Should people pursue naturopathic remedies when they have cancer?

Yes

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by Tamara Stewart

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There is nothing worse than hearing the news "You have cancer." Cancer is still one of the leading causes of death in the U.S.A. and many parts of the world. It is estimated that one out every three people in the world will die of some form of cancer. Everyday more evidence shows there is a place for naturopathic cures in treating cancer. Should naturopathic cures replace conventional treatments? No. However, naturopathic treatments can work to promote better health, help increase the chances of success in chemotherapy and radiation treatments, while decreasing the side effects. By combining the benefits of naturopathic treatments, with conventional medicine, patients can increase their chances of survival.

Naturopathic treatments are geared toward the individual, not designed for one size fits all. Each patient has different needs and it is important to see a licensed naturopathic doctor, or an MD or DO who specializes in holistic treatment to decide the best strategy in beating your cancer. Some of the key treatments that your doctor will probably discuss with you include: diet and nutrition, supplements and homeopathy. Oriental medicine, physical medicine, and psychological medicine may also be treatments your doctor may discuss with you in your treatment plan.

Diet and Nutrition

Diet and nutrition play a role in your health. Not only by helping to prevent cancer, but helping you fight the battle against cancer. Eat plenty of cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower. These vegetables contain phytochemicals shown to be effective in reducing cancer. Diets should also include plenty of cherries, grapes, plums, apples, cantaloupe, carrots, squash, nuts (such as walnut, almonds, and Brazil nuts), and beans (legumes such as chickpeas, lentils, red beans). Make sure to include whole grains and brown rice to the mix as well. When looking at anticancer diets, think color. Vegetables and fruit that are green, red, blue, purple, orange, yellow, and white are good bets for healthy choices.

Watch out for processed refined foods, white flour, salt, saturated fats, and sugar. Cancer thrives on sugar. Stay away from smoked or cured meats, and lunch meat. Eat three servings of fish, such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel each week. Limit or avoid consumption of animal protein as much as possible.

Getting enough nutrients is a problem that many people with cancer face. When you are undergoing treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy you may have difficulty eating because of the side effects from the treatments. Side effects that can limit the ability to eat include: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, dry mouth, loss of taste or appetite, dry mouth, and mouth sores. Not all patients will present all these symptoms, but more often than not, many patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy will deal with at least a few of these symptoms. For patients who are not tolerating treatment well, to get enough nutrients the patients may be told by their doctor to drink a high-protein smoothie once or twice a day. Smoothies are a great way to get nutrition and can take place of breakfast, and a mid-afternoon snack. Make sure to eat small, frequent meals every one to two hours, instead of eating several larger meals. If your stomach gets upset, try some fresh ginger prepared as a tea. It is nature's cure for nausea and vomiting. To help season your foods so they are more palatable, use seasonings. However, you want to avoid any seasonings that might be on the sweet or bitter side. You may find it is difficult to eat hard foods, so you might want to opt for softer foods such as bananas, eggs, brown rice, etc. Make sure you keep well hydrated. You should plan to drink at least eight glasses of water a day. Not only does water help your body digest and absorb vitamins, it helps to detoxify the liver and kidneys, carrying wastes away. The best water to drink is filtered spring or steam distilled water. Unfiltered tap water should be avoided. It can contain contaminants that are unhealthy.

One last note about diet and nutrition, make sure to include exercise in your arsenal against cancer. A strong body can fight off cancer better than a weak one. Walking, swimming, bike riding are three great exercises that are low impact and won't cause you to exert too much energy. When walking, shoot for three to four time a week. Start out slow, about fifteen to twenty minutes a day and walk at a slow pace (about two miles an hour) for the first week or two. Work you way up to an hour or more each day (at a pace of three to four miles an hour). For swimming, and bike riding, the same applies for workout length and times a week. If you feel like you have energy to burn, consider some higher impact exercises such as light running or light strength training. Just don't overdo it! Check with your doctor before you begin any exercise.

Supplements and Herbs

Your doctor may prescribe the following nutrients for you: beta carotene, 10,000 units (helps to destroy free radicals), CoQ10 (coenzyme Q10) 100 mg daily (improves oxygenation of cells - cancer cannot live in an oxygen rich environment), garlic capsules (Kyolic) two capsules three times daily (improves immune role), Vitamin B complex, 100 mg. daily (necessary for normal cell function), Vitamin C, 5,000-10,000 mg daily in divided doses (powerful anticancer agent) These are essential nutrients in your battle against cancer. Your doctor may prescribe pau d'arco, black radish (related to the broccoli and kale family), dandelion root, echinacea, and green tea. These are known to help the immune system and deter cancer. Depending on how your treatment is going and how you feel will decide what your doctor may prescribe for you. Make sure to let your doctor know what medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements you are taking. This is important for your doctor to know. Some medicines can react with your vitamins and herbal supplements. Always make sure to follow your doctor's advice. When looking for supplements, make sure to take only high quality supplements that have been tested by a third-party for purity and efficacy.

Homeopathy

Homeopathy is nothing new; it has been around since 1796. Samuel Hahnemann, of Meissen, Germany is credited as its founder. Homeopathy is based on the principle that "Like cures Like." Plant extracts and minerals in limited doses are the main focus of this medicine to stimulate the immune system to heal itself. Arsenicum Album (a homeopathic cure stemmed from the metal arsenic, and found in small traces in animals and vegetables), is one medicine that your doctor may prescribe depending on what cancer you have. There are other plant extracts and metals that your doctor may prescribe, again depending on the cancer. Your doctor may also prescribe pau d'arco, black radish (related to the broccoli and kale family), dandelion root, echinacea, and green tea. These are known to help the immune system and deter cancer. Depending on how your treatment is going and how you feel will decide what your doctor may prescribe for you. Make sure to let your doctor know what medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements you are taking. This is important for your doctor to know. Some medicines can react with your vitamins and herbal supplements. Always make sure to follow your doctor's advice.

Oriental Medicine

One area of medicine that is gaining more support in the United States for helping patients with pain management, fatigue, stress, depression, anger, and side effects from chemotherapy and radiation therapy is Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Chinese medicine has been around for over 2,000 years and is practiced in many countries. Chinese medicine looks at cancer as a slowing or stoppage in the flow of substances in the body, because of such reasons as emotion, diet, exercise, and external causes. Acupuncture is a treatment that has been found effective in treating pain, nausea and fatigue. Thin, sharp needles are placed at specific points in the body. Acupuncture is believed to allow the body to release energy and direct it into healthier channels. Acupressure is a massage therapy that focuses on applying pressure on specific points in the body where Qi (pronounced "chee") or energy has a tendency to stagnate; acupressure allows energy to flow. Patients that are undergoing treatment for cancer with chemotherapy or radiation therapy may find relief from their side effects with this treatment. Acupressure has been shown to help the body get rid of toxins associated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Qigong (pronounced "chee-gung") is another treatment that you may find helpful. Qigong incorporates physical movements, specific breathing patterns, and mental focus to help patients deal with stress, fatigue, and side effects from conventional treatments.

Physical Medicine

Physical medicine focuses on several areas: body relaxation exercises, massage, hydrotherapy and hot and cold treatments. Body relaxation exercises have been shown to be effective in relieving pain by reducing muscle tension. It is important for patients to be in a relaxed position, preferably lying down. The key to this relaxation exercise is to tense and relax muscles from the head, including eyes, nose and mouth and working on down the body to the feet. You should feel more relaxed when finished with the exercise. Massage is another great way to help you with overall relaxation and can help with pain management. It is important that you position yourself in a comfortable position or you may only be able to stand the massage for a short time. Hydrotherapy (water therapy) is a great way to stimulate the body's immune defenses and help lessen any inflammation, by using applications of warm and cool water at different temperatures. Types of hydrotherapy include whirlpool and steam baths to bring on relaxation and help with pain, ice packs to help decrease swelling, warm water to clean any wounds, and warm compresses to aid in relaxation, reduce pain, and increase circulation.

Psychological Medicine

Having a positive attitude when you have cancer is so important, and it could well make a difference in the outcome. Psychological medicine or mind-body medicine as it also known, use various techniques to help you heal your body. Some of the techniques used include: psychotherapy, imagery, meditation, hypnosis, biofeedback, aromatherapy, creative therapy, laugh therapy, and energy therapy. Psychotherapy can help you with coping skills and beat depression and anxiety. Imagery can work in several ways. By focusing your mind on certain images, sights, smells, sounds, you can increase your relaxation, and decrease your stress level, decrease pain, and help lessen side effects of cancer treatment. Meditation works in a similar fashion to imagery, except instead of imagining images, you focus your body on breathing or repetitive words to bring about relaxation. Hypnosis is another relaxation method that uses a relaxed state of mind to help you focus on pain management and decrease your stress and anxiety levels. Biofeedback uses devices to check your body functions, such as breathing, heart rate, and muscle tension, and teaches you how to regulate these body functions, which can increase your level of relaxation and decrease your pain level. Aromatherapy focuses on using extract oils distilled from plants to help induce relaxation. This is normally achieved through two methods, oils that are applied directly to the skin during massage, or inhaled. Aromatherapy oils can also be used during acupuncture. Creative therapy uses art, music, dance, poetry, etc. to help relieve stress, pain, and improve your immune functions. Laugh therapy uses humor in various ways to relieve stress, help your circulation and decrease your pain. It is believed that laughing produces endorphins, chemicals that can help control the pain you may be feeling. Energy therapy focuses on releasing energy in the body to help heal the patient. Two of the well known types of energy therapy include Reiki (pronounced "Ray-Kee") therapy and Therapeutic Touch (TT). Reiki is a hands-on Japanese energy relaxation treatment that focuses on building the body's ability to heal itself by accessing energy sources in the human body. Therapeutic touch works on similar principles as Reiki. Both focus on energy fields in the body and ways that these energy paths can be unblocked to promote healing. One difference between the two techniques is Reiki often uses a hands-on approach with the Reiki therapist making light contact with the patient's body, moving from head to the feet. Therapeutic Touch uses no contact with the body, but also follows a path down the body to release blockages from the energy field.

When looking at what your choices are when dealing with cancer, always use good common sense. Naturopathic medicines have been used for thousands of years in one form or another. These alternative treatments can work in coordination with allopathic treatments (medicine that treats disease with conventional medicine). Naturopathic medicine can help you build your immune system back, relieve stress, pain, and help you cope better so you can win your biggest battle - winning back your life.

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