Choices In Healing: Publication by Michael Lerner

Integrating The Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches to Cancer

© 1994 Michael Lerner

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. Order a copy of Choices in Healing from MIT Press.

This book is dedicated to Jenifer Altman, Brendan O’Regan, and Max Lerner. Jenifer Altman was a participant in the Commonweal Cancer Help Program and subsequently a Senior Research Associate at Commonweal. Brendan O’Regan was Vice President for Research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Max Lerner, my father, was an observer of American civilizations, and a public intellectual.

Each faced a life-threatening illness with courage. Each lived, as it happened, far beyond what others thought was the appointed time. Each was a true friend.

Contents

PART ONE

Paths of Hope and Ways of Healing

  • Chapter One
    On Never Giving Up Hope: Three Stories
  • Chapter Two
    Healing and Curing: The Starting Point for Informed Choice

PART TWO

Choice in Conventional Cancer Therapies

  • Chapter Three
    The Crucial Difference: International Variations in Conventional Cancer Therapies
  • Chapter Four
    The Debate Over Conventional Cancer Therapies
  • Chapter Five
    American Cultures of Conventional Cancer Therapy
  • Chapter Six
    Choosing Conventional Physicians, Hospitals, and Therapies

PART THREE

Choice in Unconventional Cancer Therapies

PART FOUR

Mainstream Nutritional Science and the Unconventional Nutritional Cancer Therapies

  • Chapter Eleven
    What Science Says about Nutrition and Cancer: Macronutrients
  • Chapter Twelve
    Can Vitamins and Minerals Help? The Scientific View: Micronutrients
  • Chapter Thirteen
    Unconventional Nutritional Approaches to Cancer–An Overview
  • Chapter Fourteen
    The Gerson Diet–A Radical Anticancer Therapy
  • Chapter Fifteen
    Macrobiotics–A Diet and a Way of Life
  • Chapter Sixteen
    Virginia C. Livingston–Integrating Diet, Nutritional Supplements, and Immunotherapy
  • Chapter Seventeen
    Keith Block–Integrating Diet, Fitness, and Psychological Support into an Oncology Practice

PART FIVE

Physical, Traditional, and Pharmacological Therapies

  • Chapter Eighteen
    Physical and Energetic Approaches– Exercise, Massage, Therapeutic Touch, and Chiropractic
  • Chapter Nineteen
    Traditional Chinese Medicine–A Favored Adjunctive Therapy for American Cancer Patients
  • Chapter Twenty
    Unconventional Pharmacological Therapies– An Overview
  • Chapter Twenty-one
    Stanislaw Burzynski–Antineoplastons on the Edge of Medical Credibility
  • Chapter Twenty-two
    Joseph Gold–Does Hydrazine Sulfate Prevent Weight Loss and Extend Life with Cancer?
  • Chapter Twenty-three
    Emanuel Revici–Will His Unique Therapy Ever Be Scientifically Assessed?

PART SIX

Living with Cancer