Life Over Cancer: The Block Center Program for Integrative Cancer Treatment
Selected Book Details
- Hardcover
- Edition: 1
- Author: Keith Block
- Publisher: Bantam
- Release Date: April 2009
- ISBN-10: 0553801147
- ISBN-13: 9780553801149
- List Price: $25.00
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Summaries and Customer Reviews provided by Amazon
SummaryDr. Keith Block is at the global vanguard of innovative cancer care. As medical director of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment in Evanston, Illinois, he has treated thousands of patients who have lived long, full lives beyond their original prognoses. Now he has distilled almost thirty years of experience into the first book that gives patients a systematic, research-based plan for developing the physical and emotional vitality they need to meet the demands of treatment and recovery. |
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Block Institute Advertisement
Rating: 
This book is good but very self serving. It is obviously just an advertisement for the author's institute, repeatedly extolling the successes (which sound real) of his cancer treatment methods and hinting at the potential for personalized treatment options. I'm sure Block does excellent, meaningful and worthwhile work, but unless you're interested in working with his clinic, skip this book and read Anticancer: A New Way of Life. It provides essentially the same messages and information without all the anecdotal success stories and clinical statistics.
Informative, revealing, encouraging, complex q's with easy-to-understand answers
Rating:
I found this book able to provide fulfilling answers to questions that are often answered leaving more questions in mind - by tying life style management with conventional medicine. A complete look at wellness backed by a physician dedicated to patient wellness - not just a temporary relief of symptoms, or solutions limited to conventional, off-the-shelf medical answers.
In an industry that is highly fragmented in its approach to patient care, and one that is lopsided based upon pharma and technology influence, this is a refreshing and satisfying formula for achieving victory over a horrible disease. Kudos, Dr. Keith Block!
Life Over Cancer
Rating:
Dr. Keith Block and his extensive understanding and life's work, saved my life. If you only have one source to use and prevail over illness, auto-immune disease, cancer, etc....This is THE book to have... as your constant support and guide. Do someone you love a favor...buy it for them too. Live strong, even while healing...this was and is, my total handbook, reference, and HOPE.
A must-read for those with cancer
Rating:
Dr. Block has done an outstanding job of explaining complex science in readable and practical terms that a cancer patient or caregiver can use. His holist approach goes beyond traditional medicine and tackles what to do to fight cancer. Nutrition, fitness, mind/spirit, exercise are all part of the program. While traditional medicine focuses on getting rid of symptoms (tumors, etc.), Dr. Block explains how to boost one's biology so that the body can ward off the cancer. He is well know for his customized work in analyzing body deficiencies and then recommending supplements, nutrition, mind/body work that can address these deficiences. Dr. Block's work isn't based just on conjecture, he has done extensive research in every aspect of a comprehensive approach to cancer. Having had a wonderful experience at the Block Integrated Cancer Center in Evanston,Illinois, I am delighted to have this book to see the underpinnings of the excellent clinical work they do.
A Landmark Book, Though It Falls Between Audiences
Rating:
Dr. Block is a pioneer of integrative oncology, with about three decades of experience in cancer research and clinical care for thousands of cancer patients. For the past three years, I've followed his work with great interest, and I knew a while back that he was working on this book, so I awaited the book with eager anticipation. I bought the book the day it came out and have just finished reading it in its entirety.
Though the book has a significant shortcoming which I'll get to in a moment, it's still overall an outstanding resource. In these 500+ pages, Dr. Block explains the philosophy behind his integrative treatment approach, and he also provides abundant details on how he implements this approach for patients on an individualized basis, addressing the goals of both extending survival and improving quality of life. Because (a) cancer is a huge social problem, (b) an integrative approach makes sense, is supported by evidence, and is (hopefully) the wave of the future, and (c) Dr. Block's credentials are as authoritative as one can find, this book will hopefully have a large influence and thereby offer a major contribution to human welfare.
The primary shortcoming of this book is that it tries to simultaneously serve both patients/caregivers and physicians/researchers, but these are two audiences with dramatically different technical backgrounds, so I think that trying to find a compromise between these two audiences does somewhat of a disservice to both. In other words, I think two seperate books would have worked better.
For patients/caregivers, I think a more streamlined book would have been preferable, since the current book has the potential to be overwhelming (even with the "quick maps"), to the point where many may give up on trying to make use of the book, which would be very unfortunate. Instead, some will surely try to just go to the Block Center for treatment, but that won't be feasible for most, so they'll be left hanging unless they can find a local oncologist who's on board with Dr. Block's approach; I hope that Dr. Block will address that need in his website. As the book stands now, for patients/caregivers who are sufficiently motivated and have sufficient time, I suggest reading the book through once quickly, then reading it a second time carefully to absorb the details, and then referring to it as needed. That won't be a small effort, but the effort will be worth it, since it could add years to a patient's life if Dr. Block's advice is followed diligently.
And for physicians/researchers, I think the book is too watered down from a technical standpoint, resulting in too much "fluff" and not enough solid technical detail. This is again unfortunate because a much stronger case for Dr. Block's treatment approach could have been made if the book had been written at a higher technical level, and more details would also have helped physicians in applying this treatment approach. Of course, the Pubmed abstracts available through the website for the book are meant to address this issue, but I still think that a lot more technical information should have been included in the book itself. (The recent book Integrative Oncology (Weil Integrative Medicine Library) partly fills the need for a more technically advanced book and nicely complements Dr. Block's book, so I recommend it.)
Despite this audience-related shortcoming, again, I do think this a landmark book which has the potential to make a major contribution, so I very highly recommend it to all cancer patients/caregivers and physicians/researchers, and I wouldn't dream of giving it less than 5 stars. This is the best book on integrative oncology that I know of, and therefore one of the best books on cancer treatment that I know of.
Also, for those dealing with malignant brain tumors, please note that you're welcome to join the Yahoo! Brain-Research Group which I founded and moderate. The aim of the group is to identify and discuss treatments for malignant brain tumors, including promising ways to use and combine treatments, and the majority of the group members favor an integrative approach similar to what Dr. Block describes. An associated website can be found at brain-treatments.net.
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