Options

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 416 pages
• Published by: Avery
• Edition: 1st Edition August 1, 1992
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0895295105
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0895295101
• Book Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 1 pounds

From Publishers Weekly
Walters's book on alternative cancer treatments makes use of the elements found in science fiction and detective stories. Instead of soberly presenting a list of untraditional approaches to treatment, he dramatically unveils what he feels is a gigantic conspiracy to suppress the truth about noninvasive, nontoxic, unorthodox methods. He agrees with a remark he attributes to Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling: "Everyone should know that the 'war on cancer' is largely a fraud." This makes for some fascinating reading, but the science informing many of these treatments is unclear. The Rife generator, a bioelectric device that reportedly conquered terminal cancer in the 1930s, was decisively--and unfairly, argues Walter--discredited by the powers-that-were of conventional medicine. Essiac, an herbal tea reputed to cause remission in many cases of terminal cancer, and the Hoxsey Therapy, another herbal remedy linked to Native American and folk medicine, have been ignored or attacked by researchers and physicians. The many tales of miraculous cures are intriguing and seem to warrant further study, yet Walters believes that the testing of drugs and treatments on animals is not only cruel but ineffective--a view shared by few scientists. So the therapies in this book use people as guinea pigs. The reader is warned that while Walters's guide is "not intended as endorsement for any particular therapies, it does illustrate how specific therapies work and may give hope and strength to readers." The safest advice Walters gives is this: "Approach all therapies--conventional and alternative--with healthy skepticism and suspicion."
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Review
A comprehensive survey of alternative cancer treatments, Options is especially useful for including not only information about herbal, nutritional and other holistic approaches, but also about maverick doctors and scientists, and experimental drug therapies. This is information that is hard to find in any form, and almost impossible to find in language that is accessible to the non-scientist. Although translated from medicalese, the book retains a slightly sterile tone, emphasizing the scientific validity of the various therapies. But if you've been diagnosed with cancer and want facts on alternative therapies, Options offers synopses of research, anecdotal accounts of treatment and analysis of how some medical treatments become standard, while others become quackery. -- From The WomanSource Catalog & Review: Tools for Connecting the Community for Women; review by PCP

Reader Reviews
Got cancer like me? Fight and don't ever give up...no matter what. Read the "conclusion" first of this fine work. Then read the rest. When you do you'll save yourself. One of the best books on fighting cancer I've read and I've read many in my fight. The author did a through and splendid job. Every cancer patient should be given this book by their doctor, but don't count on it...this has everything your doctor doesn't want you to know.