Acupuncture and cancer therapy.

From a holistic viewpoint one evaluates the Processes that control a cancerous tumour to be totally normal, even healthy. The normal thing is for a cell to grow and form itself. For many animals and plants this process continues throughout life. It is only in the case of highly developed animals that growth stops at a certain age. It is likewise in these species that cancer becomes a "normal" illness. If growth processes continue throughout life, cancer (uncontrolled processes) occurs to a much smaller degree. The controlling Processes begin to play a more active role when growth is about to stop. They impede physical development. These controlling Processes are, to an increasing degree, present the more developed the individual is and they reach their maximum in mammals. If these controlling Processes fail in their function, growth processes regain dominance and cancerous tumours can arise. Many reasons explain the failure of the controlling Processes. Day after day, the Processes that control all cellular and bodily functions are stressed constantly. In addition to the External Stressors and stimuli that adversely influence living organisms, the stressors include shock, strain on the psyche, bombardment with unwanted sounds, visual impressions, additives, electromagnetic influences (high voltage cables, geopathic stress, etc. These stressors can lead to strain on, or loss of dominance of, the Processes, and especially immune function. The aim of all cancer therapy must be to help the patient to regain this dominance and restore control of the Processes, especially of the immune system. That system is critical for good health. Time after time many methods, from meditation to more or less vegetation diets, have been developed to re establish control.

We must not underestimate the importance of the attempts of conventional medicine to find methods in which to hamper or kill cancer cells, even if these methods usually attack the symptoms more than the cause.

In holistic medicine it is most important to stimulate the body's controlling Processes. The idea is to "bring control" to the growth processes; otherwise they become uncontrolled, which is the basic problem with cancerous cells. If we stimulate the wrong Processes, we may aggravate the disorder by stimulating tumour growth. In my opinion, working via the Ko Cycle (Controlling) Cycle is the best way to stimulate the controlling Processes of the body (See also my book).

Cancer treatment in practice.

First, we must make a Channel Diagnosis, either via Pulse Diagnosis, or by a pure observation of where the tumour has arisen. This is one case where the location of the lesion is very important to indicate the Channel that has lost its control. Let us take mammary cancer as an example. It manifests on ST Channel. We must particularly avoid stimulating ST Channel, but we should stimulate LV, the Ko Controlling Channel of ST. For this, we could use the Ting (Wood) Point (LV01), or Shu-Earth Point (LV03). We should stimulate only the Ko (Controlling) Father Channel, not the Ko (Controlling) Point of ST itself. During the period of treatment, we should stimulate no other Channel or Process. However, we may combine other therapies that stimulate LV.

I have tried this method throughout several years and several colleagues both in the USA and Australia have also, following my instructions, tried it. The results have been very encouraging. Between 80-90% of confirmed cancer cases have improved noticeably. The improvements included increased joy in living, better sleep, increased appetite and a glossier coat. 40-50% have been totally cured of the illness. Tumour(s) have, in such cases, vanished within a few weeks. Two examples:

·        The first patient on which I tried this method was a Dachshund. It had some mammary tumours (ST, Earth) and probably had lung metastases. I treated LV03 (Earth Point of the Wood, Ko Controller of ST and SP). Within a few weeks the tumours were almost gone. Try and guess who was most dumbfounded, the dog, the owner or I!

·        In liver tumours, we must stimulate only LU Channel (Metal Controls Wood). This activates the body's adaptive / homeostatic / immune control system, so that the body itself can bring the cancerous tumours under control. If we succeed in this, the active tumour tissue shrivels within a few days and disappears within a few months. If there is considerable fibrosis of the area, the fibrous tissue remains permanently, as in scars elsewhere.

Sour (acidic, vinegar-like) food boosts our attempted treatment of all cancers, regardless of which Channel we wish to stimulate. It seems that a more acidic diet boosts the Ko (controlling) Process in general (acid = Yang = control). Foods such as sour milk and sauerkraut*, often are included in the diet of cancer patients. In this regard, it is interesting to discuss a method developed by Dr. Malchaire from Liege. He used a system of amino acids to control the Channels:

Summary of the amino acids to strengthen the control of the various Channels

*) Sauerkraut is cabbage fermented by lactic acid bacteria. This is different from the Norwegian version, made by pickling cabbage in vinegar.

**) responsible for aggressiveness in Pit Bull terriers.

The amino acids that are listed under the different Channels have a directly controlling effect. When it is indicated in this fashion that isoleucine, threonine and methionine control LV, they are used as a dietary contribution in the case of a liver tumour. Circa 1 g/day is sufficient; it can be bought at any pharmacy.

We can use homeopathic medicine in addition to stimulating an individual Channel with needles. For each Channel, there is a main homeopathic preparation that can be given simultaneously during stimulation of the specific Channel.

Table of the homeopathic remedies used in organ- or Channel- related tumours or cancer<div align="center">

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It is difficult and controversial to write about cancer, a disease that causes so much pain, anxiety and that taboo concepts. However, it would be negligent not to touch on this subject when I see how a cancerous tumour, malignant or benign, can totally disappear within weeks after use of the correct treatment. Also, even in cases in which holistic methods fail to halt or cure the physical cancer, they helps many patients to attain a better psychological and spiritual status and to have a better quality of life in their remaining months or years.

Acupuncture and the immune system.

Conventional medicine is very aware of the importance of the immune system. Some medical scholars claim that most disease originates more or less in an imbalanced immune system and tens of millions of dollars are now being spent on research into new forms of immunotherapy in conventional medicine. From this we see that a well functioning immune system is of the utmost importance for health and wellbeing and that it is of great relevance for most illnesses. It is especially true today that the immune system is vulnerable to great strain both in animals, humans and plants.

The relationship between AP and the immune system is very interesting and important. Many studies show that AP activates the immune system. It influences the nonspecific cellular (cell mediated immunity) and the humoral immunity*. The latter is blood related, i.e. it depends on various substances within the blood. Stimulation of certain points activate the white blood cells, making them form themselves quicker and making them more active in their process of killing microbes and viruses. The microcirculation within tissue is also influenced so that the white blood cells and antibodies in the blood can easier reach the bacteria and viruses that they are supposed to render harmless. It is especially the immune system that is weakened after receiving radioactive radiation. However, many experiments show that AP quickly normalises the immune systems functions in such cases. This is in regards to the amount of red blood cells as well as white blood cells. Experiments have been made to measure the speed in which the white blood cells travel towards bacteria and viruses. Half an hour after AP treatment the white blood cells travel twice as fast towards bacteria than before AP treatment. It is accepted widely now that AP can stimulate the immune system.

The immune system is very important for all forms of allergies. Allergies are dependent on that the immune system over reacts to the protein that enters the body, be it pollen, food or other things. If one can stabilise and normalise the immune system by AP, these allergic reactions become superficial and eventually disappear because the body no longer needs these reactions.

That also applies in chronic infections. These are normally a sign of immunosuppression and that it is not active enough to get rid of infections. After stimulation of the immune system it is prepared to fight the infection again. From this way of thinking one may also explain the initial aggravation one often observes in cases of immune stimulating therapy. We are exposed to infections or allergies all the time but when the immune system is strengthened it resumes the fight against chronic infections with rejuvenated strength. Then they flare up as acute infections, with an increase in pus production and inflammatory reactions before they all recede and heal. This concept applies to most cases, eczema, throat disorders, ear disorders and many illnesses in which the immune system plays a large or small role. When the immune system is stimulated, all chronic illnesses related to the immune system flare up initially.

Animals usually regain their desire to eat, become more lively and are easier to satisfy, their coat becomes more polished and they gain weight after receiving immune stimulation therapy. The immune system has a strong relation to LV and SP; by stimulation of these organs we increase the desire to eat and to live. We also observe that the immune stimulating points are on LV and SP Channels as well as on ST and LI Channels. These Channels relate to a large degree with digestion and to metabolism. All types of tumours and cancerous diseases are closely related to the immune system. When the body allows a growth or cancer to develop it is usually due to the fact that the immune system is not strong enough to exterminate it. Therefore, it is important for the prevention of cancer that one has an immune system that is intact. Therefore, AP stimulation of the immune system has a preventative effect against this dreaded disease.

Interim Clinical Results on Acupuncture in Cancer-Treatment: Notes from my Casebook

Are Simeon Thoresen DVM

Leikvollgata 31, 3213 Sandefjord, Norway.

“Man has such a predilection for systems and abstract deductions that he is
ready to distort the truth. Intentionally, he is ready to deny the evidence
of his sense in order to justify his logic”.
Fjodor Dostojevskij

Introduction

In 1984 I first tried out a new method in treating cancer, with very promising results in a Dachshund. The dog had mammary cancer (multiple tumours along the nipple line) and had begun to develop dyspnoea - it probably had several lung metastases. I treated LV03 (see rationale below) and in a few weeks the tumours had disappeared almost completely. The dog died several years later from a kidney deficiency. Since then, I have treated about 500-600 patients with all kinds of cancer. Due to the possibility to make an exact Channel Diagnosis as required according to the method described in this article the results were very good in mammary cancer. For the same reason, the results also were very good in melanosarcoma. Results in lymphosarcoma and brain cancer were good, but not as good as in mammary cancer and melanosarcoma. However, my results in liver cancer were not good; the healing rate was zero in the few liver cancers that I have treated.

At a seminar in December, 2002, I was approached by Sergio Manzetti, research asssistant from the Prostate Cancer group, at the Institute of cellular and molecular biology - the University of Oslo, who showed interest in my results. Through his review of current literature, he organized a meeting with Dr. Med. Ottestad, Chief Medical Officer of the mammary cancer department at the Radium Hospital of Norway. Unfortunately, in spite of the very good overall results, because of time constraints, the details in my case-notes were not of a sufficient at that time. Therefore, Dr. Ottestad urged me to document an unbroken sequence of cases during a certain time-span, and then report the results back to him.

This I now have done; my claims of clinical success were taken from my notes only, and the statistics were compiled in a simple manner. Please note that the results of the series documented here were better than those of my previous cases. I told Dr. Ottestad that the overall success rate over the years was circa 70% but that the results in the series reported here were even better; 80% had total disappearance or significant regression of the cancer, and the remaining 20% of cancers showed no further progression.

Current conventional treatment of cancer relies mainly on radical surgery, cytotoxic chemotherapy, radiation treatment and attempts to boost immune function by chemical immunostimulation, administering biotechnologically produced specific antibodies, or purified interferon, etc. Research on gene-based therapy is in the early stages. Many of these treatments induce severe adverse effects in the patient, and some of these effects can compromise normal organic function, and lead directly to the death of the patient. For example, some patients given cytotoxic chemotherapy develop myocardial hepatic or kidney lesions that can seriously compromise their lives.

Over the past 9 years, I have developed an acupuncture protocol to treat cancer-patients, animal and human. Properly used by people trained in the basic principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), this protocol has few if any adverse effects. It is based on the following principles:

(a)    The normal biological activity of bodily cells is to grow and multiply in an orderly, controlled way. For many animals and plants this process continues throughout life. It is only in the case of highly developed animals that growth and cell division stop at a certain age. It is likewise in these species that cancer becomes a "normal" illness.

(b)    Holistic clinicians evaluate the Controlling Processes (CPs) - those that control, or limit, the growth and lifespan of cancerous cells - to be totally normal and essential for health. If growth processes continue throughout life in a controlled way, cancer (uncontrolled processes) occurs to a much smaller degree. The CPs begin to play a more active role when growth is about to stop. They impede further physical development. The higher up the evolutionary tree a species is, the more important normal functioning of these CPs becomes; their importance is maximal in mammals. If the function of the CPs fails, growth processes regain dominance; the cells survive past their normal time to die and cancerous tumours arise.

(c)    Many reasons explain functional failure of the CPs. Constant wear-and-tear, and attempts to adapt to day-to-day changes in external and internal environment, stress the CPs of all cellular and bodily functions constantly. In addition to the (External) Stressors and stimuli that adversely influence living organisms, the stressors include shock, strain on the psyche, bombardment with unwanted sounds, visual impressions, additives and electromagnetic influences (high voltage cables, geopathic stress, etc). These stressors can lead to strain on, or loss of dominance of, the CPs, and especially normal functioning of the immune system.

(d)    The aim of effective cancer therapy and prevention must be to help the patient to maintain the dominance of, or restore the lost function of, the CPs, especially of the immune system. By preventing or limiting immunomediated diseases, including autoimmune diseases and cancer, the immune system is critical for good health. Many methods, from meditation to more or less vegetarian diets, have been developed to re-establish the essential functions of the CPs. But in my experience the most effective of all is to use the Ko Cycle, the body’s own Processes to restore control.

Thus, the primary aim, the most important function, of holistic medicine is to stimulate the body's CPs. The idea is to "bring control" to cellular growth processes; otherwise they become uncontrolled, which is the basic problem with cancerous cells. If we stimulate the wrong Processes, in this case the Growth Process, we may aggravate the disorder by stimulating tumour growth. In my experience, working via the Ko Cycle (Controlling) Cycle is the best way to stimulate the body’s CPs.

Written before 200 BC, the Yellow Emperor’s Internal Medicine Classic (Huangdi Neijing), was and still is the basic text for practitioners of TCM. It described the fundamental theories of Change, Yin-Yang, Five Elements, Qi-Xue (Energy and Blood), Jing-Luo-Mai (Channel, Collateral and Extraordinary Vessel) relationships, Channel-Organ relationships, External and Internal Pathogenic Factors, the interaction of the body-mind-spirit, etc.

Huangdi Neijing teaches that each of the 12 Channels supports another Channel (nourishes its Son Channel) and controls a different Channel (Governs its Grandson Channel). Likewise, each Channel is nourished by its Mother Channel and controlled by its Grandfather Channel. Thus, each Channel has Generative (Sheng) and Control (Ko) functions on its related elements, as follows:

*             Where >>=Generates, Nourishes, or Engenders

**           Where X=Controls (brings control to), Governs or Prevents Unruliness

My protocol in cancer therapy uses the Ko Cycle only. Furthermore, I use only the Yin Channel that Brings Control to the affected organ, whether the cancerous organ (or its related parts) is Yin or Yang. In the Ko Cycle, the Yin-Yang Organ Pairs related to the Elements are:

Thus, for example, I use:

LV Channel   to control cancer of the Spleen (or Stomach, its Yang partner), or of tissues along the course of their Channels, for example, cancer of the lower medial tibia (where SP Channel passes) or mammary cancer (ST Channel passes through the nipple);

SP Channel    to control cancer of the Kidney (or Bladder, its Yang partner), or of the adrenal gland, ovary, oviduct, uterus, cervix, vagina, testicle, spermatic ducts, seminal vesicle, prostate, penis (all directly related to KI), or cancer of the tissues along the course of their Channels, for example, cancer of the sacrum of the mammary gland (ST Channel passes through the nipple)

I adhere to the classical Ko (Controlling) Relationships in most cases but I change my protocol if clinical improvement does not occur within two weeks.

Cancer treatment in practice

First, one must make an exact Channel Diagnosis by a simple observation of where the tumour has arisen. Let us take mammary cancer as an example. It manifests on ST Channel. We must then stimulate LV, the Ko Controlling Channel of ST. For this, we may use:

• Either one of the Command Points of the LV Channel
• A liver-supporting diet
• Liver-supporting herbs
• Or a mixture of the factors mentioned

It is most important to stimulate only the Ko (Controlling) Grandfather Channel, not the Ko (Controlling) Point of ST itself. During the period of treatment, we should stimulate no other Channel or Process. However, we may combine other therapies that stimulate LV.

To bring most cancers under control usually takes 1-3 acupuncture sessions, at inter-session intervals of circa 4 weeks, range but treatment of very severe cancers may continue for 1-2 years.

With this protocol I use only acupuncture to treat most types of cancer. Mammary cancer is an exception; in that case I usually administer some helping herbs or diets. This is because the controlling action of the liver is critical to control mammary cancer, and if the diet is very wrong, the liver will not function properly. However, if my patients are receiving medication(s) prescribed by their primary medical doctors or oncologists, I ask them to continue with that.

Recent notes from my casebook

The 15 cases described below were from an unbroken sequential series, selected from my casebook by date of presentation between April 22^nd 2003 and August 17^th 2003; they were not “cherry-picked” to show the best outcomes. Also patients treated before April 22^nd 2002 that came in for follow-up from treatment or further examination were included. This report includes ALL cancer-cases seen or treated within that time window.

Table 1 summarises my treatment protocols and their interim outcomes in 15 patients with confirmed cancer.

Table 1: Summary of my treatment protocols and their interim outcomes

Table 2: Summary of my treatment protocols and their interim outcomes

I encourage medical and veterinary clinicians, and experienced acupuncture therapists, to try my methods in cancer therapy. My clinical experience of the methods over the last 10 years has convinced me that they can very significantly improve the general health and well-being of 90% of cancer-patients (human and animal), and increase the survival rates by 70%.

I am willing to discuss the cases with you before you select your points for treatment, and if you need further discussion in preparation for later sessions. I also encourage you to report back to me when you have outcome data on at least 10 cases. If enough clinicians cooperate in a multi-centre clinical trial, we could have a very substantial body of cases to prepare a multi-authored clinical report within 1-2 years.

You may email me at: <arethore@online.no>.

Acknowledgements

I thank Phil Rogers MRCVS, Dublin, Ireland, for his criticism and editorial help in the drafting of this article.