Auriculotherapy And Phytotherapy Used in Cancer Treatment

Auriculotherapy or ear acupuncture is a therapy based on the piling of needles in the ear. Its historical roots date back to classical antiquity of Mediterranean people, Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, described the scarifications of the posterior ear against sexual impotence and treat sciatica. And again, Galen described the therapeutic use of scarifications in some diseases of the ear. Auriculotherapy is based on the principles of conventional medicine and Western uses of specific points of the ear that correspond to somatotopic areas distant parts of the body, such as the stomach, the muscles of the spine, and so on. By insertion of needles or other stimuli can cause reflexes that induce stimulation of neurogenic type in organs and tissues of the human body. In this discipline the therapeutic concept of the disease remains the same medicine, the only thing that changes is the way of doing therapy, then gastritis or gallstones are the same disease described in the treaties of Medicine officer, have nothing to do with particular beliefs or philosophies, and the same condition is given the same treatment.

The acupoint used to treat nausea in all these diseases is always the same and does not vary according to personality the patient’s eating habits, etc. Scientific research in this field is developing rapidly, although at the moment auriculotherapy in cancer patients has proved especially useful for pain treatment.

Phytotherapy deserves a separate mention because herbal medicine is the discipline that comes closest to the natural conventional medicine as it is based of course on the use of chemicals present in plants, with organic farming activities. Besides, just think that 30 – 40% of conventional drugs derived from herbal substances. Herbal medicine is the medical discipline so using medicinal plants and derivatives in prevention and treatment of diseases, in relation to the pharmacological properties of chemical constituents present in the plant, or better in the preparation used. It does not follow diagnostic or therapeutic methods different from those of scientific medicine. The medicinal plant, so it can simply be considered, a container of chemicals, sometimes isolated and used as such in therapy, in other cases the source of raw material for the production of drugs or as a basis for the production of herbal medicines themselves. Herbal medicine is a discipline particularly promising for the cure cancer, both as a preventive measure or as a complementary therapy to chemo and radiotherapy or surgery. It is used as an immunostimulant, for treatment of gastrointestinal disorders and radiodermatitis and to combat certain symptoms such as fatigue, depression, constipation, etc.

There are also many studies that confirm the pre-clinical anticancer activities of substances present of many plants. The substances of plant origin may also be toxic, causing serious interactions with pharmaceutical drugs taken concurrently, or be responsible for allergic reactions. For these reasons, suitable extracts must always be used, quality controlled, standardized active ingredients, purified from useless or dangerous, and used only with medical prescription. For example, cancer patients often use honey and aloe smoothies (presented as a miracle cure for cancer!), not knowing that just some substances present in the plant cut the effectiveness of Chemotherapy.

Dendritic Cell Vaccines for Cancer

Cancer vaccines are beginning to gain more interest in the medical community. Research into cancer vaccines is continuing to grow and many clinical trials are currently underway. The premise behind a cancer vaccine is to help the body’s immune system fight off and protect itself from any type of infectious agents, including cancer cells. The FDA has in fact already approved of two vaccines. One is known as Gardasil, which protects against the human papillomavirus. The other is a prostate cancer vaccine known as Provenge. Clinical trials are using vaccines to treat lymphomas, breast, brain, kidney, melanoma, leukemia, prostate, pancreatic, lung, kidney and cervical cancers and well as solid tumors.

Cancer vaccines work by protecting the body from infection. They are based on antigens that are commonly carried by infectious agents. These antigens are easy for the immune system to recognize as foreign. One particularly powerful cancer vaccine that can potentially outsmart the cancer cell is known as a dendritic cell vaccine.

The Problem with Cancer Cells and How Dendritic Cell Vaccines Can Help: The immune system often does not “see” cancer cells as dangerous or foreign, as it generally does with microbes. Therefore, the immune system does not mount a strong attack. Cancer cells develop genetic changes that create a “chemical message”. This can essentially trick the killer T cells of the body to not mount an assault against them because they cannot recognize them as dangerous. So although the body will attack the cancer cells the immune system may not do so as strongly as it does when it detects various other rogue cells.

The immune system contains Dendritic cells: These cells help to identify pathogens in the body. In a healthy immune system there are specific cells whose sole purpose is to defend the body against disease. Additionally, these specialized cells maintain a “memory” and will be able to recognize dangerous microbes or cells if they ever return again. The concept of the dendritic cell vaccine is to work with this natural response that already occurs in the human body. Dendritic cells will locate viruses and cancerous cells. Once identified they will produce the antigen to the body’s t-lymphocyte cells. These t-lymphocytes will then begin to multiply and attack the invading cells.

The Dendritic Cell Vaccine: The dendritic cell vaccine became approved for use by the FDA in 2010 and is in clinical trials. This vaccine involves a very specific process. Dendritic Blood cells are extracted from a patient and then processed in a laboratory setting to produce them in large amounts. They are then exposed to the antigens of the patient’s cancer cells. Then the cells are reinjected back into the patient where they are attempting to program the cells to now respond more aggressively against the cancerous cells.

The Dendritic Cell Vaccines Stimulates the immune system. The vaccine is designed to activate the B and T killer cells to recognize and attack the cancer cells. B cells work by making an antibody which destroys bad cells. Killer T cells will make the invader cell self destruct through a process known as “apoptosis”. The dendritic cell acts in a supporting role to the B and killer T cells by helping to activate them more effectively.

Potential Side Effects: Dendritic Vaccines are generally considered safe but may have side effects depending on individual response. These can include itchiness or rash, weakness or more seriously, occasionally breathing difficulties. Any treatment that impacts on the immune system may of course carry more serious risks although not common which can be life threatening.

Combining Conventional Treatments with Dendritic Cell Vaccines: Many of the current clinical trials are using the vaccine in combination with traditional therapies such as chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Some trial results are indicating an overall increase in the effectiveness of other treatments. Research is being conducted to determine when a cancer vaccine works best when given along with conventional therapies in order to produce optimal immune system responses.

The Future: Much research is being conducted to understand just how cancer cells are able to avoid or even suppress a powerful immune system attack on them. Work is being done on developing vaccines and other mechanisms to override this response of the immune system. Combining a vaccine such as the dendritic cell vaccine with such other novel treatments may be able to greatly improve the ability of the body to find and destroy the cancer cells. As more and more cancer vaccines are being developed researchers are hopeful to one day be able to provide more answer to this suffering with cancer.

The Issels Medical Center in Santa Barbara, California is a world renowned alternative treatment center. The Issels Treatment is an Integrative Immunotherapy program with a 50 year history. Founded in 1951 by a pioneer in integrative cancer medicine, Dr. Josef Issels, MD., a German oncologist, The Issels Medical Center in Santa Barbara, California treats patients with all natural non toxic therapies for a variety of health conditions including cancer.

Curing Cancer Is Simple – Chemotherapy Effective or Not?

According to statistics, having cancer is in the top 5 of the things that people fear the most. It is right up there with “death,” and rightfully so. It is also residing there with AIDS/HIV; but considering that acquiring HIV or AIDS is pretty much always your fault, getting cancer is… well, let’s just say, you’ll never know who’s gonna get hit.

It is an silent epidemic that affects everyone because it respects no one. All of us know people who have cancer, people looking for ways of curing cancer; and for a lot of us, sadly, even people that are close to us and even loved ones.

CHEMOTHERAPY
The most popular (and accepted) method for curing cancer is chemotherapy. Why? Because ever since we were little kids, we were taught that if we are sick, we go to the doctor. And here’s one more thing we “learned,” the doctor is always right. Now, for 99% of sicknesses and diseases, they know exactly what they’re talking about. And even when they talk about cancer, they know all the why’s and how-to’s of the disease, the cells, etc. But when it comes to curing cancer, this is where the knowledge stops.

For starters, here is the dictionary definition:

Chemotherapy – The treatment of disease by the use of chemical substances, esp. the treatment of cancer by Cytotoxic and other drugs.

“Cytotoxic” literally means toxic to cells. This means that chemotherapy is actually KILLING your cells. Now, granted, they are targeting the cancer cells, but here’s the logic. Imagine a group of people, about a hundred of them, gathered in a small room. There are 5 of them that need to be eliminated. Now imagine chemotherapy as a grenade thrown into the crowd. Oh sure, you might kill the 5, but what happens to the 95?

Doctors might disagree with me on this reasoning, but it is what it is. They have to promoting chemotherapy because as of now there is still no known procedure or perfect way of curing cancer. They have to introduce toxic chemicals to the cancer patient to kill the cancer cells. The Doctor’s Hippocratic Oath says, “Do no harm.” Uhm, I guess there are exceptions.

IF NOT CHEMOTHERAPY, THEN WHAT?
Common sense tells us that the way to restore life is by using life-restoring treatments and medicine. Then why in the world are we not including this to the methods of curing cancer?

The hospitals, doctors, and even the government have promoted and accepted that chemotherapy is the ONLY way to extend or lengthen the life of the patient; it is the most scientifically accepted way of curing cancer (sic).

Believe me when I say that there are other solutions. Chemotherapy is basically – to slowly kill you for the purpose of killing your disease (do you realize how stupid that sounds?).

It is time for a revolution. A healing revolution.