This is a distressing article for me – it’s right HERE – my father had prostate cancer and had hormonal therapy. He died of hepatocellular carcinoma, a rare cancer in the United States.

Here are some paragraphs from the article:

As a prostate cancer hormone therapy, estrogen is no longer used as much because of the risk of cardiovascular side effects. Many researchers believe that medical and surgical castration is safer and more effective than use of estrogen.

Estrogen causes increased blood clotting. Patients who opt for estrogen as their prostate cancer hormone therapy run the risk of blood clots in the legs, heart attacks, strokes, and other vascular accidents. Estrogen, however, is sometimes used to augment prostate cancer hormone therapy. The side effects of hormone therapy include cognitive disturbances which can result in poor memory, slower memory, depression, or confusion.

Patients who want to consider hormone therapy as their prostate cancer treatment should alert their doctor about other medical problems, such as: blood vessel disease, blood clotting disorders, high blood pressure, diabetes, high levels of calcium in the blood, and liver disease. Before starting hormone therapy, patients should always alert their doctors to whether or not they are taking any other type of medication that may interact with the prostate cancer treatment.

OH, AND THEN THERE IS THIS:

An article linking hormone therapy for prostate cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma is HERE. It is interesting and leads to a few “what ifs”.

I was impressed when I saw in a recent issue of U.S. News & World Report that the top 18 medical facilities in the country have programs that are investigating alternative medicine. Why did this get my attention and interest? Well, because it seems (to me) that sometimes physicians and administrators are fairly certain that it is their way or the highway – and their way is the conventional way, the bandwagon way.

They may be right; but they are not right to intimidate questioners from asking their questions. I am pleased to see that Johns Hopkins and Mayo’s are themselves now exploring and conducting studies on treatments that are outside western medicine’s traditional approach. Just yesterday came news of research into the claim that acupuncture may increase success rates in getting a fertilized embryo to attach to the uterine wall.

I write about this not because I want to go out and drink weird substances or rub things on my body or . . . well, do things that sound nutty. I write because I am a fan of the “it’s so crazy it might just work” openness of thought.  You know, it was a doctor in England who learned of a patient’s crazy tale that a Gypsy potion had helped his heart condition, looked into the situation and discovered digitalis – found in the foxglove plant.