The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

AN American specialist wants Bahamians to know that cancer is not a death sentence, and that there are many types of treatment options available, including alternative methods, that can help beat the disease.

Dr Laurence Altshuler, a board-certified internist at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), visited Nassau last week in an effort to help promote cancer treatment awareness and provide preventative tips.

“We have learned that in the Bahamas there seems to be an increased incidence of cancers, especially breast cancers. We want to be able to bring to Bahamians the top technology available to them and the best treatment options, as well as that holistic approach so that they can get the best of both worlds, and that is why we are here, to provide information to Bahamians. People think having cancer is a death sentence and we are here to say that its not true,” he told Tribune Health.

“We are now working with the Cancer Society here and now have an organisation here called the Cancer Fighters, so we want to be very involved with Bahamians.

At all CTCA locations, whether in Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Tulsa or Atlanta, Dr Altshuler said they have seen lots of patients, Bahamians included, who have been told they have two to six months left to live. But CTCA doctors, he said, do not put termination dates on patients because they have helped a lot of those people survive much longer.

Dr Altshuler is currently the Director of Oncology Intake as well as Director of Sleep Medicine and Director of Oncofertility services at the Tulsa hospital in Florida. He conducts research in cold lasers, acupuncture, sleep medicine and pain management.

During the time he decided to become certified in acupuncture, hypnosis and interactive imagery, Dr Altshuler said he learned much about Chinese herbology as well, which he said is great for cancer patients.

Speaking on cold laser therapy, he said they have found that this really helps a lot of people, especially with quality of life issues, complications and side effects from cancer like neuropathy.

“A lot of people who get certain types of chemo or radiation to their head and neck will get what is called mucositis which are sores in their mouth. They can’t eat, a lot of them can’t talk and this laser can resolve that with just a few treatments and these people won’t have to suffer,” said Dr Altshuler.

Although he is a conventional doctor, he said there are limits to what conventional medicine can do.

Adamant on sharing with his patients the importance of quality of life, Dr Altshuler said number one on CTCA’s agenda is to fight the cancer, but they also want patients to go live life in the way they did before cancer.

“Number two is to make sure their quality life is good, which is where the alternative methods come in, because with that holistic approach they can go back to a normal life because they look and feel good. Studies are now showing that if your quality of life is improved it may impact survival,” said Dr Altshuler.

While alternative medicine is much easier and natural to endure, Dr Altshuler said it is important to note that there is nothing he has discovered in alternative medicine on its own that is going to cure cancer. He said alternative methods are good in complementing conventional medicine and helping patients treat their side affects and complications.

“Interestingly enough, I have seen patients who have used alternative medicine and it seemed to have slowed down the cancer for a while, but in all those patients the cancer has come back more aggressive, so I encourage my patients to get the conventional treatments that have been proven effective and use the alternative methods to enhance those for quality of life issues,” said Dr Altshuler.