Description:
Of the 1.2 million people diagnosed with cancer each year, at least half seek out alternative and/or complementary care in addition to or in place of conventional treatments. As a result, health-care approaches ranging from traditional Chinese medicine to dietary regimens to the use of supplements such as shark cartilage and coenzyme Q10 are capturing the attention of the medical establishment and gaining momentum as viable--if not lifesaving--cancer-fighting strategies. On the forefront of this widening acceptance in the medical community is James S. Gordon, M.D., Georgetown University medical professor, director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C., and creator of the Comprehensive Cancer Care conferences, which in recent years have provided an important forum for sharing and evaluating both conventional and alternative cancer research. Comprehensive Cancer Care, which Gordon wrote with patient advocate and author Sharon Curtin, is an authoritative, eloquent guide to more experimental methodologies that have demonstrated improvements in quality of life and life expectancy, or in fact have reversed cancer's destructive trajectory, for patients with all stages of cancer. They address the efficacy of therapeutic diets, such as German physician Max Gerson's detoxifying routine and Michio Kushi's macrobiotic regimen; Houston doctor Stanislaw Burzynski's controversial treatment using antineoplastons, or short chains of amino acids; Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez's pancreatic enzyme therapy; mind-body techniques such as hypnosis, meditation, and self-expression; and the use of phytonutrients such as green tea, melatonin, and a mushroom called Maitake-D. Interspersed among the discussions of each approach are moving stories of patients who, dissatisfied with the standard, impersonal, and discomforting steps of surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy, have come to Gordon's mind-body facility in search of other, more empowering techniques for combating the disease, often with amazing results. Gordon believes that a seamless integration of the best of allopathic and alternative care is the future of effective health care. Indeed, many of the findings and anecdotes presented in this book lend credence to--and give hope for--that vision. Anyone struggling with cancer would do well to consider the information given here; while the sophistication and benefits of conventional medical care can hardly be disputed, the advantages of exploring one's choices in healing are profound. --Rebecca Wright
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