Saturday, 2nd October 2010 sees the taking place of the 5th Mesothelioma UK Patient & Carer Day. In the past it has been in Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle and this year is being held in London at the Novotel Hotel, St Pancras.
The goal of this unique event is to provide those suffering with mesothelioma , their carers and families a chance to share their experiences of dealing with the condition. There will be opportunities to raise issues, pose questions and listen to expert speakers giving latest information and developments.
One particularly interesting speaker at this year’s event is Dr Maurice Orange’s talk about mistletoe therapy as a treatment for cancers including mesothelioma. Dr Orange’s research has found that for the last 80 years, mistletoe extracts have been a successful complementary therapy used in the treatment of several types of cancer.
Extract of Mistletoe has a different affect on different people, like with many treatments, although it has been found to encourage the immune system, meaning the natural defences in the body are made stronger, so the patient is less likely to contract infections or illnesses and if they do they can fight them more effectively.
Mistletoe can also induce apoptosis in cancer cells, which is when cells self destruct which can help stop tumour growth, or in some situations even reverse it. The DNA in healthy cells can also be protected by mistletoe, which means when a patient is undergoing chemo therapy, the damage to healthy cells can be reduced, making the whole process less traumatic on the body.
Mistletoe will often cause an inflammatory reaction and fever, which counteracts the coldness many cancer patients experience and means the immune system can remain active and the metabolism to function will function as well as it can.
Aside from these affects, it has also been shown that mistletoe has a positive effect on a cancer patient’s quality of life. Patients have reported feeling stronger, more able to resist infections, have gained weight and find their appetite returning after long periods of not being hungry.
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