Some medical pioneers in the study and utilization of information regarding mind-body medicine are writing books and spreading the word about how we can change our health and heal disease through our thoughts -doctors such as Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil, Christiane Northrup, Bernie Siegel, and Herbert Benson.

Such techniques are finally garnering the attention of the AMA and medical facilities and schools. The benefits of stress management workshops in maintaining health and reversing such conditions as ulcerative colitis, chronic headaches, heart disease, and cancer have been acknowledged by doctors as well as employers, and are now routinely taught in most major medical facilities and covered by many health insurance companies.

In addition to helping with the preparation or effects of whatever medical procedures are employed to eliminate cancer in one’s body (surgery, chemo/radiation), there are many things hypnosis can do to help a person increase the likelihood of a positive outcome–from utilizing visualization techniques in order to increase immune system function, to boosting self-esteem and a feeling a control over the cancer and your recovery.

Visualization has been successfully utilized for many years to fight cancer in the body. Dr. Bernie Siegel is perhaps the most well-known proponent of its use. His classic best-seller, Love, Medicine, and Miracles, recounts stories of his cancer patients who have triumphed over their illness by using the power of their minds. There are numerous accounts of people who have had “spontaneous” healing, such as having their cancer shrink or even “disappear” on x-rays taken after invoking prayer or visualization techniques. Though medically “unexplainable,” these accounts are, nevertheless, real. With hypnosis, visualization techniques can be made even more powerful because they are presented directly to the subconscious mind, which is the agent of change.

Professionals in the fields of hypnosis and behavioral medicine believe that producing feelings of calm and relaxation allows the immune system to function at a maximum level, aiding the fight against cancer. Although research evidence is still anecdotal and limited, many other health professionals also believe that hypnotic imagery may enhance immune system functioning, and there is encouraging research underway that is giving us hopeful news about our ability to enhance cellular immunity. Psychoneuroimmunology is beginning to identify factors such as stress, depression (vs. laughter), and loneliness (vs. social support) that seem linked to diseases like cancer and impede the healing process.

With serious illnesses such as cancer, an emotional toll is also exacted upon the patient. A loss of security, control, self-esteem, and lifestyle can cause feelings of helplessness, vulnerability, and depression. The use of hypnosis can allow the person to feel a sense of control over their illness and recovery by taking proactive steps in deciding what course of treatment they are willing to use, working to visualize a positive and reasonable outcome, assisting their body in the healing process, and reducing negative side effects and pain.

At the very least, hypnosis offers many cancer patients physical as well as emotional relief from the fallout of being diagnosed with cancer, thus providing a higher quality of life and reserving energy for the important healing work that lies ahead.

Some of my most rewarding sessions have been working with cancer patients to prepare them physically, emotionally, and even spiritually for what lies ahead in their healing and improve their chances of recovery. If you or someone you know is currently dealing with this issue, read some of my cancer clients’ testimonials on my website at

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Tags: cancer patient, healing

Estrogen Dominance is a term coined by the late John R. Lee, M.D., author of a number of books on the topic of women’s hormones. The theory of Estrogen Dominance describes a condition where a woman can have deficient, normal or excessive estrogen but has little or no progesterone to balance its effects in the body. Even a woman with low estrogen levels can have estrogen dominance symptoms if she doesn’t have any progesterone. Basically estrogen dominance reflects hormones that have gone out of balance. Out of balance hormones can affect women from 14 to 94.

How do we become estrogen dominant? Our food chain is laced with toxic pesticides, herbicides and growth hormones – a sea of endocrine-disrupting chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body. If we are overweight, our body’s store of excess fat can be converted into estrogen. Insulin resistance also leads to estrogen dominance. Then there is estrogen found in ERT, HRT and Birth Control Pills.

Estrogen dominance also occurs in men. As men age, estrogen gradually rises, while saliva levels of progesterone and testosterone gradually fall. We often find men of fifty having higher saliva estrogen levels than women of fifty! A sign of estrogen dominance in men is the tendency for some to develop breasts.

An imbalance of hormones in our bodies results in hormone-related health problems such as PMS, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, infertility, post-partum depression, weight gain, increased blood clotting, thyroid dysfunction, even breast and uterine cancer in women and in men breast cancer, prostate problems and prostate cancer.

Estrogen Dominance can be detected by taking a saliva test. This simple test can accurately reveal hormone levels. Men can also take this simple at-home test to determine if their hormones are out of balance.

A saliva test evaluation will either move a man or woman to take action to bring balance to their own hormones or cause them to sit back and reflect on their good hormone health. Those over 50 can take an annual saliva test to keep track of their hormone levels.

Men and women who experience hormone imbalance feel unwell – bringing balance to their hormones is often a key to their wellness. There are safe natural alternatives available to drug therapies. Women and men must become more informed about their own hormone health.

This Article Is Copywright 2006 Jackie L. Harvey & Saliva Testing com

Jackie Harvey is an International speaker, radio program host, seminar leader, business trainer, and a mother of seven. She works in partnership with nurses, medical doctors and health care practitioners.

Jackie is a men & women’s health advocate specializing in hormonal and menopausal health. Thousands of men & women have watched her informative DVD “Let’s Talk About Hormones”. Jackie is committed to making a positive change in peoples lives.

Visit SalivaTesting.com SalivaTesting.com for more information Saliva Hormone Tests Kits & her Best Selling 1-hour DVD “Let’s Talk About Hormones with Jackie Harvey”. Click For More information on SalivaTesting.com Men’s & Women’s Saliva Hormone Testing and Saliva Test Kits.

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Every year brings hope for new cancer cures to the media forefront and this year started with a bang. A substance that was previously used in a metabolic disorder was tested on cultured human cancer cell lines in a Petri dish and mice with cancer and had very promising results.

The above paragraph has probably been stated every year for the past 30 years. First of all, do not expect your doctor to be prescribing this product anytime soon, a single experiment with mice is just the beginning of years of testing. Anyone who suggests it is going to help you soon is irresponsible or a con artist.

Unfortunately terminally ill cancer patients don’t have this time and will be getting their hopes up in vain, this happens every year when cancer research makes it to the mainstream news programs.

The substance is DCA or dichloroacetate and the study that tested it in cultured cancer cells and mice just came out in January of 2007 in a respectable scientific journal and by a respectable lab in Alberta, Canada headed by Evangelos D. Michelakis.

So why all the fuss ? It’s years away from helping humans even in the best case scenario? Yes, probably, but it does raise a few ethical debates and hopeful issues.

DCA has already been tested in people suffering from other diseases (adults and children), so we already know it is a reasonably safe drug to a point. This can potentially save years of clinical studies and safety hurdles than if DCA was a completely new drug. So very optimistically within one to two years it will begin limited clinical studies within people.

This is very optimistic because money is an issue with this drug. The drug is so cheap to produce that drug companies will not make money from it (it cannot be patented too, which makes it harder for drug companies to make money) and it has the potential to reduce the consumption of current expensive chemotherapies if successful. In other words, the drug companies will not be funding the research to make it to market, and most of you can probably guess that it takes a ba-zillion dollars to finance the research. This raises an ethical debate for drug companies by the public, that being, will they hinder development of helpful drugs if it does not help or even hinder their bottom line?

The lab that produced the results is doing something a little out of the ordinary to now raise money, they are actually asking the public directly to help with the funding. You can actually make a donation here depmed.ualberta.ca/dca/

This drug also raises another ethical question . Why not give it to cancer patients diagnosed with a few months to live? There are potentially thousands of patients who have gone through chemotherapy and reached the stage where chemotherapy is no longer useful and they are taken off it to die weeks later. There would be no shortage of people willing to sign a waiver to take DCA today.

How can a doctor tell a terminally ill cancer patient with a few weeks or months to live that they will not prescribe DCA because it’s potentially unsafe or lacks the correct administrative approval or hasn’t been shown to conclusively help in enough formal studies?

Well, most doctors won’t say that but they will say their hospital or governing medical association will not let them. These faceless administrations can hide and delay your requests for DCA till you die of old age, let alone cancer and no one will be blamed.

Essentially they are telling their patients to stop fighting cancer and just accept their death shortly, sorry, it’s a cold way to put it, but it’s hard to put a good spin on it. It’s not that the doctors do not care, it’s just the accepted way things have been done for decades.

Unfortunately, currently terminal ill cancer patients taken off chemotherapy so they can die in a few months have to rely on themselves, loved ones and caretakers at this point.

This is now forcing many non-healthcare workers to seek out DCA on their own. Nobody wants to see untrained civilians taking over cancer therapy duties but it’s going to happen with this drug as it can be taken orally in a glass of water and is inexpensive IF you get your hands on it. You cannot buy it at the corner store but I predict with great demand it will find a way to get out there and some con artist will even make fake DCA to sell them no doubt.

Who would of thought a small molecule could have raised debates about the business of healthcare, political healthcare administrations and the ethical treatment of terminally ill people.

P. Fezziwig writes for and administers ‘Healthcare Reviews’, healthcarereviews.com healthcarereviews.com , a website devoted to promoting better healthcare through doctor and hospital ratings and reviews.

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Tags: cancer patient, chemotherapy

This is my second “go round” with cancer and chemoptherapy, this time I’m much more educated in helping myself deal with side effects and would like to pass my remedies on to others.

Chemotherapy affects the stomach in a very devastating manner from the top to the bottom and though the prescribed Katrill was a life saver, it doesn’t do it “all”. Here are a few home remedies your oncologist will not tell you about…he’s busy with the chemical aspect of treating the disease and not much into home remedies….I am!

1. Ginger
Ginger has long been known as an anti-nausea agent….I used fresh ginger, sliced it up thinly and put it in the freezer. I would put a few slices from the freezer into a cup of hot water and sip it as tea. I was surprised to read that they have a clinical trial going on using ginger in capsule form to treat nausea in chemo patients…worked for me!

2. Aloe
Aloe is another soothing agent to the stomach and intestinal tract and aloe water is tasteless and can be found in any supermarket in the produce department. It’s inexpensive and helpful…I personally know a man that cured himself of bleeding ulcers with aloe juice, his doctor was amazed.

3. White food
Now for eating….I read many years ago that eating “white food” was a good idea as most white food doesn’t have a strong smell or strong taste….I can’t say that it worked for me but it could work for you. I’m a believer in organic food and foods made from scratch….we have enough chemicals racing around our body, we don’t need more. You might want to check out the “Budwig Diet” on the internet.

4. Baldness
Your oncologist will tell you if you will lose your hair….for me it was somewhat of a blessing, not having to shave my legs, no blow drying etc. Cut your hair very short and once it starts falling out, shave it! The American Cancer Society will give you wigs free of cost….I prefer my baldness as I live in Florida and I also have a nicely shaped head. My eyebrow are very sparse and rather than pencil them in, I use eye shadow that I apply with a brush….it’s more natural looking.

5. Attitude
Should you experience depression…fight it, talk to yourself, convince yourself that depression will not help you and imagine yourself healthy again….and smile as you talk to yourself…I don’t know why, but it works.

6. Acupuncture
I went to an acupuncturist during my first experience with cancer….it helped so much with the horrendous headaches and the nausea. I don’t know why I didn’t do it through this battle.

7. Water
Drinking water is of the utmost importance and I’m sure your doctor will tell you that, but he doesn’t tell you to drink mineralized water which will put your body in an alkaline state…for more info on this subject you can e-mail me at donnaparra595@bellsouth.net

8. Exercise

DO NOT let yourself become a couch potato….even if you must force yourself to walk around the block, it will be helpful. Somedays you must force yourself to put one foot in front of the other….but do it. Exercise helps your body, but it also helps your mind. You will feel good about yourself and proud.

9. Grooming
Keeping yourself well-groomed can be an effort on some days, but it’s a must! I found on the days I HAD to go out and groom myself with make-up etc….something magical happened and I’d feel better….the effort was great but well worth it……I try and do that everyday now. I mean beyond taking a shower and brushing my teeth.

10. Power of Prayer
I think one of the most important remedies is prayer….it has such power and has gotten me through some really rough times. I don’t know how it works, IT WORKS.

Oops! Forgot something…..dealing with constipation. I hate the thickness of prune juice and read on the internet to combat that… put dried prunes in a cup, pour boiling water over them… drink the liquid while warm and then eat the prunes. One woman told me her nurse told her to add a bit of butter to it… I chose to pass on that one but the woman found it quite effective. Flaxseed is also quite effective and you can add them to your cereal or mix them in a salad or just eat a teaspoonful… of course, taking laxatives work but they are not a good idea unless it’s an emergency as your body will come dependent of them.

Good luck to all you “warriors” and I hope that I’ve helped you in your battle… it’s a tough battle but it can be won… keep positive… it’s the attitude that will get you through this… fight on and beat it!

I’m a single woman battling cancer for the second time….and winning. I feel if I can help someone in anyway, then I must. My computer has been a blessing through all of this and I have researched the internet and have gained so through all the knowledge compiled. If you’d like to contact me you can do so at mailto:donnaparra595@bellsouth.net donnaparra595@bellsouth.net

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Tags: chemotherapy