Hi,
I was wondering if anyone knows about alternative cancer treatment in Taiwan. A friend has late-stage brain cancer. The doctor says she has less than a year. I believe there’s still hope but time is ticking.
One new treatment I’ve found out about is Fu Zheng ??. It strenghens the body with these herbs: astragalus, ligustrum, ginseng, codonopsis, atractylodes, and ganoderma. I’m not sure where the best places for such things are.
Anyone deal with this before?
I’m not sure. However, I would be weary of seeking out too much alternative treatment. It tends to just create false hopes more than anything. I had a friend in the states whose mom had late-stage cancer and got sucked into some alternative healing scheme down in Mexico. Unfortunately it didn’t bide her any time.
i don’t think it would hurt any to try alternative means to strenthen the body during times of illness. I just think it would be really sad if it didn’t help at all.
my thoughts and warm wishes go out to you and your friend. It can only imgine what a difficult time this must be for everyone who cares about her.
I agree with Bushibanned’s reservations, though I’d say that Chinese traditional medicine, practiced properly, is more effective in general than 90% of other alternative therapies (the reason – a long history of observation of cause and effect).
Chinese herbal medicine is not usually a quick-acting thing and the results may not always be dramatic. I have heard that it is often used alongside conventional cancer treatments to help the body regain strength.
A variety of traditional treatments; herbal medicine, acupuncture, cups and manipulation/massage, are available from clinics under the health insurance scheme. But for doctors with an especially good reputation you may have to pay more. These doctors may offer a wider variety still of treatment. But you need to beware of quacks of course, and realise that there is more than one way of getting a good reputation.
My very best wishes to you and your friend.
I read in the China Post yesterday of a experimental research project in which a lady with brain cancer (terminal) was completely cured.If it’s true, it is a breakthrough in cancer research and could possibly save your friend’s life.
When I was diagnosed with skin cancer, they said the only way was to cut, but later after doing some research, I found that some experimental work was being done with Aldara. Basically, they said it cured the cancer completely and better than cutting. Doctors here said ‘no’. Everybody who tried it said ‘yes’. So, I gave it a try and experimented. I can now say that it has been a blessing for me, because it does work! It works extremely well.
Let me suggest to your friend that doing some research on this new experimental drug would be well worth the effort.
Good luck and God Bless!
mitchell may does healing work over the phone, but I have no idea how you would go about contacting him. i know “phone healing” sounds like blatant quackery, but you probably want to look at everything out there, so he is someone who has had results with alternative therapy. you can start reading about him by browsing through www.synergy-co.com.
all the best luck
Thanks everyone for the help and kind words.
This week hasn’t been too great. She changed medicine (I think chemo) and has had nose bleeds, memory loss, headaches, and near paralysis. I’m kind of at a loss.
My idea is to everything to improve her mental and physical health. Feeling better will strenghen her immune system. Meditation, other brain exercises, and real exercise.
The alternative treatments I’ve seen usually are part of traditional chinese medicines. Many of them seem to have studies that show they can reduce tumor size, strengthen the immune system, prevent blood stagnation, and such. These things include:
vegetarianism, even macrobiotics. Macrobiotics seems to be designed to improve chi
Fu Zhen ?? - 6 herbs including ginseng
Salvia miltiorrhiza ?? - prevents blood stagnation. People seem to say thick stagnant blood is highly correlated with cancer
Then various herbs and vegatables that seem to help.
There are many books out there that discuss such things. I’m just starting to look. but this week has been really difficult with these symptoms.
Gary
My thoughts and prayers are with your friend and those who love her. My mother died from cancer 10 years ago and tried a number of ‘alternative’ regimes, including the macrobiotic diet. Maybe I was a little to young to get a full picture of what was going on (I was 15) but I do remember feeling that these regimes had all been a bit of a con. Certainly they didn’t seem to lengthen her life very much if at all and seem more like an added burden and intrusion. My interpretation may been influenced by my charateristic skepticism. I know that many of these regimes seem to be backed up by some evidence, but often it seems to be anecdotal and based on amazing individual cases. Again my natural skepticism leads me toward seeing a placebo type effect more than anything else. I think the best thing to do is to try to keep to as healthy a diet as possible while still enjoying food, and then to try to make the most of the time left. I know it is an awful thing to have to do, but I the time left is so precious that I think it really is the best approach.
might I suggest that you might like to have a look at the following link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4211475.stm
Ivan Noble was working for the BBC when he was diagnised with brain tumor. He wrote an online diary right upuntil his death earlier this month. I believe that many people have found what he wrote helpfull.
Again my thoughts and prayers are with your friend and those who love her.
[quote=“gary”]Macrobiotics seems to be designed to improve chi[/quote]I am wary of macrobiotics. It was invented only around a hundred years ago and contains some rather odd theories. But macrobiotic-type foods are pretty healthy and if you’ve read decent studies that prove its benefits then fair enough.
[quote=“gary”]Fu Zhen ?? - 6 herbs including ginseng
Salvia miltiorrhiza ?? - prevents blood stagnation. People seem to say thick stagnant blood is highly correlated with cancer
Then various herbs and vegatables that seem to help.
There are many books out there that discuss such things.[/quote]I have read several good books on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and had various kinds of treatment at various times, and I only understand the most general principles. One of the principles is that what is in the western medical sense a single illness such as cancer may arise in different people from different causes.
Although set combinations of herbs such as the fu zhen you mention are used, it’s very important that a qualified practitioner goes through the diagnostic procedure - looking, smelling, pulses etc. - before prescribing anything.
cipos,
do you have a link to that china post article?
I’m starting to worry more. She went to a new doctor today at TaiDa and he said she won’t make it to the summer. Now’s the time to act. Once Chinese New year is over, she can see a traditional chinese medicine doctor. I hope there are more in Taipei. Maybe there are some that specialize in cancer. It’s hard not being able to read chinese.
Dr.Mercola is a conventional western doctor who explores alternative approaches to healing illness. Here is the link to his website.
mercola.com/article/cancer/c … ptions.htm
quirk, thanks for the link. I’ve read a decent about about alternative medicine. I’d like to read real medical studies about all alternative medicines available and all current new research.
I really want to learn more about fu zhen, dan shen, shark cartilige, antineoplastons, kelp, pokeweed, and the like.
And then there’s me trying to figure how to be her therapist. There’s many problems preventing her from being calm and having a positive attitude. Yoga, meditation, many things can help.
From the little I’ve seen, the only clinic I know of where I want here to go to is Burzynski’s in Texas. The FDA is still studying antineoplastons. It seems promising.
And then I wonder who are the other medical experts out there doing new exciting research?
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Maybe someone can recommend an amazing traditional chinese medicine doctor in taipei? Or anywhere in Taiwan. Someone who’s dealt with cancer. Maybe someone who’s also highly trained in wester medicine and is doing research in new directions?
Or just a good TCM doctor.