.

In a recent interview with AARP Magazine, Michael said it took time and family support to accept his fate and move beyond it; but his positive attitude has allowed Michael to become a tireless crusader for Parkinson’s and continue acting. Michael’s uplifting journey offers inspiration for cancer sufferers and others with debilitating diseases. He told AARP that he has been guided by the following thought:

“My happiness grows in direct proportion [to] my acceptance and in inverse proportion to my expectations. That’s the key for me. If I can accept the truth of ‘This is what I’m facing — not what can I expect but what I am experiencing now’ — then I have all this freedom to do other things.”

This fall Michael will use that freedom to star in a new NBC comedy series. HIs message is clear: Set yourself free and live for today.