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Treating Cancer -- With Herbs

herbs, natural remediesMany of the chemotherapies used to fight cancer in modern medicine were developed from natural substances.

For instance:
  • Taxanes used to treat prostate and breast cancer came from yew trees.
  • Vinca alkaloids, which are used to treat malignant lymphomas, are made from periwinkle plants.
  • The anti-cancer drugs topotecan and irinotecan come from a component of the Chinese Happy Tree.
Scientists are increasingly focusing on plants used in traditional medicine in their search for new compounds. About three-quarters of the pharmaceutical compounds used today came from plants used in traditional medicine.

Professor Dr. Thomas Efferth from Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum in Heidelberg, for example, has begun analyzing 76 Chinese medicinal plants that are believed to treat malignant tumors and other growths. Extracts from 18 of the plants were found to significantly suppress the growth of cancer cells.

“With this success rate of about 24 percent, we are way above the results that could be expected from searching through large chemical substance libraries,” Efferth said.

Sources:

Dr. Mercola''s Comments Dr. Mercola's Comments:

Most pharmaceuticals that are derived from plants are typically from one “active” component of the plant that is then isolated and synthetically replicated. In contrast, most traditional medicine remedies use whole plants in their natural state, which is a far cry from the lab-produced cancer treatments used in modern medicine.

While herbal remedies can indeed be powerful, they are typically far safer than most medications. Still, I do not widely support using them as your primary healing approach as they rarely address the primary cause. Like drugs, herbs and other plants are frequently used as band-aids that fail to address the root cause.

However, when used wisely by someone trained in this science they can be enormously beneficial adjuncts to the healing process, and I believe that it is wise to use them. Just be careful to continue to search for the reasons that you initially acquired the health challenge.

Cancer Treatments: Chemo or Natural?

While I don’t normally focus on the details of cancer treatments, it’s worth pointing out that it is very rare for cancer to only have one cause. Rather than simply being caused by a malfunction in your DNA, or a faulty gene you “inherited” from your grandmother, cancer is more typically triggered by a combination of the following:
  • Nutritional deficiencies
  • Toxins in your environment
  • Emotional conflicts
  • Hormonal imbalances
Often, cancer can actually be treated, and reversed, by addressing these variables through dietary changes, purifying your environment, and addressing your emotional state.

Chemotherapy is rarely the best option for cancer treatment, as it usually doesn't cure cancer or extend life, and it really does not improve the quality of your life either. Dr. Ralph Moss, who is the author of eight books on cancer treatment, has reviewed thousands of studies as part of the research for his books -- and he has not found one single good study that shows chemo cures cancer or extends life.

What chemo does do, however, is expose your body to toxins that kill all cells that multiply and divide rapidly. This includes not only cancer cells, but also other rapidly multiplying and dividing cells, such as bone marrow, reproductive system cells and hair follicles.

These are powerful drugs that present an assault on your system -- one that your body must then overcome along with the cancer. And the effects do not end right after the treatment. One UCLA study found that chemotherapy can actually change the blood flow and metabolism of your brain in ways that can linger for 10 years or more after treatment.

Preventing Cancer: 12 Tips to Live By

No one wants to battle cancer, and there is good news because I believe you can VIRTUALLY ELIMINATE your risk of cancer and chronic disease, and radically improve your chances of recovering from cancer if you currently have it, by following these relatively simple risk reduction strategies.

   1. Reduce or eliminate your processed food, sugar and grain carbohydrate intake. Yes, this is even true for whole unprocessed organic grains, as they tend to rapidly break down and drive your insulin and leptin levels up, which is the last thing you need to have happening if you are seeking to resolve a cancer.

   2. Control your fasting insulin and leptin levels. This is the end result, and can be easily monitored with the use of simple and relatively inexpensive blood tests.

   3. Normalize your ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats by taking a high-quality krill oil and reducing your intake of most processed vegetable oils.
      
   4. Get regular exercise. One of the primary reasons exercise works is that it drives your insulin levels down. Controlling insulin levels is one of the most powerful ways to reduce your cancer risks.

   5. Normalize your vitamin D levels by getting plenty of sunlight exposure and consider careful supplementation when this is not possible. If you take oral vitamin D and have a cancer, it would be very prudent to monitor your vitamin D blood levels regularly.

   6. Get regular, good sleep.
      
   7. Eat according to your nutritional type. The potent anti-cancer effects of this principle are very much underappreciated. When we treat cancer patients in our clinic this is one of the most powerful anti-cancer strategies we have.
      
   8. Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners and air pollution.

   9. Limit your exposure and provide protection for yourself from information-carrying radio waves produced by cell phone towers, base stations, phones and WiFi stations.
      
  10. Avoid frying or charbroiling your food. Boil, poach or steam your foods instead.
      
  11. Have a tool to permanently reprogram the neurological short-circuiting that can activate cancer genes. Even the CDC states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here, so make sure this is addressed. Energy psychology seems to be one of the best approaches and my particular favorite tool, as you may know, is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). German New Medicine is another powerful tool.     
   
  12. Eat at least one-third of your food raw. Personally my goal is 85% raw and I am usually able to achieve that.




Related Links:



Comment on This Article Community Comments (126)
 
 
Posted On Mar 05, 2008
This is still attempting to make pharmaceutical preparations out of plants, instead of using the plant in the way God intended for it to be used.  Causing many side effects that do not occur when used as a whole.

Mary

 
mmc88121
Moderator User Moderator User, Joined On 11/2006
mmc88121  
Replied

firsthealth
Novice User Novice User Joined On 2/2008
firsthealth  
 
Posted On Mar 20, 2008

in notice of mmc88121... and many others... I lovingly applaud this news-breaker

I havnt seen , within this site. the term CODEX. the mention of CODEX ia very nuch suppressed by the government

Please search for codex and if you have trouble finding information please examail me at spitspotspat07@hotmail.com

Cancer is the NEXT Big Asault against humans!!

Health simply rests within knowing

Knowing cellular activitie's

Email spitspotspat07@hotmail.com



Julia Owens
Novice User Novice User Joined On 12/2006
Julia Owens  
 
Posted On Mar 22, 2008

I'm a huge believer in theory that food communicates with our bodily systems and that foods have the ability to turn on and off certain gene expressions.  This switching can lead to health or disease.  So taking something natural and turning it into a chemical doesn't traslate into a "cure" as the food's original structure, or, as I like to put it, "language" is detrimentally altered.  


 
 
 
Posted On Mar 06, 2008
Chris Gussa always has such useful info on herbs, tho i've never ordered from him.  His site is:  http://plantcures.com/

(I am in no way affiliated & do not make any money from this site.)

 
Katee Roux
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 7/2007
Katee Roux  
Replied

Doby
Novice User Novice User Joined On 3/2008
Doby  
 
Posted On Mar 20, 2008

Thank you Katee (and others) for posting the address of this great site about The Herbal Healing Place!

Researching the subject of alternative treatments of cancer I have found some pages with very good information what I can contribute to this discussion to save some precious time for anybody trying to make sense of all the confusing information available on the internet.

http://www.cancertutor.com/ - the best free information source I have found so far also covering all the aspects of the "cancer industry". It is a comprehensive collection of information about the alternative cancer treatments including the inexpensive solutions. Some articles are available in several different languages.

www.alternative-cancer.net/78_alternatives.htm - short description of some alternative therapies.

www.alternative-cancer.net/FreeGuide.htm - some insights into treating cancer, unfortunately the full report is not free.

http://www.drkelley.com/ - "One Answer to Cancer" - a free book with great information about the nature of cancer, prevention, possible cures and some details about the medical establishment.

I hope this collection of addresses helps someone in need to get to this kind of information quickly.



Dquixote1217
Apprentice User Apprentice User Joined On 4/2007
Dquixote1217  
 
Posted On Mar 20, 2008

Some really good information on those sites, particularly on the CancerTutor.com site of my good friend Webster Kehr. He has worked tirelessly to put together a wealth of good information that has no doubt saved many lives - all at no profit to himself.

Here are a couple of other sources related to cancer and herbal or non-traditional treatment options:

http://www.tbyil.com/MMvsNature.htm

http://www.tbyil.com/anticancer.htm

http://www.mnwelldir.org

http://www.annieappleseedproject.org

Sadly, mainstream medicine has pretty much sold it‘s soul and chose profits over healing for a long time now. As a result, they only use medicines that they can patent and control - something that they can create, synthesize or uniquely isolate in their labs. The result is always something that is not in a form normally encountered in nature - and a good rule of thumb is that if something is not found in nature it is not a good idea for it to be found in our bodies.

Whenever a plant is found with medicinal properties, drug company scientists try to identify the main active compound and then either synthesize it or uniquely isolate it so that they can patent it, control it, and reap huge profits. The end result is almost always a less effective medicine with side effects that lead to still more medicines in a never ending pattern that is wonderful for profits and horrible for humanity.

Nature, just like our bodies, works synergistically. While there may be one major active compound in a given medicinal plant, there are almost always a large number of supporting compounds that are essential for the overall effectivness of the raw plant.

Personally, I believe that a great many cancers cannot be corrected through diet and lifestyle changes alone. I would recommend an entire protocol which embraces diet, lifestyle, cleansing & detoxing, stress removal, immune boosting and cancer fighting. The right herbs and botanicals can play key roles.



sixtyandsupple
Novice User Novice User Joined On 12/2007
sixtyandsupple  
 
Posted On Mar 21, 2008

re:  Kelley program.  It's great but I think you should know about it before you need it.  It requires a lot of work and as a "new idea"  a lot of people faced with a cancer diagnosis and hearing of this for the first time will be overwhelmed.  For real physicians who use it see www.dr-gonzalez.com (not the Gonzalez from the Mexican clinics)

For Codex, see www.healthfreedomUSA.org (Natural Solutions Foundation)


 
 
 
Posted On Mar 05, 2008
I just hope they don't plan on isolating what they believe is an active ingredient and going down the road of giving people horrible side effects and death. Hopefully they just end up using the whole herb and teaching prevention more than cure.

 
shaneperrone
Apprentice User Apprentice User, Joined On 11/2007
shaneperrone  
Replied

Aaltrude
Moderator User Moderator User Joined On 4/2007
Aaltrude  
 
Posted On Mar 05, 2008
What Big Pharma believes to be the active ingredient may also need the presence of other substances within the plant to be effective.


LadyPam
Apprentice User Apprentice User Joined On 2/2008
LadyPam  
 
Posted On Mar 20, 2008

Sadly, Shane, I'm afraid that's exactly what they DO plan! Find the magic component, make a close synthetic version, patent it and KACHING! Why stop now?

Aaltrude - it's also a question of other substances within the plant that can make the active one less dangerous.



PatriSpain
Apprentice User Apprentice User Joined On 7/2007
PatriSpain  
 
Posted On Mar 20, 2008

"don't plan on isolating...an active ingredient"  But they will (continue to do so) because the contemporary medicine/pharma does not view dis-ease, nor health holistically.  Just as the body is treated as a machine with parts, so is the pharma approach.  

Plant medicine was never 'active ingredient' based.  Alone that phrase misleads the public and instills false faith in the pharma gods who have the labs to do it.  This creates the sense of 'we can improve over folk medicine' (insert smug, patronizing smirk here). Those concentrations - at levels hardly achievable in the private home or normal herbology - often cause severe problems and even death.

Compounding to the whole issue is the 'herbal supplement industry' - which naively thinks that selling concentrated powdered/liquid with ADDED 'actives' (sourced probably from the phama suppliers) is 'natural' and beneficial.  The public, not knowing better and growing increasingly suspicious of pharma, thinks they are making a better choice.

Ephedra is an example. Now banned because of a few deaths (in many thousands of users of capsules etc). This makes pharma happy because they can now control this, continue to use synthetic actives based on Ephedra research, rename it and use it in their pharma products (cold medicine etc).  The synthetic is a. FAR more dangerous  b. is highly concentrated.

This is how herbs are slowly being 'banned' but controlled by pharma.  Create hype over its (mis-)use then get it banned by a 'caring' government whilst supressing the horrenduous death tolls of certain pharma drugs -like Vioxx (in the 100,000's of deaths in the US ALONE) statins,etc.  

Ephedra was originally used as a tea by the native americans and later the pioneers (who learned from them) for asthma and bronchial problems...it is also a stimulant and thermogenic.  Drinking large amounts can supress appetite and aided in safe weight loss. That's when the 'supplement industry' kicked in, unfortunetly.



firsthealth
Novice User Novice User Joined On 2/2008
firsthealth  
 
Posted On Mar 20, 2008

Big Pharma is EVIL  

Now I dont mean that the Pharma Industry is evil-potent..... although it certainly is skewed as far as "Actual Beneficial results go....!

Consider the fact that one leaf of Spinach has over 300000, thats three-hundred-thousand different active phyto-chemicals in it!!

Active ingredients ALLWAYS's need the presence of ALL ingredients contained with

each plant



sobber
Novice User Novice User Joined On 10/2007
sobber  
 
Posted On Mar 20, 2008

M.(a)D.s and the industry are hopeless; maybe after 2012 they wont be a problem no more...-_-


 
 
 
Posted On Mar 06, 2008
I would appreciate a post on this subject from none other than the legendary, V V residential herb doctor , Dr Christopher Gussa.....


Please tell us about Blood Root, Yellow Dock, essiac tea etc etc..

 
seg
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 11/2006
seg  
Replied

mama bear
Apprentice User Apprentice User Joined On 6/2006
mama bear  
 
Posted On Mar 06, 2008
Seg

I am not a herbalist but I can share my experience with essiac tea.  When my younger daughter was born, she developed lung problems and was put on many different drugs including heparin, coumadin,  morphine and ativan to name a few.  After 15 days  in the hospital, we brought her home.  She was a breast fed baby.  I started giving her essiac tea to clean out all of the meds etc in her body.  Breastfed babies' stools are normally yellowish and loose.  Hers were black and hard as the tea cleared out all the junk in her body.  After 2 wks her stools were normal.   Thankfully she was healthy and didn't even catch a cold until she was 2 yrs old (no vaccines either).  She is now 11 and  hasn't had another  health issue.  

I have also read the Rene Caisse story.  She was a pioneer and did studies with her tea but was vilified and ridiculed by the medical establishment of her time.  It would probably be worse now!  Personally, if I were ever diagnosed with cancer, I would use the tea and skip the chemo.


Patty D
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 6/2007
Patty D  
 
Posted On Mar 06, 2008
seq....go to www.plantcures.com  .  I have spent many hours on that site and intend to spend more.  It's great info!!!


seg
Savvy User Savvy User Joined On 11/2006
seg  
 
Posted On Mar 07, 2008
Sometimes, or i should say in many instances, it is very possible to turn a negative into a positive !!!!!!

Yes Patty thanks, i been on his site many years now, but i for one absolutely love the "razzle dazzle" in Dr Gussa's posts and i'm glad i'm not the only one...So i do hope with all the support he has now gotten will be enough to "bring him back" to V V....
Thank you all......

 
 
 
Posted On Mar 06, 2008
Big pharma will never be able to use herbs:  plants require TLC and none of these nimrods are capable of  it. 

 
New to Natural
Savvy User Savvy User, Joined On 11/2007
New to Natural  
 
 
 
 
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