When diagnosed with breast cancer, many people feel helpless and out of control. Suddenly inundated with doctors and treatment decisions that are difficult to understand, it’s easy to feel that you no longer control your own health or destiny. More and more, however, breast cancer patients are turning to alternative therapies as an adjunct to traditional treatments.

These are decisions and treatments that the patient can control and even administer themselves, giving back some control over their health.

Few patients opt for alternative therapies alone. The vast majority still undergo chemotherapy or radiation and sometimes a lumpectomy or mastectomy. But, studies have shown that there are several alternative therapies that can be effective. In particular, these alternative therapies often have the ability to make the traditional treatments more effective.

If you’re a breast cancer patient, you may want to consider adding alternative therapies to your current medical regimen. Following are some of the most effective therapies to consider:

Green Tea

Tea leaves contain catechins, part of the flavan-3-ol class of flavonoids, which are anti-oxidants. EGCG is one of the catechins contained in tea, and is a potent anti-oxidant. Anti-oxidants have been shown to slow down the aging process, and prevent diseases, including cancer. However, more recent studies have shown that the EGCG and polyphenols in green tea may make traditional breast cancer treatments more effective.

There have been several studies that have shown that chemotherapy drugs commonly used to treat breast cancer appear in higher concentration in cancerous cells when green tea is administered along with the drugs. The green tea makes the cancer cells less resistant to the drug, so that it can be more effective.

Green tea is also helpful for treating cancer because it seems to slow down the progression of the disease. Cancer cells appear to stop growing and replicating when green tea is part of the treatment regimen. It is believed that green tea may be effective in preventing metastasis of cancer.

Diet

Watching your diet carefully while you’re undergoing cancer treatment can also be an effective way to treat your disease naturally. First of all, you should ensure that your diet is rich in anti-oxidants. This includes eating a lot of fruits and vegetables, and including “power” foods like blueberries, pomegranates, and tomatoes.

In addition, as mentioned above, green tea is also a good way to improve the number of anti-oxidants in your diet. It is also important to increase the fiber in your diet. This will happen automatically if you increase your intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. However, eliminating white flour and replacing it with whole grains will improve your fiber intake as well.

Herbs and Vitamins

Of course, herbs and vitamins have been used for centuries to promote healing. After all, herbs were the very first medicines. There are several herbs and vitamins that can either soothe side effects of cancer treatment or improve the effectiveness of the treatments. Some of the most important are:

Ginger Root – While ginger root doesn’t appear to affect cancer cells one way or another, it is a powerful tool for reducing the nausea that often accompanies chemotherapy.

Calcium D-Glucarate - This vitamin and mineral supplement has been shown to reduce mammary cancer in animals. There are no side effects, so adding this to your diet seems a safe alternative therapy.

Melatonin – This is a pineal hormone. It is often used as a natural sleep aid. However, it is also a potent anti-oxidant that has been shown to inhibit estrogen responsive breast cancer cells. It also increases the effectiveness of tamoxifen, a commonly prescribed cancer drug.

St. John’s Wort – This herb has been relied upon for centuries to reduce anxiety, relieve stress and promote a regular sleep cycle. It has also been used to treat depression. Because of its possible interaction with your cancer drugs, it is not recommended that you use St. John’s Wort while you’re going through chemotherapy. However, it may be an effective treatment before and after your chemotherapy treatment.

Mind, Body and Soul Treatments

Participating in activities that help you relax and that relieve pain and other physical symptoms can also be very effective at helping your body respond to your medicine. When undergoing chemotherapy, it’s not unusual to feel tired and nauseous. Any treatments you can find to help relieve these symptoms can help you get better over the long haul by keeping your body strong. Some of the most popular treatments are:

Acupuncture- This ancient healing practice is known to be very effective at relieving chemotherapy induced nausea and it is also effective at reducing pain.

Yoga, Meditation and Hypnosis – All three of these techniques are associated with reducing stress. A reduction in stress may alleviate side effects that occur from cancer treatment and contribute to an overall sense of well being. Keeping our stress in check is helpful in healing our bodies from any ailment.

It’s important to evaluate all your options when you’re battling cancer. It’s critical to keep your doctor informed of any alternative treatments you’d like to include in your therapy. However, if your doctor is aware, you should feel free to explore the many alternative therapies that can be used to enhance your cancer treatments or relieve your side effects.

Jon M. Stout is the Chairman of the Golden Moon Tea Company. Golden Moon Tea carefully selects the finest rare and orthodox teas, which are processed slowly and handcrafted with extreme care. At their website, you can learn more about their current

Tags: breast cancer, cancer patient, cancer treatment, chemotherapy, healing, mastectomy

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Tags: breast cancer, cancer patient, cancer treatment, chemotherapy, healing, mastectomy

Alternative Cancer Treatments are increasingly being used for treating
cancer patients. The treatments are either used a sole therapy or in
combination with traditional therapies to cure cancer. These treatments are
based on the fact that our own immune system provides the first and best
defense against cancer. In alternative cancer treatments vaccines stimulate
patient’s immune system to recognize and destroy tumor cells. The
treatments are customized according to the patient ailing with cancer.

Some of the therapies used in an alternative cancer treatment program
are:

1. Dendritic Cell Therapy

Cancer occurs when the immune system fails and comes across tumor cells.
Macrophage or monocyte is an immune cell that comes in contact with th
cancerous or precancerous cell. (Pre)cancerous cell signals the macrophage
of any unhealthy cell. Macrophage breaks the cell into little pieces with the
help of little packets of enzymes. The little pieces are then either moved to
another type of immune cell or transformed to what is call a ‘Dendritic Cell’.
These cells are found in all tissues of the body. The very first dendritic cell
discovered occurs throughout the skin and is called a Langerhan’s cell.
Dendritic cells are helpful in switching on an immune response and these
stimulate the T-cells to become active against tumors.

Experiments have proved that these dendritic cells with tumor antigens can
provide effective response against cancer. It is possible to produce large
number of dendritic cells from the circulating blood of cancer patients, find
source of tumor antigen and mature them.

Dendritic cell therapy is very effective when used with other types of
immune therapies. The therapy itself is also useful for patients with high
risk of recurrence once the tumor is removed by surgery.

2. Coley Vaccine

This Vaccine was developed by William Coley, a surgeon in 1893 at the New
York Cancer Hospital. Coley discovered that when his vaccine caused a
fever, the cancer shrank and number of immune cells increased
dramatically. Usually, fevers are suppressed with medicinal drugs like
acetaminophen, aspirin or ibuprofen. But studies have shown that
suppressing a fever not only makes the infection worse but also spreads it.
Coley recognized the beneficial effects of fever in cancer patients. He also
discovered that when he stopped injecting the vaccine too early, the cancer
started growing again. Thus, immune cells could be stimulated to fight the
cancer for a limited time only. So, he used repeated injections to stimulate
the immune system continuously.

Though it is called Coley’s vaccine, it does not work to prevent an infection.
Rather, it induces an immune response. Similarly, Coley’s toxins are not
toxins though they contain endotoxins and exotoxins. Under the therapy,
Coley’s toxins are injected into the affected tissues. Injection makes the
cancer tissue necrotic which is then removed by drains. Injections are
repeatedly given either daily or after every two days, however this varies
from person to person.

3. Heat Shock Antigen Cancer Vaccine

Immune therapies for cancer stimulate white blood cells to attack cancer
cells. Vaccines reprogram patient’s immune system to recognize and attack
the cells having the cancer fingerprint. Heat shock antigen vaccine captures
the particular cancer’s ‘fingerprint,’ which contains unique antigens. The
personalized vaccine treats immune systems of cancer patients with little or
no side effects.

HSAV is made from patients’ tumors and heat shock proteins that are
produced by patients’ white blood cells. Part or all of the cancerous tissue
is removed through surgery. White blood cells contain heat shock proteins
that are purified and mixed with purified antigens from the tumor. The
mixture is filtered and put into vials. The final product is tested for quality
and sterility.

4. Cytokines Cancer Vaccine Treatment

Cytokines, also known as immune hormones can both enhance and
suppress immunity. For cancer treatments, cytokines enhance immunity.
FDA has approved two cytokines, interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-alfa 2b,
to be used against certain cancers. Combinations of cytokines deliver
better results. For example, Interleukin-2 stimulates white blood cells to
divide. A very high dose of it will be required if it is used individually.
However, that can cause negative side effects. The solution to this can be
the use of natural combination produced by white blood cells.
By using the combination, the dose of IL-2 can be lowered. Effects of heat
shock protein vaccines and dendritic cell vaccines can be enhanced when
given with natural cytokine combination.

5. Photodynamic Cancer Therapy

Photodynamic therapy is a revolutionary medical technology that uses light
to induce reactions in patient’s body. The therapy can destroy unwanted
tissues without affecting normal tissues. A drug called a photosensitiser is
injected into patient’s body. The drug makes cells more sensitive to light
and eventually destroys the cell. The drug has no effect until exposed to a
particular type of light.

6. Immuno-Augmentive Therapy

The prime objective of IAT is restoring the immune system to enable it to
destroy cancer cells. The therapy restores cancer patient’s immune
competency so that it can control cancer. Once the natural immune system
is restored, patient’s own body becomes capable of treating itself. IAT
treatment is not a cure for cancer but a means of restoring natural balance
of the system.

Om Prakash makes it easy and provides alternative cancer treatment for treating cancer patients. To receive free part mini-course visit the immunemedicine.com” target=”_blank Alternative Cancer Treatments Website.

Tags: alternative cancer treatment, cancer patient, cancer treatment

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Once diagnosed with any type of cancer, most people do tend to initially go into a depression mode till the extent of the cancer is diagnosed and they get some reassurances. Somehow the Big C still has a strange sense of doom that comes along with it, no matter what doctors might tell you about it. The same holds true for patients diagnosed with cancer of the colon. But what they must keep in mind is that they have the support of their family and friends and the future’s not as bleak as it may appear.

An illness in the family, seeing loved ones suffer and go through this diagnosis, causes anxiety and emotional pain in a close family circle whether it is colon cancer or any other disease. Friends are then the main positive support that the family has apart from one another. But if the patient finds that the family is not enough support and he needs more, then a good idea would be to find local support groups and get involved with activities with them. Sharing experiences, hearing success stories have a very positive effect on the sufferer. Include rest in your daily activities as this is a key factor in getting better.

Once diagnosed, get to the library or get on to the Internet and find out all you can about the disease. The more you know about it, the more you help yourself as understanding well very often brings peace of mind. It is the fear of the unknown in cancer that brings the element of fear with it. Information of what is happening to the body during treatment and how it will affect the future is very important for the patient. Mental preparation can turn the worst case scenario into a scenario where there is hope.

Treatment options are dependent on the severity of the case and how advanced the cancer is at the time of diagnosis. A second opinion may be considered if the patient plans to go ahead with the recommended treatment. One would be very happy if the cancer is totally eliminated but patients will be happy with just having the cancer stopped from spreading and relief from the associated discomfort.

For colon cancer the main line of treatment is surgery. Removal of the whole colon or part of it is dependent on the size and location of the cancer. If it is only a polyp then removal of just that little bit should suffice but if it is the whole colon due to the fact that the cancer is advanced then the patient may have to wear a colostomy for the rest of his life.

Chemotherapy is another option for the treatment of this type of cancer. Intake of medicines is done either orally or through the veins and this works well after surgery to get rid of residual cancer cells as well as control further growth, gives relief from symptoms and increases longevity. Radiation therapy which would normally be used together with chemotherapy, is not used for colon cancer.

More information on colon cancer treatments

coloncleansenews.com colon cancer treatments

coloncleansenews.com coloncleansenews.com

Tags: cancer treatment, chemotherapy, colon cancer

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The latest discoveries in medical technology are using certain antibodies for cancer prevention. These medical miracles are called monoclonal antibodies, or “Mabs”, and can be used to help ward off all kinds of cancers. The technology to aid doctors and nurses fight cancer has only come about within the last several decades. Further research continually turns up more and more Mabs, providing hope for those who have already developed cancer and for those who are trying to protect themselves from it.

The American Cancer Society’s (AMC) web site explains that monoclonal antibodies were first developed in laboratories using mice with myeloma cells, which is a kind of bone marrow cancer, and mice that produced specific antibodies for those cells. The combination of these two cells, called a hybridoma cell, forces a perpetual factory making antibodies. The antibodies end up being identical clones of the original hybridoma cell, which is why they are called monoclonal antibodies. The problem scientists faced with this phenomenal finding was that human antibodies recognized the mouse-produced antibodies as foreign invaders and attacked them. With hard work and dedication, scientists are continuing to develop ways to integrate human antibodies in lieu of mouse antibodies so cancer patients will be able to use the immunotherapy as a form of treatment.

Today there are two types of Mabs, naked and conjugated. The difference between these two lies in the fact that naked antibodies lack radioactive materials attached to them. Conjugated antibodies, on the other hand, are fused with a chemotherapy drug or other toxin used to fight off cancer cells. In recent years the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved several Mabs, both naked and conjugated, for cancer treatments. A list of approved Mabs is available through the ACA’s web site. In 2004 and in 2006, Bevacizumab, a naked antibody, was approved for treating certain types of breast cancers. In 2001 the FDA approved the use of Alemuzumab, a naked antibody, which acts as a form of leukemia prevention by attaching itself to both B and T cancer cells, causing the body’s immune system to attack and kill them. In 2000, the FDA approved the use of a conjugated antibody, Gemtuzumab ozogamicin, which is used in the treatment of chronic leukemia.

If you have lost someone to cancer or know someone suffering from cancer, it is not hard to understand how crucial medical research is when it comes to finding antibodies for cancer prevention. The number of cancer victims continues to rise each year, hitting people of all ages. With the prolonged use and approval of Mabs, these numbers may begin to decline, alleviating the fear everyone has about developing some form of the deadly disease. Diet and exercise will only help an individual a certain amount, leaving genetics and medical breakthroughs to do the rest. By continuing to fine tune more variations of antibodies for cancer prevention, medicine as we know it today could be changed for the better in years to come.

Medicine has come a long way in the last fifty years thanks to the help of scientists and research laboratories. Their combined efforts have aided individuals all over the world prevent and treat life-threatening forms of cancer. Advancements in immunotherapy treatments that use antibodies for cancer prevention, combined with other cancer-deterring methods, are just a step on the threshold for greater triumphs to help everyone live long and healthy lives.

Visit Mike Selvon cancer prevention portal for more information on cancerprevention.trustprofitableniche.com/ antibodies for cancer prevention, and leave a comment at our mynicheportal.com/health-beauty/antibodies-for-cancer-prevention cancer prevention blog. Don’t forget to claim your FREE self help ebook on dealing with cancer.

Tags: breast cancer, cancer patient, cancer prevention, cancer treatment, chemotherapy, leukemia

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Tags: breast cancer, cancer patient, cancer prevention, cancer treatment, chemotherapy, leukemia