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Are Cancer Treatments Effective - The Real Story
Are Cancer Treatments Effective - The Real Story © By Lena Sanchez I do not wish this article to be discouraging and I do offer an alternative at the end, so do not despair half way through reading. Let's look at the 2000 sad stats on American...
Cancer- The Real Facts
Cancer has a fearsome reputation. Not without reason either. It is a disease that has not yet fully yielded to the skills and intelligence of medical scientists and doctors. And, as if the pain from the disease is not enough, the treatment for...
Dr Bob's Medical News Aug 20004
Hi > Medical-News-For-You Hi It's Dr Bob with your latest and up to date newsletter. Table of Contents Warning on Salmon - another toxin Strept Vaccine - hope for the future Mom's Influence on their Children As Adults Breast Cancer - more...
How to Cope With Cancer
Picture yourself walking down the street where you live. Everything looks normal, but you have a feeling that something is not quite right. Suddenly there’s a rumble and the road buckles up around your feet. You struggle, unable to move forward....
Two Substances That May Reduce the Risk Of Cancer
Food helps us by supplying many vital micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. Your genetic composition can make you susceptible to some types of cancer. Your way of eating plays a major role in increasing or reducing the risk of cancer. ...
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Cancer and Alternative Medicine: An Overview
Alternative medicine is the use of means, in addition to, or
instead of conventional, to treat disease or pain. There is lots
of controversy surrounding alternative medicine, especially in
the cancer arena, because most of it is unproven, as far as the
medical world is concerned. To be proven, a treatment must have
undergone peer-reviewed, controlled studies. However, if you
know where to look, you can find plenty of research to support
the efficacy of many alternative therapies.
Every day, more and more of us are becoming fed up with
conventional medicine's way of doing things; I mean, let's face
it ... Western medicine's focus is managing a disease once it
occurs. Many alternative methods can be used as preventive
instead of management. Once I started thinking about it, I knew
there just had to be a better way. That's when my alternative
journey began.
The many different avenues of alternative medicine, can be
overwhelming and there are many with which I do not have
personal experience. But, this is your starting point ... a
broad overview, not all-encompassing, by any means, of breast
cancer alternative medicine. Some of these methods are
palliative (help manage pain and discomfort of cancer and its
treatment), some are complementary (to be used in addition to
conventional), some are intended to be preventive, and others
look promising as adjuvant treatments.
Manual Healing and Physical Touch This is a huge category that
includes acupuncture, chiropractic, massage, and Reiki, to name
a few. Acupuncture is derived from Chinese medicine and involves
inserting tiny needles through the skin into specific energy
pathways on the body. This method interrupts the energy that
flows through the body and is based on balanced Qi. There is
lots of controversy surrounding whether acupuncture can be used
as a method of treating cancer, itself, but it is thoroughly
documented to alleviate pain and nausea from cancer and its
treatments.
Chiropractic is the correction of mechanical disorders of the
musculoskeletal system. It is achieved by adjustments to the
spine and neck. There are traditional chiropractors who adjust
the entire spine and then there are Direct Non-Force Technique
chiropractors who alleviate neurotransmitter interference,
throughout the body, by specific, targeted adjustments. The
thinking, here, is that the body has the means to heal itself
and seeks to maintain balance within itself. Correcting the
musculoskeletal disorders helps to regain the balance that has
been lost.
Massage has been found, by recent studies, to provide more
alertness and less depression, stress, anxiety, and pain. There
are many different forms of massage, ranging from deep tissue to
a basic relaxation massage. Many health care providers are
proponents of massage therapy in addition to conventional
treatment.
Reiki is a Japanese word that means universal life energy. This
is a method that is typically performed in person but can be
performed from a distance. The thinking behind Reiki is that,
when the energy pathways of the body are blocked, it results in
disease and/or pain. A Reiki practitioner can unblock these
pathways, resulting in less pain and muscle tension, and
increased ability for the body to heal itself.
Herbs, Minerals, Vitamins, Diet, and Nutritional Supplements
This is one of the
roads I've chosen, for myself, based on
careful research and consideration. There is evidence that shows
that what we eat plays a big role in cancer prevention and it's
in the news all the time. In the evolution of our society, our
foods have become more and more processed, and less and less
nutritious. Farmers use pesticides to keep the bugs from getting
our produce. They use hormones to grow our chickens, cattle, and
pigs larger faster, so they can make money off them sooner. Of
course, it doesn't occur to them, or maybe they just don't care,
that those substances are then consumed by us. I didn't even
realize those things were used until after I had been diagnosed.
You mean I'm eating estrogen in my meat???? Wow, was that ever a
wakeup call.
Most practitioners don't endorse the use of nutritional
supplements simply because they haven't been approved by the FDA
... this premise amazes me because there have been many drugs,
that have been approved by the FDA, that have caused serious
injury and/or death. There are many nutritional supplements that
show serious promise in the prevention, and possibly even
treatment, of breast cancer. The studies are out there, if you
know where to look.
Naturopathy Naturopathy is another technique that uses the
body's innate ability to heal itself. It is based on the concept
that everything, within the body, is related and that if you
have pain or illness, that is an alarm your body sets off to get
your attention and let you know something is wrong. The
naturopathic way of thinking is that your body begins to let you
know something is out of balance ... perhaps you aren't
digesting your food correctly, or you have some hormones out of
balance ... and it begins a snowball effect, throughout your
organs, until it gets your attention. Everything is related and,
if there is a problem in one area, another area tries to take up
the slack and becomes overworked, and so on. Naturopaths use
natural means, such as homeopathic remedies, natural agents,
manipulation, or electrical treatment to obtain balance so that
the body can heal itself.
Homeopathy This is the practice of using minute doses of active
ingredients to produce the body's own defense and healing
process. It, like naturopathy, strives to achieve homeostasis
(balance) so the body can heal itself. Homeopathic remedies work
much like a vaccine does to our bodies and is based on the
premise of like fixes like. Homeopaths prescribe substances that
would cause symptoms, in a healthy person, for the purpose of
healing those same symptoms in a sick person. For example, a
homeopath would prescribe minute amounts of thyroid to someone
whose thyroid was overactive for the purpose of the thyroid
building a defense to this and slowing itself down.
This is, by no means, an exhaustive overview of alternative
therapies, but is, as stated, an overview. For more in-depth
discussions on this as well as conventional breast cancer
treatments please visit our website below.
About the author:
Melissa Buhmeyer is a breast cancer survivor and has been so for
seven years. She is also the founder of http://www.breastcanc
er-treatment.us , a site focusing on breast cancer
treatment options, news, articles, and survivor experiences.
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