Tag Archives: Low Fat Diets and Cancer

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research

New Innovations in Cancer Care Are Changing Your Prognosis

Innovation In Cancer
Innovation In Cancer

Innovations are helping more people than ever survive cancer, while enjoying a better quality of life throughout treatment. Here are some positive developments that show how cancer prognoses improve a little every day:

Genetic studies

Researchers continue to discover genetic markers for certain forms of cancer, and establishing these links can lead to earlier detection and better prognoses.

Scientists in England recently found mutations in patients with Barrett’s esophagus (an acid reflux disease) who tend to develop esophageal cancer.

Therapy and rehabilitation

Traditionally, patients with cancer have received less encouragement to take on physical therapy and rehabilitation efforts, compared to patients with other diseases and ailments.

A program at the Community Medical Center in Montana has found that cancer rehab programs can improve quality of life, especially when instituted soon after the diagnosis. Alternative therapy for cancer can help improve mental and emotional conditions, while also helping some people live longer.

Less frequent or lower doses of treatments

People in stage four cancer treatment can enjoy effective treatment and an easier experience when receiving lower doses of certain medications, or less frequent treatments. Patients can more easily focus on holistic cancer treatment while taking less medication.

Among recent findings, women with breast cancer taking monthly doses of zoledronic acid can reduce complications by receiving treatment only once every three months after the first year. A study has found that people with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer can use a lower dose of radiation than was previously believed necessary.

Breakthroughs, innovations, and new alternative cancer treatments continue to revolutionize patients’ outlook and quality of life. Talk with Issels Cancer Treatment Center for information about how our latest advances may help with your case.

Living with Cancer

Living with Cancer – Healthy Eating

Healthy Eating
Healthy Eating

Every time you pick up a magazine or tune in a talk show it seems like there’s some new diet trend your should be following to reduce your risk of developing cancer. Drink more coffee. Fill your plate with fresh fruits and vegetables. Sip green tea. Avoid grilled meats. Eat more fish. Have a glass of red wine with dinner. Nibble on dark chocolate. The list of cancer nutrition tips goes on and on.

Confusing Diet Advice

The list of healthy eating tips for preventing cancer seems to get longer every year. Trying to keep up with the types and quantities of food you should eat to keep various types of cancer at bay can be confusing and may seem contradictory. (Which is better, tea or coffee?) While eating to prevent cancer is a worthy goal, what should you eat to stay as healthy as possible if you already have cancer?

Diet Linked to Cancer

Researchers have found a strong link between diet and cancer that makes paying attention to what you eat important. In addition to maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly, eating a Mediterranean-style diet is generally recommended not only to help prevent cancer; but also to increase survival rates for people with cancer.

The Mediterranean Diet

Because certain foods can interfere with cancer treatments and medications, you should always follow the dietary recommendations of your cancer team. That said, the Mediterranean diet (click for diet details) benefits cancer patients by boosting the body’s immune system, aiding your natural ability to fight the recurrence or spread of cancer.

Contact Issels Integrative Oncology for more information about cancer treatment and recovery and diet.

Alternative Cancer Treatment

Issels – Why Mexico?

Innovation In Cancer
Innovation In Cancer

Every year, over one million Americans are diagnosed with cancer. Of those diagnosed, studies suggest 60 percent turn to alternative cancer therapy in conjunction with or in lieu of conventional treatment, discovering a large number of these alternative facilities are located outside of the country, such as Mexico.

Why not the U.S.?
In the past, many clinics outside the U.S. were not taken very seriously, however those times have drastically changed. Because conventional forms of cancer care such as surgery, chemo and radiation are the only forms of therapy covered by the U.S. healthcare system and insurance companies, many doctors choose to practice in Mexico in order to offer a broader array of treatments from around the world – and at a more affordable price. Over 500,000 estimated cancer patients leave the U.S. for treatment annually seeking these highly successful treatments.

Why seek alternative treatment?
Integrative approaches to cancer treatment provide individualized regimens tailored specifically for each individual. They focus on healing the entire body, with the added benefits of fewer side effects and improved quality of life when combined with conventional therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation. Natural cancer therapies are also sought, offering hope, when conventional treatments fail.

How accepted are the alternatives?
For over a decade, complementary and alternative cancer treatments have been gaining acceptance, resulting in the creation of such organizations as the National Cancer Institute’s Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM). In fact, Cancer.gov, the National Cancer Institute’s website, acknowledges the evaluation of certain CAM therapies and their capability to help patients feel better and recover faster.

Looking for a safer, more effective cancer treatment option? Contact Issels today.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Cancer Research, Living with Cancer

Nutrition and Cancer Treatment – The Connection

Proper Nutrition
Proper Nutrition

Among the many issues cancer patients must deal with on a daily basis, proper nutrition is at the top of the priority list. Whether patients are in the initial stages of cancer, advanced stages, or in remission, maintaining a balanced diet is important for many reasons including avoiding malnutrition.

Benefits of Nutrition Therapy

According to the National Cancer Institute, the list below explains the importance of proper nutrition.

  • A balanced diet helps deter or eliminate nutrient deficiencies in patients that can help in the healing and/or recovery process
  • Helps patients maintain energy levels and body strength
  • A proper diet helps maintain a leaner body mass and supports the immune system
  • Patients maintaining nutritional balance have a stronger body composition when undergoing treatments
  • A stronger body due to nutrition management stands a better chance of less infections
  • Overall, good nutrition in cancer patients and recovering patients enhances the their quality of life

Advanced Stage

Patients in the advanced stages of cancer may not be able to achieve weight gain but proper nutrition helps in other ways.

  • Good nutrition helps in reducing the risk of infection
  • Side effects from treatments may be reduced
  • Patients experiencing weakness may see an improvement
  • With reduced side effects through proper nutrition, patients may have an increased comfort level

Remission

Lessening the chances of a recurrence of the disease for those in remission or who have been cured is supported by maintaining the right diet. Proper nutrition may also help individuals avoid other illnesses including hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.

If you have questions for yourself or for a loved one about nutrition and cancer treatment, contact Issels® Integrative Oncology Centers.

Alternative Cancer Treatment, Immunotherapy, Living with Cancer

The Tough Questions – Should I Pursue Chemotherapy?

Alternative Cancer Treatment
Alternative Cancer Treatment

Chemotherapy is the double-edged sword many cancer patients dread. Patients are told they must undergo chemotherapy to save their lives, but the side effects of chemo can be so traumatic that patients frequently wonder if life with chemo is worth living. Many of these patients are finding that alternative cancer treatments can offer similar results without chemotherapy’s devastating side effects.

Chemo’s Toll on the Body

The problem with chemotherapy is that it cannot discriminate between cancerous and healthy cells. Inside your body, chemo’s toxic chemicals target fast-growing cells, both cancerous and healthy. In the process, many healthy cells are killed or damaged.

Chemotherapy’s impact on the body can be felt from head to toe, as Healthline’s infographic illustrates. From hair loss and chemo brain to sexual dysfunction and infertility to swollen feet and extreme fatigue, chemotherapy’s side effects are as dreaded as the disease it is designed to treat.

Pain without Gain

What makes the decision to undergo chemotherapy even more difficult for cancer patients is the lack of guarantee that the suffering will retard their cancer. Both patients and cancers can develop resistance to chemotherapy, making it an ineffective treatment choice. When traditional medicine fails to offer patients alternative treatment options, they are forced to suffer for nothing.

Alternatives to Chemo

Integrative immunotherapy offers alternatives to chemotherapy that work with the body to fight cancer. Using non-toxic targeted therapies, immunotherapy enhances the body’s natural ability to fight off disease without toxic side effects.

Choosing a cancer treatment program is a personal decision to discuss with your doctor and family, but there are options to chemotherapy. Visit our website to learn more about integrative immunotherapy.

Immunotherapy, Living with Cancer

Immunotherapy Explained

Immunotherapy Explained
Immunotherapy Explained

Integrative immunotherapy uses the power of the immune system in order to fight cancer, mobilizing your entire immune system in order to give your defenses the upper hand.

Immunotherapy is different
While traditional cancer therapies such as drugs and radiation kill both healthy cells and cancerous cells, causing a variety of side effects, immunotherapy…

  • Benefits a multitude of cancer types.
  • Promotes the growth of healthy cells, selectively killing cancer.
  • Is powerful, attacking cancer systemically – throughout your whole body.
  • Creates few to no side effects.

Types of immunotherapy
Immunotherapy fights cancer in one or two ways, by stimulating your immune system as a whole to attack cancer, or by giving you specific immune system components, such as man-made or lab grown immune  proteins, providing more targeted therapy. Immunotherapy may also be referred to as biologic or biotherapy.   

Key players starring in your immunotherapy arsenal include:

  • Dendritic Cells
    Intelligence agents alerting your immune system and strategizing attacks against cancer.
  • CD4 & Helper T-Cells
    Commandants directing and coordinating the cancer response.
  • B-Cells
    Munitions factories churning out antibodies.
  • CD8 & Killer T-Cells
    The assassins of cancer cells.
  • Cytokines
    Communicate and help coordinate attacks.
  • Antibodies
    Ammunition, seeking out and binding to cancer cells to mark them for attack.
  • Regulatory T-Cells
    Checks and balances your immune system, preventing damage to healthy cells.

The future of cancer therapy is happening now
In the last few decades, immunotherapy has become an important part of many cancer treatments. It is expected to be a key player in the future of cancer therapy, with many new treatments under study.

Want to learn more about the future of cancer therapy what immunotherapy has to offer you? Contact Issels today.