Cancer Treatment: Taking Care of Your Mind, Body And Spirit!
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If you or any one of your loved ones is diagnosed with cancer, there are a number of cancer treatment centers
located all over the country. These cancer treatment centers offer a whole range of treatments, both traditional
and holistic, to help treat not only cancer but also the body, mind and spirit too. A number of cancer treatment
centers conduct research on an ongoing basis, and patients can take part if they qualify in a series of clinical
trials. There are new cancer treatments that are developed continually, and once research has advanced to
where trying it on humans is warranted, clinical trials are conducted. Great results are being seen with new
cancer treatments; in comparison to the past when some types of cancer were considered as a death
sentence are currently being treated successfully and hence patients can enjoy living cancer free due to this
continual research.
Today cancer treatment centers are easily accessible to everyone located in many metropolitan areas. A
number of them are affiliated with large university based hospitals, and provide the latest technology
available to treat different types of cancers. These types of facilities are also research based and offer several
new treatment alternatives to participants in a range of ongoing studies. If for any reason one of these major
cancer treatment centers are not within a reasonable distance, or not accessible due to other limitations, one
can receive treatment through local oncologists and cancer treatment centers. These also have good
facilities, and can provide the cancer patient with professional care and support. Cancer treatment centers
vary in the types of services they offer, for instance it can be traditional or alternative treatment based, and the
corresponding fees may also differ. You can either find a cancer treatment center within your means as well
as those that provide additional amenities and have a more non-traditional approach. Those seeking other
upscale private facilities that offer gourmet organic meals, natural herbal spa treatments, and additional
pampering services to the cancer patient can also be found along with deluxe room accommodations. Such
type of non-traditional cancer therapies help the patient recuperate and enjoy living again.
Cancer treatment centers are no more just sterile hospital environments that offer stale food, and stiff sheets.
Comfort is of utmost important for all cancer patients, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Cancer patients
who are in search of a cancer treatment center can look up online for different alternatives, where a range of
cancer treatments are discussed, plus other considerations such as diet and nutrition, and spiritual health.
Cancer treatment centers all share the same goal, to offer the best care possible, to provide continual
support to cancer patients and their families, and turn what can be a distressing situation into a more
optimistic experience.
One of the biggest health concerns most people have today is preventing cancer. Incidences of cancer and in
the cancer mortality rate in the United States have risen each year for the last fifty. The age-adjusted cancer
mortality rate in 1930 was 143 per 100,000 members of the population, but by 1990, it had risen to 174 per
100,000 in 1990.
Medical technology has come along way in treating this insidious disease, but we still don’t appear to know a
great deal about preventing many types of cancer. And, even with the treatments that we do have, 300 people
in the United States die from cancer every single day.
Many of our country’s deaths from cancer are completely preventable. For example, about 90 percent of the
one million skin cancers in the United States that were diagnosed in 2005 could have been prevented by
protection from sun. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2006 about 170,000 lives will be lost to
cancer because of tobacco use, so these too are completely preventable.
However, there are many other cancers that we cannot prevent, in part because we don’t know what causes
them. But, there may be a product already in your cupboard that can help prevent, or even treat, cancer. Over
the past several years, medical science has begun to scientifically prove out what Asian culture seems to
have known for years; tea, particularly green tea is effective in preserving health.
The Chinese have used green tea for centuries to treat everything from headaches to depression. One of the
most significant health benefits that green tea appears to provide is prevention against certain types of
cancer. But, the studies are getting even more promising. It looks as though green tea can be an effective
treatment for certain types of cancer, too.
Tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant. Therefore, what we refer to as “herb tea” is not really tea at all,
but rather an herbal infusion. There are many different types of tea; most of the differences come from the
way the tea is processed.
Tea leaves naturally contain catechins. Catechins belong to the flavan-3-ol class of flavonoids. EGCG is one
of the many catechins contained in tea, and is considered to be the most powerful anti-oxidant in tea leaves.
Fermenting the tea leaves, which is part of processing tea leaves for black tea, converts these catechins to
other compounds and reduces their health benefits. Therefore, green tea, because it is not fermented,
retains more of its original anti-oxidants than black tea. Scientists have discovered that tea is healthy
primarily because of these anti-oxidants.
Each day, as we convert the foods we eat into energy, we create free radicals in our body. These free radicals
are oxygen containing molecules that can damage our cells and our DNA if we don’t combat them. It is
believed that unchecked free radicals contribute to the development of cancer.
Anti-oxidants are powerful free radical combatants. Fruits and vegetables are also high in anti-oxidants. Anti-
oxidants are linked with preventing cancer, and a decreased risk of stroke, heart disease and lower blood
cholesterol.
In addition to these anti-oxidants, all teas, whether black, white or green contain calcium, magnesium,
potassium and vitamins C and K. Green tea is also appears to be very good for your teeth.
As exciting as it is to think that green tea may be helpful in preventing cancer; what’s even more exciting is
that it may also be a powerful treatment for cancer. In one recent study by the School of Pharmaceutical
Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Japan*, research showed that green tea, when combined with the drug
Adriamycin, was more effective in treating a certain kind of ovarian sarcoma (cancer of the ovaries) than using
the adriamycin alone.
In fact, the cancer cells in the rats in the study were not very responsive at all to the drug when it was
administered alone; but when administered along with the substance in tea called theanine, the rats became
extremely responsive to the treatment. The rats showed a much higher concentration of the drug in their
cancer cells when the drug was administered along with the theanine.
This combination of andriamycin and theanine appears to inhibit the growth of tumors; suggesting that
cancer patients might be able to avoid progression of their tumors and might be less susceptible to
developing new tumors, when green tea substances are used in conjunction with cancer drugs.
This is, of course, very exciting news. Cancer treatment typically has two facets. The first is killing the
cancerous cells that already exist in the body. The second is preventing new cancer cells from growing, both
in the organ where the cancer originated, and in other organs (metastasis).
If green tea can help with both aspects of cancer treatment, as well as preventing cancer in the first place, we
may be closer than ever to dramatically reducing the incidence of or even eradicating this disease. Of course,
far more research is needed, but these results are promising, indeed.
