by Dr. Marcel Hernandez, ND
As a cancer survivor I’ve had my own very personal, firsthand experience of conventional oncology. And as a naturopathic oncologist, I am intimately familiar with my cancer patients’ experience of conventional medical care as well.
Most of their experiences have been positive. They tend to like their oncologists, or at least feel that they’re in knowledgeable, professional, caring hands.
However, more than a few patients have told me that their oncologists not only discouraged them from seeking adjunctive cancer care but told them that if they sought opinions and/or care from sources other than their own, they would no longer be able to work with them.
I always invite my patients to give their conventional oncologists my contact information, as I am happy to talk with them about evidence-based, integrative oncological care.
Yet in all the decades that I’ve practiced, so far just one oncologist has ever called and made an appointment to talk. A handful of others either never showed up, or called to cancel.
Most conventional oncologists know their procedures well and are thoroughly competent within the scope of their field.
Where I find fault is with their tunnel vision, which prevents them from even considering that sources of information outside of their present awareness could possibly help them achieve more favorable patient outcomes.
I believe this is a grievous mistake on the part of medical professionals who are entrusted with their patients’ lives.
I also struggle with the dogmatic belief system in conventional oncology circles that prevents otherwise reasonable physicians from daring to examine research findings that might support unconventional, yet effective non-traditional approaches to cancer care.
The result is that their deliberate blindness breeds a mind-boggling amount of misinformation regarding adjunctive cancer care.
To give an example, they advise their patients that intravenous vitamin C will interfere with chemotherapy because “it is an antioxidant, and chemo is oxidative therapy.”
In fact, the oncologists would need only to read studies reported by conventional medical sources such as the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and studies by the National Institutes of Health to realize that intravenous vitamin C is an oxidative therapy that not only enhances the therapeutic actions of chemotherapy but greatly diminishes the drastic chemo side effects, and that intravenous vitamin C has powerful anti-tumor actions of its own.
The last thing cancer patients need is dogmatic, uninformed rejection of promising alternative sources of help.
The research tells us very clearly that integrating conventional and adjunctive therapies can serve the best interests of the patient.
The mainstays of conventional cancer therapy are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
In my approach to adjunctive cancer care, chemotherapy is almost always not a viable alternative, since it may extend life for a few months, but at a high price. Chemotherapy has a tremendous negative impact on a cancer patient’s quality of life. Inevitably, cancers adapt to chemo regimens, so stronger chemo agents are used, with even more severe negative effects for quality of life.
Surgery and radiation may, at present, be needed in certain types of cancer. However, the manner in which they are applied as cookbook recipes is unacceptable. Every cancer patient is unique, and not every patient needs maximum aggressive therapy. A beauty of adjunctive cancer care is that we design programs with careful consideration for the unique needs of each patient.
I find it astounding that many oncologists tell their patients to eat anything they want, when thousands of studies have clearly shown that nutrition plays a huge part in cancer development and virulence.
Rarely will an oncologist tell a patient about the therapeutic effects of exercise. Fewer still will advise the patient about the mind/body/spirit connection as a useful tool for alleviating the stress and anxiety that attend a cancer diagnosis.
I’ve offered these brief examples to illustrate just a few of the differences between conventional oncology and adjunctive cancer care. Much more could and should be said.
Integration of these disciplines offers better outcomes than relying on one alone. It is in the patient’s best interest to assemble a team of advisors from both fields to help them make the best possible decisions about their specific care.
Drs. Connie and Marcel Hernandez
DrConnie@DrsHernandez.com
DrMarcel@DrsHernandez.com