Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients articles from August 2001

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients archives from August 2001

Battling Cancer.(update on cancer research and treatment)
August 1, 2001... In the 1970s, president Nixon launched the so-called "war on cancer," a massive research effort that was supposed to find the cure for cancer. Three decades later, cancer is at least as much a public health problem as it was when the war on...

NCCAM Cancer Research Grants.(National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine)
August 1, 2001... Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, Maryland) and the University of Pennsylvania have received research grants of about $8 million over a five-year period from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine...

Mis-informed Consent.(medical research informed-consent forms and patient protection)
August 1, 2001... A primary protection of the rights of medical research subjects revolves around the concept of informed consent. Unfortunately, surveys have shown that most patients have difficulty understanding medical language; in a University of Chicago...

Gonzalez-Kelley Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer.
August 1, 2001... When orthodontist William Donald Kelley was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1963, he refused standard treatment and used his knowledge of biochemistry to develop a nutritional-metabolic regime to cure himself. Eventually, Kelley used...

Gleevec.(result of clinical trials for cancer drug)
August 1, 2001... In May 2001, the FDA approved Gleevec (imatinib mesylate), a new cancer drug manufactured by Novartis, that has shown considerable success in treating chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Gleevec was developed by Dr. Brian Druker, a cancer...

Medical Certainty and Second Opinions.(saved one patient from having to undergo unnescessary surgery)
August 1, 2001... A personal story by Alice Stewart Trillin, published in The New Yorker (January 29, 2001), illustrates the wisdom of seeking second opinions and brought up a little-publicized effect of radiation therapy. In 1976, at age thirty-eight, Alice was...

MICOM.(alternative cancer treatment consisting of O2 MYGA III mineral water)(contamination kills one and causes serious illness in another)
August 1, 2001... An alternative cancer treatment, contaminated with bacteria, has been implicated in the death of one man and the serious illness of another in Washington state. The treatment called MICOM, or O2 MYGA III, a mineral water manufactured by Bob...

Chemotherapy & Gerson Therapy.
August 1, 2001... The assumption is that chemotherapy drugs are excreted by the body over time. Doctors using the Gerson Therapy have reasons to believe otherwise. In an article for the Gerson Healing Newsletter (Jan.-Feb. 1995), Charlotte Gerson says that...

High-Dose Antioxidants & Cancer Treatment.
August 1, 2001... In an article for The Journal of the American Nutraceutical association (Fall 2000), Russell L. Blaylock, MD, addresses the belief among many clinical oncologists that high dose antioxidant nutrients may protect cancer cells, as well as normal...

Cancer Risk & Antioxidants.
August 1, 2001... An article in The Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association (Fall 2000) by Jerome B. Block, MD & Steven Evans, MS, reviews clinical scientific papers, published in English since 1993, on the correlation between antioxidant levels and...

Aggressive Cancer Cells.
August 1, 2001... Scientists have discovered that cancer cells can protect themselves from immune cell activity by avoiding detection, by being invulnerable to T cells, and by actively destroying T cells. Some cancer cells, for example, do not produce antigens,...

Bastyr University's Spirituality, Health & Medicine Program.
August 1, 2001... Holistic medicine refers to seeing each person as an entity that comprises interaction between body, mind, and spirit. While research in psychoneuroimmunology and mind-body interaction is blooming, medical practitioners are often less...

Charting the Mainstream.(Adverse Events Not Reported, Employer Saves with CAM, JCAHO Non-Pharmacological Pain Guidelines, Provider Types and CAM for Cancer, Aetna Takes from Chiro to Pay for Drugs)
August 1, 2001... Adverse Events Not Reported, Employer Saves with CAM, JCAHO Non-Pharmacological Pain Guidelines, Provider Types and CAM for Cancer, Aetna Takes from Chiro to Pay for Drugs Adverse Events Not Reported The Inspector General for the...

The War on Cancer.(research update)
August 1, 2001... Glee Over Gleevec Each year, 26,000 of the world's oncologists parade their accomplishments at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). In May, the media was filled with reports of the impending conquest of...

Unique Pharmaceuticals Compounding Pharmacy Certified ISO 9002.
August 1, 2001... Unique Pharmaceuticals is the first compounding pharmaceutical company in North America to become registered to the ISO 9002 quality standard. Certification was awarded upon initial registration audit. "I am very proud of our great team and...

FDA Warnings to Food Companies Based on Misinterpretation of Food Additive Law.
August 1, 2001... Recent FDA warnings to manufacturers of food products containing herbs are founded on misinterpretation and misuse of food additive regulations passed in 1958, according to Rob McCaleb, president of the Herb Research Foundation in Boulder,...

Mistletoe Therapy Found to be Effective for Treatment of Cancer.
August 1, 2001... A major 30-year-long study with more than 35,000 participants reports that extract of mistletoe (Iscador) greatly improves survival rate for a wide variety of cancers, including breast cancer. Study participants who augmented conventional...

Dental Groups Sued Over Mercury in Fillings.(claim that the American Dental Association and the California Dental Association mislead the public on dangers of mercury tooth fillings)
August 1, 2001... A coalition of public interest groups sued the American Dental Association and the California Dental Association in June, claiming they have misled the public about the dangers of mercury in tooth fillings. The lawsuits, filed in Los...

World-Famed Herbalist to be Director of New Botanical Healing Master's Degree Program in Maryland.(Simon Y. Mills appointed director of the Master's in Botanical Healing from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute of Columbia, Maryland)
August 1, 2001... One of the most respected practitioners of herbal medicine and complementary therapies in the world, Simon Y. Mills, will be director of the new Master's in Botanical Healing, one of the two new Master's Degree programs the Traditional...

A Nice Old-Fashioned Dying at Home.(a daughter chronicles her mother's last days)
August 1, 2001... Genie's barking at the bathroom door got me out of the shower in a hurry. Border collis know when there's trouble. Mom was downstairs, lying in bed and calling for me frantically, "Open a door, I need air...I'm so dizzy...I can't breathe." Mom...

A Patient's Journal with CLL.(chronic lymphocytic leukemia)
August 1, 2001... Andrew Schorr is a co-founder of HealthTalk Interactive Inc. (HealthTalk.com). A former journalist and television news reporter and producer, he was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in 1996 as a result of a routine blood test. In...

The Cruciferous Choice: DIM or 13C? Phytonutrient Supplements for Cancer Prevention and Health Promotion.(diindolyl-methane, indole-3-carbinol)
August 1, 2001... Abstract Cruciferous vegetable phytonutrients include natural substances whose supplemental use has great potential for the prevention of human cancer. The additional discovery that the cruciferous indoles, diindolyl-methane (DIM [R]) and...

The Good Life.(different cultural views on the good life)
August 1, 2001... The American businessman was at the pier of a remote coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. In the boat were several kilograms of wonderful shrimp. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his...

Main Themes in Research on Unconventional Cancer Treatment.
August 1, 2001... Abstract An increasing number of adult cancer patients are using unconventional cancer treatment (UCT). Hereby society is facing an outspread health and illness related phenomenon, mostly developing outside the conventional health care...

Monoterpenes in Cancer Prevention and Therapy.
August 1, 2001... Abstract When people first hear the word monoterpene (MT), typically the "terpene" portion conjures up images of some sort of cleaning fluid such as turpentine. Associated with this image is the idea that they are poisons. While the MT's...

Medicinal Properties in Whole Foods.(use of functional foods in cancer treatment)
August 1, 2001... "Functional foods," "nutraceuticals," "designer foods" and "medicinal foods" are terms that describe foods, and key ingredients isolated from foods, that have non-nutritive or tertiary functional properties. Researchers, healthcare...

The Revised Metabolic Oncolytic Regimen for Effecting Lysis in Solid Tumors.
August 1, 2001... Background The Metabolic Oncolytic Regimen is based on the seminal work of former NASA scientist Clarence Cone, Jr., PhD. My permutation of the oncolytic approach to treating solid tumors was first published during December 1996. Since...

The Coming Destruction of Cancer Myths.
August 1, 2001... That C word, in the sentence "You have cancer," paralyzes. "Are you sure?" "Yes, the pathology report shows numerous undifferentiated cells characteristic of a carcinoma. It's very serious but with treatment you have a 30% chance of...

Universal Oral Vaccine: The Immune Milk Saga Part 2.(colostrum)
August 1, 2001... Scope of Protection As already stated, appropriate scientific studies carried out in the early '60s found promising success. They included rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, rheumatic fever, and pollen allergies. Subsequent research...

Thermal Image Processing: Breast Cancer Detection Years Earlier.
August 1, 2001... Bales Scientific's state-of-the-art infrared system is able to read functional changes in the breast at the beginning stages of angiogenesis -- when the tumor begins to receive its own blood supply -- before it can grow to size, and before...

Apoptosis in Prostatic Cancer Cells with Maitake D-fraction Extract: Potential Alternative Therapy.
August 1, 2001... Objectives: To explore more effective treatment for hormone-refractory prostate cancer due to the failure of conventional therapies, we investigated the proposed antitumor effect of [beta]-glucan compound called Grifron extracted from Maitake...

Research in Japanese Botanical Medicine (Kampo) and Immune Modulating Cancer Therapy.
August 1, 2001... Japanese botanical medicine, known as Kampo, is part of the east Asian Chinese medicine tradition. The word "Kampo" means "Han method," a reference to Chinese culture of the Han era (206BC-220AD). Kampo is fundamentally a clinical system based...

Natural Compounds and the Future of Cancer Chemotherapy.
August 1, 2001... An evolution in thinking in the field of cancer chemotherapy is bringing conventional medicine and alternative medicine closer together than anyone previously had imagined possible. For fifty years cancer chemotherapy has been dominated by...

Letters to the Editor.(Cancer -- Its Final Defeat?)("Zappers" and Rife Technology Not Gimmicks)(Washing Hair Samples)(Medical Journals Need to Stop Exaggerating Study Results)(Peppermint for IBS May Cause Adverse Effects)(Rochlitz' Applied Kinesiology is Useful for MCS)(More Good News for Alternatives)(Compounding Controversy Another Threat to CAM Providers)(Fiber Benefit Questioned in Preventing Colon Cancer)(Reversal of Total Arterial Occlusion)(The NutraSweet Company Responds)(Anticancer Effect of Azelaic Acid)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2001... Cancer -- Its Final Defeat? Editor: Past and present patients of Stanislaw Burzynski, MD, PhD share a mixture of cynicism, irritation, and amusement when they hear the frequent funding appeals to "find a cure for cancer in our time."...

New York State Office of Professional Medical Conduct: Are Its Policies and Performance Becoming a Political Liability?
August 1, 2001... Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness.... Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. George Santayana, The Life of Reason Introduction The quality and availability of...

Real Risk Factors for Women.(Life's Delicate Balance: Causes and Prevention of Breast Cancer)(review)(Review)
August 1, 2001... Life's Delicate Balance: Causes and Prevention of Breast Cancer by Janette D. Sherman Taylor & Francis, 7625 Empire Drive, Florence, Kentucky 41042 USA, 800-634-7064 Softbound, 255 pp., 2000, $24.95 In the United States,...

Our Pets and Cancer.(Why is Cancer Killing Our Pets? How You Can Protect and Treat Your Animal Companion)(review)(Review)
August 1, 2001... Why is Cancer Killing Our Pets? How You Can Protect and Treat Your Animal Companion by Deborah Straw Healing Arts Press, 2000. Softcover, $14.95, 244pp, Many animals have graced my home in Virginia over the past 22 years. Some...

Safe, Effective and Suppressed.(Vitamin C and Cancer: Discovery, Recovery, Controversy)(review)(Review)
August 1, 2001... Vitamin C and Cancer: Discovery, Recovery, Controversy by Abram Hoffer, MD, PhD, with Linus Pauling Quarry Press, Kingston, Ontario, Canada Softcover, 180 pp. plus bibliography and 74 pp of appendicies, 1999, ISBN 1-55082-078-8 ...

Discover a Viable, Non-Toxic Treatment for Cancer and Go to Prison.(Forbidden Medicine)(review of book about alternative cancer therapist Jimmy Keller)(Review)
August 1, 2001... Forbidden Medicine by Ellen Brown Third Millennium Press, 40960 California Oaks Rd. Suite #122, Murrieta, California 92562 USA; 800-891-0390 Softcover, 1998, $19.95, 329 pp. The story of Jimmy Keller, a purveyor of formulas...

Innovative Integrated Cancer Treatments.(Comprehensive Cancer Care: Integrating Alternative, Complementary, and Conventional Therapies)(review)(Review)
August 1, 2001... Comprehensive Cancer Care: Integrating Alternative, Complementary, and Conventional Therapies by James S. Gordon, MD and Sharon Curtin Perseus Publishing, 212-207-7528 2000, Hardcover, $25 US, $37.95 Canada, 314 pp. We don't...

The Saga of Harry Hoxsey: When Healing Becomes a Crime.(story of Hoxsey cancer clinic (Bio Medical Center) and their unconventional cancer treatments)(Review)
August 1, 2001... When Healing Becomes a Crime by Kenny Ausubel Healing Arts Press, One Park Street, Rochester, Vermont 05767 USA; www.InnerTraditions.com Softbound, ISBN 0-89281-925-1, 2000, 461 pp, $19.95 Kenny Ausubel began looking into...

Diet and Cancer: Nature's Cancer Fighting Foods.(Review)
August 1, 2001... Nature's Cancer Fighting Foods by Verne Varona Reward Books, 240 Frisch Court, Paramus, New Jersey 07652 USA Softbound, ISBN: 0-7352-0176-5, 2001, $14, 336 pp. Cancer is currently the second leading cause of death in this country...

Acting on Faith.(book reviews)(Tested Faith)(The Elephant's Rope and the Unteathered Spirit)(Review)
August 1, 2001... Tested Faith by Yvonne L. Williams Robert D. Reed Publishers, 750 LaPlaya, Suite 647, San Francisco, California 94121 USA; 650-994-6570; fax 650-994-6579; www.rdrpublishers.com Hardback, ISBN 1-885003-67-6, 2000, l24pp, $17.95 ...

Physiological Effects of Dehydration: Cure Pain and Prevent Cancer.(Review)
August 1, 2001... Cure Pain & Prevent Cancer (videotaped lecture) by F. Batmanghelidj, MD Global Health Solutions, Inc., P.O. Box 3189, Falls Church, Virginia 22043 USA; 703-848-2333; Fax 703-848-2334 VHS (ISBN 0-9629942-9-4), 2 hours, 1997, $40 ...

Nutritional Influences on Illiness: Cancer and Conjugated Linoleic Acid.
August 1, 2001... Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a collective term used to describe a mixture of positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid with conjugated double bonds. Commonly present in the diet, CLA appears to have several beneficial health...

What is Coriolus Versicolor?(medicinal mushroom used in cancer therapy)
August 1, 2001... Coriolus, also known as Yun Zhi and Turkey Tail, is a mushroom widely used in Japan as an adjunct to biomedical cancer treatments. In terms of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Coriolus is said to clear dampness, phelgm and heat. Over 400...

The Herbal Management of Cancer.
August 1, 2001... In most diseases of a chronic nature the treatment is more about management than cure. People can go on and live a very active and high quality life without having been cured. In contrast, with cancer, medically everything possible is done: we...

Homeopathic Treatment of Cancer: General Considerations.
August 1, 2001... Treating the Patient, Not the Cancer Homeopathic medicine, by definition, treats the whole person. Although the precise mechanism by which homeopathy acts has not been verified, the effects are clear: an overall balancing of the organism...

Medical Anthropology: Medical Ethnobotanicals of the Hawaiian Islands.
August 1, 2001... I have just returned from a week-long fellowship course in ethnobotany and environmental science run by the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) on Kauai, one of the Hawaiian islands. During this fellowship, aimed at science writers and...

Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology Review and Commentary.(alternative cancer treatment)
August 1, 2001... Psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology is the term describing the unity of mental, neurological, hormonal and immune functions with its many potential applications. PNIE addresses the influence of the cognitive images of the mind (whatever its elusive...

Carpet Politics and Alternatives.(chemicals given off by carpeting found to cause health problems)
August 1, 2001... In the June 2001 issue of TLfDP, #215, this column discussed the Hidden Dangers of Carpeting. Some of the topics covered were indoor air quality -- asthma -- formaldehyde -- children -- pesticides -- and cleaning hazards. Potential sources of...

The Chinese Medical Treatment of Malignant Lymphoma.
August 1, 2001... Lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms arising in the lymphatic tissues and lymph nodes. The two main types of this group of disorders are Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). There are approximately 6,500 new cases of...

Essential Fatty Acids and Osteoporosis.(introduction and general observations)
August 1, 2001... Introduction and general observations Osteoporosis is a growing concern with post-menopausal women due to its prevalence in 75 year olds and older and the disability it can cause. Although essential fatty acids (EFAs) have not been talked...

Literature Review & Commentary.
August 1, 2001... Nutritional supplement relieves stress and anxiety Eighty healthy male volunteers (aged 18-42 years) were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, a multi-vitamin/mineral formula (Berocca(r), 1 tablet daily) or placebo for 28...