One Third Of Prostate Cancer Patients Supplement Medical Treatment With Complementary Therapies
Many men undergoing radiation therapy for prostate carcinoma are also using complementary therapies not prescribed by their treating physicians. Typically, the treating physicians are unaware of such practices, which can interact in unpredictable and even dangerous ways.

These findings contrasted sharply with results of a related study of the treating physicians, which found that they believed that just 4 percent of their patients used complementary therapies.

Smokers Benefits From Vitamin C Supplementation
While vitamins can't compensate for all the harmful effects of smoking, a study finds that supplementation with vitamin C can replenish the body's stores of one nutrient that is specifically depleted by smoking.

Supplementation with vitamin C produced significant benefits for smokers. Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to benefit from vitamin C supplementation because they are more likely to be deficient in ascorbic acid. In addition to their poorer eating habits compared with nonsmokers, smokers have depleted levels of antioxidants in their bodies as a result of breathing in cigarette smoke.

Many Breast Cancer Patients Don't Tell Docs About Alternative Treatments
Women with breast cancer who use complementary treatments typically don't discuss these other therapies with their physicians. A new study sheds some light on the reasons why.

The three main reasons for lack of disclosure concerned patients' attitude towards physicians: the sense that physicians were disinterested, the anticipation of a negative reaction (often due to previous experiences when they recalled having felt shamed), and the belief that physicians had inadequate training in or a bias toward alternative medicine.

Acupuncture Facelifts Gain Popularity
Best known for relieving pain, acupuncture's uses in the West keep expanding. The ancient technique of acupuncture is now being used for cosmetic surgery. Needles unblock pathways through which the vital energy called Qi flows. Traditional Chinese Medicine treats a wide variety of conditions this way. But using the hair-thin needles to accentuate beauty represents a whole new concept in cosmetics.

Dr. Galland's Integrated Medicine
The rate of cancer among American children has been rising for decades according to a story in the New York Times, September 29, 1997. "Although the reasons remain unclear, many experts suspect the increase may be partly the result of growing exposure to chemicals in the environment." According to the National Cancer Institute the rise in childhood cancers has been nearly 1% per year, meaning double digit increases over the last few decades. What can we do to reduce our children's exposure to toxic chemicals? There are several types of pollutants may cause Sick Home Syndrome. How can you protect your home and your children? In "Living Safely in a Polluted World: Your Home Should be a Haven," Leo Galland, M.D. explains how your exposure--and your family's--can be readily controlled by a number of simple, inexpensive and potentially life-saving steps.

The Healer Within
When an individual purposefully seeks a state of deep relaxation a number of very important physiological mechanisms are triggered. Many disease states are aggravated by the over activity of the sympathetic nervous system. Inducing the relaxation response can resolve or balance the effects of over activity or stress in the body. In "Relaxation Practices" Dr. Roger Jahnke explains how the preliminary level of the self applied health enhancement methods include very simplified but highly effective techniques of progressive relaxation.

Mind Body Health Newsletter
Attitude cannot cure a chronic illness. But cultivating a positive outlook and learning self-management skills can make it much easier to live with. In "Rx: How to Live Well with Chronic Disease" David S. Sobel, M.D. recommends you learn the skills for managing; (1) Your illness and symptoms, (2) Your normal daily activities, and (3) Your Emotions.

Keeping Fit with Dr. Wayne Westcott
Many warm-weather exercisers discontinue their training programs when the temperature drops below 40Á F. This is unfortunate, because heat-producing physical activity is well-suited for cooler weather conditions. In this column "Keeping Fit: Cold Weather Walking and Running" Dr. Wayne Westcott provides very specific guidleslines and some unexpected tips that show when approached appropriately, most people can exercise safely and successfully when temperatures are in the 20s and 30s.

Ask Annie: Solutions for Less Toxic Living
A recent study reports that women in Newton, MA, an affluent Boston suburb with a 13 percent higher breast cnacer rate than the rest of the state, used lawn care 30 percent more than women in less affluent neighborhoods, and dry cleaning services 13 percent more often. In this installment of "Ask Annie" author Annie Berthold-Bond offers specific instructions on how to wet clean wool, rayon, and silk. She also gives recipes for emollient winter baths, a tip for spilt milk, and a remedy for yard ticks. Annie is the author of Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living.

"The Healing Power of Music" with Steven Halpern
In a career spanning more than 20 years, Steven Halpern has pursued a unique path as a musician, composer, and producer. He embraces a vision that sees music as far more than entertainment. For Halpern, music conveys a vibrational essence with important implications for health and healing. In the interview with Dr. Daniel Redwood Halpern elaborates his view of music as a vehicle for self-empowerment and spiritual well-being, one found in the traditions of many cultures but often ignored in contemporary societies. He discusses the phenomenon of entrainment, in which the human heart involuntarily synchronizes its beat to the rhythm supplied by external stimuli, and emphasizes the importance of having a "balanced music diet," one not overloaded with harsh, disruptive rhythms and sounds.

Healthy Recipes
"Celeriac Fries is a minor revelation to those who cannot eat French fries but also cannot do without them. Compared to French fries, this unique recipe from Danish chef Oscar Umahro Cadogan offers a substitute with a much lower glycemic index, plus contains less fat, and no transfatty acids.

Healthy Travel
Every season of the year, every hour of the day, brings a different look to the crimson-hued sandstone formations surrounding Sedona. Mystical Sedona April 6-10 Enjoy five sensational days of exploring the Sedona and Grand Canyon areas in a physical and spiritual way.

Children's Health Update
The rate of Ritalin use in the United States is at least five times higher than in the rest of the world, according to federal studies. In the article "An Alternative to Ritalin: Homeopathy as a Highly Effective Treatment for ADD" Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman, N.D., M.S.W. and Robert Ullman, N.D. review the wide variety of children's behaviors that are labeled ADD. They go on to outline in detail the numerous benefits of an alternative homeopathic treatment approach that is a very attractive choice for many parents.

Men's Health Update
"Chinese Medicine and Assisted Reproductive Technology for the Modern Couple" by Roger C. Hirsh, OMD, L.Ac. outlines a "whole body" health approach to addressing infertility that is especially appropriate for the over 40 couple, as it stimulates overall health to effect reproductive health and a reduction of biological age. Hirsh presents the practical aspects and the scientific research that support the advantages to using Traditional Chinese Medicine as an approach to heightening a couple's fertility.

Professional Referral Network
The Professional Referral Network contains searchable directories from 20 leading professional associations in complementary and integrative health care, with over 20,000 professionals. Looking for a healthcare professional specializing in colonics? The Colon Hydrotherapy section includes the International Association of Colon Hydrotherapy member database.

Medical Cybrarian Research Service
Facing a major health-related research project? The HealthWorld Online Medical Cybrarian has the experience and expertise to tackle any size challenge.

The Cybrarian offers you personalized research service, searching the Internet, books, MEDLINE and other databases, to find EXACTLY the information you require. The Cybrarian can custom design research for individual patients or healthcare professionals, as well as healthcare industry business people, including information on diseases, treatments, products, market research or statistics for alternative, complementary and conventional medicine. For reasonable fees, the Cybrarian carefully gathers and selects the information or points you to useful web sites and other sources, with the speed and searching techniques acquired from many years of professional research.

Participate in our Online Community--Join our Discussion Forums
Are you curious about how to get the best from "both worlds" - Conventional Medicine and Alternative Therapies? Take advantage of the Forum dealing with Integrated Health Care.

Join in the ongoing discussion in our "Health Freedom," "The Vaccination Question," "Genetically Modified Foods," "Issues in Integrated Health Care," "Mind-Body-Spirit Health," and "Qigong and Taiji" forums.

Association Network -- Hot Pick
Physicians' Association for Anthroposophical Medicine (PAAM) promotes anthroposophical medicine, which draws from all that is available in diagnostics and therapeutics in orthodox medicine, adding to this what we can understand about the human being's soul and spiritual dimensions. Individual temperament and biographical aspects are taken into account as natural medications such as tinctures and homeopathics are prescribed along with various therapies. Treatment for illnesses ranging from minor infections to depression to cancers can be fortified with this approach.

Visit Physicians' Association for Anthroposophical Medicine

Global Health Calendar -- Hot Picks

Nutraceuticals/ Functional Foods
February 20-24, 2000
College Station, TX USA
Contact: Texas A & M University - 409-845-2749

The Second World Conference of Nutrition and Vitamin Therapy and New Medicine Exposition
Focus on New Medicine
February 20-22, 2000
San Francisco, CA USA
Contact: Nutritional Medicine - 510-845-0700

Natural Health, Aromatherapy and Herb Trade Show
February 25-27, 2000
Scottsdale, AZ USA
Contact: The International Aromatherapy and Herb Association - 602-938-4439

Journeys of Discovery-Unique Travel presents Swim with the Humpback Whales in the Caribbean
An outer Discovery adventure--an inner journey for the soul, a Personal Transformational Journey
February 26-March 4, 2000
Silver Banks, Puerto Plata DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Contact: HealthyTravel.net - 888-888-0717

Treating Mental-Emotional Conditions with Chinese Medicine
A Seminar with Bob Flaws for Acupuncture & OM Professionals
February 26-27, 2000
Long Beach, CA USA
Contact: Blue Poppy Seminars - 800-448-8372

Inner Voyage Millennium Cruise
A 21st Century Journey For Body and Soul - cruising the Western Caribbean
March 5-12, 2000
Fort Lauderdale, FL USA
Contact: HealthyTravel.net - 888-888-0717

The Psychology of Health, Immunity and Disease International Conference
March 6-12, 2000
Hilton Head Island, SC USA
Contact: National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine - 800-743-2226

National Center for Homeopathy 2000 Annual Conference
April 7-11, 2000
San Francisco, CA USA
Contact: National Center for Homeopathy - 703-548-7790

Celebrating Angels, Spirits and Nature
An International Easter Week Conference
April 22-29, 2000
Findhorn, Morayshire, Scotland UNITED KINGDOM
Contact: Findhorn Foundation - 01309 691933

The 5th Annual Alterrnative Therapies Symposium and Exposition
Mauna Lani, HI USA
April 25-29, 2000
Contact: Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine - 800-899-1712

Journey to Machu Picchu, Apukuna, Andes & Amazon
The Light of the Seven Planets
April 26-29, 2000
Machu Picchu, Cusco PERU
Contact: HealthyTravel.net - 888-888-0717