Breast Cancer: 50 Essential Things to Do
"The author and founder of Cancer Recovery International, a global affiliation of national charities, is also a lung cancer survivor who 27 years ago was told he had 30 days to live. Not only did Anderson survive but his organization went on to study cancer in depth, between 1986 and 2008 interviewing and surveying 16,000 cancer survivors. His holistic approach to cancer recovery is based on six essential strategies: medical treatment, nutrition, attitude, support, exercise, and spirituality. Anderson contends that while conventional treatment should be embraced, women can take other steps that are at least as important. His goal is to help breast cancer victims develop and implement an individual recovery plan, becoming active participants not just in treating illness but also in creating health. Readers may find some of Anderson's advice disturbing, i.e., his recommendation to forgo annual mammograms unless a lump is found and opt instead for yearly clinical exams and regular self-exams. Other observations are eye-opening and potentially lifesaving; He hails the preventive and curative effects of Vitamin D supplements (noting that its power has been largely ignored by the government and health-care industry) as well as the breast health benefits of low-dose aspirin.This is an important and hopeful vision of breast cancer that views treating the tumor as only one element in a comprehensive action plan to balance and heal body, mind, and spirit." -Publisher's Weekly(Oct. 2011)