Alternative treatment cures?

Deblc

Does anyone know of actual cases where 100% alternative treatment has resulted in a cure?

Momine

Deb, some people (very few, but some) experience a spontaneous and total remission of cancer. Nobody knows exactly how or why that happens.

I heard one story of a guy who was given 6-12 months, and decided to go to a monastery and live his last months there. 20 years later, he was still happily tending the monastery's vegetable garden. There is a discussion further down about the 9 factors observed among such people, and going off to a (Greek) monastery would pretty much take care of all 9, so maybe there is something to it.

In all my reading for the past 2 years, I have not come across any verifiable information to suggest that any alternative treatment can achieve a total remission.

leggo

Hi Deb. I can only speak to a Stage IV diagnosis because that is where I focus my own research, and I also think the word "cure" can never be used with breast cancer. Traditional or alternative, there's always a chance that it will recur or spread, regardless. Having said that, I do know one woman who was diagnosed in 2000, stage IIa, did chemo, rads etc. and was diagnosed with brain mets in 2007. At that time, she went the alternative route and has been cancer-free since. Not anecdotal; she is on another forum I belong to (unless of course, she's lying). Also, in defining alternative, I'm including a pharmaceutical drug that was meant for other diseases. She has been taking DCA. So 100%? I guess it depends on how you look at it. I consider it alternative.

Deblc

Hi Leggo, what is DCA? And I suppose there is a whole spectrum of alternative treatments out there, so it is difficult to research what is effective and what is not (including diet changes etc)

leggo

Here's some info on it.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichloroacetic_acid

Momine

Leggo, I think that is a good point - that the word "cure" doesn't really apply in breast cancer, whichever route one takes.

Lia13

Hi Deb, the only recent story of remission/cure without conventional treatment that comes to mind is about Stamatis Moraitis (you can google him), though he didn't consciously/intentionally did what he did to cure himself (dx with terminal lung cancer, died about 45 years later in 2013, apparently no documented treatment).

MD Lissa Rankin in Mind over Medicine also tries scientific criteria to find a pattern in much older but documented remission/cure cases and comes to some very interesting conclusions. 

hugs :-)

leggo

Lia, the reading on Mr. Moraitis is fascinating. I've been keeping an eye open for a certain plant that grows in the Greek Isles named fagonia cretica. This plant was mentioned in several articles regarding it's cancer fighting abilities. While I was reading up on this gentleman, I read that he consumed a heal-all tea, specific to his culture. I'd sure like to get a hold of that tea formulation and am curious if it happens to have that plant in it. Might not be a coincidence. Got to do some more research on this story. Fascinating man with a fascinating story. Thanks for mentioning him. Maybe someday we'll hear from someone on this board from Ikaria who knows what goes in the tea. I'd sure like to brew some up.

abigail48

ancedotal:  story in the ava:  woman found kindred hom in hawaii, settled then got phonecall that her sister had cancer.  went back to the us & became a gerson therapy provider for the sister.  to date, some many years later no reoccurance

juneping

i don't think there's a cure for cancer or BC. 

i read about a brain surgeon who got colon cancer and he had the surgery refused chemo and is still alive. his story was broadcast on TV in Taiwan where he lives. he set up his own clinic to treat cancer in an alternative way. he emphasis on life style.. diet and exercise....

Momine

Leggo, the standard tea that Greeks drink for health is called "tsai tou vounou" [mountain tea]. One of our former prime ministers is still hale and hearty at 90-something, and he swears by the stuff. It is not a mixture. It is a single herb. Here is the wiki for it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sideritis

In general though, the way people live in the islands, if they stick to the traditional way, or the way they live on Mount Athos is clearly very healthy. It involves a LOT of veggies and herbs (as in mint, parsley etc), nuts, fish, fruit, a bit of wine, a lot of exercise and a "que sera, sera" approach. 

Also, there is an old joke that spies are useless in China and Greece, because in China nobody talks, while in Greece everybody talks. When I was going through treatment, all the neighbors made a point of stopping me in the street, saying good morning, offering me a coffee, asking me about my kid etc. It seems instinctive to Greeks to offer community and support in times of trouble. It was something that definitely helped me, and studies bear this out - having a social network improves survival.

Momine

June, colon cancer is one of the cancers where the main treatment is surgery. It is something like 95% curative. If the surgery doesn't cure it, the chemo is not likely to do that much. Radiation can sometimes be helpful though. I know a lot of people who have survived decades after colon cancer that was treated either with surgery only or else with surgery + rads.

Momine

Leggo, here is a research paper on the mountain tea (I did not read it yet, but thought you might find it interesting). Mountain Tea

juneping

momine - thanks, i didn't know that. based on the show i saw, he was recommended chemo...i had no idea how bad it was for him.

Momine

June, OK, that could be, if the cancer was very advanced.

Momine

Leggo, this is also interesting: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15537303

leggo

Thanks Momine. 

Momine

Leggo, welcome, and the last link answers the question as to whether it is safe for ER+ patients, as far as I can see.

buddy1

Just wondering if any of you have heard about or tried the PH/baking soda or AHCC or cottage cheese with flaxseed oil or Gerson therapy?

luckypenny

Buddy

I have heard of both- the cottege cheese thing I think is the Budwig diet and I have know of folks who have done gerson only and no chemo rads , surgery etc.  The person that I knew that did gerson only died this year - colon cancer , not breast.  There may be more successful stories out there.  All I know is that it is super labor intensive with the amount of juicing and coffee enemas.

The budwig diet - I have read about but I really don't know how people are using it - whether its more of a complementary approach or their main treatment .  

 

 

 

juneping

I have heard of Gerson therapy and there was one lady from the documentary, and she's probably still alive. I can't be sure. She was treated at MD Anderson and didn't work so she went the alt way.

But Gerson is pretty intensive. A lot of veggi for a small glass of juice. I don't think I can do it while having a demanding full time job.

abigail48

also a few drops of rosemary oil on the honey dressing will control  bleeding & odor

pipers_dream

Abigail, how bad is your bleeding getting?  I'm getting worried about you.  I'm all for alt but it might be time for you to see a doctor.  

abigail48

thanks pipers.  as I wrote intensively why in the locked then disappeared forum for those choosing alternative only, I don't do doctors.  I'm nearly 77 (next month) & my true-love is dead nearly 7 years now.  & I have many many pictures to be left given things go well.  also I as yet have no ss, doctor, ins.  & with the pain, irritations, bleeding (bad night last night) I get wonderful dreams I guess from natural endomorphs. last night I dreampt bob was alive

abigail48

terrible laptop problems, but what I was going to mention:  the rosemary oil might have been a bad idea.  it worked for what I wanted it for except when I used it alone it got the dressing too wet, but I think it healed the black part which was dying it looked like

pipers_dream

What a wonderful dream Abigail.  I pray all goes well for you, and a couple of poultices that I've read about for healing are plantain leaves from that weedy stuff in your garden and pokeroot, pounded and made into a compress similar to your castor oil pack.  Please take care--it sounds like you are though.  

Idun

Hi,

I am new in this forum, even though I have been here on breastcancer.org for some years.

Buddy, a friend of mine has been NED for 2 years.  She had been given no hope since chemo was not helping, she was TNG.  She started using Oralsal and a water that is supposed to make the body more alkaline.  To begin with she also went on a strict vegetable fasting.  She saw results amazingly fast.  

I tried the same combo, it wasn´t working as well for me.  But I didnt do the fasting at the same time.  I made some changes in my diet that I believ is helping me, I am on alkaline and anti-inflammatory diet, skip milk products, red meat, sugar and refined grains.

Another woman I know of followed the guidance in the book A cancer battle plan.  She is now ned today.

Kind regards, Idunn

buddy1

Idun thanks so much , I will look for the Oralsal ,  I have been reading a lot about the PH level in your body.  I see a lot on Baking soda

Idun

I am not convinced that the alkaline diet is the reason for my friends recovery, I would rather believe it was a combination on high pH levels in her body and starving the cancer being on some kind of a ketogenic diet by the vegetable fasting.  I am a bit sceptic on the use of baking soda, but might be totally wrong.

There are some researches going on on the use of ketogenic diet for cancer patients (will be interesting to see what that will bring us) and of course there have been done some researches on the benefits of fasting.  A friend of mine is now starting a ketogenic program under supervision from our hospital, I really hope that will give her a breakthrough in her battle.

I am convinced though that diet is a big piece in the puzzle.....but this is a maze indeed

juneping

idun - which hospital? I am curious....

pipers_dream

Idun, I'm skeptical about the baking soda too as I think your stomach acid would neutralize it and/or it could mess with your stomach acid production and make you less likely to digest food as well and set you up for nutrient deficiencies.  I tend to be low on stomach acid, which is why I thought of this.  The symptoms are very similar to high acid, so the way to know is if baking soda fixes it, you have too much acid.  If baking soda makes it worse, you have low acid.  Then if betaine hydrochloride pills make it better, you can be sure it's low acid.  I mainly suffered when I ate red meat but nature doc has me on enzymes and that fixed it.