Herbal Medicine, Healing & Cancer

Rating:
Summary: Almost
Review: A cooperative working relationship between "allopathic" physicians and "naturalists" is long overdue in my opinion, and my opinion ought to be worth something. I am a physician with 25 years experience in cancer medicine and I have board certifications in internal medicine, medical oncology, hematology, and radiation oncology. Mr. Yance's book is a step in the right direction, and I feel it is a worthwhile reference for any physician who is interested in the nutritional welfare of his patients. The book is far from perfect, however. For example, Mr. Yance overstates the risk of carcinogenesis from therapeutic radiation, presents site-specific side effects such as dry mouth as if they were general effects of radiation, underplays the value and effectiveness of radiation for common adult tumors such as breast cancer, and claims benefit for herbal or nutritional remedies for side effects of cancer treatment even when they have been shown to be ineffective in clinical trials. Administration of vitamin B12 and folate to prevent chemotherapy-induced neuropathy is the most egregious example. At the same time, glutamine is not mentioned for prevention of neuropathy though it is known to be useful, at least for prevention of nerve injury from vinca alkaloids.

Another problem is that much of the nutritional information is too technically advanced for most lay readers. One would have to know more biochemistry than the majority of phyicians to wade through the terminology.

Despite its shortcomings, I think Mr. Yance's book is a valuable resource and would recommend it to my medical colleagues. My advice to the general public is to go to the best source for information about cancer treatments. As a medical and radiation oncologist, I wouldn't try to inform my patients about nutritional therapies, and I sure wouldn't ask a nutritionist their opinion about radiation or chemotherapy. Discuss all the therapeutic issues with your main healthcare provider. If he or she won't discuss herbal, nutritional, and other alternative or complementary modalities, ask for other opinions.

Rating:
Summary: Almost
Review: A cooperative working relationship between "allopathic" physicians and "naturalists" is long overdue in my opinion, and my opinion ought to be worth something. I am a physician with 25 years experience in cancer medicine and I have board certifications in internal medicine, medical oncology, hematology, and radiation oncology. Mr. Yance's book is a step in the right direction, and I feel it is a worthwhile reference for any physician who is interested in the nutritional welfare of his patients. The book is far from perfect, however. For example, Mr. Yance overstates the risk of carcinogenesis from therapeutic radiation, presents site-specific side effects such as dry mouth as if they were general effects of radiation, underplays the value and effectiveness of radiation for common adult tumors such as breast cancer, and claims benefit for herbal or nutritional remedies for side effects of cancer treatment even when they have been shown to be ineffective in clinical trials. Administration of vitamin B12 and folate to prevent chemotherapy-induced neuropathy is the most egregious example. At the same time, glutamine is not mentioned for prevention of neuropathy though it is known to be useful, at least for prevention of nerve injury from vinca alkaloids.

Another problem is that much of the nutritional information is too technically advanced for most lay readers. One would have to know more biochemistry than the majority of phyicians to wade through the terminology.

Despite its shortcomings, I think Mr. Yance's book is a valuable resource and would recommend it to my medical colleagues. My advice to the general public is to go to the best source for information about cancer treatments. As a medical and radiation oncologist, I wouldn't try to inform my patients about nutritional therapies, and I sure wouldn't ask a nutritionist their opinion about radiation or chemotherapy. Discuss all the therapeutic issues with your main healthcare provider. If he or she won't discuss herbal, nutritional, and other alternative or complementary modalities, ask for other opinions.

Rating:
Summary: from the Medical Herbalism journal
Review: Donald Yance is unquestionably the contemporary North American herbalist-nutritionist with the most hands-on experience treating cancer. He has practiced for some twenty years in Connecticut, and recently in southern Oregon. We are lucky that he took time from his busy practice to write this book. The book doesn't give pat protocols for treating cancer, but, like the writings of Eli Jones, the physician-herbalist who wrote the first major work on the treatment of cancer in American Medical history a hundred years ago, Herbal Medicine, Healing, and Cancer offers a mixture of overall healing strategies with extensive herbal and nutritional materia medica.

Rating:
Summary: I'm impressed!
Review: The HMH&C book is well written and formated. It has excellent information on natural healing prevention and treatment combined with traditional cancer treatments. It is a gold mine of information and documentation. Great herbal information and how they affect cancer. It was highly recommeded by my herbalist/pharmacist. I'm sending it to a friend in need.

Rating:
Summary: I'm impressed!
Review: The HMH&C book is well written and formated. It has excellent information on natural healing prevention and treatment combined with traditional cancer treatments. It is a gold mine of information and documentation. Great herbal information and how they affect cancer. It was highly recommeded by my herbalist/pharmacist. I'm sending it to a friend in need.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly helpful herbalist
Review: This author has rave reviews from cancer patients in my area. I have gone through breast cancer treatments with this author's help, one year after my mother died of breast cancer (most breast cancer is environmentally caused ). I am doing very well. I also learned of a man with prostrate cancer who was cured with Donald Yance's help; he wrote his story in the local newspaper. In my opinion he is brilliant and a very loving human being who had so many cancer patients that he wrote a book to make his infomation available to others. I am so very grateful for his help and recomend this book as a first choice resource.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly helpful herbalist
Review: This author has rave reviews from cancer patients in my area. I have gone through breast cancer treatments with this author's help, one year after my mother died of breast cancer (most breast cancer is environmentally caused ). I am doing very well. I also learned of a man with prostrate cancer who was cured with Donald Yance's help; he wrote his story in the local newspaper. In my opinion he is brilliant and a very loving human being who had so many cancer patients that he wrote a book to make his infomation available to others. I am so very grateful for his help and recomend this book as a first choice resource.

Rating:
Summary: My step-daughter was diagnosed with stomach cancer!
Review: When we found out my step-daughter had stomach cancer, I scrambled to look for reading, that would be straightforward, yet offer alternatives. I wanted my daughter to know there was much more to cancer, than that of which the doctor's offered. This book allowed reading for her, after I read it, and gave hope with those alternatives. Everyone is different when going through something like this, this book offers a vast variety of options, hope and support! Some information and education for everybody, no matter your beliefs or thought processes!

Rating:
Summary: check out the table of contents
Review: Yance and Valentine have done a comprehensive job of cataloging the herbal treatment options for people to choose from for their fight against cancer. I did a little reasearch of my own to discover which of these herbs were being sold on-line and what was being said about them. The site, iHerb, not only coroborrated thier research information, but also sold a variety of good products. For those seeking alternatives or companions to their cancer treatments, this book and iHerb would be two great places to begin.