Cancer has taken millions of lives and cost trillions of
dollars to treat and prevent. Unfortunately, the cure for cancer is as far away
now as it was decades ago. A new book, The Cancer Solution: Taking Charge
of Your Life with Cancer, exposes why the cure for cancer is still
elusive, and identifies where research for cancer should be heading.
Author Jack C. Westman, M.D., has been studying cancer care
and prevention for many years. He served as a caretaker to his wife, who
succumbed to breast cancer after a 34-year battle. Westman offers insight and
inspiration on how to help someone who has been diagnosed with cancer navigate
their way through the healthcare system.
Dr. Westman has helped people for six decades as a
psychiatrist, professor, author and director of a nonprofit advocacy
organization. He was also the keynote speaker at the World Conference on Cancer
Therapy in Atlanta, GA this past Monday.
Uniquely positioned and qualified, Dr. Westman comes in as
a 3rd party observer, examining all the research being done and
exposing the gaps that have kept us from a cure.
I have the pleasure of promoting his work to the news media
and want to share an insightful interview with Dr. Westman:
1.
What
events inspired you to write The Cancer
Solution? The death of my beloved wife and the
appearance of cancer in two close relatives inspired me to learn all that I
could about current cancer research and treatment.
2.
What
type of support are you seeking for innovative cancer research?
First of all, innovative cancer research must focus on the process of neoplasia
that forms cancer cells. Public and professional advocacy of this concept is
essential so that public and private funding of research is devoted to
preventing and stopping neoplasia. The 13.7 million persons with cancer and
their caregivers in the United States are in a unique position to carry out
this kind of advocacy. Since one of three persons will die from cancer as it
now stands, everyone should be advocates for change as well.
3.
How
does your book help cancer patients? This book gives
the reader a broad overview of cancer research and treatment in simple terms
with enough technical details so that patients can use it as a reference for
their questions about specific aspects of cancer care. It is a handbook on
cancer that describes both the big picture and the specifics about receiving
cancer care and dealing with the issues involved in living with cancer. It also
outlines nutritional and life style changes that can effectively complement
conventional cancer treatment and prevent cancer. It creates awareness of the
need for public pressure to improve cancer research and care
4.
Will
medical professionals and healthcare providers embrace your book?
Perhaps not, if they do not read my book carefully. Because I have been able to
devote two years to fulltime research on cancer research and treatment, few
physicians possess the knowledge about cancer that I have gleaned from my
extensive review of the literature. This means that other health care providers
and researchers may find that my observations and conclusions do not conform to
their ideas and practices. For this reason, my book only contains information
based on scientific research or the policy positions of the American Society of
Clinical Oncology and other organizations, such as the National Academy of
Sciences.
5.
In
your book, you document the evidence that there will be a major change in the
way cancer is treated over the next decade.
What exactly will change? The focus of
cancer research and treatment will shift from searching for and destroying
cancer cells to the factors in the immune system that permit the formation and
growth of cancer cells. Immunotherapy and nutritional therapy will be available
to reduce the need for, and even replace, radiation and chemotherapy. The
outlook for cancer with shift from measuring months and years of survival to
complete remissions.
6.
How
can diet and nutritional supplements play a key role in either cancer
prevention or treatment? Many foods in the typical American
diet contain cancer-producing toxins, just as does the smoke of cigarettes.
Eliminating them from one’s diet can prevent cancer. Other nutrients, such as
curcumin in curry, prevent the formation of cancer cells and even destroy them.
They also can enhance the effectiveness and reduce the side-effects of
chemotherapy.
7.
As
a psychiatrist, how do you believe one’s mindset can influence his or her state
of health? Without question, receiving the diagnosis
of cancer is stressful. The course of cancer treatment also is stressful. The
hormonal effects of stress reduce the effectiveness of the body’s immune system
and thereby interfere with the body’s defenses against cancer. Shifting from a
sense of helplessness and dependency to one of taking charge of one’s life with
cancer not only reduces stress, it also enhances the performance of the body’s
immune system and can increase the effectiveness of cancer treatment.
8.
As
the president of Wisconsin Cares, Inc., a non-profit, how do you help families?
The mission of Wisconsin Cares, Inc., is to promote the well-being of children
and their families through developing public policies that strengthen families
at the state and federal levels. For example, through the efforts of Wisconsin
Cares, a Wisconsin State Department of Children and Families was established
and Coordinated Services Teams for families involved in more than one system of
care were made available throughout the state. One result of the latter was
closing two state reformatories.
9.
If
someone is diagnosed with cancer, what are the six things they need to know or
do right away?
1.
Be sure that their advance
directives for health care are up to date.
2.
Ask their doctors for a detailed
description of their cancer and its aggressiveness.
3.
Obtain as detailed a prognosis as
possible
4.
Put together a notebook or digital
folder for recording and keeping their health records.
5.
Do as much research as they can on
their particular form of cancer.
6.
Obtain information about the
possible benefits and disadvantages of recommended forms of treatment and do
not be reluctant to seek a second opinion.
10. If you could whisper into the ears
of oncologists and other doctors, what would you urge them to do when it comes
to treating cancer patients? Be honest with
your patients. They need to have the facts. They need to know the pros and cons
of their treatment options.
11. You saw your wife lose her battle
with cancer. What did that painful
experience leave you with? A commitment to do anything I can
to prevent others from going through her debilitating and dehumanizing
experience.
12. As a psychiatrist – and not an
oncologist – how are you in a position to advise on the treatment or prevention
of cancer? First of all, I am a physician and able
to learn about and understand medical matters. Secondly, my background makes me
especially sensitive to the life experience of cancer patients. It also brings
out the importance of talking with patients and learning from them. Thirdly, I
am aware of the vital importance of helping patients overcome anxiety and fear
and their destructive physical effects through mastery of their emotions and
developing a sense of control in their lives.
13. Are you surprised, with all of the
billions thrown at research and the millions of cancer victims studied by
doctors, that we still haven’t cured cancer? No, not
at all. The focus has been on killing cancer cells rather than on the process
that forms them. There also is a vast cancer care system ranging from
pharmaceutical companies to hospitals that depends upon the treatment of
cancer. Oncology is the only specialty based on a specific disease. For these
reasons, winning the war on cancer can be perceived as threating the existence
of oncology and the cancer care system. My own view is that the cancer care
system will always be needed, but that it will not need to be as large and
costly as it is now.
14. Right now cancer is treated,
typically, with radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy. Why are you saying doctors should employ
immunotherapies and nutritional therapies?
Immunotherapy and nutritional therapies can enhance conventional cancer
treatments now and with more research and clinical application possibly replace
them in the future.
15. How do you counsel doctors who seek
support for their efforts to help patients in a losing battle with cancer?
Most importantly, most doctors went into medicine to help people get better. It
is not easy for them to be treating patients whose chances of long-term
survival are not good. If they learn more about alternative, complementary, and
integrative cancer therapies, the outcomes of their clinical work will be more
rewarding.
16. What can be done to bring down the
expensive healthcare costs associated with cancer?
Better coordination of existing treatments would help reduce health care costs.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology has established guidelines for doing
this. For example, applying treatments that cost $7,000 to $12,000 a month just
to prolong a low quality of life for months is not in the interests of the
patients nor of those who pay the costs. In the long range, more effective
treatment will reduce costs as well.
17. What advice do you have for family
members seeking to help and support a loved one with cancer?
Along with your loved one, learn everything you can about the specific form of
cancer involved. Most importantly, take care of yourself so that you can be a
competent and effective caregiver.
18. There are many charlatans out their
peddling phony cures and useless treatments.
How can one spot them? Anyone who
claims they have a cure for cancer and sells it, is suspect. Still there are
many remedies that can be effective in cancer care. The answer is to do one’s
own research and determine if there is clinical or research evidence that
supports a claim that an unconventional treatment works.
19. Exactly what type of holistic
response to cancer are you calling for? Most
importantly, cancer should not be seen as a freestanding disease. It is the
result of a breakdown in normal body functions. In this sense, it is a
metabolic disorder. This means that cancer should be approached with all of the
body systems in a particular human being in mind. The fact that it is life
threatening especially highlights the need to consider how a patient is coping
with cancer.
20. What are five obstacles to making
progress on the war on cancer?
1.
Viewing cancer as a disease in
itself and simply killing cancer cells.
2.
The lack of a financial incentive
for the cancer care system to cure cancer.
3.
The cancer research system is more
oriented to the career advancement of researchers through publications than to
achieving the goal of curing cancer.
4.
The lack of federal and private funding
for basic research on how cancer cells form and spread.
5.
The lack of public pressure to
change the present cancer care system.
21. If weight control, addiction, and
other human behaviors can prevent or delay the onset of certain cancers, why
are Americans literally killing themselves with poor daily habits?
This reflects our society that is dehumanizing, materialistic, individualistic,
erogenous, and fascinated by violence. There is little modeling of, or
encouragement for, sensible living. Commercial interests are served by foods
and life styles that are antithetical to healthy living. There also is a self-destructive
streak in many people who consciously or unconsciously do not like themselves.
For
more information, please consult:
Brian
Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and
not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email
him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in
the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.