Useful Books on Cancer
One of the best things you can do if you have cancer is to find good quality information on the subject. There are many useful books. Some are written by people who have survived cancer and they give their fascinating stories. Others are written by doctors who have found original and successful ways of treating cancer. Many of the ideas in these books are not common knowledge.
Books by those who have had cancer
Anti-cancer: a new way of life by Dr David Servan-Schreiber
This is a brilliant book which intertwines the most up to date scientific information with the author’s own story of his battle with a brain cancer diagnosed 14 years before. There is a superb section on the influence of diet and the book includes an excellent short leaflet on foods for cancer at the back. The book also contains good information on the influence of the mind, the problem of toxic materials, the effects of exercise and an insider’s insight into understanding the benefits and limitations of current medical treatments.
Your Life in Your Hands by Jane Plant
Professor Jane Plant describes her recovery from terminal breast cancer (she was given 3 months to live) and gives her fascinating story of how she searched for a cure and came to realize that dairy products were the key factor, which may be one of the more important discoveries in medicine. This book has quite a lot of science in it. It includes other dietary recommendations and other stories of people who turned cancer around. This is also a good book if you have ovarian or prostate cancer and may apply to other cancers also. (She has also written a book on prostate cancer along the same lines: Prostate Cancer: Understand, Prevent & Overcome Prostate Cancer).
9 Steps for Reversing and Preventing Cancer by Shivani Goodman
This is a quite different approach to treating cancer by the author who developed breast cancer, first in the left breast. She had conventional treatment for this but the cancer recurred in the right breast the following year and spread to her lymph glands. After the third recurrence she decided to use her own psychological and spiritual healing methods, partly derived from her work as a psychotherapist. She gave herself 3 months to test her methods. During this time the cancer halved in size and later disappeared. She continued to live for 9 years in good health. She also describes how her method helped others including a skeptical doctor who dissolved a colon cancer in one week. Her book gives a daily healing routine and many other techniques and she also has produced CDs of her methods for people to use.
The Choice by Bernadette Bohan (Harper Collins)
Bernadette Bohan suffered from lymphatic cancer and later developed breast cancer. Two thirds of the book is an inspiring story of her experiences. She then decided to learn all she could about treating cancer, eventually advising others on simple methods that make a big difference with an emphasis on high quality nutrition. The last three chapters describe her approach to cancer. Her follow-up book “The Choice – the Programme” looks at her methods in more detail (half the book is about her methods and the other half is recipes). Great books to get you started.
5.4% by Juliette Guidara
This is a very personal story of Frank Guidara told by his wife. He developed pancreatic cancer one year after they got married and the title refers to the poor 5 year survival rate in this disease. The book tells how they tackled this aggressive cancer that typically responds poorly to conventional treatment (he had surgery and chemotherapy). By a combination of a positive attitude (he was going to be one of the 5.4%), a vegan and largely raw food diet (they went to the Hippocrates Institute for 3 weeks), a Chinese therapy called Tong Ren and getting their friends and relatives to pray for him, he recovered fully and remained well 10 years later.
Living Proof by Michae Gearin-Tosh
The author was diagnosed with myeloma, a cancer with a very poor prognosis. He tells about his road to recovery and thoughtfully examines all possible treatments. A fascinating and enjoyable book. He used a version of the Gerson (juice) diet and breathing exercises.
Conscious Medicine by Gill Edwards
Gill Edwards, a metaphysical author, developed breast cancer. She investigated using conventional treatment but eventually decided against it. She went on her own healing journey. The book contains many stories of people who have recovered from cancer, some cutting edge information and a useful list of books and resources. The emphasis is on the psychological and spiritual aspect of disease. It does not deal with nutrition or toxicity.
Other Useful Books
Everything You Need to Know to Help You beat Cancer by Chris Woollams
This is one of the best books on cancer. Chris Woollams lost his daughter to brain cancer. He learned everything he could about cancer. It was steep learning curve. This book is packed with useful information. And information can make a real difference to how successful the treatment will be. The research on nutrients and herbs is especially good. The section on chemotherapy and radiotherapy and what you can do to minimize side effects is also excellent. There are good sections on specific cancers and their treatments. There is rarely a need to rush into treatment for cancer as most cancers take 5 years to develop. Woollams recommends researching it first. Look up about the cancer you have on his website, CANCERactive. He recommends also looking on the MacMillan Cancer website and the top American sites: NCI, Harvard, MD Anderson, Sloan Kettering and Mayo Clinic He also has a magazine ICON (Integrative Cancer and Oncology News). The book is a very good starting point to get top quality information.
Radical Remissions: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds by Kelly Turner
This is another excellent book on people who survived cancer against the odds and what they did. It looks at case histories of cancer survivors submitted to her website. She identified 75 healing factors in all but nine factors kept coming up most frequently. Two were physical: diet and supplements. The other seven factors were psychological or spiritual. This is a terrific book for people with cancer or any other serious disease and will give lots of positive ideas for healing.
The Cancer: The Complete Recovery Guide by Jonathon Chamberlain
This is a comprehensive review of the many alternative therapies that have proven useful with some inspiring histories of people who got better against the odds and what they did. There is also a useful section on the pros and cons of conventional treatment. This is an excellent book packed with information though there is a lot to take in. He has also written a smaller book the Cancer Recovery Guide: 15 Alternative and Complementary Strategies for Restoring Health.
How Your Mind can Heal Your Body by David Hamilton
This is a book about visualization which is a technique which has been used by many cancer sufferers with success. The book gives up to date scientific evidence on studies supporting its use. There is a chapter on cancer with inspiring stories and information on specific visualizations used by cancer sufferers. The book is easy to use with an appendix which gives a range of different visualizations for cancer and also ones for other diseases.
Getting Well Again by Carl Simonton & Stephanie Matthews-Simonton
This is a classic book discussing the work of the Fort Worth Centre where patients diagnosed as having incurable cancer are treated, mainly using a mind-body approach. They achieved remarkable results: treating 159 patients who were not expected to live for a year – 19% got better, 22% had regression of their cancers and those that succumbed had an average of twice the predicted survival time. This is often thought to be a book about visualization but it is far more than this. This is a fantastic book which is full of useful insights. My one criticism is that they have largely ignored diet which we now know can be critically important in cancer.
Love, Medicine and Miracles & Peace, Love and Healing By Bernie Siegel
Bernie Siegel is an American surgeon who formed a group for exceptional patients and was one of the first doctors to investigate patients who recovered from terminal cancers against the odds. These best-selling books contain many inspiring stories and ideas to augment recovery.
Foods to fight Cancer by Richard Beliveau and Denis Gingras
This book by the world’s leading expert, Professor Beliveau, on the effect of common foods on cancer is easy to read. He gives evidence from his research that many common foods have as powerful effect on cancer as drugs. Everyone with cancer would benefit from reading this excellent little book.
Wellness Against the Odds by Sherry Rogers
Dr Sherry Rogers describes how she treats patients with cancer using nutrition, supplements and the macrobiotic diet. Full of useful information.
