Everyone has heard the adage “You are what you eat.” And few would argue about the negative impact of a junk food diet on our overall health. More recently, however, research is emerging that suggests that diet can affect not just our physical well-being, but our mental health and behavior as well! For example, one … Continued
We recently had several inquiries from people asking if matcha tea should be avoided during chemotherapy and thought it a good question to address on our blog. For those of you not familiar with matcha tea, it’s a type of finely ground green tea powder. The leaves used for this tea are usually covered as … Continued
Drs. Keith and Penny Block attended the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) earlier this month, a large meeting that took place this year in San Diego, and which was attended by 18,500 researchers. The Association is an organization for researchers interested in all aspects of cancer research. At this year’s … Continued
As I have been advising patients for over thirty years now, most cancer patients don’t die from cancer, they die from the complications associated with the disease and its treatment. Knowing this empowers you to take the steps needed to prevent these complications from arising in the first place. Here I will focus on one … Continued
When is an antioxidant not an antioxidant? This curious question was explored in a scientific poster that Dr. Block presented at the 10th International Conference of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO), held October 20-22 of this year. The answer to the question was suggested in the title of the poster, “Antioxidants as pro-oxidants in … Continued
The Block Center will be giving four presentations at the upcoming Society for Integrative Oncology’s (SIO) 10th Annual Conference, October 20-22, in Vancouver, BC. The mission of the Society is to advance evidence-based, comprehensive, integrative healthcare to improve the lives of people affected by cancer. Dr. Block has been a member of the Society since … Continued
Can a patient take reishi together with spirulina and chlorella? Is there potentially harmful interaction between the three supplements? No, there is no evidence of a harmful interaction. According to Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database, none of these supplements is likely to interact with other herbal medicines. However, it is important to note that each of these … Continued
EVANSTON, IL – A 12-year study conducted by the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment has shown a doubling of life expectancy for a group of 90 metastatic breast cancer patients. The results were published in the July/August issue of The Breast Journal. The women, diagnosed before 1998, participated in a comprehensive clinical program that … Continued
What is chronomodulated chemotherapy and who should consider this approach to treatment? There are nine specific “clock-related” genes in our brainstems that control our time-dependent biological functions, including sleeping and eating patterns, heart rate, body temperature, and hormone production. Similarly, cancer cells also have time controls; they divide and rest at different times of any given … Continued
How do you track the progress of integrative cancer treatments at your center? What tests and measurements do you follow? The primary tests that we use the standard medical assessments including, but not limited to, tumor markers, CT scans, PET-CT Scans and monitoring of physical symptoms. These are absolutely necessary to make sure your treatment plan … Continued