Originally published September 28 2005
Treating cancer takes more than conventional medicine
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A lecture series by health experts in Hawaii will address the importance of incorporating good fitness, nutrition and alternative approaches like massage and acupuncture into cancer treatment to help keep patients' spirits lifted.
A new approach to tackling one of our state's biggest health problems involves unconventional techniques.
But Hawaii's largest health care providers are getting on board with new ways to fight back against cancer.
Organizers of a health-care lecture series hope to spread the word that surviving cancer takes more than treating the body.
Most doctors might not prescribe a good massage and a positive state of mind, yet some say surviving cancer means incorporating such things into treatment.
"The curing process first begins with good medicine, but the healing process you have to address the other dimensions of the patient -- their spirit, their soul, their mind and their body," said Chris Pablo, a leukemia survivor and spokesman for Kaiser Permanente Hawaii.
Kaiser Permanente, Hawaii Pacific Health and the Hawaii Psychological Association have teamed up with the University of Hawaii School of Medicine to launch a lecture series on what's called integrated care.
"Massage and acupuncture and fitness and nutrition can make it much easier to work with conventional treatments," said Laura Crites, founder of the Turning Point Cancer Center.
"They're not a routine part of the package here in Hawaii," said Rosanne Harrigan of the UH Alternative Medicine Department.
The scope of cancer's damage starts with the shock of diagnosis.
"Anxiety, depression and irritability - these are things we frequently see in cancer patients," said Dr. Diane Thompson of Hawaii Pacific Health.
Better nutrition, stress management, even acupuncture and massage can help restore a positive outlook.
"Because the spirit of a human being is a key to the healing," said Rita Shuford of the Hawaii Psychological Association.
Last year alone, about 5,000 people were diagnosed with cancer in Hawaii.
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