Integrative Medicine and Cancer

Patricia Peat RGN

There is no doubt that for a person who is currently diagnosed with cancer, trying to establish some sense of understanding and control over the options available to them is currently extremely difficult.With restrictions being placed on new drugs by NICE, and growing concerns regarding the overall benefits of chemotherapy and radiotherapy when balanced with the side effects, the orthodox approach is being increasingly viewed with scepticism. At a time when we are seeing growing evidence of lifestyle factors influencing the development of cancer, the stance of the orthodox approach to give little credence to natural approaches and to continue to advocate that poor diet full of sugar and saturated fat is leaving people confused an disillusioned by the ‘experts’.Our medical professionals have over recent times been trained in and rely on mechanistic and biochemical approaches to medicine. They identify a problem in a body part, and apply a treatment to that. Whilst that can be very effective in many instances, those who have undergone the experience of an oncology clinic often feels the process is lacking in many of the areas people wish to address in order to return themselves to a state of health. Not being part of the decision making process, not having their own interest in diet and holistic management addressed and feeling dehumanised and traumatised by side effects, people often feel they are on a conveyor belt with few people prepared to listen and address the issues they are interested in. As medical knowledge of cancer has increased, the revelation has been what a steep learning curve we are on in understanding this complex process and how and why the body behaves in this way. Despite constant proclamations of breakthroughs, the only thing we have really learnt is how little we know in the first place.

As human beings we are in direct contact and effected daily by our spiritual and emotional environment as well as our physical. In order for the body to heal effectively it surely makes sense that we need to both attend to and nurture ourselves to encourage optimum heath and opportunity of recovery. That incorporates all elements being attended to with equal importance. It is no longer acceptable for the oncology world to deny that nutrition and natural approaches have no place in a cancer programme when there is increasing evidence of their efficacy. One could strongly question where the research base for the nutritional guidelines currently used by dieticians comes from; I have yet to see a shred of evidence that supports their work. Whilst there is much to be wary of in the CAM world that does not mean people who wish to look at broader concepts of health should be treated with patronisation as simpletons who are clutching at straws. There is a massive need for good safe information and support in this area; we do not serve people with cancer well by ignoring their wishes and alienating them from an active part in their treatment programme. How long is it since we viewed doctors and nurses and healers? They are too often now the administrators of treatments and the therapeutic value of the relationship in healing has been lost.

What do we want from the orthodox world?

It is idealistic and unrealistic for overstretched oncology services to begin to address the multi-dimensional approach required to allow a person with cancer full options of integrative medicine. We can’t expect doctors to train in naturopathic, herbal medicine, reflexology healing etc. But neither do we want them to discourage or ban people from accessing holistic support because it is outside their experience or understanding. We need to move towards integration where standards of practice are established and professionals integrate and support each other’s work with the individual as the main focus of the team.At Cancer Options we have a philosophy of service we think should be the model for cancer care for individuals:

Cancer Options Philosophy of Service

  • A partnership between client and practitioner in the healing process
  • Empowerment of the client in all elements of informed decision making
  • Access to the best information available about all approaches to treatment
  • For the client to be respected, and supported in their treatment choices
  • Appropriate use of conventional and alternative methods to facilitate the body’s innate healing response
  • Consideration of all factors that influence health, wellness and disease, including mind, spirit and community as well as body
  • A philosophy that neither rejects conventional medicine nor accepts alternative medicine uncritically
  • The use of natural, less invasive interventions whenever possible
  • The broader concepts of promotion of health and the prevention of illness as well as the treatment of disease

To achieve this we need to work towards equipping integrative practitioners with the skills and knowledge we have been working to at Cancer Options for many years.

                                                 The Complementary World

By acknowledging the value of CAM medicine that does not mean one should take a viewpoint that everything non orthodox is both safe and of value. There is an enormous need for legislation and organisation in this area, but of the right kind, not the kind that restricts any good practice that is not backed by a pharmaceutical company.                                                                                                                                                             In our work we have come across many practices that are so obviously seen as a lucrative business opportunity by unscrupulous people. It is currently far too easy for people to make outlandish claims for treatment approaches administered by unknowledgeable people whose only aim is to make lots of money. These people exist and that area needs immediate and urgent attention. For people considering CAM therapies they need to know that they are given a realistic appraisal of the potential benefits and are not being overcharged for little benefit. In our experience it is frequently those with late stage disease for whom the orthodox world has little left to offer who are most at risk of emotionally responding to inflated claims.

We have many good practitioners who do wonderful work, they should be valued and encouraged to do so. There are many issues surrounding measurement of effectiveness too complicated to go into here, but whilst we continue to try and fit the square peg of holistic medicine into the round hole  of current scientific measurement methods we shall continue the unhelpful stalemate that exists today. When the person dealing with cancer then looks at CAM therapies, they will frequently find themselves inundated with a variety of approaches, treatments, and numerous expensive supplements that are totally confusing.  One could be forgiven for thinking how does anyone manage to die from cancer when the answers to curing it are actually so simplistic and one dimensional. Complementary medicine can include herbal, homeopathic, metabolic and numerous other treatments that are too numerous to mention. Conventional practitioners view cancer as the tumor, whereas CAM therapists see the tumor as merely the symptom of the cancer. They are more interested in what caused it to appear in the first place.

Those in conventional medicine believe that anything that removes or reduces the tumor is good, even if it weakens the body in the process. Since practitioners of complementary medicine focus on the cause of the tumor, they believe that anything which helps the body eliminate the tumor is progress.

The immune system is the body’s front-line defense against cancer. Although there have been some notable improvements in chemotherapy and radiation technologies, these approaches impact the immune system and many believe they can actually cause cancer if one does not detoxify the body and rebuild the immune system after these approaches are used. Typically nutritional supplementation and other forms of alternative therapy help to strengthen the immune system and help the body to overcome cancer.
Certainly in my years in oncology, the vast majority of people were suffering severe toxicity by the ends of their lives with the effects of multiple pharmacology. It was difficult to differentiate whether cancer or toxicity, weakness and malnutrition was the major influence. I know now much can be done to prevent this and alleviate much suffering and improve quality of life; it is a tragedy that some doctors try to prevent people achieving this.

Some of the widely used CAM approaches

  • Nutrition - to boost the immune system, to increase natural mechanisms for eliminating the tumor, and to prevent reoccurrences. Typically this includes nutritional supplements, intravenous protocols (such as high doses of vitamin C, anti-oxidants, and immune support nutrients), and diet (such as frequent raw vegetable juices, whole grains, legumes and elimination of foods which feed cancer and weaken the immune system).
  • Enzymes - to facilitate the breakdown of the protective coating around cancer cells and to support healthy metabolic processes.
  • Oxygenation - to bring vital energy to the cells, reverse tumor growth and facilitate the elimination of pathogens (fungi, bacteria and viruses) which may be weakening the immune system.  This may take the form of ozone therapy, hyperbaric oxygenation, Qi Gong, oxygenation of the blood directly through intravenous protocols.
  • Detoxification - to eliminate substances which may be burdening the immune system, compromising metabolic processes and blocking energy flow (e.g. heavy metals, pesticides, environmental toxins, and metabolic wastes).  This may take the form of herbal and nutritional products that open up the elimination channels (liver, kidney, colon, and urinary system), colonics, detoxification diets, and IV chelation protocols, zeolife.
  • Emotional Healing - to eliminate toxic emotions and memories somatized in the body.  This may take the form of counseling, emotional release therapies, deep breathing, reiki, homeopathy, or bodywork.
  • Tumor Targeting - to aggressively reduce the tumor size.  This may take the form of cancer vaccines, hyperthermia, or chemotherapy alternatives such as ukrain, mistletoe, zeolife, PDT and intravenous vitamin C
  • Life Style Change and Stress Control - to assist the individual in making the necessary changes in their life structure and belief system to minimize stress.
  • Spiritual Connection - to re-connect the individual with their purpose for being alive and to strengthen their will to live.  This may take the form of prayer, meditation, or spiritual counseling.

How a particular remedy is used varies by practitioner and patient preference. The same regimen-for example, special diets, prayer, therapeutic touch, herbal remedies-may be offered or self-applied toward symptom control, enhanced well being, palliation, or cure (less often). Like conventional medicine, alternative and complementary medicine is complex, heterogeneous and variably practiced from one practitioner or geographic location to another and individual in its effectiveness. It is CAM medicines attempt to to create better health by enhancing the innate healing powers of the organism - through which all true cures come about, indirectly. Too often orthodox medicine fails to understand this crucial therapeutic and conceptual distinction.   

                                                                       Where Do We Go From Here ?    

Despite fears by the medical profession, and despite the increase in availability of CAM medicine, people are not turning away from orthodox approaches and neither should they. Orthodox medicine has much to offer the person with cancer just not necessarily in isolation. We need to work towards a service where we give the consumer what they want and need, to be empowered in their own treatment choices. We need to offer a broad menu for the individual to choose whatever suits them mentally, physically and spiritually, and then support them in those choices and keep them safe. We must achieve standards where practitioners can work as a team for the individual; being realistic we know this will not come largely within the remit of the NHS, as they struggle to afford the orthodox approach. Therefore we should devise a model of cooperative working that acknowledges the skill, value and contribution of each specialist, even if it is not pure science.

Patricia Peat RGN Dip Pall C Dip UTR. Founder of Cancer Options Conusltancy

Cancer Options
Cancer Options is a private, cancer consultancy where you can obtain consultancy, research and coaching for all the different cancer treatments and therapies.
You will find the best of orthodox and complementary approaches evaluated by Britain’s leading experts in the integrative field, Patricia Peat and Dr Chris Etheridge

We are committed to helping our clients  make confident, informed decisions about their cancer care.

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