How Yoga, Oriental Herbs and Acupuncture Help Treat Cancer

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Dr. Harvey Gilbert, MD

Medical and Policies Director
Harvey Gilbert, MD, is a radiation oncologist with over thirty-five years of professional experience...read more

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Senior Health—The Medical View

How Yoga, Oriental Herbs and Acupuncture Help Treat Cancer

April 30th, 2007

Comments (4)

My background as a radiation oncologist has blinded me, in many instances, to only dealing with the patient’s disease and its treatment. Failing to integrate the many wellness alternatives I am aware of into that patient’s care is failing to maximize the patient’s quality of life.

To address this oversight, along with a group of respected practitioners across multiple disciplines, I founded the USA Wellness Community of Lodi. The community brings together the many disciplines that Integrative Medicine comprises—from holistic and alternative therapies to naturopathic and allopathic treatments. As the community has evolved over the last two years, conflicts between these very devoted and knowledgeable practitioners have arisen as to how to approach each patient. These variances are to due to the fact that each discipline arose in a relative vacuum and there has been minimal cross-fertilization between these universes. Wellness is defined in many ways and it has no measurable endpoint. Our community defines wellness as: feeling as healthy as one can, having the best mental outlook possible, and living as long as one can. The first two of these factors are dominant during cancer therapy.

With this philosophy of treatment, we designed work groups that encompass the following areas:

Nutrition: traditional nutrition, oriental nutrition and herbs, and naturopathy
Movement therapy: yoga, tai chi, traditional physical therapy and Pilates
Meditative and mind therapy: marriage and family counseling, meditation, integrative imagery, harp and music therapy
Pharmacological therapy: medical doctors, pharmacists, oriental medicine and naturopathy

To maximize our patients’ quality of life, we must expose them to the many aspects of Integrative Medicine. Most primary physicians and oncologists are not trained that way, but it is time that changed. Each patient in our community has access to a panel of experts including a medical doctor (MD), a naturopath (ND), a doctor of Eastern Medicine who is also a licensed acupuncturist (DOM, LAc), and a movement therapist. These specialists, among others, decide on the best way to provide comfort and wellness.

The USA Wellness Community of Lodi will soon launch a Web site addressing the issues that the Gilbert Guide Blog does, and will include the involvement of our entire broad-based clinical staff. Our interdisciplinary staff can introduce you to the world of Integrative Wellness and some simple ways for you to apply this approach to your specific problem, but for more in-depth issues, consider a membership.

Most patients and professionals aren’t aware of the entire range of medical and wellness disciplines, and oftentimes haven’t dealt with them before. The formation of the Wellness Center of America marks the first time that cancer patients have been exposed to multiple, integrated disciplines ranging from MDs to harp therapists.

I will let you know when our Web site and programs are up and available, but in the meantime, I encourage you to ask your physician if there are dedicated wellness practitioners in your community.

Harvey Gilbert, MD

Posted in Diseases & Conditions, Holistic Health, Naturopathic Medicine, Senior Health—The Medical View: Dr. Harvey Gilber, Tips for Healthy Living

Comments (4)

COMMENTS
4 Responses to “How Yoga, Oriental Herbs and Acupuncture Help Treat Cancer”

CarolynKCombley Says:

Yoga is against what I believe as a Christian. Its a Hindu practice and I worry that its becoming so popular, especially among our young people. I think its great to get in touch with yourself, but not at the risk of denying Jesus Christ…which is what I think a lot of these newfangled new age techniques do. Healing comes from letting God in your life.
Gary Erb Says:

I completely agree with you, Dr.Gilbert. I have a question for you, sir.

I’m not very familiar with this process, and I’m not sure if this is the proper forum for this, but…

I started looking into alternative health practices and natural medicine because a corrupt U.S. Congress has recently passed a sweeping drug law that they allowed the pharmaceutical industry to write.

I have a health condition that has disabled me. I was able to get this stabilized with medication. I was fortunate to be on a county-funded program that took care of my prescription costs, until a group of outlaw congressmen, headed by former rep. Billy Tauzin, changed everything. Even Tom Scully, former head of Medicare, was part of this evil self-serving corruption. (I donâ€™t mean to be hateful, but these are facts, not opinions.)

With the new Medicare Part D law, I was forced off the county program and into the part D mess. Suddenly, I had to come up with an extra $75 a month from my disability income to pay for my essential medicines. I adjusted, but now this month my out-of-pocket cost is $885. That is an outrageous amount of money that I can’t afford (more then half of my income), so now I’m forced to go without medicine.

Now I’m desperately trying to find alternative methods of treatment. But now the government is trying to take control of and regulate herbs and supplements as “drugs,” which means, I believe, they will empty store shelves to force people to stay on pharmaceuticals. But who can afford it?

April 30 was the deadline to respond to the FDA on this proposal. Since you practice these types of treatments, do you have any updates on whether the government succeeded in taking control of the natural health and healing market? And what would it mean to YOUR future practice in using oriental herbs?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Harvey Gilbert Says:

Hello Gary,

The California Oriental Medical Association does not feel that the issue is of a critical nature or is threatening to CAM practitioners or their products. Please read below.

Q: Is FDA trying to ban complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) products and therapies?
A: Over the past couple of weeks, there have been a few “action alerts” circulating on the Internet regarding this draft guidance document. Some of these alerts imply that this document is an attempt to ban CAM therapies and products. These assertions appear to be significantly overstated.

There is nothing in this draft document that would lead us to believe that it is an attempt to ban CAM products/therapies or declare them illegal.

Q: What products and therapies is the FDA claiming to regulate?
A: Whether or not a product, device, or therapy falls under FDA regulation depends upon the context of its use. According to current federal law (the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act), any product that claims to diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat, or prevent disease is automatically regulated by FDA as either a drug or medical device.

To cite an example from the draft guidance document… If vegetable juice is sold to enhance general wellness, it is regulated as a food. If the producer of the juice is claiming that the juice can cure or treat a disease, it is regulated as a drug. FDA has regulatory authority over both.

Dietary supplements, including herbs, are already regulated by FDA but are not regulated as drugs unless there is a claim to cure, treat, or prevent disease. Again, this is not at all new.

This is why you’ll often see the following disclaimer on supplements that make health claims: “This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”

Products like massage oil that are specifically mentioned in the document are not subject to regulation as a drug or medical device unless there are claims made in labeling or marketing that would trigger such regulation. For example, if a brand of massage oil claimed to treat arthritis, it would fall under FDA regulation as a drug.

Q: What about the regulation of acupuncture needles as “medical devices”?
A: Acupuncture needles been regulated as Class II medical devices by FDA since 1996 and as “investigational” prior to that time. Their status is unchanged by this document.
Harvey Gilbert, MD
Gary Erb Says:

I appreciate your clarification of these FDA matters, Dr. Gilbert. It is quite a relief, actually. It’s interesting that a lot of people seem to have misinterpreted this info. I got my information from not one, but several sources, with two of them being respected political sites! Others came from the supplements and herbs industries themselves. Your addressing these matters has been very helpful. Thank you.

Gary Erb