Herbal Medicine, Healing and Cancer

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 480 pages
• Published by: McGraw-Hill
• Edition: 1st Edition September 11, 1999
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0879839686
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0879839680
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 1.4 inches
• Weighs: 1.8 pounds

From Library Journal
A certified nutritionist and master herbalist, Yance here touches on the very broad areas of herbs, natural healing, and cancer. While critical of the established medical community for its attitude toward natural healing, whose scientific basis he tries to explain with extensive references, he nevertheless combines conventional therapies with herbs, nutritional supplements, and lifestyle changes to achieve the best results. Yance covers many topics but not in enough depth to make this book useful for lay readers, except for the sample recipes and coverage of the natural ways to relieve the side effects of chemotherapy. The chapters on the chemical composition of herbs and supplements are more suitable for medical doctors, herbalists, and nutritionists. Recommended for specialized collections of herbal medicine.ALily Liu, Arkansas Children's Hosp. Lib., Little Rock
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description


More and more people who have been diagnosed with cancer or related illnesses embrace alternative medicines, and seek out holistic practitioners who use vitamins, herbs, nutrition, homeopathy, and acupuncture to treat the disease. This long-awaited book by Donald Yance--one of the nation's most respected herbalists--is a major contribution to the literature of natural healing and cancer.

Reader Reviews
A cooperative working relationship between "allopathic" physicians and "naturalists" is long overdue in my opinion, and my opinion ought to be worth something. I am a physician with 25 years experience in cancer medicine and I have board certifications in internal medicine, medical oncology, hematology, and radiation oncology. Mr. Yance's book is a step in the right direction, and I feel it is a worthwhile reference for any physician who is interested in the nutritional welfare of his patients. The book is far from perfect, however. For example, Mr. Yance overstates the risk of carcinogenesis from therapeutic radiation, presents site-specific side effects such as dry mouth as if they were general effects of radiation, underplays the value and effectiveness of radiation for common adult tumors such as breast cancer, and claims benefit for herbal or nutritional remedies for side effects of cancer treatment even when they have been shown to be ineffective in clinical trials. Administration of vitamin B12 and folate to prevent chemotherapy-induced neuropathy is the most egregious example. At the same time, glutamine is not mentioned for prevention of neuropathy though it is known to be useful, at least for prevention of nerve injury from vinca alkaloids. Another problem is that much of the nutritional information is too technically advanced for most lay readers. One would have to know more biochemistry than the majority of phyicians to wade through the terminology. Despite its shortcomings, I think Mr. Yance's book is a valuable resource and would recommend it to my medical colleagues. My advice to the general public is to go to the best source for information about cancer treatments. As a medical and radiation oncologist, I wouldn't try to inform my patients about nutritional therapies, and I sure wouldn't ask a nutritionist their opinion about radiation or chemotherapy. Discuss all the therapeutic issues with your main healthcare provider. If he or she won't discuss herbal, nutritional, and other alternative or complementary modalities, ask for other opinions.