272 diseases 272 The Complete Home Guide to Herbs, Natural Healing, and Nutrition
or dead worms and parasites.
Cancer and Other “Incurable” or
So-Called Terminal Chronic Diseases
Cancer requires a very comprehensive, individualized approach. The
whole person will need to be carefully considered on all levels, physically,
mentally, and emotionally. Many people should be involved with
treatment, not simply one practitioner or just the hospital, but rather a
team of practitioners and therapists and a network of friends and
caregivers. Certainly, do not self choose herbs; get qualifi ed help.
for the very sick
When there is no time to lose and conventional medicine has pronounced
someone terminally ill, a thirty-day natural healing and cleansing
program can be undertaken under the guidance of a qualifi ed practitioner,
hospital consultants, the patient’s own doctor, and a team of two or three
assistants or caregivers. Guidance on this routine will be very specifi c,
with many individual considerations.
Herbs to support the body in general will be vital, and those called
adaptogens (see chapter 7) will be specifi cally required. Siberian ginseng
root taken as a tincture (one teaspoon three or four times daily) is a very
good choice; Astragalus root is another. Adaptogens make sure that the
body can cope with any incoming stress, helping the body to “adapt” when
it is asked to do things, rather than “crash.” Optimal adrenal function is
vital, and those with low adrenal output due to low levels of
corticosteroids will be disadvantaged. Strong adrenal function will help
keep a person’s weight stable rather than allowing it to fall off, as it often
does with cancer. If you experience weight loss, drinking three cups a day
of fenugreek seed tea will be very helpful.
Herbs used for cancer are called neoplastics, which means that they have
a blocking or inhibiting effect on the new growth, or neoplasm. A simple
and famous neoplastic is garlic, while others include mistletoe berry,
pokeweed root, burdock root, and red clover fl ower.
Herbs that clean the bloodstream will also be vital for cancer and other
chronic diseases, as they support the body through its process of releasing
toxins shed from cancerous growths. A blood nourisher and general
stimulator, vital for all chronic diseases, is cayenne. It is vital to use very
hot cayenne. Herbs with liver-balancing or neoplastic abilities combined,
like burdock root, red clover fl ower, yellow dock root, cleavers leaf, and
dandelion root, should be used.
Other foods and herbs will be required to support and nourish the