Over the last few months The CMA website has covered a number of articles which have looked at recent research on cancer and various complementary medical and natural healthcare approaches.

The most recent (as at March 2013) 10 articles looked at:

Folic Acid Supplementation and Cancer?

Research, published in The Lancet, has looked at whether the concerns over supplementation with Folic Acid are valid.


WHO Study Admits Household Chemicals Cause Range of Health Issues, (Cancer, Birth Defects)

The World Health Organization (WHO) says a host of common, everyday household chemicals pose severe health problems including cancer, asthma, reduced fertility and even birth defects according to a recent study.


Doctors Identify 5 Key Practices They Do That Are ‘Questionable’

An article in the BMJ highlights an initiative developed by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, which has set up the Choosing Wisely initiative. Under this initiative doctors from 17 individual medical organisations have each produced a list of 5 practices that they believe are “questionable”.


Health of People in the UK; Worse Than In Other Countries?

The Lancet has looked at data from a 20 year period which shows that when it comes to improvements in their health – people in the UK are lagging behind progress made by people in similar countries


Low Vitamin D levels Linked to Risk of Breast Cancer

Research published in the journal Cancer Causes and Control suggests that finding low vitamin D levels in young women may actually predict a high risk for breast cancer.


Colon Cancer and Carbohydrate Consumption

Research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute has shown that a diet that is high in carbohydrates may increase the risks of death (and recurrence) in people who have colon cancer.


Mammograms: Controversy Continues

A study has looked at 30 years of US Government data before arguing that around 1 million of the 3 million US women who were told they had breast cancer after a routine mammogram inspection were ‘over-diagnosed’.


Mistletoe and Cancer Patients

A pilot trial using an extract of mistletoe, has shown that, when taken by gastric cancer patients who were receiving adjuvant oral chemotherapy, the remedy is not only safe but also improved their health and reduced the rate of diarrhea in gastric cancer patients receiving adjuvant oral chemotherapy.


Cancer: Exercise Reduces Tiredness

An updated review of the effects of exercise on tiredness amongst cancer sufferers, has again shown that aerobic exercise can help relieve the fatigue often associated with cancer and cancer treatment.


Vegetarian Diet Helps Prevent Cancer's Ability to Grow

Researchers have found that not only does a vegetarian diet help to fight cancer, but that it may also be able to block a cancer's ability to grow.

As always in the CMA e-Newsleter, we report on a diverse range of latest global natural health news - often scooping the national press.  So - if you want to stay ahead of the game - and make sure that you are totally up to date with the latest developments in the natural health field - please ensure that you sign up to receive this monthly e-Newsletter. 


This month we cover:
In a Fight? Homeopathy vs Conventional Medicine for Those Suffering From Musculoskeletal Disorders. Who Wins?

Healing Touch and Child Cancer

Naturopathy Effective in Treating Type 2 Diabetes Patients

Thai Massage Helps Stroke PatientsHigher Antioxidant Value in Organic Tomatoes

Omega-3 – at up to 5g a day - Supplementation Given “Thumbs Up” By the European Food safety Authority

Any Exercise Is Better Than None - Olympic Athletes and Nutrition

Hawthorn Lowers Cholesterol - Botanical Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease

How Cancer Cells “Live Forever”

How Flatworms Defy Ageing

Coffee Alleviates Some of the Effects of Parkinson’s

Oncologists at several of the most advanced cancer treatment centres in the US, including the Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago are using therapies including yoga, acupuncture and stress management.

A spokesman from the Integrative Medicine Program at The University of Texas explained:

"Integrative medicine is a philosophy based on treating patients by focusing on the whole person and using both conventional and complementary therapies in a multidisciplinary care fashion.....It is similar to complementary medicine, but one key difference is that there is an open communication between practitioners of the different traditions."

These centres appear to be following their patients lead as more patients with cancer are turning to integrative medicine or integrative oncology methods (between 30% and 80% of patients use some form of integrative or complementary medicine) and traditional oncology centres have been setting up integrative medicine centers as there has been a growing awareness of the value of integrative oncology therapies, among traditional oncologists.

Read more here