I don't think anyone can understand the desperation felt by those who have been diagnosed with cancer unless they have experienced it first-hand.

Here's a quote from your first link "...some show promise for easing symptoms. Touch therapies, mind-body approaches and acupuncture may reduce stress and relieve pain, nausea, dry mouth and possibly hot flashes, and are recommended by many top cancer experts. A recent study found that ginger capsules eased nausea if started days before chemotherapy.

Many hospitals offer aromatherapy, massage, meditation, yoga and acupuncture because patients want them and there is little risk of physical harm. They call this complementary or integrative medicine because it is in addition to  not in place of  conventional treatments."

I know I'd be trying some, if not all, of the above mentioned.

Much easier to avoid as many known carcinogens as possible and try to lead a healthy lifestyle.

Any doctor worth their salt would ask specific questions about what a patient is taking prior to prescribing drugs. Just because the patient doesn't think of it as drugs, a doctor should know that often people don't consider vitamin c a drug, etc, and should ask if they take any supplements, vitamins, etc.

A lot of people don't know not to take pills with grapefruit juice. This doesn't mean grapefruit juice isn't good for a person. It just means, don't take some things together.

With cancer, there are some things that work for some people, but not everything works for everyone. There needs to be a more open discourse where people who seek alternative therapies are treated as ignorant rather than people who are trying to control their own treatment.

"I don't think anyone can understand the desperation felt by those who have been diagnosed with cancer unless they have experienced it first-hand."

Hopefully those who read that first link will gain some understanding of what Leslee Flasch must have gone through during her alternative treatments for rectal cancer, as her condition deteriorated from potentially curable to terminal stages.

Complementary therapies that offer some easing of symptoms are to be encouraged. What's alarming is when people are urged to use only herbal or other alternative treatments for cancer to the exclusion of evidence-based medicine.

"There needs to be a more open discourse where people who seek alternative therapies are treated as ignorant rather than people who are trying to control their own treatment.

I'm hoping you meant that the other way around.

hahahaha I did!!!

Cancer survivor Grace MaCormick prepared a list of Alternative Cancer Medicines

From this list, some good Alternative Cancer Medicines are worth reviewing. If there are Alternatives
that bring better results, we should get ourselves familiar with a few good ones.

This is about QUALITY.

If the Alternative Cancer Medicines you are using has good qualities - life-saving, improvement,
healing and more - Grace would like to hear from you and add to her list.

View her list of Cancer Alternative Meds at:
http://target-cancer.page.tl/

Thank you, Jola3, for taking the time to provide this list alternative cancer cures. Taking a multifaceted approach as she does and providing the details of her experience is truly a valuable resource, and I will be sure to look into it and share.

The list of "cancer alternative meds" provided by jola3 is a mixture of well-known and obscure remedies which have one thing in common - none have been demonstrated to cure or alleviate cancer. Some are actively dangerous, either to us or other species.

Take for instance shark cartilage, promoted under the illusion that sharks don't get cancer and so their cartilage must have benefit (sharks actually do get cancer, and indiscriminate harvesting of sharks threatens their survival).

"Oleander tea" is a concoction made from the oleander plant, designed to replace toxic chemotherapy. The problem here is that unlike chemo, oleander lacks proven efficacy while still causing vomiting, diarrhea and other deleterious symptoms (oleander is well-known as a poisonous plant).

Essiac tea has never been shown to have significant antitumor activity despite being around for many decades.

One more question potential users should ask about this long list of supposed alternative cancer remedies - if any one of them is a miracle cancer cure, why the need for so many different ones?

Here is a link that might be useful: Supplement promoters and cancer

Well it's too bad 'demonstrations' are so vague. I'm sure many people have been cured by those alternative cures, but unfortunately nobody will believe them, being so stuck on the modern medicine you seem to promote.

Apart from the fact that I would much rather see a person cured by a shark that was killed than the other way around, she did say that it only suppressed the cancer temporarily, and was no complete cure.

I realize the toxic effects of Oleander are there, just like at one time I believed apricot/apple seeds, elephant ear, daffodils birds-foot trefoil, etc. were toxic, and just like many people through the ages have thought other plants were toxic, the most famous being tomatoes. This said, after doing a little research, the argument seems to be that the toxins are removed through decoction and straining. Plus by Wikipedia saying there are no adverse effects by topical administration and injection, I believe there are other ways to prepare it without toxicity.

As for Essiac tea, it wouldn't still be around after all those years if it didn't have some healing effect.

Furthermore the page is only about Grace's research, and not encouraging any one cure there. In addition, as she said, these are only ingredients, not a miracle formula, that's why so many different cures are necessary.

If you want true miracle drugs that can work by themselves, look into P73 Oregano Oil, Grapefruit Seed Extract, and 50ppm Colloidal Silver.

Whether you call them "demonstrations", testimonials, anecdotes or whatever - all they amount to is one person's say-so. Do you trust whatever someone says on the Internet, or do you look for the facts?

For instance, where's the evidence these people ever had an accurate diagnosis of cancer in the first place? And if they did (not that you're going to be able to find that out online), many cite having had tumors removed by surgery, received chemo or other targeted mainstream therapy, but for some reason credit their "alternative" remedies for remission or cure. Why not accept the logical explanation - that proven medicine was what helped them?

Can you explain more clearly why there are so many alternative cancer remedies out there, if any of them are really effective? If for instance essiac tea was so great, why are all these other concoctions necessary? With no good evidence backing any one of them, do you really expect cancer patients to spend lots of money and precious time on a merry-go-round of unproven supplements and drugs? (speaking of which, it is highly doubtful that "oleander tea" is without toxins, seeing as it causes the same nausea, vomiting etc. as many chemotherapy drugs, but does not possess chemo's effectiveness).

I'm sorry (but not surprised) to see you touting colloidal silver, a remedy largely abandoned by medicine after it was found that overuse could permanently dye a person's skin blue-gray.

It's good that you're interesting in herbalism/alt med, but I urge you to consult reliable sources to get the facts that supplement promoters and icuredcancerathomeinmysparetime.com are not going to give you.

Here is a link that might be useful: Evidence-based herbalism

Neither. Facts are frequently disproved, and people frequently lie. I try to learn whatever I can about the cure(from both sides), and use common sense for the rest.

There's a simple answer as to why they credited the alternative remedies- because people have used chemo and 'mainstream' therapy before without being cured. But when others took the alternative remedies also, differently from those that relied only on modern medicine, they were cured and actually lived to tell about it.

Why there are so many alternative remedies out there is because all ailments have multiple cures. It has nothing to do with the specific disease or the reliability of the remedies. Furthermore, it was explained in the article that a combination was necessary, because no one remedy could work alone. There are many sides to a disease, and cures for each one. Actually, no, I don't expect anyone to do anything. Whether they chose to look into the alternative cures for cancer or stick to the fallible ways of modern medicine, is up to them.

And since when did the overuse of any drug not cause side effects?! Or are you going to say that just because activated charcoal applied in a poultice can darken the skin over a long term, that it should never be used as a cure against toxins and poisons? I know you don't take personal experiences into consideration, but I have seen and had (depending on the instance) Colloidal silver cure everything from eye infections, coughs that have lasted for months be healed within a couple of days, prevent tetanus from festering in a wound caused by rusty metal, and many other things (all without the help of modern medicine or vaccinations) so I'm sticking to it.

Yowch. Any site that states that a salad green; dandelion, can cause heartburn, stomach inflammation, dyspepsia, hypoglycemia, dermatitis, and cystitis has got to be biased in some way. Sorry, but I'm not buying the info on that site.

Cancer is a tricky disease or cellular mutation depending on how you want to define it. There are so many type of cancers that I doubt we'll ever find one cure and from my research different people's genetic makeup can hamper or help any given 'cure'. I've had a grandfather, husband and several close friends and relatives die from cancer so I can relate to the horror and helplessness that comes from dealing with it. I believe there is evidence that some of the herbs can help with certain cancers. VapingGoat.com is one site that has compiled some of the formal research done on herbs and I like the way it presents the data plus the plain English version. Much better in my opinion than someone pitching something they said healed their grandma! They sell herbal tinctures which are fairly potent. Worth checking out and I hope the best for all of you dealing with this disease.

Sunburygirl:

This is a little off topic, but I just read your bio (I think that's the word.) I'm originally from Pennsylvania. Historic wood restoration was my forte and now I do hardwood floors in Arizona. If you ever need some advice on refinishing your floors, don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have. There are some finishes that should NEVER be used on historic floors and some finishes that SHOULD be used. I love sharing, if ever I can help.

Herbology has been my off-on vocation for the past 40+ years.

HerbDoctor

"Why there are so many alternative remedies out there is because all ailments have multiple cures. It has nothing to do with the specific disease or the reliability of the remedies."

It has everything to do with the ineffectiveness of the alternative remedies. The idea is to lead desperate people down the path of shelling out money for one remedy after another, using the line that "everyone is different" and "what works for one may not work for another", ignoring the reality that none of these much-hyped "alternative cancer cures" do anything except fatten the wallets of those promoting them (either through direct sales, books or websites that turn a profit by running ads for such things.

And it's guaranteed that anything having a profound action against cancer will also come with undesirable side effects. Any time you hear a claim that a supplement or herb is highly effective for a serious ailment without any significant side effects, you should know you're being conned.

"And it's guaranteed that anything having a profound action against cancer will also come with undesirable side effects. Any time you hear a claim that a supplement or herb is highly effective for a serious ailment without any significant side effects, you should know you're being conned."

Oh so now you can't get cured without being hurt? Hm, you just may be onto some new fad there...

Sumatra:

You brought a smile to my face. Nothing new about Eric's approach. Modern medicine has been ignoring the hippocratic oath for centuries. Why should they change now? lol

HerbDoctor

Neither of Eric's links is working at this point...both were from Yahoo.

:o/

Actually, both of the original links in this thread were to articles posted on ABC News websites. It's not surprising that after four years the links no longer go to the original articles (thanks for noticing, eibren), so here's a working link to one of the articles. Still very timely.

"Many hospitals offer aromatherapy, massage, meditation, yoga and acupuncture because patients want them and there is little risk of physical harm. They call this complementary or integrative medicine because it is in addition to - not in place of conventional treatments.

At the other end of the spectrum are quacks selling fringe therapies and supplements through testimonials, not proof. Laetrile, "detoxifying" coffee enemas, shark cartilage - the miracle cures change but the bogus claims remain the same.

"What I am noticing in the last year or two is a resurgence of these things. It's coming back," said Barrie Cassileth, integrative medicine chief at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and a longtime adviser to the American Cancer Society.

The Internet fuels this trend by letting people buy direct and bypass doctors who could help them see through scams and misleading claims of scientific proof. Sadly, some Web sites are run by quacks - a "doctor" title doesn't mean the remedy is safe or effective.

"A lot of these doctors prey on people's insecurities and need for hope," said Dr. Roy Herbst, lung cancer chief at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

"After they've been there some months they'll realize things are not working. But with cancer, you get one chance. By the time they get back to a reasonable hospital, they're dead. Nothing can be done for them," she said.

Ways that supplements and fringe therapies can harm:

Financially. Pills that seem cheap actually cost a lot if they are worthless or are bought in place of real medicine, fresh fruits and vegetables, or other things known to boost health.
Medically. Trying an alternative remedy can delay the time until a patient receives an effective treatment, allowing the cancer to spread. A potentially curable cancer may become untreatable - as Leslee Flasch found out when she belatedly sought the surgery that had been recommended. Having such an advanced cancer without standard medical care must have caused excruciating pain, said one of her physicians, Dr. Lodovico Balducci at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.
Physically. Supplements, even those claimed to be natural, have biological effects and can interact dangerously with a wide array of medicines.
Psychologically. Futile treatment raises false hope and deprives people of the chance to prepare for the end of life and die in dignity and comfort."

Here is a link that might be useful: Alt med cancer treatments - a risky business

This post was edited by eric_oh on Sun, Oct 6, 13 at 14:41

Are they saying that food is worth more than an alternative healing remedy that could cure the person? Somebody really needs to reinvent the definition of quack medicine, because this is getting out of hand.

Sure, alternative treatments are a risky business, but only because there are so many people passionately, and perhaps foolishly, against them.

Eating a good diet rich in fruits and vegetables is far preferable to buying unproven and useless supplements of unknown quality.

There's no need to reinvent the definition of quackery. It just needs to be recognized in whatever form in which it's presented.