discussion boards — Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (Gavin) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 21:32:36 +0000

Thanks Darla. Mum is off of the oxygen now and they are trying to maintain her oxygen levels between certain levels. Her heart was beating way too fast as well and they have her on a new med to try and get that down as well. Hopefully a few days off of the oxygen and good consistent numbers will mean that she will get home next week sometime.

Thank you,

Gavin

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (Darla) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 11:44:04 +0000

Gavin,

Sorry to hear mum is not able to go home yet. I'm sure she is getting anxious to be out of there. Hopefully things will improve and she will be able to come home this week.

Thinking of you.

Love & Hugs,
Darla

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (Gavin) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:32:19 +0000

Thanks Nancy. Was hoping that Mum would have gotten home today but that is not happening now and the earliest she might get home will be next week now. And after spending 3 weeks in the hospital lately, she is getting mighty fed up of hospitals now!

Best wishes,

Gavin

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (Nancy246) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 06:14:38 +0000

Gavin, Sending healing thoughts and prayers to your mum. Hope she is feeling better soon. Nancy

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (Darla) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:43:18 +0000

Hi Marion,

Have had some things to take care of and a lot of issues with my folks lately.

I would love to be able to get to Chicago while you are there, but it doesn't look like it will be possible. I do look forward to connected with you and some of the others some time, somewhere, in the future.

I hope things go well and that you are able to bring even more awareness of CC to the convention.

Hugs,
Darla

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (Gavin) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 18:12:42 +0000

Thank you Darla.

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (marions) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:55:56 +0000

Hi Darla....where have you been? You are missed. Also, would you have a chance to meet up in Chicago?
Hugs
Marion

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (Darla) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:43:55 +0000

Gavin,

Sorry to hear mum is back in the hospital. I will be hoping she improves quickly and is back home by the weekend.

Think Of You,
Darla

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (Gavin) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:32:28 +0000

Thanks Percy. I will say hi to my mum from you, she is in the hospital again. She got taken in Monday morning with a flare up of the infection from the pneumonia she had 5 weeks ago. Hopefully she will get out before the weekend though.

Best wishes,

Gavin

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (PCL1029) — Tue, 31 May 2011 22:23:50 +0000

Hi,Gavin,
You are always welcome.The more correct and proven info. we can provide to our patients and caretakers,the better they can be served and help them to understand this long and winding journey about CC.
You started helping out on this website long time ago,I just follow your foot step.
Say hi to your mom for me.
God bless.

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (Gavin) — Tue, 31 May 2011 21:29:44 +0000

Thank you once again for this info Percy. I know that it will be of use to many. Point 4 in your opening post in this thread is something that strikes a chord with me. My dad used to get Reiki massages on a weekly basis. Now he was very sceptical about the benefits if any that could be achieved with these massages, he was very old school I guess! But he was offered one to help to try and relax him and help with his sleeping not long after he was diagnosed. Well he had one for the first time and before they had finished doing the Reiki massage, well he fell asleep in his chair soundly snoozing! After that, he started to go to a cancer day care centre twice a week and they offered him a Reiki massage each time he went to the centre. Well needless to say, he had the massage each and every time that it was offered to him and it helped him so much to relax, he loved getting them!! I haven't done any research into the benefits of Reiki massage etc, but the smile on my dads face said it all! Thanks again Percy.

Best wishes,

Gavin

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (PCL1029) — Tue, 31 May 2011 20:40:17 +0000

Hi,
The first message on this forum about CAM is much in-sync with the view about "alternative medicine" by current physicians while I attended the DDW 5/2011 conference.
It will be a long time before FDA can provide the same kind of review and approval of dietary supplements for their claims(ie.milk thistle or melatonin improve liver function etc.;same as for most of the vitamins and minerals.)
FDA official Dr.Leonard Seeff spoke on his own,( but not for FDA),indicated that The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 stated that the manufacturers are responsible for the labeling of the products,such as the ingredients,net contents and nutritional information ONLY but not the unproven claims . So that buyers should be aware that dietary supplement and the like are not drugs; and they are not regulated by FDA as drugs.
There have been significant liver or other organ injury risk reported to FDA (ie. hydroxycab and 16 others just to name a few).
He also mentioned it is difficult to evaluate each herb in the herbal formulations (ie. in the form of soups,tablets,capsules or powder) It is due to source of the crude herbs;the time of harvest;where the herb harvest ; the correct part of the herb being used in the formulation and the method of processing the herbs after harvest.In short,the lack of standard of the crude herbs is the problem.
Herbs and dietary supplements are used as complimentary medicine along side with conventional treatment in CAM.
As far as I can recall, milk thistle (MT)is the dietary supplement researchers mentioned the most at this discussion session, the intravenous form of milk thistle seems to show benefits in their research but now the research have to prove that the oral form of MT,including the dose strength(how many mg etc.);dose frequency(how many times/day to take it) and their side effect burden etc. are acceptable for FDA to look at MT as a potential drug.
A final thought of mine with regard to herbs,
His statement is very true ,for example we always know the Ginseng produced in North America is a lot different from the one that come from North Korea in medicinal property (one is cool and the Korea one is hot in Chinese herbal medicine practice; and it reflects on the price difference too.)
I hope the info. help a bit more in understanding about CAM.
God Bless

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (PCL1029) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 21:15:44 +0000

HI, Gavin,
You are welcome.
Thanks for your help for all the herbal web sites listings that provided by you.
Otherwise It will take longer for me to work on the info.
God bless.

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (Gavin) — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:26:39 +0000

Thanks for this PCL.

Best wishes,

Gavin

Re: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)

null@example.com (PCL1029) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 17:36:58 +0000

Hi,
As always, this for your information only;consult medical professionals first.
It is dangerous to try to practice alternative medicine base on knowledge alone without using professional guidance.
I have difficulty to find" Chinese Character" of each Chinese herbal medicine that is listed in English. That is very important to differentiate the actual species of the plants used for the herbal formula. So you need to identify the correct one before even to read about each herbs.
The following website will provide names of herbals in both Chinese and English;also they will teach you how to pronounce the herbal in Chinese or Japanese or Koren languages.They also provide good drug information in both Chinese and English;such as the indication,dosage and their side effects.
It is by far one of the best web sites I have found to provide me a better and comprehensive knowledge ;it provide much detail info.on herbal formulas than I expected.
The most benefit I think about using Chinese herbal medicine is that ,it will complement your treatment and reduce the harsh side effects that chemo produced in the body(fatigue,nausea and vomiting shortness of breath,pain) Because Chinese herbal medicine is based on to treat the WHOLE BODY first and not the symptoms ALONE. (ie : if you feel shortness of breath ,the practitioner will add ingredients to help you on breathing better ;next visit if you feel very fatigue,he/she will add other herbal ingredients to increase your energy to the MAIN herbal formula specific designed for your tumor situation;that is why you need to show the practitioner your tongue;your face and eye ;tell him/her about your bowel movements- how often and loose or constipated;urine color,quantity,your appetite; any sleeping ,depressing and pain problems also should be addressed at time of visit.A good and experienced practitioner will change herbals for each problems you mentioned to the Main CC formula.This is the reason (to treat the whole body) that I believe in using herbs.
That is why the most IMPORTANT way to use Chinese herbal medicine is to find a good and experienced Chinese Herbal Medicine Practitioner;They are much easier to find now if you live in the big cities in like New York,San Francisco,LA Chicago in the States;Toronto and Vancouver in Canada;London in UK & Sidney in AU.Most of them are not expensive and each visit with herbs provided may be less than 10 US dollars/day;The practitioner may give you a 3-4 days supply of herbs and ask you to come back every week or 1-2week to follow up on the effectiveness of the treatment.
For patients who gave up the traditional chemo treatment,this may be a reasonable choice in addition to hospice.And if you want to try it out while you are on chemo,I suggest you should try it only on your chemo off weeks if you did not consult your doctors first.
If you are interested to use Chinese herbal medicine to complement your treatment.Equip yourself with basic knowledge about Chinese herbal medicines that are related to CC first, then go to find a good practitioner to help you in using them;there are only about 15-20 of them that use mainly for CC.
Some herbs that used for treating CC are Scutellariae baicalensis; Oldenlandia diffusa;Paeonia lactiflora;Scutellria rivularis;Rehmannia glutinosa;Poria
cocos;Forsythia suspensa;Glycyrrhiza uralensis;Bupleurum chinense;Zizyphus jujuba;Prunus persica;Cordyceps sinesis and others.
The wed site is:
www.alternativehealing.org
God bless.