Every cancer patient is different. A certain treatment plan may work well for one and not work at all for another. This is one of the many reasons doctors work one-on-one with patients to design the best plan to treat the individual. Individual treatment plans certainly offer promise, but integrative oncologists have just a few things to add.
James W. Forsythe, MD, HMD is a 40-year oncology veteran. His integrative approach to cancer treatment has resulted in a 46 percent positive response rate in a 500-patient study lasting five years. In his book “Take Control of Your Cancer: Integrating the Best of Alternative and Conventional Treatments,” Dr. Forsythe discusses six connections between health and cancer. But first, like the rest of the medical industry today, Forsythe pushes prevention to the forefront of cancer care. By following all of the suggestions below, Dr. Forsythe claims that you can significantly decrease your chances of ever developing cancer.
Placing Emphasis on Prevention
1. Consume lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Choose organic whenever possible. 2. Drink bottled and filtered water, preferably alkaline water. 3. Stay away from smoking and smokeless tobacco. Avoid restaurants, hotels, theaters, and other enclosed spaces where smokers congregate, in order to avoid passive smoke inhalation. 4. Avoid toxic fumes from gas stations and automobile garages. 5. Avoid living under or near power lines. 6. Avoid houses with high radon levels in crawl spaces or in the surrounding grounds. 7. Do not engage in risky sexual behavior. 8. Avoid excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Cover your head, arms, and legs with clothing or a sunscreen that has a UVA/UVB protection rating of 30 or higher. 9. Avoid overexposure to microwave and electromagnetic radiation fields. 10. Avoid tanning salons or sunbathing. 11. Avoid excessive radiologic procedures such as CT and PET scans. 12. Take care of your teeth. Floss and have them professionally cleaned often (at least three or four times per year). Remove old silver fillings and replace with porcelain or composite.
Six Connections Between Health and Cancer
1. Simple-sugar elimination diets are essential to adopt and maintain, as this single act by a patient can deprive cancer of its main form of nutrition. 2. The best anti-cancer vitamins, minerals, herbs, and amino acids are essential and can be predicted by chemosensitivity testing. 3. The importance of body conditioning, exercise, yoga, Pilates, prayer, and meditation cannot be overemphasized. Keep yourself physically and spiritually healthy. 4. The importance of reducing stress and ridding the mind of toxic emotions, including hate, anger, fear, retribution, and depression, are extremely important. 5. Detoxification of the body from chemical toxins and heavy-metal toxins, including dental amalgams and dental infections, along with colonic cleansing, is an important part of giving the immune system a healthy basis from which to fight any disease. 6. Hormonal balancing with preferably bio-identical hormone replacement therapies, except where contraindicated, can be extremely important in strengthening the immune system and neuro-endocrine system.
While many of the connections and suggestions listed above can benefit both the sick and the healthy, when it comes to asbestos-related diseases such as pleural effusion and mesothelioma, early detection should be added to the list. According to the American Cancer Society:
For people with known exposure to asbestos, some doctors recommend imaging tests such as chest x-rays or computed tomography (CT) scans to look for changes in the lungs that might be signs of mesothelioma or lung cancer.
In recent years, doctors have found that people with mesothelioma often have high levels of certain substances in their blood, including osteopontin and soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRPs). Blood tests for these substances may one day be useful in finding mesotheliomas early, although right now they are used mainly to monitor the course of the disease in people who are already known to have mesothelioma.
If you worked at an asbestos job site before 1976 or as recent as the 1980s, you may have been exposed to asbestos. If you worked with asbestos-containing materials in any industry, you may have been exposed. Visit your doctor immediately to take any recommended tests. The earlier the condition is diagnosed, the greater the chances are of survival.