Naturopathic Medicine

Berk80

Curious on people’s thoughts/experiences with naturopathic and integrative oncology.

I’m wondering what has worked for people and what has not so much. Herbs vs. acupuncture, hyperbaric oxygen, or any others.

I have not decided to do chemo yet, but I know based on my diagnosis I will at some point. Looking for input with chemo and before.

GregP_WN

I'm familiar with hyperbaric oxygen treatments. These are designed to infuse oxygen into your body which your cells use to recover more rapidly. It is widely used in head and neck cancers, especially for those who are having tooth extractions after having had radiation to the head/neck area. It works very well for the majority. Some people have even reported that they started growing hair back after having been bald for years.

As for naturopathic medicine, it's extremely advisable to think of it as a complement to traditional treatments, not as a first-line treatment. There are many well-known cases of people who could afford to have any treatment in the world and they chose naturopathic, only to die because it did no good. If you do decide to try it, consult with your oncologist as to any adverse reactions to anything you might be taking while in treatment. Some herbs and supplements will actually deter the treatment from doing its job.

We wish you the best, and hope you do very well with your plan!

Berk80

Thanks Greg. I had actually been interested in hyperbaric as a possible way to deal with anemia for me. I’m glad some have found it to be useful.

I definitely am looking at naturopaths as a complement to my treatment, and also in hopes of managing my symptom either before, during, or in recovery of additional medical treatments. I’ve always kind of felt that conventional medicine has been usually good with treatment of disease, but comes up short in the after effects of the treatment.

fusilier

No, no, no.

Naturopathy is pure quackery. All naturopaths spend time learning homeopathy, which is literally magic: that "like cures like," that a nostrum is more effective the more times it's diluted (until there's nothing left but water or sugar,) and that a remedy can be determined by "findings" - which is to say the so-called practitioner has a dream about what might work.

"Supplements" will interfere with prescribed medications, and, often, the effects of that interference are unpredictable. As an example that everyone should know, statins are a class of drugs that lower blood cholesterol and reduce atherosclerosis, aka hardening of the arteries. You can't eat grapefruit and take a statin, since one compound in grapefruit keeps your kidneys from eliminating the medication from your bloodstream. So the medication builds up and you have trouble keeping healthy levels of fats.

May I suggest you go to sciencebasedmedicine.org and read the articles.

fusilier, wearing his (retired) Associate Professor of Human Anatomy and Physiology hat

James 2:24

MarcieB

My brother did not want to go through chemo a second time for non-hodgkins lymphoma, so he went the *natural* route. Sadly, it did not work out.

Teachertina

Research is ongoing but so far there is no cure for cancer either natural or traditional treatments. Doctors try every tool they have in the toolbox. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Keep trying to find what works for you. Good luck on your journey. We wish you well.

Paperpusher

My daughter uses homeopathy and sees a integrative medicine doctor who combines traditional medicine with the naturopathic. She uses this for herself and her kids. It helps her migraines and my grandson has PANS. There are multiple supplements he takes for that along with a daily antibiotic. I certainly wouldn't recommend it as a sole treatment for any disease, especially cancer. I have a friend whose husband is trying to use kombucha and a ton of other supplement for his cancer and it's not working. His wife finally got him to got to NYC for a consult. Terribly stressful for her.

JazzQueen

I think EVERYONE should get oxygen .. good clean oxygen .. makes the body work better! :-)