Alternative Medicine for Cancer Patients

Cancer is a nasty disease and the cure is often even worse. With major courses of chemotherapy and radiation zapping energy and causing nausea, hairloss, and more - many people begin to wonder if it is even worth it. For this reason, a large majority of cancer patients turn to alternative medicine in hopes of finding a more natural way to cure their cancer. Here we will look at an overview of the most commonly used alternative medicines for cancer patients.

The idea behind most alternative medicine for cancer is that the body, when healthy, can fight off cancer on its own. Therefore, the cure lies in helping the entire body return to a healthy state, which is exactly what cancer patients are aiming for. Although some alternative medicines focus on specific areas or target the cancer itself, the majority of these treatments are for the entire body.

There are four main types of alternative medicine that cancer patients can lean towards. The most popular and probably best known is herbal therapy, which obviously focuses on the use of herbs to help the body restore its equilibrium. This is also the oldest form of cancer treatments, since herbs have been around since the beginning and were always used to treat illnesses and ailments of the body.

Mind-body therapy focuses on the mind-body connection and is one of the more controversial alternative medicines available for cancer patients. This therapy includes meditation, counseling and hypnosis among other methods to help the patient get to remission. The idea that emotions and beliefs can either hurt or help the patient is behind mind-body therapy. It also tends to use visualization techniques to build up the immune system and fight off the cancer.

Metabolic therapy is another alternative medicine that is often used to treat cancer . This is a treatment based on the idea that the cancer is caused by things within the body, usually toxins and poisons that have collected over the years. In order to treat the cancer, one must first remove the reasons for it. Metabolic therapy is often fairly aggressive, including whole-body detoxification and cleansing, colon cleansing and drastic changes in diet to maintain the purity of the body.

Immunology therapy is the yet another type of alternative medicine that cancer patients turn to. Metabolic therapy is based on the belief that a failure in the immune system allows the cancer to develop and grow within the body, so it treats the immune system, as the name suggests. There are various types of treatment within this therapy, including fever therapy, diet and nutritional supplements, along with vaccines and gamma globulin treatments.

These are the four most common alternative medicines that are used on cancer when people decide not to rely on more conventional therapies. While some cancer patients give up completely on chemotherapy and radiation, others combine the two, alternative medicine with more standard medical treatments.

When hope is running out, or if a cancer patient feels that they are only poisoning their body further with standard methods, alternative medicine is the place to turn. While some people claim great success with these methods, other say they don't work at all. It is really the decision of each individual as to what he or she will do.

Article by The Cancer Reports

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Hormone Therapy For Men - Possible Side Effects of Male Hormonal Therapy

Before you agree to launch your program of hormone therapy, be aware of side effects that may occur as well as the basic pros and cons of using hormones.

Hormone therapy can be tremendously beneficial and can effectively stave off your cancer spread for years, but it shouldn't be taken lightly. When you take hormones (or have an orchiectomy), your body reacts to the orchestrated change in body chemistry.

Some side effects of hormone medications may be annoying, aggravating, or really difficult, depending on the type of drug you take, the dose, whether you take one or more hormones, and your own physiology and general health. If you take hormones for a short period, you shouldn't have any problem tolerating their side effects.

When you take hormones, tell your physician about any side effects you experience. Don't be the strong and silent type who never complains. The downside of never complaining is that your doctor has no idea how much you're suffering, so he won't offer you any medications or other solutions to make you feel significantly better. Your family members will appreciate it too, because men who don't feel well can be very difficult people to be around.

The following sections describe common side effects you may experience when taking hormones.

Hot Flashes: When most people think of hot flashes - which are momentary feelings of heat all over your body, like you were quickly thrown into a sauna and then tossed right out again - they think of older women going through menopause. But men can experience hot flashes, as well.

If you find that the hot flashes caused by your hormone therapy are really difficult for you to cope with, talk to your doctor. A variety of established medicines can help alleviate your hot flashes, such as a very low dose of estrogen or a hormone drug called Megace (generic name: megestrol acetate). Some alternative medicines may also help with hot flashes.

Irritability & Mood Swings: Hormones can transform Mr. Nice into Mr. Extremely Irritable. If you're suffering from bouts of extreme irritability, don't worry: You're not having a total and permanent personality change. But the emotional impact of your irritable behavior can be tough for you (and your loved ones) to take.

As much as possible, make a concerted effort to think first before snarling and lashing out. Count to ten when you find that your emotions are difficult to control. It really does help. You need to realize that, when you get used to the hormone therapy or it's done, Mr. Nice (or Mr. Average, or whoever you were before hormone therapy) will be back in the driver's seat of your mind again. If the hormone therapy is permanent, the mood swings will lessen with time. If the mood changes become too severe, ask your doctor about antidepressants or other mood-altering therapies. They usually work.

Decreased Sex Drive: When you take hormones to fight cancer, your sex drive may be very low or even reduced to zero. With no sex drive, you'll likely become impotent. Impotence may upset your partner, but it may not upset you a lot, because of your missing-in-action sex drive - except that you may feel bad that you really can't have intercourse with your partner while you're taking hormones. (But don't forget: Just because you can't have intercourse doesn't mean that you have to give up sex altogether. You can still pay attention to your partner sexually, even if you're not in the mood yourself.)

If you're on intermittent therapy, your doctor may eventually take you off hormones for a while. In many cases, your sexual desire and potency will return after the drugs are out of your system and you begin producing testosterone again.

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