Lise Alschuler, ND, FABNO
Alternative Medicine Magazine’s Definitive Guide to Cancer, 2nd edition
by Lise Alschuler, ND, and Karolyn A. Gazella | Foreword by Debu Tripathy, MD
Interview with the Authors
Our Connection to Cancer
Praise Quotes
Book Review
Vision:
An integrative approach to cancer prevention and treatment can positively transform cancer care.
Mission:
By educating people with cancer, their loved ones, and their healthcare providers about integrative cancer prevention and treatment, we will reduce the suffering caused by this illness.
The American Cancer Society reports that last year (2006) in the United States alone, approximately 2.5 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed. Cancer takes the life of one of every four people in the United States, second only to heart disease. More than 1,500 people die of cancer every single day, and surveys indicate that it is clearly the most feared disease. It represents an experience that no one wants, but that everyone will likely have to contend with either in themselves or in a loved one.
Alternative Medicine Magazine's Definitive Guide to Cancer: An Integrated Approach to
Prevention, Treatment and Healing is an unique new book for those who have been diagnosed with cancer and their loved ones. Compassionate while reflecting the most recent science, this book offers a thorough examination of integrative cancer prevention and treatment in an accessible and practical manner. Readers will develop a better understanding of what cancer is, what causes it, how to best prevent it, and how to include complementary therapies into their treatment. The reader will be armed with the ammunition to make informed decisions based on specific circumstances and personal comfort level. From the start, the authors made a committed promise to their potential readers to scrutinize the mountains of scientific literature available in order to clearly and succinctly present the most trustworthy information possible.
In this guide, readers will find:
- The very latest data on causes, prevention, and early detection of various types of cancer.
- Tips about how to safely and effectively integrate natural and complementary therapies with conventional treatments.
- Honest, compassionate, and practical counsel to help them make informed choices.
- An easy-to-read rating chart of complementary treatments such as vitamins, minerals, and natural supplements and herbs used for prevention during conventional cancer treatment and for recovery and prevention of recurrence.
- A wealth of illuminating personal stories that encourage us all to be proactive with our health, and our doctors and healers.
For those who have been diagnosed and for the people who love them, this guide fortifies the reader with hope and strength.
Alternative Medicine Magazine’s Definitive Guide to Cancer, 2nd Edition: An Integrative
Approach to Prevention, Treament, and Healing by Lise Alschuler and Karolyn Gazella
$39.95 paperback ! ISBN 978-1-58761-2800 ! 6 x 9 inches ! 768 pages ! Pub. Date: June 2007
“This is a remarkable survey of holistic cancer treatment. If I had cancer, I would read this book.”
—Mehmet Öz, MD, author of You: The Owner’s Manual
“In this beautifully written, authoritative, and accessible book, Alschuler and Gazella offer stateof-the-art advice, direction, and companionship to anyone diagnosed with cancer. The Definitive Guide to Cancer is a unique synthesis of information and wisdom, research and loving kindness. This book is a lighthouse for anyone frightened and adrift in the dark.”
—Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, clinical professor at UCSF School of Medicine and author of Kitchen Table Wisdom and My Grandfather’s Blessings
“This is an outstanding resource for every family facing cancer. The future of medicine—full integration of conventional and natural medicine—can be found here. I especially appreciate the authors’ rigorous scientific approach for evaluating the validity of unconventional theories, diagnostic methods, and therapies. This is the resource to trust.”
—Joseph E. Pizzorno, ND, founding president of Bastyr University and coauthor of Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine and Natural Medicine for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer
“This book is a remarkable resource. From helping readers understand cancer prevention, causes, and diagnosis to compiling information about specific cancers and conventional and alternative treatment options, the authors combine compelling science with a compassionate, integrative perspective. This integration of conventional and natural medicine is the hope for the future of both cancer prevention and treatment.”
—Tori Hudson, ND, author of Women's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine and program director of the Institute of Women’s Health and Integrative Medicine
“If knowledge is power, then expect to be empowered by Alschuler and Gazella’s thorough and comprehensive review of cancer. They tackle difficult and complex subject matter without losing sight of the fact that each of us is mind, body, and spirit.”
—William T. O’Donnell, Jr., founder of Miraval, Life in Balance Resort and Spa and the Sierra Tucson Treatment Center
“This is currently the best book available for cancer patients. It is well researched and well written, with eloquent patient stories and invaluable, easy-to-use information on chemotherapy and herbal contraindications. Alschuler and Gazella provide a concise review and evaluation of popular alternative therapies that should be assigned reading for anyone who has been touched by cancer—and that’s all of us.”
—Leanna Standish, ND, Ph.D., L.Acup, research professor at Bastyr University
“The world has been waiting for someone to speak clearly to patients faced with cancer. The Definitive Guide to Cancer provides clarity and direction to patients who must navigate a
treacherous path of information, fact, and misinformation. It illuminates a confused world and brings together in one volume a comprehensive guide to cancer that goes beyond conventional and alternative approaches. For the first time, all the necessary information to support a cancer patient through difficult treatment decisions as well as help them address the underlying causes of disease can be found in one clear and sensible guide. It's about time!”
—Mark Hyman, MD, editor in chief of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine and author of UltraMetabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss
An interview with the authors, Lise Alschuler, ND, FABNO and Karolyn A. Gazella
Q. Why did you write this book?
A. [Dr. Alschuler]
People diagnosed with cancer deserve to become empowered, informed promoters of their own health and wellbeing and should have trustworthy resources available to help them on this journey. As a naturopathic oncologist, I endorse holistic, comprehensive healing that includes the best that medicine has to offer—conventional medicine and complementary medicine – focused on the needs and capacities of the patient. To me, joining forces with Karolyn was an opportunity to touch the lives of the countless individuals touched by this illness and to give them a reliable, trustworthy, and compassionate tool that they can use to navigate their way through the complex experience of cancer. I have been in awe of the strength of my patients and have learned a great deal from their courage. In addition to my patients, my own experience with my father’s cancer intensified my sense of the extreme need for this book.
A. [Karolyn]
My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, my mom died of advanced pancreatic cancer, and I was operated on for ovarian cancer—all within 8 months! Cancer has profoundly touched my life. I have been on a mission to help ease the pain and suffering that can accompany a cancer diagnosis. As a health writer, I feel information is power and the way to impact many lives is to create a practical, responsible consumer reference book that will help people with cancer navigate through arguably one of the most challenging times of their lives.
Q. What makes this book different from other cancer books?
A. [Dr. Alschuler]
This is the only consumer reference book of its kind that comprehensively presents information on both conventional and complementary therapies for cancer prevention and treatment. This book also features hundreds of scientific references giving patients the confidence they need to educate and gain support from their oncologist. Cancer is a very serious illness and this book stands up to scientific scrutiny. Additionally, this book encompasses the holistic and personal aspects of cancer and provides a resource that people with cancer and their loved ones can be inspired by.
A. [Karolyn]
In addition to the solid scientific foundation of this book, Lise and I share our personal stories about how cancer has touched our lives. We also feature stories from patients and their loved ones. We can relate to the reader because we understand that cancer is more than data, tests, and treatment—it can be an emotional roller coaster. The combination of compassionate perspective and practical scientific evidence is unique and critical to successful navigation through the experience of cancer.
Q. Why do you feel using an integrative approach is better than strictly conventional or alternative?
A. [Dr. Alschuler]
There is only one kind of medicine – good medicine. Good medicine focuses on the well-being of the patient and embraces all avenues of healing that promote that wellness. It is my belief that treating cancer demands a high level of scientific rigor in all therapies. At the same time, all therapies that confer benefit and do not harm should be available and encouraged for each person with cancer. People should not be victimized by the disease or its treatments (conventional or alternative). Instead, people should become empowered and transformed through their illness and the treatments they undergo – and this is best achieved through an integrative approach.
A. [Karolyn]
I used an integrative approach to treat my cancer. The surgery probably saved my life. But I chose not to use chemotherapy. Cancer is a daunting opponent. We need to do everything we can to defeat it. That means using the best medicine—the best of conventional and the best of complimentary. Successful cancer prevention and treatment requires the most comprehensive approach possible and that approach is integrative oncology.
Q. What’s the most important message your want your readers to get from your book?
A. [Dr. Alschuler]
In order for lasting and positive change to occur, the patient, their doctors and their other healthcare practitioners need to work together for the good of the patient.
A. [Karolyn]
We want to empower people with cancer. We want readers to understand that they have choices and that this illness can, in fact, be defeated. The best chance that people with cancer have is to use an integrative approach. It’s not an “either-or” proposition. We need to take away our biases and put the patient first. Let’s join together to give the person with cancer the best opportunity to heal.
Our Connection to Cancer
Dr. Alschuler's Story
This story begins and ends with my father….in February 2005, my father called me from a hospital in California to tell me that he had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer….His prognosis was grim….His call brought me to my knees. How could this happen to my dad? The past year has been a heart-wrenching, painful, and also wonderful odyssey. My siblings and our partners have banded together around my father. We have fumbled our way through the maze of decision making, emotional ups and downs, and continued uncertainties that cancer creates. My father has subjected his body to surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and experimental drugs and has steadfastly ingested a daily regimen of supplements that could constitute a meal in and of themselves… On August 3, 2006, my father passed away from pancreatic cancer, surrounded by his children. His brave, desperate, graceful, and epic fight finally came to an end. My father was not afraid of dying, but rather was so sad to leave living. He loved life. As his health began to fail, his joy in living became more and more focused on joy in loving. While enveloped in this shroud of love, I had to let him go. It was—and is—the most painful parting that I have ever experienced. In many ways, this book has been one of the outstretched hands that have helped guide me through this transition. From the outset, this book has been an offering. Karolyn and I have dedicated our time and attention to this book so that the journey we have each walked will perhaps be made just a little bit easier for others.
Karolyn’s Story
…we were blindsided as cancer paid its first visit to our immediate family. Previously, we had seen aunts and cousins stricken with this horrible disease. At the young age of 35, in July 1994, [my sister] Kathi entered the operating room not knowing what to expect. The surgeon came out to deliver the news to us. He said the word cancer and my mom’s knees buckled…. Kathi had a lumpectomy followed by radiation. She was so strong. I think that having two young sons motivated her to fight hard. She was determined to win this battle. And she did. A few months after Kathi’s surgery, Mom developed flulike symptoms and her back pain worsened….They found a huge tumor in her bile duct and five different tumors in her liver. A liver biopsy confirmed that the cancer originated in her pancreas….Three weeks from the date of her diagnosis, on January 6, 1995, at the age of 58, my mom died at home with my sister at her side. Less than three months after my mom’s death and two days after my thirty-third birthday, I was operated on for ovarian cancer. In less than eight months, my family experienced three cancers, one taking the life of our mom, our cornerstone. The pall of cancer that hangs over our family tree has piqued the curiosity of university researchers….Not surprisingly; they discovered that some of our family members have the “cancer gene.” Cancer has dramatically changed my life…..Although conventional medicine would say that Mom lost her battle with cancer, I think differently….The gifts she gave us are far more powerful than any cancer gene imaginable. I live my life differently thanks to cancer. I am humbled to join my sister and the millions of other cancer “thrivers” who are alive and well today.
Karolyn A. Gazella is the founding publisher of the journal Integrative Medicine and has written several books and hundreds of articles on the topic of natural health. She is also the Executive Director of Medicine Horse Program, a non-profit healing organization that helps high-risk youth.
The information contained on this Web site has not been evaluated by the FDA. This information is not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any disease. All material provided on the Dr. Alschuler’s website is provided for educational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise or other health program.
Lise Alschuler, ND
Co-author
Karolyn Gazella
Co-author