An oncologist’s integrative path to treating and living better with or beyond cancer
 
Dr. M. Laura Nasi presents a new way of looking at how we view and treat cancer. With current advances in medicine, we’re learning more about the ways different aspects of our lives and health impact and interact with one another—why does one long-term smoker get diagnosed with stage-4 lung cancer while another remains cancer-free? Why does someone exposed to a known carcinogen get sick while someone else is apparently immune? What seemingly unrelated factors end up playing key roles in disease etiology, progression, and prognosis?
 
In this well-researched, inspiring, and easy-to-read guide, Dr. Nasi offers an integrative, whole-person approach to cancer, and explains how it is a systemic disease manifesting a global condition locally. Conventional medicine focuses on attacking malignant cells. Integrative medicine encourages chemo and radiation when necessary, while also focusing on a patient’s internal balance to help halt the disease. Nasi draws on the latest research on the PNIE (psycho-neuro-immuno-endocrine) network to help our systems recognize, repair, or eliminate the cancer cells, focusing on nutrition, stress management, exercise, adequate sleep, healthy relationships, and other body/mind/spirit modalities. Dr. Nasi encourages patients to become empowered agents of their own care. “In Cancer as a Wake-Up Call, Dr. Nasi gifts us with an engaging and entertaining overview of holistic cancer care. This incredible resource presents a huge amount of information in easily digestible doses with the assistance of charming illustrations, valuable Take-Home Messages, and vital Practice for Healthy Living recommendations. The patient interactions and quotations from a host of international sages really help target the message. A must-read for anyone living with or beyond cancer, the people that love them, and hopefully, for their oncologists!”
—Donald Abrams, MD, Chief of the Hematology-Oncology Division at San Francisco General Hospital, an integrative oncologist at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California San Francisco, and editor (with Andrew Weil, MD) of Integrative Oncology (Oxford University Press)
 
“Dr. Laura Nasi is an internationally recognized figure in the field of integrative medicine. Her book, Cancer as a Wake-Up Call, is intended for patients and family members dealing with cancer, and is a MUST-read for medical oncologists and health professionals. This book is a welcome addition to the library of anyone interested in a holistic approach to cancer care or just simply interested in living a better and healthier life.”
—Gary K. Schwartz, MD, Chief of Hematology and Oncology, Columbia University School of Medicine, New York
 
“In her integrative and systemic approach to cancer, oncologist Laura Nasi attends to the biological, cognitive, social, ecological, and spiritual dimensions of health and healing. Her advice on how to improve our quality of life in all these dimensions will inspire not only cancer patients but anyone desiring to live a healthier and more fulfilling life.”
—Fritjof Capra, PhD, physicist, systems theorist, and author of The Tao of Physics and other international best-selling books
 
“In Cancer as a Wake-Up Call, Dr. Laura Nasi guides the reader through the importance of using an integrative approach to cancer care. To have the best possible outcomes and thrive as a cancer survivor, you must focus on healing the body, mind, and spirit. Cancer as a Wake-Up Call provides valuable advice and is an evidence-based resource to help foster cancer recovery.”
—Lorenzo Cohen, PhD, Professor and Director, Integrative Medicine Program, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
 
“This book is for anyone with cancer, anyone who works with those who have cancer, and for all of us who know someone who has cancer. It offers a treasury of approaches to living with and beyond cancer, bringing holistic perspectives into focus as a path on the journey of cancer.”
—ROSHI JOAN HALIFAX, PhD, Upaya Zen Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico, author of Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet

“The first course of action after receiving a cancer diagnosis might be to eradicate the cancer cells. But that isn’t enough to address the root causes. In Cancer as a Wake-Up Call, Dr. Nasi shows us ways in which a diagnosis can be a call for change—to our behavior, our eating habits, our thinking, and our lifestyle. She offers a vast array of tips on how to live well, in ways that support health, including walking and exercise, sleeping well, meditation, eating live food, and becoming more conscious generally of how we live and love.”
 —Vickie Dodd, nutritionist, sound frequency therapist, Aston Kinetic teacher