Description:
Human disease is an elaborate dance between behavior, our environment, and chance. Medicine tries to tame human disease with science, but when our knowledge falls short, disease wins. This is too often the case with cancer. We spend billions of dollars each year trying to better understand it and develop tools to ease its effects.
Today, many allopathic medical practitioners are beginning to seek out a greater connection with holistic and integrative approaches. The authors of this book introduce one specific therapy and make a case for integrative health in general, including anthroposophically extended medicine, naturopathy, and other holistic approaches.
Mistletoe therapy has long been considered a viable treatment for cancer by the European medical community and is beginning to gain recognition in North America, as well. The mistletoe plant possesses many remarkable properties. As a therapy, it represents a rediscovery of ancient wisdom and shows us how the science of modern medicine might expand its reach and reconnect with a more human-centered medicine.
The book was structured following the syllabus for a three-day practitioner training hosted by the Physicians' Association for Anthroposophic Medicine (PAAM). The chapters highlight several of our key lectures in a condensed form. The book serves as an introductory summary of--not a replacement for--those intensive professional trainings.
This book is constructed as a journey and is meant to be read in its entirety, whether by a patient, a practitioner, a supporter of integrative oncology, or anyone who takes a deep interest in one's own health concerns. The text is accessible, and the reader does not need a science background to understand the majority of the content.
While this book should not be considered a treatment or diagnostic manual, it is intended to both prepare practitioners to begin mistletoe therapy training and to make this information available in an accessible form to anyone interested in learning about this approach to treating cancer.
Illustrated in color and b/w
Brief description: Mark Hancock, MD, MPH founded Humanizing Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, together with his wife Enid, in 2015. The clinic is strongly rooted in the couple's belief that everyone should have quality integrative healthcare options. For his entire professional career, Dr. Hancock has worked with Anthroposophic Medicine, which originally introduced mistletoe as a cancer care therapy over one hundred years ago. Dr Hancock graduated summa cum laude from Saint George's Medical School in 2008 and was elected Chief Resident during his training at University of New Mexico Hospital. He was introduced to the advanced use of mistletoe by Dr. Maurice Orange, greatly impacting his life course. Dr. Hancock's journey through life has been full and varied and has taken him through art, philosophy, science, and even some farm work, before ultimately landing in medicine. Read about his journey and medical philosophy at HumanizingMedicine.com.
Review Quotes: "In this pioneering book, doctors and patients will discover the incredible power of mistletoe therapy and its foundational place within integrative cancer care. As this book demonstrates, plant-based supplements that stimulate the immune system's own power--such as mistletoe--are a welcome addition to current cancer treatments and may eventually become first-line treatments (with fewer side effects)."---- Kelly A. Turner, PhD, NY Times bestselling author of Radical Hope