Did you know that cancer cells lie dormant in every human being? And the majority of cancers are caused by behavior, not genes? Dr. David Servan-Schreiber, clinical professor of psychiatry and cofounder of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, learned this the hard way at the age of 31 when, while a subject in his own brain scanning experiment, he discovered he had a malignant brain tumor the size of a walnut. Over the next fifteen years, he exhaustively researched the body's natural cancer-fighting capacities and in his new book ANTICANCER: A New Way of Life (Viking; On-sale: September 8, 2008), Servan-Schreiber breaks down the science behind what causes cancer and how you can prevent it in a way no other book has. So far, ANTICANCER is a bestseller in France (#1), French-speaking Canada (#1), Holland, Spain and Germany, and rights have been sold in 26 countries.
This is the book that Dr. Servan-Schreiber wishes he could have read in his 20s to avoid becoming ill in the first place and the book he would have liked to have at his bedside throughout his illness. As Al Gore brought global understanding to the issue of the environment with An Inconvenient Truth, ANTICANCER gives readers the inspiration, information and tools they need to understand how cancer cells thrive and how they can be stopped.
Cancer rates have soared in the West since the 1940's. And while medical technology has rapidly advanced since then, Western doctors to this day offer very little advice on how cancer patients can harness the body's natural defenses against tumor growth. From diet to household product use, fitness to mental health, Dr. Servan-Schreiber offers a vast number of ways that you can change your everyday actions to inhibit cancer cell development. See chapter eight for a comprehensive list. He also explains in a groundbreaking, just-added chapter why cell phones are carcinogens. Based on a new study he led with 20 international experts, Servan-Schreiber predicts that cell phones will be considered the new "cigarette" twenty years down the line and offers 10 precautionary measures you can take to decrease the harmful effect of using cell phones, ie. do not sleep with your cell phone turned on near your body and do not let children under 12 use them. The developing organs of a fetus or child are the most sensitive to electromagnetic fields.
Blending memoir with overwhelming scientific evidence, ANTICANCER is revolutionary in its clarity. Without a doubt, it will change the way you think about cancer.
David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and cofounder of the Center for Integrative Medicine. He is a founding member of Doctors Without Borders USA and continues to work in international crisis intervention. His last book The Instinct to Heal has been translated into 28 languages. He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Paris, France.
