Tag Archives: Holistic Cancer Treatment

Extra Oxygen May Hold the Key to Stop Cancer Growth

Oxygen Is Key
Oxygen Is Key

That essential oxygen we breathe is delivered to our organs and body tissues via the blood pumped throughout our bodies. Scientists have known for quite some time that adequate oxygen is vital to healthy organs and proper brain function.

A recent cancer study using mice suggests extra oxygen could boost the immune system’s ability to fight cancer cells. Immunotherapy is the cornerstone of our non-toxic treatment protocols at Issels® Integrative Immuno-Oncology.

Tumor growth

Most of the time, the immune system identifies and destroys abnormal cells, preventing them from developing into cancer. Once a tumor begins to develop, it has its own defenses to block attacks from the immune system. Tumors grow at a faster rate than the blood supplied oxygen can combat. This creates an oxygen-deprived environment that is more conducive to tumor growth. The lack of oxygen is a catalyst to the tumor making adenosine. The adenosine molecule neutralizes the tumor fighting T cells of the immune system.

Supplement oxygen cancer therapy

The study led by Michail Sitkovsky, who is the director of the Tissue Protection Institute at Northeastern University, used mice with lung tumors to test how extra oxygen altered the tumor created environment and helped the immune system do its job.

The tumors of mice that were in the high-oxygen group shrank. The shrinking was more significant when the mice were injected with additional T cells. What makes the results even more exciting is that oxygen is so well tolerated by the human body, unlike many traditional cancer treatments.

For more information on the benefits of immunotherapy and all the latest cancer news, visit Issels.com and sign up for our free e-Newsletter.

Tips for Telling Your Family You Have Received a Diagnosis of Cancer

Telling Your Family Of Your Diagnosis
Telling Your Family Of Your Diagnosis

Discussing cancer with your family is akin to walking in an emotional mine field. Once you make it known you have been diagnosed with cancer, you must be prepared to navigate carefully in response to different reactions.

What to Do

Take time to come to terms with how you feel. If you’re angry and afraid, that’s okay. Don’t hold it in. It’s important to have someone you trust to talk to that will listen and be supportive.

Don’t attempt to go through it alone. Decide who you will tell, first, and how much information you want to initially share. The news will have a decided effect and those you tell may not react in the same way. You’ll need to be prepared, as best as possible, for addressing each individual.

Discussing your condition, within your comfort zone, is beneficial. By talking about it, you can move forward with a plan of action.

Don’t be afraid to let people know the limits you’re willing to discuss your condition. Repeating the same information over and over can become tiring and emotionally draining for you. Delegate a friend or family member to relay the news to others.

While you may not want to talk to your closest family members, it’s important that you talk to someone. If you’re not ready to let your family know of your condition, join a cancer support group where you can discuss your feelings, ask questions, and get advice from others.

Keep your daily routine as near normal as possible and encourage and support your family in doing the same.

Contact Issels Integrative Oncology Centers for any questions or information about available treatments.

Understanding Your Diagnosis of Cancer

Getting The News
Getting The News

Our greatest fears usually arise not from actual incidents, but from the unknown. Your mind begins running through a series of increasingly dire scenarios that may not even be realistic. If you’ve recently received a diagnosis of cancer, understanding what’s behind it can empower you to be proactive about your care and treatment.

Early diagnosis of cancer is an important element of successful treatment. Some types, such as skin or breast, may be detected through self-examination or various medical screenings. Others are revealed via corresponding symptoms or as a result of treating another condition. This is why it’s important to keep up with annual physicals and other preventive care, even if you’re feeling healthy.

Your caregiver’s first step will be a comprehensive physical exam and thorough review of your medical history. Tests are performed on blood, stool and urine to find any abnormalities that may point toward cancer. If signs present themselves, your physician will order further tests such as CT scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound to pinpoint the location and size of the tumor. Final confirmation comes from a biopsy, which involves removing a tissue sample from the tumor to check for the presence of cancerous cells.

A positive diagnosis leads to the step known as staging. This process involves gathering specific information about the tumor, most importantly whether it’s localized or the cells have spread to other parts of the body. You should also get a second opinion from a specialist before proceeding with treatment.

At Issels alternative cancer treatment center, our integrative approach is tailored to your individual needs. Please visit our website to learn more about our successful non-toxic immunotherapy treatments.

Holistic Approach to Cancer Treatment Needed to Address Tumor Complexity

image of DNA
Tumor complexity is tied to unexpected diversity at the cellular level.

“Tumors evolve on a very simple principle; it is all about the survival of the nastiest,” Paul Workman of the British Institute of Cancer Research in London recently told The Guardian.

Their killer survival instinct may be what allows cancer tumors to eventually overwhelm traditional cancer treatments – typically within 6 months — and find new ways of replicating cancer cells. As noted in our previous post, achieving long-term remission of advanced cancer tumors and standard therapy-resistant tumors requires multiple attack paths to counteract the surprising  ability of cancer cells to change attack mode when cancer treatment interferes with their ability to reproduce.

Cancer-causing agents initiate tumor growth in several ways:

  • Trigger cells to divide and spread uncontrollably;
  • Turn off cell mechanisms that normally halt cell division; or
  • Block the DNA repair mechanisms that maintain cell health.

Given the flexibility of cancer cells to change behavior when denied their preferred method of attack, study researchers believe that a multi-pronged treatment program must be employed to effectively counteract all possible growth methods. For many cancer researchers, including those involved in the London study, this means developing new cancer drugs and chemotherapy protocols that could deliver multiple drugs simultaneously or in rapid succession in a manner similar to that used to fight HIV.

The problem with limiting cancer treatment to drugs is one of scope. Of the 23,000 human genes mapped 150 have been identified as cancer-causing agents; but drug treatments are available for only 15. Issels integrative immunotherapy looks beyond drugs, employing a variety of treatment methods that work with the body to effectively attack cancer on multiple fronts.

Holistic Techniques for Managing Cancer Pain

While revelations gained from brain imagery offer future hope for more effective pain management techniques for people who suffer from chronic pain, including cancer patients (see our previous post), taking a holistic approach to pain management currently offers the most successful pain relief.

Holistic medicine is actually a medical philosophy rather than a type of medicine. The holistic approach considers 5 important factors that affect an individual’s overall health and well-being:

  1. Physical
  2. Mental
  3. Emotional
  4. Spiritual
  5. Environment

Scientific research is beginning to prove what Issels patients and Issels cancer treatment teams know to be true from experiential evidence: that a holistic approach seeking to engage every aspect of a patient’s condition can produce amazing results, even when hope of recovery was considered slim.

Holistic techniques that have been successful in alleviating and managing cancer pain include:

  • Exercise. An essential component of pain management, exercise, even in its mildest forms, can help alleviate pain. Exercise helps to rid the body of hormones that exacerbate stress which can cause pain to flare. Exercise also helps keep muscles toned, limber and flexible which can also help to reduce physical pain.
  • Mind-body exercises. Techniques and exercises that help forge mind-body connections, such as yoga, therapeutic massage, meditation, biofeedback and acupuncture, have proven remarkably successful in helping cancer patients control pain.
  • Nutrition. Certain foods have been discovered to have pain-fighting qualities, including fruits such as red grapes and cherries, herbs and spices such as ginger and turmeric, fish, soy products and even coffee!