thomasroyal
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 Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:05 pm Post subject: Cancer Documentary on WBUR 90.9 Boston |
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"Walking through the Storm"
4-hour documentary series on Mind/Body/Spirit Techniques for Cancer Patients Premieres on WBUR 90.9 FM, Saturday April 7, 2007 at 7 pm
Although technically not an epidemic, cancer can seem to be practically everywhere and almost all of us have known - or are - people with cancer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate there are 10.1 million cancer survivors in the United States today and that "approximately 65% of people diagnosed with cancer are expected to live at least 5 years after diagnosis." In dozens of interviews with survivors conducted for this project (funded by a $1 million grant from the National Cancer Institute), two relevant characteristics stand out:
a) Conventional medical treatment, while increasingly effective for some cancers, can nevertheless be a frightening ordeal for patients, often producing severe physical and emotional side effects. This struggle may stimulate some patients to explore additional interventions such as those offered in integrative medicine.
b) Being diagnosed with cancer (and other potentially life-threatening conditions) often catalyzes an encounter with one’s own mortality, causing patients to re-evaluate life priorities and give deeper consideration to questions of spiritual meaning.
A study published February 10, 2007 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, led by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and Harvard Medical School, found that greater spiritual support from religious organizations and medical service providers was strongly linked to better quality of life for cancer patients.
Many leading cancer centers, including DFCI in Boston (where several segments of the series were recorded), M.D. Anderson in Houston and Memorial Sloan-Kettering in New York, have now established units where patients learn and practice mind/body/spirit techniques as a complement to traditional treatment.
Research shows that patients' quality of life can be enhanced by utilizing such practices as relaxation-meditation, positive attitude, cognitive techniques to interrupt "the worry cycle", faith and prayer, attending support groups, healing imagery, humor and "surrendering to the mystery". A key benefit of teaching new options to patients may be to reduce the feelings of fear and hopelessness / helplessness so common among people who receive a serious diagnosis.
The four one-hour programs lead listeners through a series of expert explanations and personal anecdotes on how mind/body interventions can help patients get through cancer and simultaneously deepen their life journey. Following is a partial list of experts heard in the programs:
-Donald Abrams, MD, chief of Hematology/Oncology, San Francisco General Hospital
-Herbert Benson, MD, President, Mind/Body Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School
-Patrick Borgen, MD, chief, breast services, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
-Rev. Gwendolyn Collins, PhD, The Women of Color Breast Health Initiative
-Larry Dossey, MD, author, Prayer is Good Medicine
-Susan Gardin, PhD, national program director, Kids Kicking Cancer
-Rabbi Elimelech Goldberg, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, Wayne State University
-James Gordon, MD, Georgetown Univ. School of Medicine Center for Mind-Body Medicine,
-Harold Koenig, MD, Duke University School of Medicine, Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health
-Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, UCSF school of medicine, Commonweal Cancer Help Program
-Elana Rosenbaum, LICSW, author, “Living Well with Cancer”
-David Rosenthal, MD, Harvard Medical School, Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies
-Martin Rossman, MD, UCSF department of medicine, Collaborative Medicine Center
-Malcolm Schultz, counselor, The Wellness Community, Santa Monica, CA
-David Spiegel, MD, Stanford University school of medicine, associate chair, Dept. of Psychiatry
-Annette Stanton, PhD, UCLA depts. of psychology and psychiatry, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Ctr.
-Margaret Stuber, MD, psychiatrist, UCLA Medical Center, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital
-Ann Webster, PhD, Harvard University Medical School, director, Mind/Body Program for Cancer
-Andrew Weil, MD, Unversity of Arizona Health Sciences Center, Program in Integrative Medicine
For a brief program outline of the four "Walking through the Storm" documentaries, please visit:
http://www.humanmedia.org/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=20&products_id=91
The WBUR broadcasts, 7 - 8 pm on the following Saturdays, are:
April 7: JOURNEY FOR RECOVERY
April 14: HUMOR AND HEALTH
April 21: WILL TO LIVE
April 28: THE POWER OF BELIEF
Distributed nationally by Public Radio International (PRI) and National Public Radio (NPR), "Walking through the Storm" is heard on the award-winning public radio series, "Humankind," hosted by David Freudberg of Human Media in Belmont, Massachusetts. (617-489-5130, dfreudberg@humanmedia |
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