CAM CONFERENCE REPORT “It is too bad….if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that surrounds it.” - Toni Morrison, author. Intrepid cancer survivor turned activist Ann Fonfa brought this holistic philosophy to life on a warm January weekend in West Palm Beach, as she invited advocates, scientists, clinicians, and entrepreneurs alike to the first annual Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) Conference for cancer advocates. The fun gathering provided a veritable buffet of symposia on varied exciting topics from the power of food to harm or heal, mind-body medicine, developing cancer biomarkers, traditional Chinese medicine, the pernicious influence of Big Pharma on research, taking control of your treatment to be an active patient, environmental toxins and cancer, acupuncture to stimulate immunity, antioxidant therapy, and new groundbreaking treatments on the frontlines of contemporary medicine. All attendees were particularly impressed with the lunch buffet spreads, which unlike most other cancer conferences, offered advocates nutritious whole foods and drinks that work against cancer instead of promoting it. The overwhelming consensus was one of symbiosis between conventional and complementary therapies, which was defined as an “integrative” approach. There was wide agreement that one must look at the body as a unified ecosystem in which all systems are connected, and in fact “an injury to one is an injury to all”. What you put in your body was recognized as one of the key factors in disease. An ancient Chinese proverb said it best: “Whatsoever is the father of disease, poor diet is the mother.” It was noted that the relatively new “Western diet”, high in fats and animal proteins which absorb environmental toxins, as well as white flour and sugar which feed tumors, has coincided with an explosion of cancer around the world (typically beginning a short period of time after the diet is introduced), as well as rapidly growing and metastatic tumors when cancer develops. By contrast, the historical Asian diet, rich in polyphenol-filled green tea, phytonutrients and flavinoids from fruits and vegetables, fiber from whole grains, omega-3’s from fish and nuts, and mushrooms which boost immunity, is associated with a low rate of cancer and slow tumor growth when cancer is present. It is no wonder that the authoritative National Cancer Institute has concluded that 70% of breast cancers are avoidable by diet alone, and many more by reduction of stress, also a key factor in cancer development. The power, then, is in our hands. Particularly impressive was the keen focus on hard science and research data to support the various therapies’ claims of effectiveness. One of the key problems facing the growing field is the relative scarcity of research studies, a result of inadequate funding for research into CAM. A push in the public and legislative arenas for more clinical trials will prove essential in moving such promising, accessible therapies forward and demonstrating their safety and effectiveness. It is time to reach across our artificial divides and come together to move a broad-based and bold research agenda forward, one which will identify the mechanisms of action of this complex disease and embark without pre-judgment on a mission to develop and improve any and all possible effective treatments. Simplicity and self-empowerment must be the watchwords of the future, so that instead of viewing cancer as a shadowy enemy to attack, potentially killing our body in the process, we look at it as a continual process of healing an unbalanced system, allowing us to see ourselves in a new and different manner, connected to the natural world as we were meant to be. Melanie Shouse Komen St. Louis Research Advocate Committee Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.