In line with the Docere (doctor as teacher) Principle of Naturopathic Medicine , I often prescribe books. Besides empowering patients to make their own informed healthcare decisions, many books are, in themselves, good medicine. The Definitive Guide to Cancer: An Integrative Approach to Prevention, Treatment, and Healing, 3rd Edition by Lise Alschuler, ND and Karolyn Gazella is a prime example of such a book.
I have recommended this text to every patient with a cancer diagnosis. It is also indicated for those at increased risk for cancer, or with a loved one diagnosed with cancer. As with any therapy, when prescribing a book, I always give patients information on how to take the medicine. With Alschuler’s text that would include the following directives:
Get the newly updated 3rd edition. A new chapter on After Care was added, three new chapters on specific cancers, information about targeted therapies and several new tables and charts. The new side effect management chart alone is worth it.
Keep in mind that the authors are addressing a mass audience and advocate integrative care. For these two reasons, the recommendations are sometimes overly cautious. The upside of this slant is that you can feel quite confident when an intervention is reported to be safe.
Don’t let the sometimes magazine-like tone mislead you, The Definitive Guide to Cancer is exquisitely researched, intelligent, and impressively specific: right down to which species of medicinal mushroom to integrate with which chemotherapeutic agent.
Highlight this well supported and very satisfying assertion:
Some conventional doctors and researchers try to perpetuate the myth that there is no scientific substantiation, in the form of well-designed studies or otherwise, demonstrating that diet, lifestyle, nutrients, and herbs are safe and effective aspects of oncology. This is simply not true. (xxiv)
To convince yourself of this, start out by reading the chapter in section IV specific to your cancer and then look at chapter seven for nutrient and herb interactions with your treatment (note the caveat page 141 to refrain from most nutrients within 48 hours of treatments).
At this point, I hope you will be inspired to read the rest. The Definitive Guide to Cancer is just not well indexed enough to function as a handbook and the nature of holism resists compartmentalization. So, to get everything important to your case, there may be no getting around a cover to cover read. That being said, if you feel overwhelmed by the length of the book and if you have a healthy lifestyle, skip to page 113 and continue to 243. This will provide a survey of integrative cancer therapies as well as key biological systems relevant to cancer prevention and healing. If you want encouragement and information about prevention and cancer-fighting lifestyle habits, the first hundred pages are especially worth your time. A particularly inspiring, and recurring theme in this section is the (perhaps revolutionary) concept of being a healthy person with cancer.
In addition to reliable information, Alschuler’s book is a source of inspiration, encouragement, and empowerment. For that reason this book is good medicine. I hope you will read it and share it with your oncologist.
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