What’s one of the first things your immune system does when it senses a virus or bacterial infection, or other imminent illness?
In many cases, you get a fever.
Newsletter #533
Lee Euler, Editor
Lee Euler, Editor
9 September 2115
What’s one of the first things your immune system does when it senses a virus or bacterial infection, or other imminent illness?
In many cases, you get a fever.
Turns out, fever also has the power to destroy cancer cells — a phenomenon that makes it one of the oldest cancer treatments in the book.
A few doctors recognized the effectiveness of fever in the late 1800s for its ability to treat cancer. Today it’s widely accepted in some other countries, particularly Germany and Mexico, and it’s slowly making headway in the United States.
Not to beat around the bush, I consider it one of the most important of all alternative cancer treatments. If I had cancer, I’d make sure I receive this therapy.
It’s a potent treatment even for late-stage patients on their last legs or for recurrent tumors that are chemo-resistant or “over-treated” …
And if you’re healthy right now, you can use it to prevent cancer.
But how can a simple, physiological reaction become a powerful weapon in the war on cancer? And how can you use it, at home, completely safely and without side effects?
Is this natural response to cancer
still “experimental”?
still “experimental”?
Also referred to as “thermal medicine” or “thermal oncology,” hyperthermia is a well-established, potent anti-cancer therapy.
I’ve previously reported about it here … and we’ve written extensively about it in our books. (It was chapter one in Natural Cancer Remedies that Work and covered extensively in German Cancer Breakthrough: A Guide to Top Clinicsand Amish Cancer Secret, our guide to Mexican clinics.)
As you can see, this isn’t a “new-fangled” alternative treatment.
It’s backed by more than 150 years of clinical evidence … a respectedInternational Journal of Hyperthermia … and three different scientific societies for thermal medicine, including one in Europe and one in Japan.
Not to mention that it’s your body’s natural response to disease.
In the early days, doctors would actually infect a patient with some kind of illness that would bring on a fever. This involved obvious risks, but in many cases it DID cure cancer, or at least knock it back.
Scientific studies go back to at least 1883. In 1957, three American oncologists reviewed 450 cases of “spontaneous remission” … and found at least 150 of them had occurred after the patient experienced an acute infection characterized by high fever.
That’s impressive evidence that fever can cure cancer.
Now modern technology can heat you up – or heat just part of you up – for a couple of hours, without resorting to viruses and bacteria.
The American Cancer Society still refers to it as an “experimental technique” and very few clinics in the United States offer it.
And even at the ones that do offer it — such as the Taussig Cancer Institute at the Cleveland Clinic — treatment usually comes in conjunction with chemotherapy or radiation.
In fact, of the 109 recent hyperthermia clinical trials registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, 63 involved testing chemotherapies in combination with thermal treatment.1
At German and Mexican clinics, it’s readily available with nontoxic alternatives like laetrile or mistletoe extract. And frankly, practitioners at these clinics have more experience with it than do those in America. What about safety? You’ll be pleased to know that hyperthermia is practically side effect free.
Cancer can’t take this kind of heat
Regardless of where you get it, hyperthermic treatment comes with a wide range of proven benefits:
First, hyperthermia largely leaves healthy cells untouched.
According to Dr. George Crile, a Cleveland Clinic doctor famous for his work on breast cancer in the 1950s, healthy cells can tolerate up to 111 degrees F.2 In general, this is the upper range of temperatures used in hyperthermia.
Cancer cells are highly unstable at these temperatures because of how rapidly they multiply.
According to Dr. Fernando Mercado, a hyperthermia expert from Sanoviv Medical Institute in Mexico, cancer cells have a higher metabolism and require more energy and glucose than normal cells. (I’ve been treated myself at Sanoviv – although not for cancer. It’s a wonderful, ultramodern facility with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean.)
It might seem counterintuitive, but cancer cells are under constant stress, making them weaker than healthy cells, and susceptible to damage from high temperatures.
In scientific terms, the heat slows or prevents cell proliferation, thus inhibiting tumor growth. It also damages the sensitive blood supply to tumor tissue and disrupts the tumor’s metabolism, which leads to increased apoptosis and cell death.3
Cancer cells get knocked to the ground when heated to within a few degrees of 107.6 F. At the same temperature window, healthy cells are happy to continue about their business.
This means even the frailest of patients can have hyperthermia treatment and come out better … unlike other modern cancer treatments, particularly high-dose chemotherapy.
Instead of Chemo, Wake Up Your Own Immune System
Second, hyperthermia stimulates your immune system — both your systemic immune system and immunity against your specific strain of cancer.
When your body thinks it has a fever (even if it’s artificially created), your entire immune system goes to work. T-helper cells, natural killer cells, macrophages, and cytokines (including y-interferon, powerful immune stimulators like interleukin-1 and -2, and tumor necrosis factor) all perk up and hit the deck.3
And, thanks to specific proteins called heat-shock proteins expressed on the surface of cancer cells, “red flags” go up that help immune system cells find and fight tumors more readily under heat.
Third, hyperthermia is essentially personalized cancer treatment — without the cost. Since high temperatures specifically activate the immune system against the individual’s unique tumor, this isn’t a “dose and pray” situation. Because of those heat-shock proteins, your body automatically goes after your cancer cells.4
This contrasts with chemotherapy, where most doctors virtually guess whether they’re using the right drug for the strain of cancer you’ve got. Conventional oncology does a poor job of matching the chemo agent to the specific cancer cell.
Fourth, thermal treatment has worked for even advanced and late-stage cancer patients, especially those who have been over-treated and are no longer responding to conventional treatment. Local hyperthermia (where only one part of the body is heated) works to boost the immune system in metastatic tumors as well.5
And, finally, in cases where chemo or radiation are truly necessary, heating the tumor first increases its sensitivity. The hotter a tumor is, the lower the dose of chemo or radiation required to get the same effect — usually around 30% of the full dose!
This means the patient is spared many of the dreadful side effects of chemotherapy.
But what does thermal treatment actually look and — more importantly — feel like?
The hyperthermia experience
There seem to be as many different thermal techniques, temperature ranges, and technologies to choose from as there are different types of cancer.
It’s a good thing, though — because it gives physicians experienced in thermal medicine many different options to personalize treatment as much as possible.
Generally speaking, there are three forms of hyperthermia: local, regional, or whole body.
Local treatment involves using heat within the tumor. For example, in one approach the end of a thin, heated probe is inserted into the tumor itself to heat up the cells.
Regional hyperthermia is applied around the general area of the tumor (usually by external means, not by an invasive probe like the one just described).
Whole body hyperthermia involves raising the core body temperature with heat lamps, hyperthermia machines that resemble tanning beds, saunas, or even something as simple as wrapping a patient in hot blankets.
Some physicians even choose to route the patient’s blood outside the body to heat it externally and then re-route it back into the arteries. (It sounds odd, but it’s a process called blood perfusion that’s used commonly in conventional surgery.)
Heat sources are varied as well. They include focused ultrasound, microwaves, radio waves, infrared light, and magnetic hyperthermia.
Thermal treatment can also be combined not only with the chemo, mistletoe extract or laetrile I mentioned, but also with radiation, infusions of intravenous vitamin C, curcumin, or vitamin E — all known to support the immune system and fight cancer. Vitamin E is also known to increase the sensitivity of tumors and, like vitamin C and curcumin, is a powerful antioxidant.3,5,6
All these intravenous infusions are greatly enhanced by hyperthermia because the cancer cells are in such a weakened state.
Overall, experienced physicians know exactly what the effective temperature ranges are, and how to monitor your body in order to keep you safe and make sure healthy cells are unharmed.
Temperature ranges even vary on a case to case basis, from “moderate” to “extreme.” Mild hyperthermia is around 100.4 degrees, while moderate is between 101 and 103 degrees for a few hours. This simulates a natural fever.
In cases of “extreme” hyperthermia — above 107 degrees — patients are sedated. It’s in the extreme thermal cases that it’s possible a patient may experience side effects like skin burns, edema, and even cardiopulmonary or cerebral problems.
As you can imagine, this is only performed by experienced doctors and only when deemed necessary. To the best of my knowledge it’s not available in the United States, although I’ve heard a few doctors quietly employ it.
Such side effects are rare. I wouldn’t hesitate to seek full-body hyperthermia from a skilled practitioner, especially if I had late-stage cancer. In fact, I’d make a point of getting this treatment.
It’s also worth noting that high temperature treatments like these aren’t an instant magic bullet. They often require multiple rounds of treatment.
Whole body treatments can only be performed once a week, while local or regional can be done more often.
Regardless, relaxing in a sauna or hyperthermia bed is far more tolerable, much less expensive, and comes with far fewer side effects (and stress) than traditional treatments. I believe it’s absolutely worth the time and effort to find a clinic that will treat you accordingly.
Hyperthermic treatment isn’t just good for cancer treatment though … it’s can also play a key role in cancer prevention.
Getting a regular “fever” can prevent cancer
Experts estimate you have around 100 million cancer cells in your body at any given time. The best strategy by far is to prevent those cells from gaining a beachhead somewhere in your body and expanding it.
You have several options for safely inducing short-term hyperthermia at home and raising your core temperature enough to kill cells, detoxify your body of potentially carcinogenic heavy metals and toxins, and boost your immune system.
I’ve previously reported that infrared saunas are excellent for effortless detoxification at home — and can be constructed for under $100 if you have the space.
Infrared sauna therapy not only helps detox your body from heavy metals and toxins, but creates a more alkaline environment which discourages cancer growth. (See Issue #167 for more.)
I prefer far infrared — the rays that “warm you to the bone” — because they deeply penetrate the tissue, up to 1.5 inches, and detox your cells more thoroughly. (However, those sensitive to electromagnetic fields might find the depth uncomfortable and near-infrared is fine for those folks.)7
The red color of the infrared light bulbs also gives you a double bonus: color therapy. Red light wavelengths easily penetrate the skin and stimulate mitochondria and your lymph system for detox.
Plus, when you combine artificial fever with vitamin C, E, and curcumin, you’re looking at a one-two cancer-fighting punch.
The bottom line is that enjoying a sauna or even a hot, relaxing bath a few times a week is an excellent addition to your anti-cancer regimen.
I’ll continue to keep you updated about new developments in the world of thermal medicine.
http://www.cancerdefeated.com/i-would-make-sure-i-got-this-treatment-if-i-had-cancer/
This post is on Healthwise
