Mistletoe and the Emerging Future of Integrative Oncology

Human disease is an elaborate dance between behavior, our environment, and chance. Medicine tries to tame human disease with science, but when our knowledge falls short, disease wins. This is too often the case with cancer. We spend billions of dollars each year trying to better understand it and develop tools to ease its effects.

Today, many allopathic medical practitioners are beginning to seek out a greater connection with holistic and integrative approaches. The authors of this book introduce one specific therapy and make a case for integrative health in general, including anthroposophically extended medicine, naturopathy, and other holistic approaches.

Mistletoe therapy has long been considered a viable treatment for cancer by the European medical community and is beginning to gain recognition in North America, as well. The mistletoe plant possesses many remarkable properties. As a therapy, it represents a rediscovery of ancient wisdom and shows us how the science of modern medicine might expand its reach and reconnect with a more human-centered medicine.

The book was structured following the syllabus for a three-day practitioner training hosted by the Physicians' Association for Anthroposophic Medicine (PAAM). The chapters highlight several of our key lectures in a condensed form. The book serves as an introductory summary of--not a replacement for--those intensive professional trainings.

This book is constructed as a journey and is meant to be read in its entirety, whether by a patient, a practitioner, a supporter of integrative oncology, or anyone who takes a deep interest in one's own health concerns. The text is accessible, and the reader does not need a science background to understand the majority of the content.

While this book should not be considered a treatment or diagnostic manual, it is intended to both prepare practitioners to begin mistletoe therapy training and to make this information available in an accessible form to anyone interested in learning about this approach to treating cancer.

Illustrated in color and b/w

Steven Johnson served as Co-Chief Resident of Internal Medicine at the University of Massachusetts affiliated hospitals in Worcester (1996). He directed one of the first inpatient integrative medicine clinics in the US and now directs the first European Mistletoe/Integrative Medicine Training Program in North America. Dr. Johnson has written numerous articles and lectured internationally. He is currently the president of the Physicians' Association for Anthroposophic Medicine (PAAM) and founder of the Foundation for Health Creation. Currently Dr. Johnson works part time in private practice at Collaborative Medical Arts in upstate New York and also practices with adults with special needs at Camphill Village in Copake, New York. Dr. Johnson is an avid student of medicinal botany, and serves as a consultant for integrative and anthroposophic pharmacy.

Nasha Winters, ND, FABNO (Fellow of the American Board of Natu-ropathic Oncology) is a global healthcare authority and best-selling author in integrative cancer care and research (DrNasha.com). Con-sulting with physicians around the world, she has educated hundreds of professionals in the clinical use of mistletoe. She has created robust educational programs for both healthcare institutions and the public to incorporate well-vetted integrative therapies into cancer care to enhance outcomes. Dr. Winters is currently focused on opening a com-prehensive metabolic oncology hospital and research institute (Meta-bolic Terrain Institute of Health) in the U.S., which will provide the best that standard of care has to offer alongside the most advanced integrative therapies. This facility will be in a residential setting on a gorgeous campus, against a backdrop of regenerative farming, EMF mitigation, and wellness-oriented retreat space.

Adam Blanning, MD, practices anthroposophic family medicine at the Denver Center for Anthroposophic Therapies (DenverTherapies.com) in Denver, Colorado. He is president of the Anthroposophic Health Association (AHA), an umbrella organization for groups working to bring anthroposophic insights into the realms of medicine, nursing, naturopathy, body therapies, artistic therapies, movement therapies, and counseling. Dr. Blanning lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics related to holistic medicine and the dynamics of human development. He is the author of Understanding Deeper Developmental Needs: Holistic Approaches for Challenging Behaviors in Children (2017).

Marion Debus, MD, received her medical training at Ruhr-University Bochum (1989-1995). Her professional training in internal medicine includes her years at Klinik Öschelbronn Germany, Princess of Wales Hospital Bridgend GB, and Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Havelhöhe in Berlin, Germany. Between 2002 and 2005, Marion further specialized in hematology and oncology at Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus in Stuttgart. From 2005 to 2017, she was senior physician at the anthroposophic community hospital Havelhöhe Berlin with a large oncological outpatient clinic. She is currently Head of the Department of Oncology, Hematology, and Internal Medicine at Klinik Arlesheim (Klinik-Arlesheim.ch) near Basel, Switzerland.

Paul Faust, ND, FABNO (Fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology) is the Founder and Naturopathic Medical Director of the Chesapeake Natural Health Center (ChesapeakeNaturalHealth.com), established in 2001. He became the first Naturopathic Doctor licensed by Maryland's Board of Physicians in 2016 and has been retained by them as an Expert Witness for cases involving Naturopathic Medicine within the state. He also serves on the board of the Naturopathic Formulary Council. In 2020, he was selected to receive Maryland's first Naturopathic Doctor of the Year Award. Previously he has served on the editorial review board for the Alternative Medicine Review, a leading publication for complementary and alternative medicine.