Integrated Cancer Care
Goals of Adjunctive Naturopathic Support for Cancer
The goal of naturopathic medicine is to create a healthy environment both inside and outside the body. This is especially significant for people with cancer.
Naturopathic medicine takes a holistic, or whole- person, approach to cancer care. It makes use of time-tested, scientifically grounded, natural methods to strengthen the body’s ability to heal itself.
Cancer support includes:
- Support for your normal metabolism during treatment
- Decreasing of side effects of cancer treatment
- Support for the body’s immune system
- Strategies for long term cancer prevention and health maintenance
- Improvement of energy, well-being and overall quality of life
Dr. Gupta focuses a portion of her practice on the adjunctive support of cancer from a naturopathic perspective.
Rather than cutting out the medical profession, Dr. Gupta’s approach is to use naturopathic therapies to enhance the effectiveness of medical approaches and reduce the intensity of harmful side effects.
According to the scientific literature, certain naturopathic supplements have been safely used along with chemotherapy to improve patients outcomes.
Naturopathic support may be used to help manage these side effects: digestive issues, fatigue, insomnia, mucositis and mouth sores, nausea and vomiting, pain, peripheral neuropathy, radiation burns, weight loss.
Although each patient has unique needs, a treatment program may include:
- Diagnostic testing
- Individualized dietary recommendations
- Specific supplements and/or medications
- Intravenous therapy: high dose vitamin C therapy
- Acupuncture
- Homeopathy
- Mistletoe extract injections